The episode shifts gears as Golden Eagle Financial joins in to discuss strategic financial planning against the backdrop of ever-evolving tax laws. Here, listeners gain valuable tips on optimizing retirement accounts and reducing future tax burdens, proving financial wisdom isn’t reserved for the wealthy alone. Before signing off, John probes an intriguing social topic: travel etiquette. Is there ever a right time to give up your seat on a plane? It’s a discussion that’s sure to resonate with frequent flyers and occasional travelers alike.
SPEAKER 11 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 05 :
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 11 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 05 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did! Get a job done! You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 16 :
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 05 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush, presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Joe, what’s going on, sir?
SPEAKER 06 :
John, I want to expand upon what Richard was talking about in the last hour. But before I go there, has anybody mentioned that this whole incident on Pearl Street Mall could have been avoided if the Boulder City Council had simply declared the Paul Pearl Street Mall to be a flamethrower-free zone?
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, we talked about that a little bit at 3 when I came in about how, you know, if this had been a shooting, of course, Joe, that’s all you’d be hearing today is, you know, guns bad, guns bad, guns bad, but now something like this happens, and of course nothing’s being mentioned about that side of things at all. And I’m not trying to minimize what happened by any means, Joe, but it’s just ironic.
SPEAKER 06 :
But if they had declared it to be a flamethrower-free zone, wouldn’t that have prevented this guy from doing what he did? Yeah, sure would have. Isn’t that how it works?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. Going back to Richard’s comments on cutting government spending, you know, Rand Paul was on, I think, Face the Nation yesterday. And, you know, he’s pointing out, even with all the cuts, with the growth in the military budget and the growth in the interest on the national debt, that these cuts are going to be – changing the government spending down. It’s somewhere in the third or fourth decimal points. It’s still going to be seven point something, something. You don’t even, you know, it’s, my father used to say, it’s a fart in a gala wind. In order for us to get down anything close to a balanced budget, it’s going to take some radical, I mean, radical changes. And by radical changes, picture this. Someday we get 60 votes in the Senate and And we pass a bill that says, hey, the federal government is no longer in the business of ensuring that the citizens of your state are fed, housed, or have adequate medical care. That’s up to your state’s rights. And you have a year to figure out how you’re going to do it. But a year from now, we’re not going to have Medicaid. We’re not going to have Section 8 housing. We’re not going to have SNAP. We’re not going to have Meals on Wheels. We’re not going to have home eating assistance. It’s all on you. And that’s the only way you’re going to get there, John. Medicaid is almost a trillion dollars a year, and all these other programs, you can’t get there by snipping $50 billion here. But when people say, well, they’re going to cut Medicaid by $880 billion, that’s over 10 years, John. That’s only $88 billion a year.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s not enough. I’m not going to do anything.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s not enough. So you literally have to just stop doing some of this stuff.
SPEAKER 09 :
Correct. Yeah, like Richard said, you look at between what you’re talking about and your Social Security is a whole other topic. We didn’t even get into that. You and I have talked about that in the past, so no sense even going there because we’ve already covered that. But between… You know, your comments on Medicaid, we start talking about some of the spending even that’s going on inside of Medicare. You had the defense into that and then the national debt. I mean, Joe, you could cut all sorts of other things, and we should, by the way. I’m not saying we shouldn’t, but we should. But the reality is some of the high-end things you and I just mentioned, if we don’t start fixing some of those, and by the way, the Fed itself could start saving us money on the national debt tomorrow if they just cut rates, but they’re not going to.
SPEAKER 06 :
They’re not going to. And by the way, I think because of how they’re administered through payroll taxes, I think Social Security and Medicare would be the only two social welfare programs I think the federal government should keep. Everything else should go. But here’s what I would see happening. So let’s say you pass a bill and you tell the states, you know, 18 months from today, we’re going to stop funding these programs. So if you want to provide medical care, you want to provide housing, you want to provide free school lunches, you want to provide – It’s on you. Now, I would love to see what happens, how the states, the legislature, and the governors. Now, in some states, they could just, without voter approval, just pass taxes to do it, you know, raise the state income tax.
SPEAKER 09 :
Keep it going on their own and so on.
SPEAKER 06 :
But can you imagine if they put these things on a ballot, say, you know, fund state Medicaid program, you know, raise our state income tax from 4.5% to 6%. And you have a ballot measure. Do you think ballot measures like that would pass?
SPEAKER 09 :
Nope. Not a chance, Joe. And what if they put on the ballot… I don’t care what state you’re in, by the way.
SPEAKER 06 :
Not going to pass. Not going to pass. And then, you know, Section 8 housing, we’re going to increase the sales tax from… 6.3% to 6.7%. You think that would pass?
SPEAKER 09 :
Some. Yeah, you know, that’s one, Joe, depending upon the city that you’re in, because sales taxes are all done, you know, city by city. Yeah, there are some cities that would go for that, absolutely. Yes. Unfortunately, yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
But a sales tax is a combination of county… State sales tax, no.
