In this episode of Rush to Reason, host John Rush dives into the nuances of political policies, from the intricacies of health insurance subsidies to the strategic use of government shutdowns as political leverage. As guests debate the impact of these policies, John provides insightful perspectives on how they affect everyday Americans, shedding light on the underlying motivations driving political narratives.
SPEAKER 07 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 21 :
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you’re scared. And you’re scared because if you try and fail, there’s only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes.
SPEAKER 10 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 08 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job first. You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same, and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 17 :
Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 08 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush, presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, we’re back, Hour 3, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Jersey Joe, what’s going on today, sir?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, John, just a couple things. Hey, you know, in the last hour I listened, you talked about setting the clocks back, and I’ve got kind of a different slant on that for you. Let’s talk about four things. Now, number one, if you’ve got a smartphone, just leave it alone. It’ll do its own magic. I don’t know how it does it, but the smartphone does it. Now, if you have a sundial, John, you’ll need to move it from the east side of your house to the west side of the house.
SPEAKER 06 :
I got you. Okay. All right. I’ll do that. I do have one of those, actually, so I’ll do that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Now, if you have an oven, now, ovens are a different story. Because remember, a lot of these ovens have, like, you can set the baking time. And it’s not just the clock, John. It does a lot of other things. So you’ll either need a master’s in electronic engineering or a hammer if you’ve got an oven with one of those programmable clocks in it. And regarding car radios, John, my wife’s got an older Jeep. John, if you’ve got a car radio that’s older than 10 years or older, it’s just not worth it. Just wait until spring.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know what? Sometimes that’s best to do that. Just leave it alone.
SPEAKER 03 :
Just leave it alone. Just let it roll. Let it roll. Hey, John, a conundrum I’ve been thinking about. If you’re a fisherman and you have a net and you get a hole in your net, why do you have fewer holes than you had when you started with?
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s a good question.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, good question. Conundrum for the day. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Here’s the next question. Do they ever wear out or do you just kind of like sew that part back together?
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, that’s another great guy. You’re going to make my head hurt, John.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, because I’ve done that on occasion because you didn’t have any choice.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let’s talk about subsidies. And by the way, and here’s my quote of the day from economist Thomas Salk. He says you cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become more responsible. It’s just, you know— Nope, doesn’t work that way.
SPEAKER 06 :
You get the opposite effect, don’t you?
SPEAKER 03 :
Remember, Reagan said if you want less of something, tax it, and if you want more of something, subsidize it.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s exactly right.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I want to talk about the use of this word, skyrocket. All I hear about is come January, health care premiums— It’s going to skyrocket, Joe, skyrocket. Now, let me tell you what that skyrocketed. Back during COVID, when we had tens of millions of people unemployed, in 2021, after Biden became president, the Democrats had a majority in both houses. Now, the normal Obamacare subsidies, which have been in place since 2009, were roughly 80% of the premiums if you were buying your insurance on the ACA marketplaces. Well, when we had tens of millions of people unemployed, despite the fact that, by the way, some of them were making more unemployment than they were working, Democrats said, well, we’re going to enhance it. We’re going to make it 90%, which meant if you had a $900 a month policy for a family of four, you were paying $90 instead of $180. Gotcha. And then in 2022, when they passed the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats said, well, you know… let’s extend those enhanced subsidies for another two years till the end of 2025. Now, which is of course, and now they could have made it the end of 26. They could have made the end of 27, but they said, let’s just extend them till the end of 2025. Well, end of 2025 is coming. And so as the enhanced subsidies go away, the original base subsidy, which was 80% is still going to be there. So that $900 a month policy, instead of costing the family 90 bucks a month, is going to cost $180 a month. The government is still paying, you’re still only paying 20% of the cost of the policy. But that jump from $90 a month to $180, that’s what the media is calling skyrocketing. John, if you could get a health insurance family for a family of four for $180 a month, isn’t that an incredible deal?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it’s a deal I don’t get.
SPEAKER 03 :
I don’t get it either. So By the way, I have to be on Medicare. John, my monthly premium from my wife and I on Medicare is more than $180.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, right.
SPEAKER 03 :
So I think this term skyrocketing, the federal government is still going to be picking up 80%. If you’re buying your health insurance on the exchange, the federal government is still going to be picking up 80% of the cost of your health insurance.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and again, I think it’s key to remind people, which you’ve done, that this isn’t anything that the Republicans have done. This is what the Democrats set in place to begin with. They gave everybody a freebie. The freebie is now going away. That’s all this amounts to, Joe.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. The Republicans didn’t pass any legislation to take it away. Nope, nope.
SPEAKER 06 :
They just let everything expire is all they did.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s just what the legislation Democrats put in place is expiring. The Democrats, Republicans just hands off with, hey— We didn’t do this. You guys did it. You could have made it 26, 27. You chose to make it 25.
