Join Dana as she critiques the recent Grammy Awards, discussing the perceived imbalance in media representation and the controversial topics brought forth by artists. From diversity, equity, and inclusion discussions to Beyonce's latest album award, explore how music and politics intertwine. This episode also covers the major overhaul of the USAID program, addressing financial inefficiencies and the outcry from federal bureaucrats. Tune in for a no-holds-barred conversation on the politics impacting America's international aid efforts.
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Dana Lash's Absurd Truth Podcast, sponsored by Kel-Tec.
SPEAKER 02 :
Audio soundbite three. This is where we get in with some of the other tariffs, though, too. This is what the president had to say. Actually, you know what? I'm going to let's do two instead of three first. This is audio soundbite two. This is POTUS talking about balancing our trade and specifically related to Mexico, because we're going to talk about Panama, then Mexico. We're going to get into all of these countries that the president was targeting with his policies this weekend. Listen.
SPEAKER 08 :
What does the president, what does the president of Mexico need to do for you to win the trade? What are the specifics you want? They have to balance out their trade, number one. They've got to stop people from pouring into our country, and we've stopped it. They haven't stopped it. We've stopped it. They have to stop people from pouring in, and we have to stop fentanyl, and that includes China. Fentanyl has killed, this year, at least 200,000 people. It's pouring in from China through Mexico and Canada, and they've got to stop it. And if they don't stop it, the tariffs are going to get worse, a lot worse.
SPEAKER 02 :
25% tariff on all imports coming in across the border. And then you had Mexico's Claudia Scheinbaum, very Mexican name, had... had promised she was going to come out with her own retaliatory tariffs today. And then now, just like Colombia, nope, cave, it's done. It's done. Now they're going to hammer out a deal. This is New York Times. They were set to take effect already, and they're going to be put on hold for a month. Mexico has reached a series of agreements with the Trump administration saying that it's the U.S. is expected to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weaponry into Mexico. So that means no more Fast and Furious ops for DOJ. They said that they're focusing on security and trade. So here's my big question. Can we still have guacamole for Super Bowl? Chuck Schumer doesn't think so. Chuck Schumer, no. And he... can we play this audio? And then I'm going to, I'm this. Yeah. Audio. Somebody seven, because this is the same guy who puts cheese on raw meat and he holds up Corona in a can. Yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Play this.
SPEAKER 01 :
Let's just take Superbowl Sunday. Okay. It's going to affect beer. Okay. Most of it. Corona here comes from Mexico. Okay. It's going to affect your guac. Because what is guacamole made of? Avocados.
SPEAKER 02 :
Actually, California avocados have more fruit. Like, you know, the meat in it. They have more flesh. I should thank you. Than avocado flesh. Sidebar, I hate that word. It sounds like a horror film. Like, you hate moist? Like, moist is the word you hate? moist. And flesh is one I don't like. It's just weird. Just so odd. So all that for nothing. Achieving vibrant, youthful skin doesn't have to be complicated. With the power of Native Path Collagen, you can nourish your body from within and enhance not just your skin, but also your hair, your nails. By incorporating Native Path Collagen into your daily routine, you can promote a plump, radiant complexion, reduce signs of aging, and boost your overall vitality. all without any unnecessary fillers or additives. Native Path Collagen has only type 1 and 3 collagen, the most important types, making up 90% of your body's collagen. No artificial sweeteners, just pure third-party tested goodness. It's completely flavorless, so you can just add it to about anything, your coffee, your smoothies, oatmeal, or whatever you want. And the best part is that Native Path's peptides formula makes it more bioavailable so it means your body will absorb it easily start your journey to healthier skin today get native path.com slash dana and stock up on native path collagen and save up to an incredible 45 off plus free shipping every order includes a 365 day money back guarantee don't miss out head to get native path.com slash dana
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Did you guys watch the Grammys? I mean, I didn't. A friend of mine did. I didn't. I didn't watch the Grammys because I can't stand the assault on taste and music. And the weird thing is, is that from what I've seen of it, they feel like the outlier now. The stuff that I saw, the excerpts that I saw, because they talked about DEI, they talked a little bit about the election, but it seemed like That's it seemed out of out of fashion. I don't know how to put it. I was thinking about this the whole time. It seemed like it was out of fashion. You had this audio soundbite 30 Lady Gaga. So boring. Predictable. Go ahead. Sorry, this is 30.
SPEAKER 09 :
That trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love. Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
I don't get it. This idea that trans people are not invisible. No one said they were. We see them. I mean, dear God, we see them. Okay, we see them from like a mile away. Believe, girl. We see them. From so far away. You couldn't miss them if you tried. You could still see them in a blacked out room. Okay. This idea that people are invisible. I don't care what you wanted, how you want to spend your private time and role playing. Just don't make me go by it as well. And then the whole queer community deserves to be... I don't know. These are just like words. What the hell does this even mean? Lift up how? What do you mean? You are talking about demos, particularly the trans community that account for less than 1% of the US population and they get 99% of the discussion. That seems to be egregiously unbalanced. Correct? Then you have Alicia Keys, audio sound by 29. DEI is a gift. Yes, racism, she says, is a gift. Listen. Listen.
SPEAKER 09 :
This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices. We've seen on this stage talented, hardworking people from different backgrounds with different points of view, and it changes the game. DEI is not a threat. It's a gift.
SPEAKER 02 :
And we are probably now experiencing a worldwide accessories shortage. Thanks to Alicia Keys. No, DEI is racism. Racism isn't a gift because DEI incorporates actual people. discrimination in order to determine equal outcomes it's backwards it's not a gift the only people who say that are people who either are either like either the clan says that or you don't know what it is one of the two one of the two and then There was the issue of a country album. Okay, I'm just going to get it out of the way. I don't think that Beyonce should have won Best Country Album. It's a specialty album. It's actually more pop than it is country. Hell, there are a lot of country albums that I wouldn't necessarily say are country. There's stuff Casey Musgraves does. I mean, as dumb as she is on politics, she's not a horrific performer. But there's some of the tracks that she does that I wouldn't even necessarily consider to be country. The thing is, though, because there was a lot of discussion over that, and I had friends that were texting me about it last night. The was it a bad album? What a bad album. Jolene was completely I thought it wasn't the best. It was not the best cover. I thought it could have been a little bit more inspired. I mean, Beyonce can sing. She's a you know, she's a good performer. I mean, nobody's going to take that away. But was this the best country album? Oh, hell no. It wasn't. But it had to be done because Jay-Z went on a rant last year and was bitching and moaning that his wife didn't get the best album Grammy, even though she's got more Grammys than God. You know, she didn't get the best album Grammy. So they had to. That's what this was. This was a Band-Aid. That's exactly what it was. I'm saying it because you guys know it's true. It's absolutely true. Doesn't take anything away from her performance as a performer, but that's not the best country album. That was a political handout. And I think she even wasn't expecting it. Gotta say, her partners that help bring you the program, Kel-Tec. They got a new 5.7 they're coming out with. I know. And I think George Kellgren, have you ever talked to him? So he's the guy who runs Kel-Tec and he owns and operates it. He innovates everything. Independent of me, one of my kids said he's literally a mad scientist. He just sits there and comes up with... Things that you didn't think that you needed until they made it. And then you're like, yeah, I need this. I'll talk more about what they have next week because I'm broadcasting from their booth at SHOT Show. But they're coming out. They got a new 5-7 they're coming out with and they're unveiling it at SHOT Show. But this is a Florida-based company, a great all-American story. Whatever you need for firearms, they've They invented the concealed compact category. They make some really awesome stuff. And it's at KelTechWeapons.com. And when you go to their website, see everything that they have, the P-15, the P-11, the P-32, the fold-in half, sub-2Ks, all awesome. But they have a surprise for everybody next week. Visit KelTechWeapons.com. Sign up for their newsletter. Find them on social media. Innovation Performance KelTech. K-E-L-T-E-C. That's KelTechWeapons.com.
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Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back, and we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan & Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe-to-toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this, everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit ForThePeople.com to learn about our firm. Morgan & Morgan, For The People.
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And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 02 :
So that weird rodent predicted the weather. Punxsutawney Phil, the little rodent that they grab and drag out of this hole. And I love how they're all like, let's go put our top hats on and go get our wood rat. But they held him up and he saw a shadow. So apparently we have six more weeks of winter. Well, at least, who is it? Bill de Blasio wasn't there to throw him to the ground and kill him to death. Okay, all the people that turn out for this, it's actually an amazing thing. I mean, this is the equivalent of tossing a virgin into the volcano. I mean, I love that we have our little traditions, but it's a wood rat. You know, you're bringing up a wood rat to see the future. Also, I don't think he likes being pet. He's trying to get out of that, the hands of that gentleman with the top hat. He really, really wants to get out of there. Also, the, I don't know what, this is not exactly a headline. I don't know how it got in here. It's a New York Post piece about dogs. And they say that they love their lives more than we love ours.