SPEAKER 09 :
If it were a city sales tax, yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, but again, if it was a state ballot measure that says, hey, because a portion of every sales tax goes to the state.
SPEAKER 09 :
No, it wouldn’t in that case, no.
SPEAKER 06 :
So what would happen if all of these social welfare programs, again, Medicaid, Section 8 housing, food stamps, heating assistance, were all put on the ballot for votes? How many of those do you think would pass in how many states?
SPEAKER 09 :
Very few, period, across the board, even states like California. Yep. In other words, when the average… citizen of a state would be required to start paying that on their own because again joe as i said last week i can’t remember what guest i had on we were talking about some of these particular topics and the reality is when we’ve got a a solid 45 to 50 plus percent not quite 50 but it’s getting close to that uh net tax receivers not net taxpayers that’s the problem we have
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly, because 47% of the population— Doesn’t pay any taxes, any income taxes. And a huge percentage of that 47% are actually net tax receivers.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 06 :
The only reason they file a tax return— Because they have to. —is to get the net—no, they get the net refund.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, that’s true, too. Yeah, yeah, that’s right. Exactly. They get their portion of the dole back.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. And by the way, here’s how ridiculous—if you’re a family of four and you’ve got two kids under 17 and you have a household income of $62,000— Do you realize you’re a net tax receiver? When you file your tax return, you get back more than every penny that was withheld from your paycheck. Correct. So you’re paying less than zero. You get $62,000 a year, two kids, you’re paying less than zero.
SPEAKER 09 :
And that’s another lie by the left, Joe, that talks about the Trump tax cuts and how it really affected the poor and the middle income and so on. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and they lie right through their teeth.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. And I’ve got the math, by the way. Under the Obama plan— Obama tax plan, that family of four with 62,000 income was paying around $2,000 a year in federal income taxes. The Trump tax plan cut that to negative $180.
SPEAKER 09 :
Meaning they got that money back.
SPEAKER 06 :
They got the $2,000 away, plus they got $180 bonus on top of it.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 06 :
So they got more than a 100% reduction in in their federal income taxes under the Trump tax plan.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep. And again, Joe, you won’t hear that coming from the left because they literally lie about that continually.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, they’ll tell you that it all went to the wealthy and the middle class got screwed.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, their exact words are Trump and his buddies in their tax cuts. The billionaire tax club benefit basically is what they talk about. Nothing could be further from the truth.
SPEAKER 06 :
Nothing could be further from the truth. And by the way, the Trump tax plan is continuing to generate new all-time record high tax revenues. And this projection of a $3.8 trillion 10-year cost, that again is based on the same flawed static forecasting model, which is, you know, the first tax cut they said was going to cost $1.9 trillion over 10 years. And the reason they came up with, and that has proven to be laughably false, and the reason it turned out to be false is that the Congressional Budget Office is required to use something called a static forecasting model, which does not permit them to assume any increase in economic activity and the associated increase in tax revenues that would result from putting more money into work of private citizens. So that’s why instead of reducing tax revenues, the Trump tax plan is, again, setting new record highs. And the same thing with this 3.10-year, 3.8 trillion forecast. It’s based on a static model that says, hey, you know, it’ll have no impact on the economy. And going back to the old Obama plan won’t have any negative effect on the economy. We all know that it did. Last year, the Obama tax plan tax revenues were increasing at a pathetic rate of less than 3.2 percent per year.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, no, you’re right. They don’t take any of that into consideration. They don’t take any other cuts into consideration. And I don’t know how they figure the interest on the debt, but my gut feeling is that’s probably a higher number than what it actually could end up being, depending upon economic growth and what the Fed does. So, again, all of those things come into play, Joe, which, to your point, it’s all static figures. Rarely, and I’m glad you said this because I wanted to mention this this week as well, rarely do their models come out to be exact.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, in fact, in the case of the last model, it predicted the exact opposite of what happened. They said it was going to cost roughly $190 billion a year, and here we are blowing past even what the Obama tax plan would have generated. By the way, the Trump corporate tax cuts cut the rate by 40% from 35% to 21%. Do you know that corporate tax revenues are also at a new record high, up almost 50%? from the last year, from prior to the implementation. So you cut corporate tax rates by 40%, and you get a revenue increase of 50%.
SPEAKER 09 :
Which, and I’ve said numerous times, I was talking to somebody the other day about this, and they agreed with me wholeheartedly. They’d never thought about it before, but once I explained it, they agreed wholeheartedly. Corporations don’t pay taxes anyways. Their customers do.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yep. Every corporation has to have a minimum return on assets tax. and they just can’t absorb. No, they don’t absorb any of it.