SPEAKER 06 :
On the same token, it’s been around for several years now, and COVID is done and over with. The hardships of are done and over with, you know, Joe. So at the end of the day, you know, it is what it is.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is what it is. And, again, being able to buy health insurance for 20% of face value, I think, is still a hell of a deal.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, absolutely. Right. Because, by the way, as you know, most don’t get that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Most don’t get that, exactly. And by the way, you know, the Democrats are now saying the quiet part out loud with regard to the shutdown, which, of course, the Democrats could end tomorrow.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
All they have to do is allow a vote on the continuing resolution. Trump would sign it the same afternoon. It’s done. It’s done.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yep. Government’s back at it.
SPEAKER 03 :
But in the past week, here’s some quotes from Democrats. Senator Martin Heinrich of… New Mexico, paying our troops gives the president more leverage. In other words, he was opposed to paying the troops because, quote, it gives the president more leverage. Ruben Gallego from Arizona, then I just go, if we pass it, I just go back and shut it down again. Bernie Sanders, you reopen the government and we lose our leverage. So Bernie’s looking at this as a political ploy. Screw it. Let people suffer because we have leverage.
SPEAKER 06 :
What they don’t understand is it’s the wrong kind.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. And here’s Schumer. Every day gets better for us. How delusional is Chuck Schumer?
SPEAKER 06 :
Very delusional. Which, by the way, I don’t think Joe even believes that. He’s saying that because that’s his marching orders, but he doesn’t believe that. Right. I don’t think he does anyways.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, if he has half a brain, he doesn’t believe it, but I think he has to say that. It’s like keep a step up for lip. Yep.
SPEAKER 06 :
He’s got his marching orders, and he’s marching very well, by the way.
SPEAKER 03 :
He is marching very, very well. By the way, we’re only three Democrat votes shy of— Only three now.
SPEAKER 06 :
It was five earlier today, so we’ve gained a couple.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think it’s only three. I think we did gain a couple.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, good.
SPEAKER 03 :
Here’s Chris Collins from Delaware. Frankly, this is our only moment of leverage today. and although it is a very unpleasant tool to use, but he’s all for using it. And Congresswoman Catherine Clark, there will be families that are going to suffer, but it’s one of the few leveraged times that we have. So they’re basically making the American people pawns in this whole thing. And what do they want? They want to extend the enhanced subsidies, and they want to allow illegal aliens to continue to be covered by state Medicaid. States can continue to cover illegal aliens on their Medicaid programs.
SPEAKER 06 :
If they want to do it on their own.
SPEAKER 03 :
If they want to do it on their own. Nobody’s saying nothing that was in the big, beautiful bill prohibits a state from covering an illegal alien on their Medicaid program. They’re free to do it. The only thing the big, beautiful bill says, hey, you can’t include those when you apply for reimbursement. Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Great point.
SPEAKER 03 :
And that’s what they’re arguing for. All right. You want to move on to some clips, John?
SPEAKER 06 :
We can sure do that.
SPEAKER 03 :
First one I got to laugh at. This is George Stephanopoulos trying to make Trump look bad by saying how much more Thanksgiving dinner is going to cost. He’s got the CEO of Walmart on you, and you think Stephanopoulos with the staff he has would have fact-checked this before he set himself up for a failure, but here’s George Stephanopoulos trying to make Trump look bad.
SPEAKER 04 :
Let’s talk about Thanksgiving first. Food prices are up, especially turkey. So what are you doing to help customers keep the cost down?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, good morning, George. It’s great to see you. We are really excited about what we have planned for this year at Thanksgiving. And I can’t believe it’s already that time of year. But this is a time of year when people are busy. They don’t want to sacrifice quality. And we want to do all we can to help them celebrate the holiday any way they want. And we want to do it in a way that’s very affordable with a lot of value. So I want to talk about a couple of things with the Thanksgiving basket. First, we started putting together this idea of having the entire basket easy to purchase, easy to assemble back in 2022. And this year, we will have the best prices on this basket we’ve had since the program started. We’re down about 25% from last year, down about $14 for the basket. which puts us in a position where this basket is just under $4 a person when serving 10 people. So we have a great basket that has a mix of our… Okay, hang on.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’ve got to stop for just one second, Joe. I mean, in other words, he’s saying everything opposite of what Stephanopoulos said.
SPEAKER 03 :
Dan, the cost of the basket of food is down 25%. That’s hilarious.