SPEAKER 10 :
Proven.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, doubtful. fact check the I don't know all I know is I love my dog my dog loves me and we're best friends and that's about it so but they said that I don't know how they study something like that to make that determination that doesn't make any sense apparently life on earth oh my gosh I'm so tired of this this is another well I don't want this headline it's somebody's fever dream about their fetish over climate change I don't give a rat's ass I don't care I don't care so bad I cannot possibly telegraph to you how much I don't care. Vintage. I know. Vintage car race. Mercedes stream. What is this? Fetches a record 51 million euros at an auction. Ken Martin wins the election as the next chair. I don't even know who this guy is. But I do know that that one little lady won the vice chair. Or I mean, dude, that David Pig guy, hog guy. Yeah, I got it right the first time. Stick with us. A lot more on the way. Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash here with you. We're at the bottom of this first hour. We've been talking about some of the tariff stuff. We still have to get into Doge because Doge is... been pretty spicy and uh made everybody mad everyone was saying that what that elon the way that it was put to me over the weekend everyone is that elon musk was like in wellies wading knee deep into my bank account stealing all my monies i don't even know where that talking point came from i tried to run that down where the hell did that even come from with the left they've been so apoplectic over everything it's really difficult for me to like run down what they're actually reacting to So welcome back. Dana Lash with you. Make sure, by the way, go and subscribe over at Substack. I've got a doozy of a piece coming out in, oh, maybe 25 minutes. It's a doozy of a piece. That's all I know. You're going to want it because it's pertinent for our segment next hour. And appreciate all your guys' nice words and praise because my whole house had the flu. kane and juan are aliens because martians i'm not even looking at you they didn't get anything i took ivermectin too i told you what i think the difference is i swear to you if you say anything that rhymes with schmobiotics i'm gonna scream and start flinging things okay because you're paid by them you're like you're paid by probiotics like the amnesty caucus in florida is paid by truly that is a is it bald face line how do you say it
SPEAKER 10 :
Is it a bald face lie or is it a bald face lie?
SPEAKER 02 :
I kind of like bald.
SPEAKER 10 :
Is it?
SPEAKER 02 :
I don't know. It's probably not right. That's a bald face lie. Don't care. I just like saying bald. Like that's a bald face lie. You're a bald faced ma'am. I don't know. So welcome back. I'm a little loopy still recovering from the flu. So it's like right when you feel good and you have some energy and you don't know what to do with it. That's me right now. All right. So the Doge has been slashing. They cut a $50 billion department. That's the, you had USAID, the, oh, sorry, US Agency for International Development. And the way that it was presented. Hang on. I got to pull up some of these stories for you. Oh, my gosh. It's Musk's unprecedented power grab. Oh, Musk is... Musk is... It's unconstitutional, et cetera, et cetera. He's basically Satan. Hitler, Hitler, Satan. I mean, it's, you know, it's like a buff. The... I mean... They're gutting it, which they should because that's where a lot of this NGO funding is coming from. They said that USAID managed over $40 billion of appropriations. Washington Post was trying to say that he shouldn't have cut it because it amounted to less than 1% of the federal budget. Can I just do a full stop right there? Are we going to nickel and dime ourselves, Siddharth? I don't care if it's less than 1% of the U.S. budget. Only in D.C. is $40 billion considered meh. Only in D.C. is that considered not a lot of money. That's my money. I don't want my money going towards paying for condoms in foreign countries. I don't want to be paying for entitlement programs and DEI in other countries, which, yes, this is what this was all facilitating. So, totally fine with this being cut, as anyone should. But don't let them try to get you... fixated on, well, it's less than 1% of the budget, so this is really silly that we're fighting. It's not silly that we're fighting over this. In fact, this is exactly one of the things that we should be going back and forth over because this, it's $40 billion. We need to cut every single bit, whether it's 40 or 40 billion. Everything. And this is also one of the pillars of the left. This is a way that they're able to shove through, fund all their stuff. This is one of the legs of the stool, so to speak, that has really empowered the left and has funded the left. A few things with this. I mean, you have the NGOs that we've talked about specifically as it relates to issues at the border, whether it's Catholic Charities, whether it's another one of these entities, and they get so much taxpayer money, so many taxpayer dollars. And it's essentially facilitating an invasion of people who are entering illegally, and these NGOs are making fat cash off of it, millions of dollars. So... There's a reason why you would always have this money flowing through these entities that are acting in contravention of established law. This is part of it. This is one of the legs on the stool that they're targeting. I mean, this thing, this department, billions and billions of dollars, this entity launders. And you've got these organizations that are all at the trough, right? Whether it's – I mean Bill Kristol was getting – why the hell was Bill Kristol getting paid by USAID? This is the type of stuff I'm talking about. It's the weirdest thing. But it's a scam. I mean, he got money from, as an example, he got money from USAID. He was listed as the president of Defending Democracy. That's an indirect beneficiary of USAID through Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. There's a whole website now that tracks all the data from this. So these people are all getting... I mean, it's just funneling taxpayer dollars to individuals that are actually advocating against the republic and advocating against the tenants of the republic and the policies that work best for us. Now it's getting... Now it's getting scuttled. It's kind of shocking that it was able to go along as long as it did. In addition to this, we've got... pull this piece up. A friend of mine over at Red State who's been tracking the talking points going out by this. So you have the USA Director of Employee and Labor Relations, Nick Gottlieb. So this kind of kicked off on Friday because you had 60 officials through that organization that were being placed on leave. And immediately you had these bureaucrats that were trying to fight POTUS on this. He was suspending like 60 of these senior bureaucrats, putting the rat in bureaucrat. And they were trying to get around his executive orders. They said that they, in the statement from the acting administrator, they said they've identified several actions within USA that appear to be designed to circumvent the president's executive orders, mandate for the people. So they shut down their whole thing. And the... When you work for the government, you don't get the luxury of rebelling against your boss because your boss is the American taxpayer. We think that this shouldn't exist. You have to leave now. Pack your stuff up in a box. GTFO. Get out. But the fact that we went through all this drama on Friday and I was in my flu haze and I was watching all of this kind of play out, it's really stunning to me. I was told that was a coup. Is that a coup, Cain? When you have bureaucrats that are entrenched deep within federal government and they're refusing not only to do their job, but then when they're told to leave, they refuse to leave. That's an insurrection.
SPEAKER 10 :
It sure is.
SPEAKER 02 :
I mean, I was reliably... Dems to rules.
SPEAKER 10 :
I was reliably... I would get a peaceful transfer of power.
SPEAKER 02 :
I don't get it. Right. The other defense was that it was an independent, almost like an ombudsman agency, which it wasn't. Do you guys remember Samantha Power under Barack Obama? Okay, she used to run USAID. Remember she got her Vogue spread? Samantha Power got a spread in Vogue. for Melania Trump, that she used to run that agency or that department. I mean, there are a lot of people that have their hands in this cookie jar. The goal of USAID, what have they actually done to safeguard U.S. influence or power? Because all the left is saying, well, USAID is essential. I fail to see where any of that is. Where? We're supposed to be dealing with aid and development assistance, etc. The goal of that, that's only been to shuffle taxpayer dollars to leftist entities, leftist projects, and propaganda. That's all it's been for. Good riddance. Get out. I'm so happy that it's gone.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thanks for tuning in to today's edition of Dana Lash's Absurd Truth Podcast. If you haven't already, make sure to hit that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
From chocolate cravings to international trade challenges, this podcast episode keeps your pulse racing. Find out what happens when Panama disturbs China's Belt and Road ambitions, how Mexico reacted to sudden trade shifts, and why a tasty staple like guacamole could be in jeopardy. We also probe the depths of U.S. domestic policies examining controversial amnesty bills in pivotal states like Florida and Texas and explore Dana's insightful commentary on the impact of these actions. Feel the tension build as we discuss policy battles that affect our everyday lives and end with a quirky look at winter predictions and how they shape attitudes and commerce. A mix of humor, gravity, and sharp analysis awaits, all exploring the intricacies of political, economic, and personal well-being.
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SPEAKER 11 :
partner in Canada when it comes to upholding border security. All while simultaneously underscoring that we won't back down. That if tariffs are implemented against Canada, we will respond.