SPEAKER 09 :
They pass it on, Joe.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. And by the way, when a corporation does make more profits and they do a distribution, a dividend distribution, the recipients of those dividends have to pay taxes on those dividends, and typically the rate they pay on those dividend distributions is higher than what the corporation would have paid. In fact, That gets taxed twice because dividends are paid with out of after-tax revenues. So if a corporation has a dollar in profit, first they give 21% to the federal government, and then if they distribute that remaining 79 cents to their shareholders, the people getting the 79 cents, pay another 23% on the 79th set. So the government made 45% on that dollar of profit.
SPEAKER 09 :
Really quick, Joe, before you go, because this is another sore subject for me that no one in media is talking about, and that is some of the tariffs and, again, how those end up shaking out. I’m not sure exactly. We’ll see how it ends up in the court system and so on. But the one thing that tariffs do, and I want everybody to hear me on this because you could repeat this over and over again because nobody in the media – will repeat this. So, Joe, let’s take, for example, Walmart, whereby those are the type of corporations, frankly, that will see and have probably more effect on tariffs than, say, other types of larger corporations. In other words, if you’re a corporation that is is not selling a lot of widgets from China. You’re not importing a lot of things from China. You’re not going to be as impacted as, say, a Walmart where a lot of the clothing and toys and shoes and so on is probably coming from China, and in some cases might even be under the quote-unquote Walmart brand when it’s all said and done. And I’m not wrong in what I’m saying because that’s where a lot of those products come from. So here’s my point, Joe. While those products from their cost might go up, say, I don’t know, depending upon how the tariff ends up shaking out, 30% to 50% to 100%, let’s say, at the end of the day, yes, that will raise the price of some of those goods. Now, hear me out, Joe. In the end, and this is not because of, you know, how should I say this? It’s because of where you and I shop, let’s just say it that way. Those don’t have as big of an impact upon you and I as other types of individuals that do shop at Walmart on an ongoing basis. And not trying to be rude here, but most of the people shopping at Walmart are the people you described earlier who probably aren’t paying any income taxes when it’s all said and done. So when it’s all said and done, all these tariffs really do at the end of the day, Joe, is level the playing field because now some people start paying their fair share because those tariffs go back into the coffers.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, they’re going to finally start to be tax contributors in some small way.
SPEAKER 09 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 06 :
By virtue of what they’re buying.
SPEAKER 09 :
Not in a large way, but in a very small way, they’ll contribute where they haven’t been.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, by virtue of the tariff to goods they’re buying. And one other thing that’s going to fix, and we talked about this a couple weeks ago, you know, the Japanese car companies and the South Korean, they’re each selling about $50 billion worth of automobiles in this country a year. And they’re all doing that through U.S. subsidiaries. They pay no taxes on that whatsoever.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
They pay no taxes on that whatsoever because they build those cars with engines and transmissions. They literally, on paper, they literally buy those engines and transmissions from the parent company in Japan or South Korea, and the parent company sets the transfer price high enough so that the U.S. subsidiary only makes enough money to cover its own operating overhead. So if you add up $50 billion from Kia, $50 billion from Hyundai, $50 billion from Nissan, et cetera, You’re talking $300 billion, $400 billion worth of car sales, and that $1 of U.S. taxes are being paid. By tariffing, by putting tariffs on those engines and transmissions, we’re finally going to start to see some tax revenues from all of those foreign car companies selling $300 billion worth of cars.
SPEAKER 09 :
Great point. Great point. Joe, as always, appreciate you very much. My pleasure, John. All right, man, have a great rest of your day. Goldeningo Financial coming up next. Al did a great interview the other day. Stay tuned. We’ll be back right after that.
SPEAKER 18 :
Al Smith from Golden Eagle Financial and the show you love, Retirement Unpacked, is here with me. How are you today, Al? I’m doing great. How are you, TJ? I’m doing great as well. I have a couple questions for you. As a financial advisor, do you also do taxes?
SPEAKER 17 :
No, I don’t prepare my clients’ taxes. I do, however, spend a lot of time talking to them about taxes. To use a sports analogy, tax preparation is like doing a recap of the game. What I do is more like creating a game plan and then following up over time to see how it’s working.
SPEAKER 18 :
And how much are taxes a part of that game plan that you create?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, with so many different taxes we’re faced with, it becomes an important thing to take into consideration. It’s not how much income you have, but how much you get to keep. In addition to federal and state income taxes, there’s property taxes, state and local sales tax, and fees. And they all play a part in shrinking our income.
SPEAKER 18 :
What about people who already have really healthy balances in 401ks, IRAs? Won’t they be facing significant taxes as they draw income from those accounts?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, it depends. Everybody’s situation’s a little bit different. There’s no one size that fits all when it comes to tax planning. But often when I work with people, we’ll create a strategy where we will convert traditional IRAs to Roth over time. And that not only reduces taxes in the future, but it will also lower the tax they’ll be paying on their Social Security.
SPEAKER 18 :
Is that kind of strategy really only for the wealthy?