SPEAKER 06 :
And by the way, you guys can’t see this because you can’t see the expression on the face of the Walmart guy. He’s almost laughing, Joe. I mean, it literally is, he’s just about laughing at, yeah, you don’t quite have this right, do you?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, you don’t. Well, it’s hilarious. How much egg does Stephanopoulos have in it? And by the way, the reason I want you to play it, because not many people watch that show, so I think… The more people that, you know, hear about it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I mean, again, the funniest thing is watching the expression of the guy from Walmart because he’s thinking to himself, oh, man, you just stepped in that one, didn’t you?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, but throw me a softball. And he’s the guy from Walmart. He’s the CEO of Walmart. So, yeah, no, the price of that basket of food for the family is down 25%.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s the cheapest it’s been since they started it. Yeah. That’s hilarious. It’s like, yeah, it’s not quite what you think there, George.
SPEAKER 03 :
And if you want to hear another funny one, here’s an interview. You know, the New York City election, they’ve already started early voting. Here’s an interview with a guy in the street, why he’s supporting Zoran Mondami. Do you have that? Yeah, I’ve got it. Here we go.
SPEAKER 12 :
I don’t think this should be such a thing as a billionaire. The reason I support Zoran Mondami is because there are 123 billionaires in New York. There are 350,000 millionaires in New York. One out of every 12 New Yorkers has at least a million dollars. Meanwhile, 2 million New Yorkers live beneath the poverty line. 240,000 children. We can fill Madison Square Garden with every seat in Madison Square Garden with kids who sleep in the shelter system every night in New York City. Zohra Mamdani wants to address these inequities in ways that a mayor could. You know, free buses will go a long way to helping these people. People that live below the poverty line will go a long way to help them. City-run grocery stores in the boroughs, one in each borough, will help people that are relying on food pantries as it is. That’s why I support Zoram Mamdani. I don’t think there should be billionaires. I agree with Zoram Mamdani.
SPEAKER 01 :
Are you afraid, if he does become mayor, that a lot of billionaires and millionaires will move? No, no.
SPEAKER 06 :
Joe, again, you can’t see this guy’s expression through the radio, but I can see it. And he’s, by the way, Joe, very, very sincere in what he’s saying. I mean, in a way, I feel sorry for this guy because he’s so sincere, but yet he’s sincerely wrong.
SPEAKER 03 :
And they can and will, but they’ve been moving on a regular basis. A bunch have moved to New Jersey during COVID. And there was a joke, a meme floating around that the city of Palm Beach, Florida, has named Zorhan Mondami as the Realtor of the Year. And there are reports, there was a news story where the realtors down there are being flooded with phone calls in places like Juniper Beach and Palm Beach from people in New York starting to shop for real estate in Palm Beach and Juniper. Those are some pretty pricey areas down there, but you’re talking about a zero-income tax state. And by the way, he’s very misleading. He said, well, we’re only going to raise it 2%. Well, when you’re Two percent. Well, no, the city of New York tax is two percent. So if you’re going to increase it by two percent, you’ve doubled it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It was it’s it’s just under four percent. So when you increase it by two percent for millionaires, that’s a 50 percent increase.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Fifty percent increase in the tax rate on billionaires. Right. Which which puts their combined tax rate city and state in New York and federal over 50 percent of their income. John, would you move to save them?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, Joe, anybody would. They’re not going to stay for that. I don’t care what this guy says. Again, he’s very sincere, but he’s sincerely wrong. And there’s a lot of people out there like that. And by the way, you know, I appreciate these individuals. I appreciate their fervor. And, you know, he wants to help those that are needy and so on. Great. I understand all of that. You’re just going about it the wrong way is the problem.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and it’s, you know, the goose that laid the golden egg, John, he should read the fable because I think in a couple of years, and that guy with the interview, If these people start to leave in droves, who’s going to fill the gaping hole that’s going to leave in their revenue?
SPEAKER 06 :
I guess he is.
SPEAKER 03 :
He is. And I guess he didn’t hear about what happened in St. Louis where – I’m sorry, Kansas City, where they had the free buses and they became rolling homeless shelters and people stopped riding the bus because they became literally – Yep. Just rolling home the shelter. They’ve slept on the buses, urinated on the buses just to get out of the rain, the cold, and the heat.
SPEAKER 06 :
The other thing, too, and I know you and I have talked about this, but I want to make sure people also understand this and you can share some of this. When a guy like Mindami comes along and he says, you know, we’re going to have city-run grocery stores and we’re going to save people tons of money on their groceries. No way. You’re not. The markup on groceries, Joe, as you know, is very minor. So at the end of the day, because of all the other costs that come in handling the groceries, getting them in, getting them on the shelves, handling the losses that are also there because stuff is perishable, on and on we go, Joe. So I can go down the list. When it’s all said and done, there’s what, about a 1.5% to 2% margin, net profit, I should say, when it’s all said and done. So what’s he really going to save these people? 2%, 5% maybe if he’s lucky?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and, John, you’re correct. Kroger, which, of course, is King Soopers, Safeway, and Albertsons, their net profit margin, they’re all under 2%. Walmart, because they sell other stuff, comes in at 2.5%. But, by the way, the city don’t have the buying power. No, that’s right. These guys are buying, you know, if you have two, three, four.