SPEAKER 13 :
Tariffs, the fight, well he's going to be out soon anyway, so it doesn't matter. He's going to, well I mean it does to an extent, but he's going to be, I think it's May he leaves. Justin Trudeau leaves in May. So this is, over the weekend there was a, well it was a big fight related to tariffs and trade and fentanyl and Illegal immigration and it all culminated with Well, the dollars doing well, I mean, I don't know how else to put it the dollars. Yeah, it's doing pretty good We're gonna get into all of that as well Because there's a there's a lot that happened over the weekend I think one of the things that the president is has taken to heart is this directive to hit the ground running all gas no brakes because he only has such a limited amount of time before the midterm cycle starts and you know as we've told everybody over and over again and i'll keep saying it until i'm blue in the face The problem with this whole issue, the whole thing with midterm elections, is that that's when everybody forgets all of the promises that they have made to voters. They forget all of the promises they've made to voters. They forget. the you know plan the agenda and it's i i mean we've seen we've seen it happen every single election cycle and i don't think that this is going to be any different so he's taking it i think very seriously and as a result every weekend's a working weekend now For the next oh, I don't know for the next four years So welcome to the show Dana lash with you and this is one of the things that we're talking about that we're gonna dive into at the start of all this and Because there's a lot of myths surrounding the issue of tariffs, and everyone tries to go back to World War II, and they talk about the tariffs that they were contributing to, really, ultimately, World War II. But the whole thing was different. It was different. You can't constantly compare tariffs. issues in the past with issues in the present when there are different variables. So we're going to get into all of that. But it's good. We're back on air. As you know, I was out all last week. I was sick as a dog. I don't know if I've ever been that sick. I still... My voice sounds tough, but I feel a lot better than what I did feel last week, because we were on together Wednesday, and then I was just off Thursday and Friday. It was just no way. So we're mostly recovered from... the plague and we're, we're getting there. We're a little slow, but we're mostly recovered from the plague. So we're going to get into all of this stuff. And then later on, we got to talk about this, um, amnesty bill. And that's exactly what it is. Uh, because it's not just in Texas that we're dealing with this situation. It's in Florida. It's in a lot of red States actually. And there is, it's the weirdest thing. It's like, there's this major push to make, uh, these red states to try to weaken their Republican majority as much as possible. It's just one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. And you have a bunch of self-defeating Republicans that are standing in the way. They're making all of this happen. So we're going to name some names and get into all of that. We're going to talk to a lawmaker from Florida coming up about this amnesty bill that they're trying to pass. In Florida, that's I mean, again, so goes Texas, so goes Florida, so goes the nation. And that's one of the reasons why I'm so invested in this, because we did so much work in the Tea Party back during the Tea Party days. To safeguard not just, you know, things that were happening federally, but also the states. And it just feels like this is just kind of a betrayal of all of that. Everything that we've worked so hard for. So we're going to dive into that and more. So anyway, welcome to the show. Good to be with you. Top of this first hour on Monday. And yes, still recovering from we're still recovering from the flu, but we're there. We've made it. We're in February now. We had the shot show plague yesterday. Still kind of coming out of it. All right. So first up, we've bought with I mean, what the hell did we not do over the weekend? We bombed ISIS. We made Mexico come to the negotiating table. We have Panama that's now removing itself from Belt and Road. we've got all of these things in store, all of these things happening. These are all big things. Then, of course, we have USAID, which we're going to get into, the DEI with the Pentagon. I'm just going to go over the list. We have the DEI being eliminated in the Pentagon, also tariffs with China, etc. So, I mean, Cain, what didn't happen over the weekend, I guess, is the better question. Right. What didn't happen over the weekend? I think that that's the million-dollar question. So this is huge. First off, let me start with Panama. Because we've talked about China and Belt and Road, and we've talked about the Panama Canal for quite some time. Marco Rubio has been down as Secretary of State, meeting with Panama's officials. And now we have... Panama's leader saying they are going to remove themselves from China's Belt and Road Initiative. Now, the Belt and Road Initiative, if you're unfamiliar with it, that's like China's weird extortion racket. They say that they're going to come in and make a lot of investments in your country and in exchange for, usually it's like mineral rights, it's controlling something, it's some kind of access. And the infrastructure that they always implement is trash, because it's just cheap Chinese, let's just put it together, trash. I mean, it's the CCP, communists don't really give their best. And so the issue with Panama being a belt and road country, and we've talked about this with Stephen Yates for quite some time. As you know, Stephen Yates joins the program typically every Monday. He worked in the previous Trump administration as well, and he has an extensive work history with regards to China, Taiwan, etc., So Belt and Road Initiative, them getting a toehold in South America is a national security issue. And then when you look at the, you know, one of the biggest choke points in the world, the Panama Canal, which is, you know, predominantly where a lot of our shipping comes through. And you have China that controls the hubs at either end of it. And our... were being charged exponentially more than everyone else's. They were doing it punitively while also trying to establish Belt and Road in Panama. This was definitely China not doing something for the Panamanian good, but for China's good. And now Panama's leader says they're getting out of there. They're removing themselves from Belt and Road initiative, which is incredibly significant. And they're not going to take part in it anymore. Now, I don't know what that means for the two hubs that are on either end of the canal, but that's definitely a very good start because they still have those holdings on either end of the canal. And so these were all that was a huge. I was actually kind of shocked because we literally just talked about this with the eights last week and whether or not Panama would ever withdraw itself or extricate itself from the Belt and Road Initiative. That's something that we literally were talking about wondering aloud and now it's happening. That was kind of fast, President. That was pretty fast, pretty significant. Audio soundbite three. This is where we get in with some of the other tariffs, though, too. This is what the president had to say. Actually, you know what? Let's do two instead of three first. This is audio soundbite two. This is POTUS talking about balancing our trade and specifically related to Mexico because we're going to talk about Panama, then Mexico. We're going to get into all of these countries that the president was targeting with his policies this weekend. Listen.
SPEAKER 03 :
What does the president, what does the president of Mexico need to do for you to win the trade? What are the specific things you want? They have to balance out their trade, number one. They've got to stop people from pouring into our country, and we've stopped it. They haven't stopped it. We've stopped it. They have to stop people from pouring in, and we have to stop fentanyl, and that includes China. fentanyl has killed this year at least 200,000 people. It's pouring in from China through Mexico and Canada, and they've got to stop it. And if they don't stop it, the tariffs are going to get worse, a lot worse.
SPEAKER 13 :
25% tariff on all imports coming in across the border. And then you had Mexico's Claudia Scheinbaum, very Mexican name, had... had promised she was going to come out with her own retaliatory tariffs today. And then, nope, just like Columbia. Nope, Cave, it's done. It's done. Now they're going to hammer out a deal. This is New York Times. They were set to take effect already, and they're going to be put on hold for a month. Mexico has reached a series of agreements with the Trump administration saying that it's going to reinforce the border. They're going to send 10,000 Mexican National Guardsmen to specifically counter the drug trafficking, i.e. fentanyl, and that The U.S. is expected to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weaponry into Mexico. So that means no more Fast and Furious ops for DOJ. They said that they're focusing on security and trade. So here's my big question. Can we still have guacamole for Super Bowl? Chuck Schumer doesn't think so. Chuck Schumer, no. And he... Can we play this audio and then I'm going to audio somebody seven because this is the same guy who puts cheese on raw meat and he holds up Corona in a can. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Play this.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let's just take Super Bowl Sunday. OK, it's going to affect beer. OK, I know what it was. They showed most of it. Corona here comes from Mexico. It's going to affect your guac. Because what is guacamole made of? Avocados.
SPEAKER 13 :
Actually, California avocados have more fruit. Like, you know, the meat in it. They have more flesh. I should thank you. Than avocado flesh. Sidebar, I hate that word. It sounds like a horror film. Like, you hate moist? Like, moist is the word you hate? moist. And flesh is one I don't like. It's just weird. Just so odd. So all that for nothing. All that for nothing. We're going to come back to that. All that for nothing. What does living better mean to you? Is it more money, a bigger house? Now think about this. What about how you feel physically every day? Life is so much better when you feel good. When you wake up feeling great, you can do more of the things that you love and you're ready to take on the day. if pain is affecting your life see how relief factor can help change that relief factor is a 100 drug-free daily supplement that helps your body fight pain naturally developed by doctors relief factor supports your body's response to inflammation and it doesn't just mask pain for a short time It helps to reduce or even eliminate it, and it's safe to take daily. In fact, the longer you take Relief Factor, the more effective it is. Over 1 million people have turned to Relief Factor. Feel better every day, and you'll live better every day. Trying Relief Factor is easy. Get their three-week quick start for only $19.95. That's less than a dollar a day. Call 1-800-4-RELIEF. That's 1-800-4-RELIEF, or visit relieffactor.com.
SPEAKER 12 :
Bank of America is full of lies. After Trump called out Bank of America for debanking people for their conservative politics, they issued a statement full of lies. Remember who gave the FBI a list of customers that made transactions around January 6th? Check out the Watchdog on Wall Street podcast on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 17 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 13 :
So that weird rodent predicted the weather. Punxsutawney Phil, the little rodent that they grab and drag out of this hole. And I love how they're all like, let's go put our top hats on and go get our wood rat. But they held him up and he saw a shadow. So apparently we have six more weeks of winter. My, yeah, it's no, well, at least, who is it? Bill de Blasio wasn't there to throw him to the ground and kill him to death. So, okay, all the people that turn out for this, it's actually an amazing thing. I mean, we, this is the equivalent of tossing a virgin into the volcano. I mean, I love that we have our little traditions, but it's a wood rat. You know, you're bringing up a wood rat to see the future. Also, I don't think he likes being pet. He's trying to get out of the hands of that gentleman with the top hat. He really, really wants to get out of there. Also, the... I don't know what... This is not exactly a headline. I don't know how it got in here. It's a New York Post piece about dogs. And they say that they love their lives more than we love ours.
SPEAKER 07 :
Proven.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, doubtful. fact check the I don't know all I know is I love my dog my dog loves me and we're best friends and that's about it so but they said that I don't know how they study something like that to make that determination that doesn't make any sense apparently life on earth oh my gosh I'm so tired of this this is another well I don't want this headline it's somebody's fever dream about their fetish over climate change I don't give a rat's ass I don't care I don't care so bad I cannot possibly telegraph to you how much I don't care. Vintage, I know, vintage car race, Mercedes stream, these are, what is this? Fetches a record 51 million euros at an auction. Ken Martin wins the election as the next chair. I don't even know who this guy is. But I do know that that one little lady won the vice chair. Or I mean, dude, that David Pig guy, hog guy. Yeah, I got it right the first time. Stick with us. A lot more on the way. Our partners that help bring you the program, Kel-Tec. They got a new 5-7 they're coming out with. I know. And I think George Kellgren, have you ever talked to him? So he's the guy who runs Kel-Tec and he owns and operates it. He innovates everything. Independent of me, one of my kids said he's literally a mad scientist. He just sits there and comes up with... Things that you didn't think that you needed until they made it. And then you're like, yeah, I need this. I'll talk more about what they have next week because I'm broadcasting from their booth at SHOT Show. But they're coming out. They got a new 5-7 they're coming out with and they're unveiling it at SHOT Show. But this is a Florida-based company, a great all-American story. Whatever you need for firearms, they've They've invented the concealed compact category. They make some really awesome stuff. And it's at keltecweapons.com. And when you go to their website, see everything that they have, the P-15, the P-11, the P-32, the fold-in half, sub-2Ks, all awesome. But they have a surprise for everybody next week. Visit keltecweapons.com. Sign up for their newsletter. Find them on social media. Innovation Performance Keltec. K-E-L-T-E-C. That's keltecweapons.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back, and we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan & Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe-to-toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this, everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit ForThePeople.com to learn about our firm. Morgan & Morgan, For The People.