SPEAKER 17 :
Not at all. Many of my clients who have modest IRAs have chosen to convert to Roth over time. They enjoy the freedom of having a tax-free nest egg that they can access on their own timeline rather than an RMD schedule.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, that is excellent. And how can people reach you if they want to learn about their own taxation in retirement?
SPEAKER 17 :
You can reach me through KLZ or contact my office at 303-744-1128. And when you call, I’ll provide you with a summary of all the tax changes for 2025.
SPEAKER 18 :
You heard it here, folks. Good things from Golden Eagle Financial and Al Smith. Again, you can reach them at 303-744-1128 or just find them on the advertisers page at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 19 :
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC. A registered investment advisor. BCM and Golden Eagle Financial Limited are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Okay, something that I would love to get your opinion on. I’m going to get off of politics here for just a moment, because this is a subject that I see occasionally, and some of you travel, some don’t. Some travel, you know, more than others. Some travel a lot. Depends on what you do for your job. Depends on what you do for vacations and so on. I’m on a plane, I don’t know, once every, I don’t know, eight to ten weeks or so, depending upon, you know, what I do, where I go, what’s going on, even for the show and different things. And, yes, I go to some auctions and do some different things along those lines. Just depends on the time of the year and so on. But I’m on a plane, you know, probably throughout the year, I don’t know, eight times or so. Just depends. And one thing that I’ve seen come up on some of the different forums and things that I belong to is a subject that sometimes you’re affected by, some of you may never be affected by. And that is… Is there ever a time when you should give up your seat on the plane? So, for example, you’ve booked your seat in advance, and you’ve got that seat, and in some cases you pick that seat for whatever reason. I happen to be an aisle seat guy. I never sit in the middle. I never sit in a window. If I can at all ever keep from doing so, I’m an aisle guy, and part of that is because I have a small bladder and I want to use the restroom, and I’m not going to climb over people to do so. I know Charlie said too much information, but it is what it is. Yeah, when we went on road trips with the kids and so on, it wasn’t ever them having to be, you had to worry about stopping to use the restroom. It was me because it’s just me, and I drink a lot of water. It’s just what I do. So I’m one that I want an aisle seat only. I’m not sitting anywhere else if I can keep from doing so. But there’s this trend, maybe, I guess I could call it, I don’t know if it’s a trend or if it’s just things that happen at times, whereby depending upon when somebody planned ahead and when they booked that particular flight, they may not have seats together. Could be a couple, could be mom, dad with the kids. It just depends. It can be all sorts of variations of people that want to sit together for whatever reason. And so what they will do is they’ll get on the airplane. And if, you know, you maybe have an aisle seat in one area or you’ve got a window seat and all of a sudden, you know, somebody else, depending upon the scenario, like I said a moment ago, they want to sit where you are. They may tap you on the shoulder and ask you to switch seats. And what I’ve been reading in some of these forums is depending upon the plane and fellow passengers, you may be criticized for not giving up your seat, even though, keep in mind, you went ahead and went online in some cases early, got your seat, got it picked and so on. And now you’re being asked to give up that seat. And in some cases, because you don’t, you’re now going to be looked down upon by a lot of the fellow passengers around, not the entire plane, because not the entire plane can see that, but at least the surrounding three or four rows will see that. Oh, and Charlie said, yeah, and online. Thank you, Charlie, for that. Yes, that could go. You could have a video taken of you and go online and so on because you’re not, quote unquote, giving up your seat. Now, here’s where I come. You’re probably all going to already know what I’m going to say on this. Here’s where I come into play. My feelings on this. If it’s a elderly situation where you can just tell whatever reason, they maybe did their best to try to get things booked and so on, and they can’t sit together, and it would be in their best interest if they were together, that is one of those particular situations where I would probably get up and give my seat. I’ve had other situations where in the past you could see that there was a parent and a child and they were maybe even a few rows apart and they wanted to be together. And yes, when you’re traveling with your child, you’d like to be together for obvious reasons. That is another that’s another situation. As long as I can go get a similar seat, I’ll go ahead and move for them. Now, I’m not going to go take an aisle seat and a middle seat and do that for anybody. Sorry. I want like for like. I’m not downgrading is my point. And I’m definitely not going to go get shoved in a window, and I’m not going to do it for a couple. I’ll just tell you. I’m going to tell you straight up. I’m not moving for a couple, period, at all. Unless you’re elderly or you’ve got a small child, and I’m not even going to do it for a teenager. I had a situation a while back, my wife and I did, where somebody wanted to switch and there was a fairly, fairly older child, 14, 15 years of age. And mom or dad, I can’t remember what the scenario is now, wanted to sit with them and nobody on the plane would let them switch. And this guy got all bent out of shape. And I’m thinking to myself, pal, your kid’s old enough. He probably didn’t want to sit by you in the first place anyways. Who cares? He’s