SPEAKER 06 :
Truck loads at a time, Joe, truck loads at a time.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re not going to get the buying discounts.
SPEAKER 06 :
You don’t get Cheerios at the same price, do you?
SPEAKER 03 :
No. You’re not going to get the Cheerios at the same price. And Kansas City, same thing.
SPEAKER 06 :
They shut their – Again, as I said, I would be surprised if he can even give them a 2% savings. When it’s all said and done, it might be equal. In fact, there might be some products that cost more because of what you just said.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. And certainly with a lower selection, one of the complaints about Kansas City – is they didn’t have anywhere near the selection that your regular grocery can pick. In fact, people in Kansas City were going five miles away rather than shop at the store that was a quarter mile away. The selection was so bad, the quality was so bad.
SPEAKER 06 :
These are people that, again, this guy that was on the street, again, very sincere individual. Sincerely wrong, though, because a lot of what you and I are talking about right now, he hasn’t sat down and really thought through. And if he is, he’s probably poo-pooing things that you and I would even say, like, well, yeah, that’s not true. Those guys don’t know what they’re talking about. This is really going to save money at the end of the day. No, it’s not. No, it’s not. And one last thing I want to add to that, Joe. Have you ever seen – this is more of a question for you and even everybody else listening. Have you ever seen something government runs that’s done more efficiently than the private sector?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, and in fact, what’s the – oh, the organization that does these short videos, Prager. Prager University has a great video on the failure of government. Everything from government-run railroads to government-run factories – Go look on PragerU for government-run, the failure of government-run entities.
SPEAKER 06 :
Meaning, since they don’t run it as efficiently as a Kroger would, everything you and I are talking about just gets exacerbated. In other words, there won’t be any savings when it’s all said and done.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, absolutely not. Absolutely not.
SPEAKER 06 :
But that’s what he’s pitching everybody, and really quick, and Andy and I have talked about this, the biggest problem you’ve got there is a Republican that’s there, won’t drop out, should drop out. If he dropped out, Cuomo may very well have a chance of actually winning, but that knucklehead won’t get out of the way.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, Curtis Lee, he won’t. He’s got too big of an ego, and he’s either delusional or has a huge ego, but he’s not going to drop out, and Mondami will be the next mayor.
SPEAKER 06 :
The ego makes you delusional. Let’s say it that way, Joe.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re right. One feeds the other. A couple things real quick, John. We only have a few minutes. You’re fine. One, we all heard about in Baltimore where the AI school security system flagged a kid holding a Doritos bag. I did see.
SPEAKER 06 :
I had seen that one, yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
And eight cops showed up and pointed a gun at his head and made him go to his knees and handcuffed him with a gun pointed at his head because the AI security system alerted the Doritos bag he was holding was a gun, so that was stupid. We all know what an NGO, non-government organization, is. But they get all their money from the government. Well, in St. Louis, a woman who started a charity funded 100% by taxpayer dollars, over a three-year period she got $20 million of taxpayer funds. It was supposed to be to provide food for low-income kids. She spent $11 million of the $20 million on herself and her boyfriend. Jeez. Connie Bobo. You can look it up. Connie Bobo, B-O-B-O. A little quiz, John. We’re jumping over. I’m jumping around here. So, John, I asked a bunch of my friends, you know, of all the high school sports that your kids could play in, you know, I’m talking football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, lacrosse, tennis. What’s the safest sport that your kid can play in high school? And I think you might know the answer. Do you know the answer, John?
SPEAKER 06 :
probably shooting because nothing happens there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yep. Rifle team and trap teams. In the past 20 years, there’s been no broken bones, deaths, wounds, sprains, eye injuries, concussions. And by the way, every year there’s a national high school trap shooting meet out in Ohio somewhere, and they get like 3,500 kids are there for four days. Every kid’s carrying a shotgun, and this has been going on for years and years and years, and there’s never been any injury, accidental shootings. So the safest sport your kids can play in high school or become involved in is either get involved in the school rifle team or the school trap team if they have one. If they don’t, ask why not because it is the safest sport.
SPEAKER 06 :
It is, and it’s a lot of fun, by the way.
SPEAKER 03 :
A lot of fun, and the kids who get into it really love it.
SPEAKER 06 :
And they hone your skills. There’s all sorts of things that come from doing that.
SPEAKER 03 :
high hand coordination, respect for gun safety. You learn being polite.