SPEAKER 05 :
Injured? Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you.
SPEAKER 10 :
Keep your finger on the pulse with the Dana Show podcast, delivering timely news with insightful analysis. Whenever you want, straight to you on YouTube, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 13 :
Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash here with you. We're at the bottom of this first hour. We've been talking about some of the tariff stuff. We still have to get into Doge because Doge is... been pretty spicy and uh made everybody mad everyone was saying that what that elon the way that it was put to me over the weekend everyone is that elon musk was like in wellies wading knee deep into my bank account stealing all my monies i don't even know where that talking point came from i tried to run that down where the hell did that even come from with the left they've been so apoplectic over everything it's really difficult for me to like run down what they're actually reacting to So welcome back. Dana Lash with you. Make sure, by the way, go and subscribe over at Substack. I've got a doozy of a piece coming out in, oh, maybe 25 minutes. It's a doozy of a piece. That's all I know. You're going to want it because it's pertinent for our segment next hour. And appreciate all your guys' nice words and praise because my whole house had the flu. kane and juan are aliens because martians i'm looking at you they didn't get anything i took ivermectin too i told you what i think the difference is i swear to you if you say anything that rhymes with schmobiotics i'm gonna scream and start flinging things okay because you're paid by them you're like you're paid by probiotics like the amnesty caucus in florida is paid by truly that is a is it bald face line how do you say it
SPEAKER 07 :
Is it a bold face lie or is it a bald face lie?
SPEAKER 13 :
I kind of like bald.
SPEAKER 07 :
Is it?
SPEAKER 13 :
I don't know. It's probably not right. That's a bold face lie. I don't care. I just like saying bald. Like that's a bald face lie. You're a bald faced ma'am. I don't know. So welcome back. I'm a little loopy still recovering from the flu. So it's like right when you feel good and you have some energy and you don't know what to do with it. That's me right now. All right, so the Doge has been slashing. They cut a $50 billion department. You had USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development. And the way that it was presented, hang on, I got to pull up some of these stories for you. Oh my gosh, it's Musk's unprecedented power grab. Oh, Musk is, Musk is, that's unconstitutional, et cetera, et cetera. He's basically Satan, Hitler, Hitler, Satan. I mean, it's, you know. It's like a buff. They're gutting it, which they should because that's where a lot of this NGO funding is coming from. They said that USAID managed over $40 billion of appropriations. Washington Post was trying to say that he should have cut it because it amounted to less than 1% of the federal budget. Can I just do a full stop right there? Are we going to nickel and dime ourselves, Siddharth? I don't care if it's less than 1% of the U.S. budget. Only in D.C. is $40 billion considered meh. Only in D.C. is that considered not a lot of money. That's my money. I don't want my money going towards paying for condoms in foreign countries. I don't want to be paying for entitlement programs and DEI in other countries, which, yes, this is what this was all facilitating. So, totally fine with this being cut, as anyone should. But don't let them try to get you... fixated on, well, it's less than 1% of the budget. So this is really silly that we're fighting. It's not silly that we're fighting over this. In fact, this is exactly one of the things that we should be going back and forth over because this, it's $40 billion. We need to cut every single bit, whether it's 40 or 40 billion, everything. And this is also one of the pillars of the left. This is a way that they're able to shove through, fund all of their stuff. This is one of the legs of the stool, so to speak, that has really empowered the left and has funded the left. A few things with this. I mean, you have the NGOs that we've talked about specifically as it relates to issues at the border, whether it's Catholic Charities, whether it's another one of these entities, and they get so much taxpayer money, so many taxpayer dollars. And it's essentially facilitating an invasion of people who are entering illegally, and these NGOs are making fat cash off of it, millions of dollars. So, There's a reason why you would always have this money flowing through these entities that are acting in contravention of established law. This is part of it. This is one of the legs on the stool that they're targeting. I mean, this thing, this department, billions and billions of dollars, this entity launders. And you've got these organizations that are all at the trough, right? Whether it's, I mean, Bill Kristol was getting, why the hell was Bill Kristol getting paid by USAID? This is the type of stuff I'm talking about. It's the weirdest thing. But it's a scam. I mean, he got money from, as an example, he got money from USAID. He was listed as the president of Defending Democracy. That's an indirect beneficiary of USAID through Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. There's a whole website now that tracks all the data from this. So these people are all getting... I mean, it's just funneling taxpayer dollars to individuals that are actually advocating against the Republic and advocating against the tenants of the Republic and the policies that work best for us. Now it's getting... Now it's getting scuttled. It's kind of shocking that it was able to go along as long as it did. In addition to this, we've got... pull this piece up. A friend of mine over at Red State, who's been tracking the talking points going out by this. So you have the USAID Director of Employee and Labor Relations, Nick Gottlieb. So this kind of kicked off on Friday because you had 60 officials through that organization that were being placed on leave. And immediately you had these bureaucrats that were trying to fight POTUS on this. He was suspending like 60 of these senior bureaucrats, putting the rat in bureaucrat. And they were trying to get around his executive orders. They said that they, in the statement from the acting administrator, they said they've identified several actions within USA that appear to be designed to circumvent the president's executive orders, mandate for the people. So they shut down their whole thing. And the... When you work for the government, you don't get the luxury of rebelling against your boss because your boss is the American taxpayer. We think that this shouldn't exist. You have to leave now. Pack your stuff up in a box. GTFO. Get out. But the fact that we went through all this drama on Friday and I was in my flu haze and I was watching all of this kind of play out, it's really stunning to me. I was told that was a coup. Is that a coup, Cain? When you have bureaucrats that are entrenched deep within federal government and they're refusing not only to do their job, but then when they're told to leave, they refuse to leave. That's an insurrection.
SPEAKER 07 :
It sure is.
SPEAKER 13 :
I mean, I was reliably... Dems to rules.
SPEAKER 07 :
I was reliably... I would get a peaceful transfer of power.
SPEAKER 13 :
I don't get it. Right. The other defense was that it was an independent, almost like an ombudsman agency, which it wasn't. Do you guys remember Samantha Power under Barack Obama? Okay, she used to run USAID. Remember she got her Vogue spread? Samantha Power got a spread in Vogue. for Melania Trump, that she used to run that agency or that department. I mean, there are a lot of people that have their hands in this cookie jar. The goal of USAID, what have they actually done to safeguard U.S. influence or power? Because all the left is saying, well, USAID is essential. I fail to see where any of that is. Where? We're supposed to be dealing with aid and development assistance, etc. The goal of that, that's only been to shuffle taxpayer dollars to leftist entities, leftist projects, and propaganda. That's all it's been for. Good riddance. Get out. I'm so happy that it's gone. Did you guys watch the Grammys? I mean, I didn't. A friend of mine did. I didn't. I didn't watch the Grammys because I can't stand the assault on taste and music. And the weird thing is, is that from what I've seen of it, they feel like the outlier now. The stuff that I saw, the excerpts that I saw, because they talked about DEI, they talked a little bit about the election, but it seemed like That's it seemed out of out of fashion. I don't know how to put it. I was thinking about this the whole time. It seemed like it was out of fashion. You had this audio soundbite 30 Lady Gaga. So boring. Predictable. Go ahead. Sorry, this is 30.
SPEAKER 01 :
That trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love. Thank you.
SPEAKER 13 :
I don't get it. This idea that trans people are not invisible. No one said they were. We see them. I mean, dear God, we see them. We see them from like a mile away. Believe, girl. We see them From so far away. You couldn't miss them if you tried. You could still see them in a blacked out room. Okay. This idea that people are invisible. I don't care what you wanted, how you want to spend your private time and role playing. Just don't make me go by it as well. And then the whole queer community deserves to be, I don't know, these are just like word, what the hell does this even mean? Lift up how? What do you mean? You are talking about demos, particularly the trans community that account for less than 1% of the US population and they get 99% of the discussion. That seems to be egregiously unbalanced, correct? Then you have Alicia Keys, audio sound by 29. DEI is a gift. Yes, racism, she says, is a gift. Listen.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices. We've seen on this stage talented, hardworking people from different backgrounds with different points of view, and it changes the game. DEI is not a threat, it's a gift.
SPEAKER 13 :
And we are probably now experiencing a worldwide accessories shortage. Thanks to Alicia Keys. No, DEI is racism. Racism isn't a gift because DEI incorporates actual discrimination in order to determine equal outcomes. It's backwards. It's not a gift. The only people who say that are people who either the Klan says that or you don't know what it is. One of the two. One of the two. And then there was the issue of a country album. Okay, I'm just going to get it out of the way. I don't think that Beyonce should have won Best Country Album. It's a specialty album. It's actually more pop than it is country. Hell, there are a lot of country albums that I would necessarily say are country. There's stuff Kacey Musgraves does. I mean, as dumb as she is on politics, she's not a horrific performer. But there's some of the tracks that she does that I wouldn't even necessarily consider to be country. The thing is, though, because there was a lot of discussion over that, and I had friends that were texting me about it last night. The was it a bad album? What a bad album. Jolene was completely I thought it wasn't the best. It was not the best cover. I thought it could have been a little bit more inspired. I mean, Beyonce can sing. She's a you know, she's a good performer. I mean, nobody's going to take that away. But was this the best country album? Oh, hell no. It wasn't. But it had to be done because Jay-Z went on a rant last year and was bitching and moaning that his wife didn't get the best album Grammy, even though she's got more Grammys than God. You know, she didn't get the best album Grammy. So they had to. That's what this was. This was a Band-Aid. That's exactly what it was. I'm saying it because you guys know it's true. It's absolutely true. Doesn't take anything away from her performance as a performer, but that's not the best country album. That was a political handout. And I think she even wasn't expecting it. Gotta say, we have more on the way, including the FBI firings. We've got a lot. It's been a very busy weekend as we move the Super Barine product, which is available at Sam's Club. Everything brought to you by Super Barine. And you guys know the Super Beats hard shoes. Well, they also make the Super Barine product, which you can just walk right into a Sam's Club. and purchase. It is just that easy. It helps with healthy metabolism and also healthy blood sugar levels as well. It's a plant-based supplement formulated with an ingredient that helps to support all of that. Clinically researched, real results, super convenient, used by doctors from the makers of Super Beets Heart Chews. So head to your nearest Sam's Club, save on the Super Beets Heart Chews and the Super Berberine, made with clinically researched berberine. And you'll love the way it makes you feel. Only at Sam's Club.