probably just fine on his own. And actually, you could tell by looking at the kid that he was fine on his own. Dad was making a big deal. I think it was a dad in this case. Dad was making a big deal for nothing. The kid was fine. So those are situations where I’m not switching. If you wanted a seat together, you should have planned ahead. And maybe you couldn’t. Maybe I get it. Sometimes things happen, funerals, things like that. You got to hop on the plane. I get that. But keep in mind, that plane isn’t yours. You’re at the mercy of everybody else that you’re now traveling with, even though you had to make your late booking. And there are maybe times where somebody will accommodate you and allow you to sit together. But I’m not one that says that should be the norm and that you should expect that when you climb onto the plane. But I will tell you that there is a lot of people. that think that they should be able to climb on the plane and sit together, and I’m not one of those. So I happen to be one of those people where if you didn’t plan ahead, especially if you’re just a regular married couple, I’m sorry. If you’re just a regular married couple, best of luck to you. I’m not giving my seat up. You’re on your own. And there have been times in the past where even my wife and I, we were getting on a plane and we didn’t have seats together. And we’ve had people that have been kind enough to say, you know, I can move one seat and switch and it’s not a problem. And again, it’s like for like. So typically that’s somebody giving up an aisle seat for me to sit back in another aisle seat. And it’s all good at the end of the day. My wife’s very kind. She always sits in the middle. Bless her, because I would never do that. But she’s half my size. So it works out fairly well. And again, at the end of the day, this is one of those things that’s getting to be a bigger and bigger topic as planes become fuller and fuller, which they are because they’ve cut routes or doing their best to try to make money and so on. As planes become fuller and fuller, and as one airline goes to assign seating next year that doesn’t have it now, it’s going to become even a bigger deal because there’s going to be expectations that, oh, I could only book such and such seat, but we want to sit together. And I can already see the fights that will ensue here on down the road because some of these people have been used to open seating where they can just climb on, get two or three seats together, and it’s no big deal. Those days are ending. And unless you get your booking in in advance, you’re not going to have those seats together. So, again, my question just is, would you give up or should you give up your seat on the plane? And some of you can text me and some of you are. I’ll try to read those here at the break. I’m just one that I’m sorry I booked. Typically for me, I book things fairly early. I’m one of those because of my schedule here and so on. I’m typically booking things out six months in advance, if not farther. And I am not going to give up my seat that I booked out six months prior just so you can have a seat together because you didn’t. Maybe I’m looking at that wrong. Maybe that’s not Christian-like, quote-unquote, to do. Yeah, just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean you should be a pansy either, to be honest with you. Sorry, I draw the line on certain things. Just because you didn’t handle things correctly on your end, or that person didn’t handle things correctly on their end, now all of a sudden it’s my problem? No, it isn’t. And I don’t see it that way. So… Travel is always an interesting topic because everybody has a different way of looking at things. I taught my kids at an early age how to travel, how to do it efficiently, how to pack correctly, how to get through security correctly, how to be efficient with everything you do so that you’re not in everybody else’s way. You’re making things roll along as they should. And I taught my kids from an early age how to travel and travel correctly, which to this day I believe they’re very thankful for because there’s a lot of people out there that frankly don’t know how to travel correctly. And I mean that sincerely. All right, we’ll be back. 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SPEAKER 13 :
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SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
The best export we have is common sense. You’re listening to Rush to Reason. We are back.
SPEAKER 09 :
John, you’re next. Go ahead, John. Yeah, hang on one second, John. I’m moving to a better spot. You’re fine. Take your time.
SPEAKER 07 :
We’re fine. All right, well… It’s because… I have been asked to move numerous times, and a lot of times it’s by a gate agent. If I pay for the flight, I’ve gotten calls, you know, paid to the gate, and they’ll be like, can you move your seat so I get a family together? And I’m usually like, well, can you put me in an exit row? Because I’m taller than you.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right, right, right.
SPEAKER 07 :
I like an exit row. And usually I don’t even mind the middle seat on the exit row because there’s plenty.
SPEAKER 09 :
I agree with you on that one. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
So I’ll always say, well, do you have an exit row? But I got asked one time by a passenger, we bought tickets and we got main cabin extra for the leg room. And this woman wanted us because she was in the middle. And then she goes, would one of you trade to sit with my wife? My wife is in the window. I was in the aisle. Usually what will happen is if somebody shows up with just the middle, they’ll ask, do you guys want to swap? And usually my wife will move to the middle because she’s small too. And then we’ll keep Isle middle. But she wanted one of us to move back so her husband could come sit with her. And her husband had a middle seat about halfway back in the play.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, that’s a no-go. That’s a hard no, John.