SPEAKER 06 :
Reaction time, all sorts of stuff, Joe. There’s tons of advantages in doing it.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is. How much time we got, John?
SPEAKER 06 :
A couple minutes.
SPEAKER 03 :
Go ahead. California has a proposal to put in a 5% wealth tax that would kick in next year, and they would make it retroactive to this year. Well, if you’re a guy like Larry Ellison that has 400 million of wealth, you know, that’s the value of the stock he owns. And he’s the founder of Oracle, by the way. But he’s 81 now. So, yeah, he sits on the board of directors. But you’re Larry Ellison, and they want 5%. John, that would be $20 billion a year. If you were Larry Ellison, would you stay in California?
SPEAKER 06 :
No, you’d leave.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’d leave. And then you’ve got guys like Mark Zuckerberg who are there and the guys who are head of Google, which I believe is Alphabet. They’re all billionaires. None of them are going to stay in California. So this gets back to Mondami wanting to double the tax on billionaires.
SPEAKER 05 :
People just leave.
SPEAKER 03 :
They’re just going to leave. But knowing California, it’s going to be a ballot measure. So even if there were cooler heads in the state legislature, I’m sure the idiots in California are probably going to vote this thing in. And they’ve already lost. Elon Musk, and they’ve already been, they’ve lost Chevron, they’ve lost Tesla.
SPEAKER 06 :
Owner of In-N-Out and so on.
SPEAKER 03 :
In-N-Out Burger. So I think if this ballot measure passes next year, and again, they want to make it retroactive to 2025, which I don’t even know if that’s legal to make a tax levy retroactive to the prior year. But I suspect, now don’t get me wrong, I think like Mark Zuckerberg will still be head of Meta, but he’ll establish a corporate office outside of it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Go put it somewhere else.
SPEAKER 03 :
Go put it out. He doesn’t even have to move the entire, all he has to do is move his office somewhere else.
SPEAKER 06 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 03 :
And the same thing with the guys at Google. That’s what they’ll do. Just drive it out. That’s right.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s what they’ll do.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s going to be an interesting year.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. Joe, as always, appreciate you.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, John, talk to you next week.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 06 :
And we are back, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Steve Altschuler joining us now. Steve, welcome back. How are you?
SPEAKER 20 :
I’m doing great, thanks, John. How are you doing?
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m doing good. I appreciate you taking time for us. You’re running for city council in Longmont. We’ve talked to you before. Tell us how things are going.
SPEAKER 20 :
You know, from what people are telling me, I think they’re going really, really well. Okay. In the last couple of weeks, I had more and more people telling me they feel very sure that I’m going to win one of the seats. And a couple of days ago, One person that’s even one of the liberals said that the liberal party feels I’m going to win one of the seats.
SPEAKER 06 :
Interesting. Well, that’s good. That’s what we need.
SPEAKER 20 :
That’s exciting.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, no, it is. You know my background and where I grew up, and grew up not far from Longmont, spent a lot of time over there as a kid, and even periodically still go back over that direction. It’s changed a lot since I was a young man, of course, Steve, and some of those changes, not so good.
SPEAKER 20 :
You know, that’s one of the many drums that I keep beating. And about three years ago, Longmont City Council did a survey, and the majority of people that responded said that their top complaints about Longmont were traffic, crime, and homelessness.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 20 :
And since then, all they’ve done is build more and more. Yep. They’re allowing all the homeless people to panhandle on every street corner.
SPEAKER 06 :
I noticed that when I drove through there just a couple weeks ago, by the way.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah. Yeah. And I just keep pounding those drums. And it’s at least an 80, if not a 90% issue, because everyone I talk to seems to agree with me. They’re tired of the traffic, and all Longmont wants to do is keep building.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and if Longmont’s like – here’s my other complaint with cities because I encounter this at times. If Longmont’s like some of the other cities up and down the Front Range, if you’re a property owner and somehow the homeless end up on your property and they leave behind a mess or whatever the case may be, it’s now your obligation – for all of you listening, yes, this is how this works. It’s your obligation as a property owner now to clean up the mess that they leave behind at your own expense – And it doesn’t matter how much whining and complaining to the city you do or to the police department you do, it’s still your problem, Steve, which is absolutely an atrocity.
SPEAKER 20 :
Again, I agree a thousand percent, and I’ve had multiple businesses from North Longmont, you know, they have to keep their bathrooms locked because people go in there and they are either shooting up drugs or just making a mess for the heck of it. And a lot of them have told me how badly it’s affected their sales because they’re right in front of their businesses and it’s in effect, chasing the customers away because people don’t want to.