SPEAKER 04 :
Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me and I immediately called him back and we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan & Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe to toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this, everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit ForThePeople.com to learn about our firm. Morgan & Morgan, For The People.
SPEAKER 05 :
Injured? Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you.
SPEAKER 10 :
Get the lowdown on the latest news with a side of laughs. Whenever you want. Subscribe to the Dana Show podcast on YouTube, Apple, or wherever you get your podcast.
SPEAKER 06 :
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of the United States.
SPEAKER 15 :
Trying to have some fun, and we're going to do something different, right? I don't know if you know this, there's been a few changes in Washington, so I'm going to enjoy tonight because this may be my last time I get to host anything in this country. And tonight's not just about music.
SPEAKER 13 :
Why would he, why would this be the last time that he could host any? First off, when the hell is he going to be funny? Trevor Noah. Jeez. I mean, I think it's funnier to have like your toenails pulled on than listening. Not that I've had that happen, but I'm just imagining then. So listen to him try to do a standup routine. It's weird. So number one, number two, why, why would he not be able? Is, are people going to deport? Is he here illegally? Oh, you're not here illegally. Then shut up. Learn the difference. You stupid moron. I'm so tired. I'm so tired of, I don't have the energy to be nice today. I don't have the energy for this to be nice to these people. This is so goofy. Oh my gosh. To say nothing of one last thing. And I'm going to be done talking about the Grammys because remember politics is downstream from culture. We've said this forever. Uh, I guess Kanye's done with gospel albums. What makes you say that? Well, Kane, in case you missed it, we can't show you a single bit of this. He came out on the red carpet with his wife who is wearing pantyhose. A pantyhose tube dress thing. She was just wearing literally like... Nothing. flesh-colored sheer cloth over nothing. I'm not even exaggerating. And I don't know what he thought. I mean, he's a father. You've got kids. You came out with a somewhat, I mean, it was a gospel album. Then why flip all the way back to this? Now it's just smut. What's the point? That's not a highbrow. It's not intellectual. It's not fashion. It's porn. And it's trash. We have a lot more on the way. Second hour coming up. Stick with us. With everything going on in the world right now, the economy, conflicts, the open border, spiraling national debt, the devastating inflation, it's critical that you have a plan for diversifying and protecting your savings. And that's why so many, including myself, have turned to precious metals like gold and silver to help protect our savings. And I've partnered with the top rated precious metals company Goldco to make that happen. It's a great company with a great reputation and they could not have made the process any easier. And right now, Gold Co. is offering a free gold and silver kit that will show you how precious metals can help protect and diversify your savings. And for my audience, they're offering up to a 10% instant match in bonus silver on qualified orders. All you have to do is visit danalikesgold.com to get started today. Goldco has helped thousands of Americans place over $3 billion in gold and silver, and they can help you as well. Join thousands who trust Goldco. Visit danalikesgold.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back. And we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan & Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe-to-toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this, everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit ForThePeople.com to learn about our firm. Morgan & Morgan, For The People.
SPEAKER 05 :
Injured? Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you.
SPEAKER 13 :
Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash with you. We are at the top of the second hour and we've got a lot of stuff to go over. It's been a busy weekend. This is like the craziest. I mean, I worked over the weekend, even though I was out sick with the flu towards the last couple of days of last week. But still, there was so much going on with the tariffs. We told you at the top of the last hour. Now there is a temporary pause on the tariffs with regards to Mexico for a month as they're assessing how best to deal with fentanyl, etc. Everything coming out illegally from the southern border. And then, of course, you have Panama that is now. removing itself, extricating itself from China's Belt and Road Initiative, which is huge, major. We're going to talk more about that. And then, of course, you have this situation where Canada is mad. Where was that? We had a hockey game where Canadians booed our national anthem when they played it. So they're not nice anymore. They don't get to call themselves. Yeah, listen, they booed our national anthem. That's so true. That is unbecoming of you Canadians.
SPEAKER 03 :
She has a great voice. You know what I would have done?
SPEAKER 13 :
I would have set a maple leaf on fire. That's what I would have done. Just lit up a maple leaf. It's not going to work well for them with that. And you know what? The tariffs for all the talk about how they're going to destroy the economy and it's going to lead us into World War III because, you know, it was the – what was it? The – tariffs previously in World War II that contributed to World War II and expedited our free fall into that mess, etc. Different times, different variables. I have so much on my plate. Maybe later on in the week we'll have a history lesson about that because apparently there are some moderates out there who just don't understand the history of that. But it looks like they're working. The dollar's doing pretty good. Cane? I mean, I'm not wrong, right? I was looking at that dollar. It was green. The little arrow was green. It was up.
SPEAKER 07 :
The Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar especially.
SPEAKER 13 :
Our ability to buy more with other people's currency is a lot greater than it was.
SPEAKER 07 :
It certainly is.
SPEAKER 13 :
Interesting. Maybe it's working the way it was intended. Now, I don't like taxes and I don't like... I reject the whole idea, well, it's going to hurt a little bit before it's better. I'd stop that. I don't think that that's the most successful argument that one can use. I think the way it's being leveraged now, especially what you're seeing with Mexico, that's the exact way to respond to people who might oppose... And I get it. There are people who oppose it and they have very legitimate reasons for doing so. But... when it's used in the manner that it's being used right now, you're not even getting to that pinch point. I mean, already Mexico's coming to the table. You know, already we're seeing it. But China, meh. But we have this 25% tariff, and Canada's retaliating. What do they say they're going to make it? What, Canadian whiskey, maple syrup, what else?
SPEAKER 07 :
Wood.
SPEAKER 13 :
Wood?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, wood.
SPEAKER 13 :
Wood? Yeah, we got trees. Suck. What's good? No, they said that they're going to retaliate. China says that they have countermeasures. But I think the rest of them are going to go the way that Mexico did, honestly. I think that's ultimately where they're going to move next. And, of course... So the tariff, Mexico's tariffs, as it relates to that country, that's a one month pause. Import taxes are still all that is still in place for Canada and China, though. That could change. Hell, by the end of the day, it may be different. I don't know.