SPEAKER 07 :
I said, I’m sorry, ma’am. We paid extra for these seats so we had the extra legroom. And she looked at my wife and my wife being short and, you know. And it was a five-hour flight, too. It wasn’t a short flight. Even a harder no. Yeah. One time my wife got, without asking her to get a bunch of standbys on, they put her on an extra jump seat, which she can do on American. Right. You know, she’s qualified. And she was a little mad because they didn’t ask her. And we were ahead of this people behind us. Come to find out, about a week later, she got a letter in her mailbox with the nicest thank you note. The people who they got on were parents of another flight attendant. She didn’t know that at the time, right? And they wanted to get everybody on, so they put her on the jump seat without asking. Now, the gate agent should have asked. My wife would have said yes, of course. But you don’t know for sure. So she laughed and said, well, this is the not—and I think she put like a $25 Starbucks card or something in the envelope. My wife was like, you didn’t need to do that. But sent her a really beautifully written thank you note for her taking that jump seat. Those are not— the most comfortable seats on the airplane.
SPEAKER 09 :
No, they are not. I’ve never sat in one, but I’ve looked, and I’m like, yeah, I wouldn’t want to sit there.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right, and, you know, she’s used to it now because half the time, and people don’t realize, the flights are full most of the time. That’s right. Out of Denver to Dallas on American, so she’ll, half the time when she’s going to work or coming home, just be stuck on that junk sheet, but she wants to get home, so she’s like, it’s a two-hour flight, not a big deal. I want to get home. I’ll take it. And we’re not paying. That’s the other thing. When we don’t pay.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s a different scenario.
SPEAKER 07 :
We’re told if a passenger asks you to change, you change. Mm-hmm. You know, that’s part of the rules. But, you know, when you’re not paying, you don’t complain very much.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s funny, really quick, John, out of all the texters that have texted in, I don’t have a single person that would be willing to jump up and give their seat away. They’re basically like you and I. You’re different because you don’t always have a paid seat. But on paid seats, they’re definitely like, listen, I booked ahead. I paid for this seat. Here’s the reality. I’m not moving. The plane’s going to the exact same place. We’re all getting there together. Who cares at the end of the day?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and it’s usually, you know, and I would look at it if I paid, but it was like a mom and I would say under seven, I would probably trade.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. And again, you know, like like I said, you told you earlier, you told everybody earlier, depending upon the circumstances and stuff. But even then, John, I hate to say this, even a seven year old, it’s like the way people are and the way things are handled. The reality is, again, is the seven year old safe and are they going to get to the same place at the same time? If you’re that worried about it, put the seven year old in front of you. You sit behind them. You’re still good at the end of the day. Who cares? Exactly.
SPEAKER 07 :
And here’s the other thing. If you let the flight attendant know, hey, my son is sitting four or five rows up by himself.
SPEAKER 09 :
Just keep an eye on him.
SPEAKER 07 :
They will. And here’s the other thing. They might not know, but they might have that last-minute no-show where the person checked in and everything, but for some reason, usually they’re in the bar. And they missed a flight, and the door closes. Once the door closes… there’s always an opportunity after takeoff to move people around. My wife’s done it multiple times where she’s had a guy and she said, do you mind moving back a couple of rows? It’s your shape sheet. It’s an aisle seat. I got a woman whose kid’s sitting next to you. Do you mind trading? And she’s like, Usually most people, you wouldn’t say no to that. I wouldn’t say no to that.
SPEAKER 09 :
When I go back to, John, what you said earlier, and there have been a few other people that have responded the same way, if you’re giving me like for like and it’s just a matter of some cases I’m even getting a better seat when it’s all said and done, sure, I’m in all day long, but don’t ask me to go six rows back and sit in the middle because it ain’t happening.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, but here’s the other thing, and it’s going to happen probably at the beginning on Southwest. They’re not good because if you go into, like, United American, whatever, other airline that does assigned seats, you can buy the cheapest fare. And it says no assigned seat. Seat will be assigned at, it’s usually at the gate. Now, you’re guaranteed to get on the plane, but you’re not assigned a seat until the end because you’re getting that cheapest fare. Right. Those are the people that are usually split up. because they went for the cheapest fair no sign seat thing you’re going to get a middle seat and what’s going to happen on southwest is the people that fly southwest now that have the one person go on and hold three seats they’re in a group the other two are in c group but oh i’m holding these for my family you’ve seen that how many times i can’t count that high i know there’s going to be problems then because the person who pays the extra to get a good seat that’s right well The other two that got middle seats in the back because they waited until the very end and got the cheapest fare, people aren’t going to trade with you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Like I said a little bit ago, John, this whole Southwest thing, and yes, they started charging for baggage. That happened this week, and on and on we go. And I’m here to tell you, John, come January when there’s assigned seats on Southwest, it’s going to be a rude awakening for some of these folk. They’re not going to know how to act, John. I’m not joking you on that one at all. Did I lose you? I think I did. John, appreciate you, man. If you come back, I appreciate it, but I’ll let you go. We’ll take our next break anyways. We’re up against that, so good timing. Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning coming up next. Again, any problems at all when it comes to your AC unit, especially as it’s hot. It still doesn’t look hot outside, but it’s 76 as we speak. Got a little bit of cold weather coming in the middle of the week, but it’s going to be hot again. Please don’t put that off. If you’ve had any trouble at all, get with Cub Creek. They’ll take care of you. It’s Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning. Find them at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 11 :