SPEAKER 06 :
And nobody wants to be around that, Steve. No, no, they are, you know, I feel sorry for these people because I know exactly what they’re going through. I can relate full well to that. And my complaint and one of the things I continue to tell some of the cities up and down the front range, you know, personally is, why is this my problem as a landowner when you’ve created this? You’re now passing the buck to me when you won’t deal with this on your own. It’s not fair in what you’re doing.
SPEAKER 20 :
And it kind of crosses right over with the shop listing that’s going on. And I’ve had a lot of people, and again, businesses tell me, you know, I think, wasn’t it Polis a couple years back? Yeah, California did something similar to that.
SPEAKER 06 :
I don’t know exactly what it is in Colorado. But point being, there’s a certain amount you can steal, and it’s really not punishable at all. I mean, it’s a slap on the hand, Steve. Merchants don’t even mess with it is the problem.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, that is the problem because the more people steal and get away with it, the more they steal the next time and tell their friends.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s exactly right. 100% correct. So a question for you. These things that we’re talking about, what are you telling people your solution is? If you get elected to city council, what’s your solution for some of this?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, I try to be careful. I have ideas on how to make the problems more manageable. I try not to say I’m going to solve it 100% because… No one in America has solved homelessness 100%.
SPEAKER 06 :
And by the way, I think that’s a very – I believe that’s a wise approach, by the way. Furthermore, you’re not in charge of everything that happens in the city. You’ll be one seat on council. You’ll have a voice. But again, you’ll have to have other people that have to go along with whatever an idea is that you even present. So I think it’s admirable to not say you have a complete fix because, frankly, you don’t.
SPEAKER 20 :
And what I try to say is I can chip away at the problem 10% over here and 10% over there.
SPEAKER 06 :
Great point.
SPEAKER 20 :
And hopefully make it better. I don’t know if I mentioned this to you before, but there’s two places. One is Coronado, California. They did this two years ago. And Commerce City outside of Denver did this a year ago. Both city councils voted to have their police pick up the homeless people that they see and give the person a choice to either go in and get a mental assessment or be taken to the edge of town and leave. And then the ones that have the mental assessment, they’re told what they, what will be done to help them. And if they say, great, I would love some help. Then they’re helped. If they say, no, I don’t want any help. I just want to be back out on the street. then they release them out of the edge of town again.
SPEAKER 06 :
Great idea. I’m all for that. I mean, something, Steve, has to be done by not just Longmont, but Loveland, Fort Collins, Boulder. I mean, I can go down the list, Steve. Every city around. I mean, I’m over in the Golden Arvada area. I mean, it’s everywhere, Steve, and every city needs to take the same approach.
SPEAKER 20 :
And believe me, I take a fair amount of flack for saying these things. But I’m hoping that there are no common sense people.
SPEAKER 06 :
And this is what I would say if I were you and I had some flack coming back to me along these lines, I would be saying, you know what, it’s the most humane thing I can do to actually help the homeless. I’m giving them a choice. a solution, if you would, on how to get better and get off the street. If they’d like to have a mental assessment and there’s things they need along those lines, we’re more than willing to help them through various means to get that done and help them get back on their feet. But on the same token, if they just want to keep doing what they’re doing, we’re going to put them on the edge of town because guess what? They made their own choice.
SPEAKER 20 :
And if they find out that no town will put up with them anymore, then they’ll have another choice of changing their attitude.
SPEAKER 06 :
change attitude or change states. I mean, at the end of the day, Steve, if up and down this whole front range, it gets to be that way. They’ll have to learn, you know, maybe Colorado isn’t the place for me.
SPEAKER 20 :
And that would definitely help a lot of businesses in Colorado.
SPEAKER 06 :
Correct. And, again, I am not against the homeless per se, but I’m against the lifestyle choices, Steve, that a lot of them make. I get it. There are some mental things that are going on with some that are homeless, and I fully understand it, and those are the ones we truly should be helping. I also know there are a certain percentage, and I don’t know what that number is. I bet it’s at least half. That love the lifestyle and that’s what they want to continue to live because there’s no accountability, Steve. They don’t have to do the same things you and I do to live life.
SPEAKER 20 :
And I used to go down with my wife and daughter and feed the homeless for about five years. And I got fed up with it because year after year after year I’d see the same people, often very college educated. Yep. And they would just tell me, I just don’t want a house. I don’t want a car. I don’t want responsibilities. Yep. I can come here and get food or go there and get clothes.
SPEAKER 06 :
Steve, that last word, that’s the key. I don’t want those responsibilities. I want to be free. Again, this is, by the way, a very selfish decision on their part because most of them have extended family and people that do care for them and love them and don’t want them to live on the street. But they’ve made this decision because, frankly, they’re selfish themselves. I don’t want to be accountable to anyone. I want to live my own life, so I’m going to go on the streets.