SPEAKER 07 :
I'm seeing news already of Canadian companies, new food companies in Canada that are setting up shop and making agreements to set up shop in the United States to avoid the tariff. So it's exactly how Trump described it in the beginning, how he's using tariffs for not only leverage, but of course, for increasing the jobs and the revenue for the United States Treasury.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. And it's working out well. All of this is working out well. This is how it's supposed to be. So the dollar's performing well. The idea, what is it? Someone, what is it? The thing that I'm hearing about the most is avocado. Why does everybody talk about avocados? Avocados and tequila. I can tell what you people do on your time off. I can tell. You realize that we actually get avocados, we can get them from California. And they have a lot of flesh. We talked about that last hour. A friend of mine who's a chef out there actually was on X talking all about it. Way more information than I ever wanted to know about the Californian avocado industry. But by and large, larger, more flesh, and you can, I mean, they're right here in the United States, in California. So that seems like, okay. Tequila? I got some agave plants. I'll make my own damn tequila if I have to. I don't really drink tequila, so that's not a big, you know, it wasn't a big deal. For Canada, I hate maple syrup. I don't care. I don't like it. I don't like maple syrup. It's tree goo. It's goo from trees. It's weird. I'm not into it. I don't like it. It's like, here's some diabetes. Would you like some diabetes on your stack of carbs? You know, I just, it's not my jam. I mean, if you like it, that's great. Great for you. I'm happy about that. Good for you. I love that for you. Just not my jam. So, I don't know. I'm willing to wait this out and see where it goes. So far, it hasn't been disappointing. He, a couple of other things as well. So, we had the U.S. aid. I mean, really going out. I can't underscore that. how also important that is because that has been used as a slush fund to pay activists and propagandists and with taxpayer dollars. I don't even know how much the percentage of it that actually goes towards the claimed intended recipients is what, like a fraction. It doesn't even, they don't even, they don't actually do foreign aid. It's going to political groups. None of it's going to foreign, it's all going to political groups. And then they're laundering all this money through all of these like far left entities and activists. And the other, the budget for this, what was the budget? So I mentioned Samantha Power last hour. She ran it under Obama, Biden. They have the budget for U.S. aid was reportedly three times the combined budgets of the FBI and CIA. What? That makes sense. You know, it's basically an offshoot of the CIA, I guess, that's looking out to persuade people to work against the Republicans. I mean, it's an Intel op. USA is an Intel op, right? That's what it three times the combined budget of those two entities. And what was the purpose of what did you get from it? You got divisions thrown in the country. You got activists who were being paid. You have people like Bill Kristol who were that's people who pretended to be Republicans who were trashing the Republic Marxists. I'm curious as to how many burn loot murder, like what burn loot murder got from this. So cutting off the money to this is huge. Huge. So this is one of the legs on the stool of the Democrats, their power matrix. It's what it is. It's one of the arms of this. This is significant. Coming up at the bottom of this hour, one of the other things we've been talking about is the rhino situation with Texas and Florida. And in Texas, it's one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. When I moved to Texas in 2013, I thought, oh, this is great because they have a supermajority, you know. Kane, you thought the same thing, right? Supermajority, Republicans, it's Texas, you know, come on. And then you very quickly find out that a lot of the lawmakers that have R's after their names really are essentially just Democrats. So there was an ugly speaker fight. There's been an ugly power battle in Austin, Texas Capitol. And they were empowering, even though they had a supermajority. They were giving away seats of power, committee seats. to democrats and sharing power with them for some reason in florida they're trying to pass an amnesty bill that's an amnesty bill but they think if they call it the trump act then that dissolves the amnesty it's the goofiest thing i've ever seen and feelings excuse me feelings are hot over this understandably because these are the two you know reliably read states in the union and if you you really republicans really can't afford to lose either one of them i think at this stage and there have been so many gains made in florida i remember when florida was a swing state i remember covering the 2012 election and i think it was i think it was uh it back in the green room at cnn and i remember watching florida come in And I think at that point it was only like 18 percent or 19 percent of the state had reported in. But you could tell, you know, looking at the districts of the state where the state was was going to go. And it it went it went for Barack Obama. And that was like at seven something at night. I knew the election was over then. It used to be a swing state. It was not a reliable red state. Now it's a reliably red state to the point where they, from what I understand, Republicans are out registering Democrats to vote three to one. You have Miami-Dade that went Republican, Palm Beach County that went Republican last election. They've led the charge. And I love the state that I'm in. You know, don't don't. mistake me but i also i love i want other red states i want there to be other red states i don't i i think that that just make it makes our union stronger and also when you have stuff that needs to be done federally like uh well i don't know immigration enforcement it works very well to make sure that that you can get that done with lawmakers in those particular states if you're if you go to substack My newsletter, chapter and verse. I just dropped a major piece about all this for you. Has a lot of receipts. Everything you want to know about the amnesty bill. Everything you want to know about the players. Everything you want to know about how much money they've been getting from Big Sugar. How much money they got from a Canadian pot company called Trulieve, which also likes illegal labor. Everything that you wanted to know about all of the conflicts that a lot of these lawmakers pushing amnesty have. You need to bookmark it. You're going to need it. Because these lawmakers passed it. They won't send this amnesty bill to the governor's desk for him to veto. They're going to wait until public interest in this dies down, and then they think they're going to sneak it in. And then they're going to claim that DeSantis opposed something Trump. It's all about optics. One of the lawmakers, he's still scheduled to join. I think he will. I think Randy Fine will join us at the bottom of the hour. I mean, he's so... you know, God bless America, wrong on this issue. But I'm a nice hostess, Kane, am I not? I'm all about making friends. I'm not mean when I invite you into my house, so to speak. I'm not mean to you. But I am going to ask questions because I just, I want to know why, what did Trump do to these lawmakers in Florida that made them name an amnesty bill after him? That's what I want to know. What did he do to them that was so mean that these amnesty lawmakers are like, you know what? We're going to name this bill, this big fat amnesty turd, we're going to name it the Trump Act. What did he do to you? You know, I mean, he's out here. Look what he's doing. So over the weekend, he's out here cutting USAID, you know, cutting that that whole propaganda proxy entity, gutting them financially. He's out there making Mexico come to the bargaining table. Right. We got Panama that's now out of Belt and Road. I mean, these are all he bombed ice. I mean, he's been a busy dude. What did he do? to these particular amnesty Republicans in Florida, to where they named that amnesty turd of a bill after him. All family pharmacy, you just need to bookmark this website. I've never been to a website where they make it easier to get the medicines that you need. And look, for like, I get it, if you want to go to a doctor, they have doctors that are on their staff that you can actually talk to. So, for instance, when I over Thanksgiving, I was getting super sick. I had sinusitis and it was turning into strep and I had people coming. I was hosting for Thanksgiving. I don't have time for this. So I went on all family pharmacies website, all family pharma. And I use my own code name. I'm not going to even lie about it. I dropped my own name and I got it discounted for 10% off. It's all familypharma.com slash Dana. And I was able to get my azithromycin because if I were to go to my doctor, that's the exact same thing they're going to prescribe me. This ain't my first rodeo. And then I had it overnighted. Got here at 9 a.m. 9 a.m. I ordered this stuff at like seven o'clock last night. So it was amazing how quickly that they got it there. Anything that you need. This is a must have when you're traveling. They have everything. Ivermectin, which I take ahead of big events for the antiviral properties. But they have all kinds of reliable options for a variety of health needs. Be prepared. Skip the hassle. And here's the kicker. Big thing. Big, big, big. Their stuff is made in the USA, not China. So you hear about a lot of antibiotics being made in CCP China. Not these. It's all USA. So you do not have to worry about outsourced products. You're getting good quality, safe material. Visit allfamilypharma.com slash Dana. Get 10% off using promo code Dana10. Don't wait. Make sure that you're always prepared. Protect yourself and your family. Allfamilypharma.com slash Dana. Code Dana10 to save 10%.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Injured? Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you.
SPEAKER 07 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 13 :
All right, so first up, the DNC, I told you they elected that. The guy who lied about being, I think he said he was at school that day, but from what local media was saying or some activists were saying that he was actually there at Parkland, David Hockey, won election as vice chair of the DNC. It's a DEI hire. Also, this J.P. Morgan's $4 billion delivery of gold bullions added to fears that Trump's tariffs are going to reshape global trade. I think global trade needs to be reshaped because the United States has been on the harsh end of this. For quite some time, we've been very we've been treated in a punitive manner because we're such a successful country. And I mean, really, ultimately, a lot of people have been abusing trade relations as a way to try to make things a little equitable. So they really that's the reality of it. Let's see this refineries. There was one refinery fire, Martinez Refinery Fire. Injuries were reported. This was from ABC7. This is when all of our refineries, by the way, were operating at full capacity. This was out in California. Martinez Refining Company, they had a shelter-in-place order because they had a huge fire that injured six people. And they were telling everyone, stay in your houses, shelter-in-place. A couple of others here. Let's see. This... Soft space is out. Stick fighting in. The Dutch are calling for a return of risky play. They said that the Netherlands is trying to combat sedentary ways. And so as a result, they're coming up with all of these activities on the playground and schools, etc. for kids. Even if they're like stick fighting, which you could not do that here in the United States because everyone's afraid of litigation. Amnesty Bill in Florida next. Achieving vibrant, youthful skin doesn't have to be complicated. With the power of Native Path Collagen, you can nourish your body from within and enhance not just your skin, but also your hair, your nails. By incorporating Native Path Collagen into your daily routine, you can promote a plump, radiant complexion, reduce signs of aging, and boost your overall vitality, all without any unnecessary fillers or additives. Native Path Collagen has only type 1 and 3 collagen, the most important types, making up 90% of your body's collagen, no artificial sweeteners, just pure third party tested goodness. It's completely flavorless. So you can just add it to about anything, your coffee or smoothies, oatmeal or whatever you want. And the best part is that Native Path's peptides formula makes it more bioavailable. So it means your body will absorb it easily. Start your journey to healthier skin today. Get NativePath.com slash Dana and stock up on Native Path collagen and save up to an incredible 45% off plus free shipping. Every order includes a 365-day money-back guarantee. Don't miss out. Head to GetNativePath.com slash Dana.
SPEAKER 04 :
Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back, and we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan & Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe-to-toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this, everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit ForThePeople.com to learn about our firm. Morgan & Morgan, For The People.
SPEAKER 05 :
Injured? Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you.
SPEAKER 16 :
the dana show podcast your fast funny and informative news companion for those always on the move subscribe on youtube apple or wherever you get your podcasts against illegal immigration i don't think i've seen that memo yet um and so so it's it's really like the fox garden the hen house so so it's bad decision they don't have the resources you have to create a whole new bureaucracy to be all these problems but they actually in the bill they prohibit our state agencies and your local agencies from even talking to ICE without the approval of the Commissioner of Agriculture. So if you want to have Panhandle, your police departments, your sheriff's departments, if they're working to bust some illegal alien gang, they wouldn't be able to turn them over to ICE unless the Commissioner of Agriculture gave them approval. Who the hell do they think they are to say they need a mother may I from the commissioner of freaking agriculture?