This isn’t Rage Radio. This is Real Relatable Radio. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, back. And a question I started off with here after we talked to Jersey Joe was, you know, should you give up your seat on a plane if asked because somebody wants your seat for whatever reason? Unanimously, every single text message I’ve gotten in, and there’s been at least 10 to 11 of you texting, says no. You would not give up the seat, agreeing with everything that even John from Cheyenne called in and talked about. And I’m with all of you. My feeling is you could plan ahead, and I… As a flyer, if I book a last minute flight for whatever reason and just have to jump on a plane for whatever reason, I don’t have any kind of expectations that I’m going to get some premium seat. It is. I mean, as long as I get to my destination at that point, I’m happy. And even if my wife and I are traveling as a couple and we have to get split up, we know going into it, we may not be sitting together. It is what it is. OK, it just is what it is. I’m not going to ask. I’m not looking for anything special because if that’s what the circumstances are, that’s what the circumstances are. I’m not going to inconvenience somebody else because of that. That’s just not the right way to look at it. Now, back to Southwest. Southwest. I know I’ve talked about this before, but this is big in the news. You are hearing all sorts of things all over the place. It’s all over social media. There’s people even that are blogging and talking about what Southwest is doing right now, what they’re changing, now charging for bags and what they’re trying to do with assigned seats and so on. This is their demise. They’re going to go down. Actually, my prediction is this. They will be more profitable moving forward once these changes are made than they are right now. And the other thing that they will do, and I have to be careful how I say this, but somebody said it for me a moment ago, they’re going to move away from the pajama flyer. I’m going to use that term, so thank you, whoever texted me that. Thank you. I’m going to steal that. Southwest is trying to move away from that bottom feeder pajama flyer that’s out there. I do believe Southwest is looking at – it’s not a race to the bottom to see how they can just keep the plane filled with whoever. That’s what Spirit Airlines and Frontier does. I think Southwest is making a distinct – move, a deliberate move is probably the word I’m looking for, to have a little different flyer than they’ve had. They’ve had them, but not enough of them. And I think they’re looking at things differently, saying, listen, I want this experience to be better than it’s been. And even the class of flyer is going to change in the process. And I’m telling you right now that everybody that I’m hearing whining about these new charges on Southwest, I do believe are some of those type of individuals that, A, are not going to like the changes, and I believe are the pajama flyers that are out there. Again, my prediction is, at the end of the day, this will bode well for Southwest and might even attract some flyers to Southwest that wouldn’t have been attracted otherwise. That’s my theory on this. Dan, go ahead.
SPEAKER 04 :
So… Once Southwest makes their changes, I might consider flying Southwest again.
SPEAKER 09 :
There you go. So you’re the person I’m talking about.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, because I quit flying Southwest because of all the monkey business that people that were flying Southwest would do. You get on the A-list, and you’re like number 30 or 40 on the plane with everybody in their their medical conditions and everything else. And then, like you said, people saving, saving seats for other people.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep. That’s going to end down.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’m like, I know. And like I said, if Southwest has the better price than the other airlines that I fly, uh, I started flying United because of the assigned seats. And, uh, if Southwest starts assigning seats or if I have to pay for a premium seat, like I do at United, if I want to do that, I will, uh, I’ll do that. Now, um, I made a mistake on my flight in February, and I had to switch United, but I was still able to get a pretty decent seat, even though I booked it the day before I had to get back. Nice. But Southwest, if they start doing assigned seats, these people that are saying it’s their demise… They’re probably going to get some people back that are probably better flyers anyway. I agree with you.
SPEAKER 09 :
No, I’m with you on that, Dan. That’s exactly how I’m looking at it. I think that that’s exactly the way it’ll be when it’s all said and done. Some of these people that are whining the most are those that, frankly, I’ll just say it straight up, go fly Spirit, go fly Frontier, you’ll be happier there anyways.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I don’t like either one of them. I used to fly Frontier, and then they made their changes, and I quit flying Frontier because of it, so…
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I, for one, will not fly Spirit. I will not fly Frontier. I’m not going to mess with all of that nonsense. I’m looking forward to the changes that Southwest is actually making. And to prove my point that this is the direction that they’re heading is not only are you now going to have to pay for bags unless you’re an A-list flyer or you’ve got a credit card. They’ll allow you one bag if you’re a credit card, and if you’re an A-list flyer, you get some bags free as well. If you’re not that, you’re going to be paying. On top of that, the fares have gone up. If you look at where fares are just traditionally across the board with Southwest, and even given flight for a particular time frame, you’re seeing a bump of about, on average, I’m not going to be exact on this, Dan, but it’s about 10% roughly.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and that’s why I’ll do my comparisons. And when it’s similar, I’m going to book another airline just because I don’t want to deal with the – you feel like you’re cattle in a cattle corral being corralled into a plane, and I don’t like that. So that’s why I quit flying Southwest.