SPEAKER 20 :
And it’s the same thing with the homeless. You know, we’re giving them meals, we’re giving them socks and sometimes a sleeping bag, but we’re just making them more comfortable to be homeless.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 20 :
We’re not actually helping the situation.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. You are spot on.
SPEAKER 20 :
And with that, I’ll transgress to another problem Longmont and every other city has is finding a way to support lower income people. Longmont has been building a lot of 300 unit apartment buildings. Most of them are providing subsidized housing for people that aren’t making enough money to rent their own place. The problem is if you’re, I don’t know the number cause it’s like 30% of your income. If rent is more than that, then the city will subsidize. But once you get in that program, you can be in that program for the next 50 years.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right, forever.
SPEAKER 20 :
So all we’re doing is helping people stay poor. That’s right. We’re not helping them pull themselves up.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and this is hard for you to say running for office, but I can say it. Steve, that’s Marxism at its core. That’s what Marxists want, is they want the thumb of government upon those that, frankly, are less fortunate because they know they can control them by doing so. That’s really at the crux of all of that. Now, there’s a lot of folks in government councils and so on that maybe don’t look at it exactly the way I said, but… But let me tell you what, at the end of the day, that is the result, and that’s exactly what happens.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah. So since you used to live in Longmont, I will tell you that a couple weeks ago, the city council just increased the budget for 2026 by $60 million over the year before. Wow. It’s the second year in a row they’ve increased the budget by 13%.
SPEAKER 06 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 20 :
And I went up to city council and spoke before they voted on this, and I said, We don’t know anybody else that’s had a 13% raise two years in a row. And I tried to explain that the more you increase the city budget, you are actually taking money out of circulation. So then people have less money. They don’t go shopping as much. The businesses end up with less sales. They have to fire people so you have more unemployment. They’re not business people. They just don’t get it. It’s very frustrating.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, they don’t. And, by the way, I appreciate what you’re saying because most, to your point, have never written a paycheck. They don’t understand how some of these things work, and I’m glad you’re up there doing what you’re doing. Got to get you elected. So how do folks help you do that, Steve?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, I’ll tell you. The biggest thing is in four days I need conservatives to get out there and vote for me. Okay. They’ve only had a little sampling of my ideas, but they can already get it from the way I’m speaking with you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 20 :
If you’re tired of the traffic and you’re tired of all the buildings and you’re tired of subsidizing other people’s rent, and also we end up being taxed to cover their portion of police, fire, road maintenance, and even schools because the cities do not pay property taxes on their own buildings.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re right.
SPEAKER 1 :
100%.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re correct.
SPEAKER 20 :
So, you know, A, vote for me. B, tell your family and friends. My website is www.steve4longmont. I’m always asking people to go on there, look me up. I’ve got my positions on every issue that I can think of. One thing that just came up a couple days ago is the airport. And I think this council and the last three or four councils have been working to try to bring the airport down so they can justify closing the airports and ultimately fill the airport up with high-rise apartment buildings.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yep. I just drove by that two weeks ago. Yep, I would believe exactly what you just said. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 20 :
And then you get 50,000 more people living in Longmont.
SPEAKER 06 :
Correct, which makes everything even worse.
SPEAKER 20 :
Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yep, 100%. All right, what’s the website folks can go to, Steve?
SPEAKER 20 :
www.steve4longmont.com.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Is it F-O-R or the number 4?
SPEAKER 20 :
The number 4, thank you.
SPEAKER 06 :
The number 4. All right. Steve, I appreciate it. Best of luck. Let us know how things go here. I know things are coming to a head on Tuesday.
SPEAKER 20 :
I’ll give you a shout next Wednesday and let you know whatever I know.
SPEAKER 06 :
Appreciate you, Steve, very much. Have a great evening.