SPEAKER 13 :
In some respects, all of this makes me feel a little bit better about what we have to deal with in Texas. Because in Texas, it's such a fight in Austin. It is such a fight. And, you know, at first I thought, golly, we're wasting this. Texas, how could you do this? And I look at Florida, I'm like, oh, well, we're not the only ones. Dealing with it. Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash here with you. We're at the bottom of the second hour. You can listen coast to coast all across the country. You can also watch the simulcast, you know, 347 direct TV. Find us a rumble X everywhere else. So I've talked a lot about this, particularly with Florida because I like Florida. I like to go on vacation in Florida. I got a lot of family and friends that live in Florida. It is a beautiful state. I want it to be as red as it can be. I want them to be on the same page with everybody, with the president on deportation and strong immigration. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is going on with this bill. So let's bring in one of the state lawmakers, Senator Randy Fine. We've exchanged some words on X. Now, I've never met Senator Fine before. This is our first time ever talking face to face. And he's joined the program. So, Senator, I will give you some credit because most lawmakers do not unless they have a book to sell. So you are here today. Let me just start with the most obvious. Why in the world? Are are certain Republicans in Tallahassee wanting to give the agriculture commissioner immigration enforcement power? What other states have done this?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, Dana, thanks for having me on. I'm a huge fan. I understand you're getting over the flu and I wish you the best. I just got over it and it's pretty terrible. But we did this. A lot of this is miscommunication. The governor wanted a bill that gave chief immigration enforcement responsibility to someone in the deep state. He didn't want the responsibility himself. Why? Because he's busy doing a good job running the state. We thought it should be a statewide elected official. And that's why we gave it to Wilton Simpson, because we thought it should be someone who should be accountable to the voters. And we thought he had the time and the ability to handle it.
SPEAKER 13 :
So that's even in contravention of the Department of Justice, which recently clarified that that position does not have that authority, that that authority is vested with the governor of the state. So how do you get around that?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, that was what the Biden Department of Justice said last year. And frankly, I think we're seeing that the way the Biden administration did just about everything was wrong. We wouldn't be in this situation.
SPEAKER 13 :
But I think that that's just trying to say that that's tainted by association. I mean, what other states have put the agriculture commissioner in charge of immigration enforcement?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, in Florida, the agriculture commissioner does a whole lot more than agriculture. I know how much you care about guns. And in Florida, it's the agriculture commissioner that's responsible for guns. It's actually the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. And yes, our current our current commissioner is a farmer, but he's one of only four statewide elected officials in the state, the other one being the Attorney General, which is open, and the other one being the CFO, where the current incumbent is about to join me in Congress. So there really only were two positions that we could give it to. We don't have 15. And it was really important that we give it to someone who was elected.
SPEAKER 13 :
But it looks as though because I've read I've actually read this. I don't bring people on and not read the things that I'm talking about. And, you know, you said that you're a fan. So you obviously know this about me. I'm a little nuts about this. So you're smart. What I what I don't understand is when I'm looking at this, it's just creating more bureaucracy. And that's just that's not a talking point that's floating on X. I mean, it actually does. I mean, you're you're creating another level of bureaucracy that to me slows down this entire process. And what's more, there's there's a conflict of interest when you're when you're giving this enforcement power to someone, you're taking it from the governor. which I think also violates Florida's Constitution, just from my reading and understanding of that. You're giving it to, as you know, Wilton Simpson, a farmer who has interests that conflict with his ability to do his job above reproach. That's a problem with voters. I mean, you clearly see the conflict of interest there.
SPEAKER 18 :
I don't. And part of the reason we created more resources is the things that we have passed on illegal immigration haven't been implemented. So we passed.
SPEAKER 13 :
Because you didn't fund it. You guys didn't fund it. That's why you passed these things and you didn't fund it. So you could say that the governor didn't do anything.
SPEAKER 18 :
We fund plenty, but then don't come back and say we didn't fund it. And now when we put in funding and we create new positions, say we're creating a new bureaucracy, people have to choose one or the other. There's no question. We want to make sure the Trump administration has the resources. And we put this bill together by asking them what they need to be successful. And they said they needed more beds, more badges.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, then why did Trump tweet out about DeSantis's bill and not your have you guys actually did you did Trump endorse your bill?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, first off, President Trump endorsed the idea of a special session. He has not endorsed any of the policies publicly, frankly, of our bill or governor.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, yeah, he endorsed deportation, which your bill doesn't mention at one time.
SPEAKER 18 :
We all want deportation.
SPEAKER 13 :
But why doesn't your bill? Why doesn't why isn't it in the bill?
SPEAKER 18 :
Because the federal government deports.
SPEAKER 13 :
OK, and so bringing back to the point, only the governor has that authority to be working with the federal government in that way. The AG commissioner does not have that authority with the way the current law is written.
SPEAKER 18 :
But we don't agree with that.
SPEAKER 13 :
Look, we give these. OK, you can say that you don't agree with that. How is that helping? How is that helping Trump's deportation operation when your bill doesn't mention deportation? When you create another level of bureaucracy, you're you're all this stuff. All all I'm seeing and all voters are seeing is that you're putting someone with a conflict of interest in charge of immigration enforcement to someone who exempted themselves from E-Verify. Wilton Simpson, the guy that you guys want to put in charge of this, exempted himself from E-Verify. How is that not a conflict of interest?
SPEAKER 18 :
He doesn't have a conflict of interest because the E-Verify that we passed that we wanted to be enforced hasn't been.
SPEAKER 13 :
Because you didn't fund the ability to enforce it so you could use it as a talking point.
SPEAKER 18 :
I mean, I have this... We have funded plenty of things. Either we funded it and it wasn't done or we didn't fund it. And we're wanting you can go.
SPEAKER 13 :
And everyone, I would encourage you to go to my sub stack because I have all your votes on this listed there. And so people can follow along with it live. We're talking with Senator Randy Fine from Florida who did agree to come on. And I appreciate that he did to talk about this. But but this is this is my issue. I'm just trying to figure out this like Rube Goldberg way of. of carrying out deportations and assisting the the trump administration but yet the bill it's almost like it's designed to fail i mean surely you see the concerns voters have on this it's not because 95 of law enforcement in florida is done by sheriffs and local police and they came out against this by the way fdle that posted january 3rd 6 20 p.m very very small
SPEAKER 18 :
FDLE is a very small percentage. And the Florida sheriff supported our bill.
SPEAKER 13 :
You had two sheriffs that were standing with the Florida governor when he held a press conference talking about his bill. So clearly there's not a there's not that consensus you're insinuating with us.
SPEAKER 18 :
I'm telling you the truth. The Florida Sheriff's Association's endorsed the bill. I had dinner with the sheriff just a couple of nights ago. I was very concerned about it. But the sheriff's stand with us because you had sheriff's also again, like I said, with the with the with the Florida governor.
SPEAKER 13 :
But back to my point, though, with this, what other state has put the the AG commissioner in charge of this and change their state constitution? That it doesn't make any sense, especially when it's the governor that gets to make these sorts of calls. I mean, I have concerns because you're now going to be going to Congress. You just want a special seat in Congress. You're going to, interestingly, a district that the governor used to hold, Florida's sixth congressional district. There are concerns that this is going to that what you are a part of here is going to be happening federally, that you're going to be taking that to D.C., And that's not going to be working so well with the Trump immigration deportation operation that he's wanting to implement.
SPEAKER 18 :
Look, the president helped us design the bill. His people were involved with us creating the bill. The reason it changed so much from the first day to the second day is because they Trump.
SPEAKER 13 :
You're telling me that Trump wrote the bill. Oh, you lost. It's all right. That happens from time to time. There you go. Don't worry.
SPEAKER 18 :
No, we work. We work with the White House and got technical advice on things. And by the way, the reason you saw mandatory death death sentences for illegal immigrants that commit that commit was already lost.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's already law, Senator.
SPEAKER 18 :
That was not that was not law.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yes. Mandatory death sentences was absolutely already law.
SPEAKER 18 :
That's for one type of crime was law, but not in general.
SPEAKER 13 :
How are you how are you going to how are you going to defend this against those who say that this is that what you're essentially doing by taking this power from the Florida governor, giving it to the AG, the commissioner? How is that going to pass muster in a court of law? I mean, I can't imagine. I mean, that's in direct contravention to the state constitution of Florida.
SPEAKER 18 :
It's not the commissioner of agriculture is responsible for gun policy.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's not that we're not talking about gun policy. We're talking about immigration enforcement, which it's very clearly in the power of the governor.
SPEAKER 18 :
we could give we the legislature decides which of these four cabinet officers has what responsibility. And look, it sounds like that's really what we're arguing about. It's not about the bill itself.
SPEAKER 13 :
Oh, no, it's the bill itself. Also, I mean, there's no deportation in it.
SPEAKER 18 :
The governor or is it Wilton Simpson? And by the way, I respect the people who believe the governor should be in charge. I really do. And I think there's a reasonable argument.
SPEAKER 13 :
Honestly, I have to tell you senator from your timeline and the timeline of others it doesn't look like it daniel perez and some of in joe gruters i mean i've seen i've never seen so many lawmakers throw insults and call voters bots for simply like bringing up questions about this i mean you do see that
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, look, I think this entire thing happened in a very unfortunate way. It would have been nice if the governor called us. We got together. We came up with a plan together. That didn't happen. And so a lot of what you see here is unfortunate miscommunication. But look, whether it should be someone in the deep state as the governor wants to be.
SPEAKER 13 :
How is that? How is how is that guy? Who is this deep state appointee that you're talking about?
SPEAKER 18 :
The governor wants a staff member to be the chief immigration officer. We wanted somebody elected.
SPEAKER 13 :
So you want an egg farmer that has ties to illegal labor and exempted himself from E-Verify. You think that's better?
SPEAKER 18 :
I'm not aware of any accusations ever that that that President Simpson's ever used illegal immigrants on his farm. And frankly, he's someone that we all supported. Republicans shouldn't be taking potshots at each other about this.
SPEAKER 13 :
Look, Ron DeSantis can say, I think you've done that with the governor after you went out and supported him.
SPEAKER 18 :
You did a 180 and then you've been calling him me over issues of anti-Semitism, which I'm happy to talk about another time.
SPEAKER 13 :
Because he went to Ireland to talk about it for a business.
SPEAKER 18 :
That's beyond the point.