SPEAKER 09 :
The other thing really quick, Dan, that I think is going to happen on Southwest with their assigned seats and so on is – and this is the reason – I believe part of the reason why they’ve gone this way. I don’t think they really wanted to go to assigned seats. I just think that’s something they’ve been forced to do because of – FAA rules and the fact that at the desk, you can’t ask somebody why they need to pre-board, meaning anybody can pre-board for whatever reason. You can say, I’ve got the sniffles and get on. You don’t have to say anything. You say, I need to pre-board, and all they’ll say is, okay, you can pre-board. And because of that, you’re seeing flights. I’ve been on some flights, Dan, where you’ve got 25 pre-boarders. They all go sit in the front of the plane. They’ll even save seats for other people, which they shouldn’t be doing, by the way, because they’re not supposed to do that, but because of that particular point in time, if a If a gate agent or if a flight attendant won’t stop them from doing so, they’re allowed to do so. That’s all going to end with assigned seating, Dan.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I agree with it.
SPEAKER 09 :
And I think to your point, you’re going to see some folks like yourself come back to it, meaning that a lot of these naysayers against Southwest right now are going to be proven wrong.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and I would not give up my seat for the convenience of somebody else because I pay for my seat.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you. I mean, it’d be no different than going to a Bronco game and having 50-yard line seats, you know, 40 rows up. All of a sudden somebody comes in and wants you to go sit in the nosebleeds because they didn’t have the wherewithal to get that seat. How is it any different, Dan?
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s not. I pay for my seat, and that’s why I’m not going to give it up.
SPEAKER 09 :
There you go. Great answer. Dan, I appreciate it very much. Have a great night. And a lot of you texting. You’re exactly so far. I haven’t had a single person say anything any different. And again, the example I just gave of a sporting event or a concert or whatever, where even if it was open seating, but you got there early and got a really nice seat. And all of a sudden somebody comes up and they want your seat or somebody just texted a moment ago and said they were on a Southwest flight the other day. They got on early. They had the status to do so. And somebody came up, tapped him on the shoulder and wanted them to move. Yeah, that’s a hard no. No, I’m not moving. I’ve earned, in that particular case, the ability to get on the plane early and to be able to sit in that seat. And the reality is, no, I wouldn’t give up my seat in that particular case either. And this is where I feel like that whole entitlement end of things, including sitting on an airplane now, has really permeated itself through society whereby everybody feels entitled that I should get X, Y, Z no matter what. And here’s what’s happening. Not only has some of the DEI stuff been killed corporately, but now you’re starting to look at companies like Southwest, and a lot of people are going to blame the fact that there’s some outside money that’s come in and so on, and they’re blaming it all on that. I’m not. I’m looking at this as Southwest is making a business decision to have a higher-grade customer at the end of the day, hopefully then giving a better experience when it’s all said and done. And I think it’s gotten to a point where they’ve had no choice but to do so. And in turn, they’re responding accordingly. And I think a lot of these naysayers, even some of the travel bloggers and so on – Some of these people are dead wrong. They’re not looking at it the way I am. Maybe they don’t fly like I do. I don’t know. I don’t know how they’re coming up with some of these things. But there’s a lot of people out there that are really mad and angry out southwest. And frankly, I think at the end of the day, this is a good thing. And you’re going to see some folks that… Like Dan a moment ago said, hey, I’ll probably come back and fly Southwest once again. And keep in mind, he’s on an airline that also charges for bags unless you’ve got a credit card or some status. So the reality is it’s not going to be any different than some of the others. And some of these people that are whining about it aren’t, you know, well, I’ve said this before. Most of the people whining about it have never written a paycheck. They’ve never run a business. They don’t have any idea how that end of things work. They just complain because their world is now going to be different because they’re not going to get some of the freebies that they’ve had in the past, and it’s now going to cost them instead. And in turn, they should, in my opinion, look at flying someone else. Veteran Windows and Doors coming up next. There’s always a great deal at Veteran Windows and Doors, by the way. Right now, you can get 35% off. Well, actually, I shouldn’t say this. I don’t know what it is for June. That was the deal for May, 35% off and then 40% off if you do enough windows with free installation. Let me just say this. There’s always a deal at Veteran Windows and Doors. Talk to Dave today. Find out exactly what the deal is for June. Once I know that, I’ll be relaying that to all of you. But find out what it is. Just go to klzradio.com or call Dave Direct, 303-529-0720.
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SPEAKER 11 :
Suck it up, buttercup. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 09 :
And we are back. Just a few seconds left. Thank you all for listening today. I appreciate it very much. Myself and Andy will definitely be back tomorrow. And again, got a little bit of colder weather coming in tomorrow and Wednesday, but it’ll be back to normal after that. Have a great night. Please be safe. And if you ever miss an episode, by the way, remember, you always go back and listen to that. Just go to RushToReason.com. You can even send those episodes on to other folks you’d like to have hear what we have to say. So have a great evening. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.