SPEAKER 20 :
Thank you, John.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 18 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
The best export we have is Common Sense. You’re listening to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, and just when you think things couldn’t get much worse, Colorado lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee, the JBC, approved two emergency budget measures today, by the way, to help sustain food access programs. In other words, they’re going to supplement SNAP and WIC. Because unless they get a deal made here by tonight, which doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, there won’t be November payments going out when it comes to SNAP and some of those potential programs. We’ve been talking about some of that this week. And $10 million, which, again, keep in mind, Colorado’s already on a budget shortfall as is. I don’t know where this $10 million is coming from. It’s fungible. So at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what fund they take it from. It’s still taking out from the overall budget. When it’s all said and done, no matter what a politician tells you, all budget money like this is fungible. And SNAP, by the way, in Colorado, which I had no idea the number was this high. I should have looked it up. 600,000 Coloradans are on SNAP. Far too many. Far too many, by the way. That’s actually ridiculous. No reason for that whatsoever. And I’ve given all of you different ideas and means and ways to where you can actually handle these things if you’re somebody that’s in that particular predicament. There’s ways to get out of that. The problem is – and Steve said it a moment ago – when we feed these problems – Joe said it as well – when we feed these problems – These are the results that you get. We make it easy. These are the results, which, as I explained to Steve a moment ago, that’s Marxism, folks, in and of itself. Now, I get it. Some people that are out there that are a part of these programs that are administering some of the food and so on, I’m not saying that they’re directly Marxist, but they are participating in a Marxist program. Period. Period. And you can’t deny that, because at the end of the day, it keeps people on these programs indefinitely because there’s no incentive to get away from it. Absolutely no incentive to get away from it. All right, I’ve got to take another break, get things caught up here, because we went long with the last two guests. Golden Eagle Financial coming up next. Al Smith, make sure you’re dialed in when it comes to your finances, by the way, so you don’t end up on Snap yourself. And I mean that sincerely. Talk to Al today. Find him at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 16 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
It’s time to leave your safe space. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, in a political move that was made today, Attorney General Phil Weiser, which he is running for governor on the Democrat side as well, against Michael Bennett. There’ll be a primary most likely between those two. I doubt there will be anybody else in that particular primary. I doubt very seriously whether Phil has a chance of winning against Michael Bennett. I guess we’ll see as time goes by. But he filed a lawsuit today on behalf of the state of Colorado for the relocation of U.S. Space Command. Because Trump, you know, here a few months ago said that because of – Actually, not because of, but it’s a factor in his decision to do that was the mail-in voting system that we have here in Colorado. You know, according to Trump, it’s very corrupt and has problems, and it does. We’ve talked about some of those things here on our program. I will tell you that it’s not the reason why Republicans don’t win in Colorado. Do I like the system, and do I think we should have actual in-person voting with IDs? Absolutely. But do I think that the mail-in voting system is why we lose in Colorado? No. No. I do think there’s enough people here in Colorado that are on the GOP side that are probably convinced Trump that that’s the case. But frankly, that is far from the truth. That’s not the point of the story. Point of the story is that Weiser and his team are suing because they say it’s unconstitutional. Now, I don’t know if… It is or isn’t. I think the president has the ability to put certain, quote unquote, commands wherever he decides to. He had decided on Alabama actually during his first term. Biden came along afterwards because of, by the way, lobbying from the likes of Governor Polis and others. They went ahead and decided to keep it here in Colorado. And now Trump has decided to move it to Alabama instead, meaning that now Weiser and his team are are going to sue to keep it here. Frankly, this is a waste of money, taxpayer money, because they’re on the taxpayer payroll. This is also nothing more than a move on Weiser’s part, politically speaking, for the campaign trail next year, where whether he wins or loses, it will still be his thing to run on to be able to say, you know, look at all these things we sued the Trump administration over. Look at what we just did to try to keep Space Command, you know, Space Force here in Colorado. Look at what I’m doing for you, the average taxpayer of Colorado. That’s what Weiser is going to say, by the way. This is a political move on – it’s a stunt, if you would, on his side. Nothing more, nothing less. I think that he full well knows. Well, you know, I shouldn’t say this because I say it all the time and I mean it. He’s never tried a case in court, probably still hasn’t. Everything that we talk about, even in these situations, he’s got his lemmings to do the work. He doesn’t show up in court and do these things. He’s got lemmings that do it. I don’t know that Phil’s ever been in a courtroom to try a case, ever. And by the way, if you’re on the left and you can prove that he has, I’d love to know because I don’t think he ever has. To this day, I don’t think he ever has. So that’s something that, by the way, if I were Michael Bennett, I’d be asking on the campaign trail, you know, you’re the attorney general, but you’ve never tried a case, have you? And yet you want to be governor. Again, Phil has a long shot, a very long shot at being governor, if you ask me. But again, whoever’s advising him of this, I can’t say they’re wrong. This is a pretty good move, politically speaking, on his part, because he’s using the taxpayer dollars to gain some credibility on the campaign trail. He’s doing this for free, only it’s on your dime, not his. So he’s not spending any money. It’s free on his side, but we taxpayers are going to flip the bill for his campaign trail thing that he’s doing. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that, by the way. This is simply a move for him on the campaign trail. All right, tomorrow, Andy’s going to have three movies. Bugonia, I think I’m saying that right, or Bugonia? I don’t know. I’m sure I’m saying that wrong. Charlie and I don’t know. It’s a movie. Stitch Head and Violent Ends will have NFL picks, of course, at the top of the 2 o’clock hour. The movie rentals tomorrow because of Halloween, which this is the one I struggle the most with, so some of you need to help me out by texting me some of your favorite scary movies because that’s a genre tomorrow is scary movies. Guys, have a great night. Be safe out there. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
Bye.