SPEAKER 13 :
Senator, I don't think that you want to get involved in like straw man and ad hominem with me. I will caution you on that.
SPEAKER 18 :
I'm not trying to. You're the one who brought up that I flipped on DeSantis. I'm just saying.
SPEAKER 13 :
Because you accused him of being an anti-Semite as a deflection for you guys trying to codify amnesty and strip the governor of all enforcement power.
SPEAKER 18 :
I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about that at all.
SPEAKER 13 :
So you're literally trying to, are you trying to pull Godwin's law on me after, because I'm just asking about immigration enforcement?
SPEAKER 18 :
I do not think that in any way, shape, or form. I just think there's a fundamental disagreement over whether it should be a staff member from the deep state.
SPEAKER 13 :
Or, yes, an illegal labor exempting e-verify egg farmer. Yes.
SPEAKER 18 :
Stantis could come back and say, I want to be the chief immigration officer. But that's not what he wanted. He wanted someone down in the deep state who wanted to do that. He didn't want the job himself. And so we thought it should be.
SPEAKER 13 :
I don't I really doubt that the guy that I think his last name is Guthrie. I really doubt that that guy is deep state. But I do think it's an interesting deflection to take attention off the fact that. That you have a certain number of Republican lawmakers that are trying to put immigration enforcement in the hands of someone whose credibility is absolutely legitimately questioned. And there's a lot of, I mean, this is a guy who also voted to exempt illegal immigrants from having to be here, people be here illegally to practice law. or to even be a judge. I mean, you're talking about people who wanted to give illegal aliens driver's licenses, and yet you want to put that type of person involved in immigration enforcement. Honestly, it seems like there's a grudge match that some of you have against the Florida governor at the expense of Florida voters. What do you say to that?
SPEAKER 18 :
The way we look at it is Wilton Simpson's gonna be on the ballot for reelection next year in a very red state. And we know if he doesn't do a good job, the voters won't reelect him. That's part of the thinking too. Governor DeSantis, for all the great job that he has done, he's gone next year. He can't run for reelection. We liked the idea of an elected statewide official who had to be accountable to the voters for enforcing this law. If he doesn't do it, if your concerns are justified, he ain't gonna win reelection next year.
SPEAKER 13 :
This we're talking with with Florida Senator Randy Fine about this. For those who are unaware, it's this bill that's in Florida. And I know we're going to be dealing with stuff like this in Texas and a lot of states are as the president is implementing his bill. mass deportation policy, immigration enforcement. And Florida, this is a very important state as it pertains to immigration, a very important state for Republicans. And this is why some of us, I've been doing this since Tea Party days. And so I'm very sensitive when I see Republicans go at each other, call themselves, some of the stuff that I've seen happen with these Florida lawmakers. Explain something to this as well. So we're talking about Immigration enforcement giving it to the ag commissioner. I'm curious, why him? Why did you decide to to choose Wilton this role as to put this enforcement power with?
SPEAKER 18 :
And Dana, I just want to say your concern about people like me is completely reasonable because you see what happens. Out there I I sponsored the largest expansion of school choice in American history that was my bill so I understand when people say what on earth is going on in other states and that's why I don't mind your hard questions again in Florida we only have four statewide elected officials and we only have two that are currently employed. the governor and the commissioner of agriculture. And we only have one who's going to be on the ballot next year. We wanted to say, we expect you to do this. And if you don't, you're going to get beat next year. And I have every confidence he can do it. If you're right and he can't, he will not be reelected when he runs. If this was such a,
SPEAKER 13 :
Sorry, Senator, if this was such a sure thing, why are Republicans, why is Daniel Perez being accused, he and Evan Power are being accused of paying people to post talking points on social media? This was something that I saw going around just over the weekend. What's the story with us?
SPEAKER 18 :
I have no idea. I have nothing to do with it. I don't pay anyone. I take my hits for free. So I don't know really anything about that. And so I can't really answer questions where we're not all working on the same things. I'm not paying anybody to do anything.
SPEAKER 13 :
Why call it the Trump Act?
SPEAKER 18 :
Because we wanted to show, look, the two sponsors of the bill in the Senate are President Trump's biggest supporters, me and Joe Gruters, who's been with President Trump since 2015. We wanted to help Florida make Donald Trump successful. We don't want to set Florida up to compete with Donald Trump. We want to give Donald Trump the tools that he needs, and these are the things and the technical advice that he has given us. But really what we want is we want us all to be working together, Ron DeSantis, the legislature, the president, and be rowing in the same direction. The entire last couple of weeks have been incredibly unfortunate.
SPEAKER 13 :
Why haven't you sent the bill to his desk, though?
SPEAKER 18 :
We did because this is the bill that we thought was good. But I would note that when we heard.
SPEAKER 13 :
Did you read the bill? Because I know that it came out last minute, 80 some odd pages and not everybody read it.
SPEAKER 18 :
Get the bill along with Senator Cruz. I'm one of the two sponsors. But I'll point this out to you. There were four amendments filed to this bill on the floor. They were all filed by Democrats. The people who supported. They're happy with it. Some of them are.
SPEAKER 13 :
Although they were cheering y'all. They're like using you guys in your in their ads.
SPEAKER 18 :
Listen. None of the people who supported the governor's ideas introduced any of his ideas as a message.
SPEAKER 13 :
Jay Collins didn't introduce anything? Blaise Angolia didn't introduce anything? Come on, that's not being genuine here, Senator. as we move our partners that help bring you the program. It's our friends over at Patriot Mobile, the only Christian conservative cell phone service in the country. Patriot Mobile has just the best coverage, no matter where you go. I've been all over the world, and I've never had an interruption in my service. And you have coverage you can trust. They have nationwide coverage by operating on all three major networks. You're connected wherever you go, and you have seamless switching. You have a 100% US-based customer service team, so you're creating and maintaining US-based jobs. You can keep your number, you can keep your phone, you can upgrade. It's just been so, it's never been easier to switch. So visit patriotemobile.com slash Dana or call 972-PATRIOT. Get a free month of service using promo code Dana. Make the switch today. That's a whole free month of service. And defend freedom every time you call or text. That's patriotemobile.com slash Dana 972-PATRIOT.
SPEAKER 04 :
Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back, and we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan & Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe-to-toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this, everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit ForThePeople.com to learn about our firm. Morgan & Morgan, For The People.
SPEAKER 05 :
Injured? Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you.
SPEAKER 13 :
Welcome back to the program. You're a lovable curmudgeon here with you, Dana Lash, at the top of this third hour. And this, still coming back from the flu. We're coming back strong. Everybody and their brother had the flu, apparently. Except for Kane and Juan. because they're freaks. I'm staring at them accusingly right now because they're Martians. So it's good to be with you guys. And sorry, I went a little bit long that last segment, I know, but it was worth it. Worth it. Because I feel like I'm all, it's like every five years, it feels like you relitigate rhino battles. You know what I mean? Like you've got to police your own party. And sometimes that's even tougher than it is going after the left. It really is. A couple of things on this. Now, I pulled up because apparently now Marco Rubio is acting director of USAID or USAID. That was pulling up because that was just announced, actually, when I was talking with the Florida senator. So... That's a significant thing there. They're kneecapping that. And then they're also shuffling some things around. And then, of course, we have this all of this movement. With tariffs, we have Doge targeting PBS, NPR, all this. We're going to get into all that. But yeah, Marco Rubio, he's taken over as acting director of USAID. And the, I mean, acting director. So, I mean, we'll see. One of the things that you brought up, Kane, too. And this is correct. And I have this buried in my notes here. Because apparently, actually, I had to search it, pull it up in my notes. This was an executive order that was done back under John F. Kennedy. The Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions. And this was the establishment of the Agency for International Development, or as we know it now, USAID. And Cain brings up a point for all of the weeping and gnashing of the teeth on the left about Trump and his unilateral movement to gut USAID and take away their funding, etc. What is the rule with executive orders? Cain, remind the class, the moderates out there, the drive-bys, not you guys.
SPEAKER 07 :
That the next executive can rescind it.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. Even if it's like, you know, X amount of presidents later, they can they can go back and they can rescind it. So that's a little interesting footnote. The point of this and I thought Rubio handled this well. I don't have video, but I do have a transcript of his answer because he was asked. The perspective of the question came from a reporter that was intimate. Well, not intimating. They were claiming that it was so USAID is charitable. And basically, aren't you just so bad if you're wanting to get rid of charity? I mean, that's ultimately how they were asking this question. And Rubio said, well, you know, we there are things that we do like talking about charitable moves that we should continue to do. He goes, but everything has to be in alignment. This is his direct quote. Everything has to be in alignment with the national interest and foreign policy of the U.S. And the attitude that USAID has adopted over the years is that, no, we're independent of the national interest. We fund programs irrespective of whether or not it is aligned or not aligned with foreign policy. He says that's ridiculous. It's taxpayer dollars. And he's right. And he said so. The way that he put it, I thought, was smart. He said, you're not talking about, per se, ending these programs. You're talking about the things that... is not operating in function of national interest. That seems like the most obvious answer. Now, more smart people would hear that and go, oh, yeah, uh-huh, that makes sense. Yeah, it needs to be for national interest. Being the welfare slush fund for the world is not in the U.S. national interest. And I don't really think that reporter liked that. I mean, you already had two USAID officials that had to be, they literally locked Doge out of the building. Sidebar, I swear, if they're not running around in like Joe Exotic members only jackets that say Doge on it, then what's the purpose of having that power? You know, come on. So they were not, they had these two officials, top two security officials at USAID. They would not allow Doge to access anything at the agency. So this gets back into what I started the whole show with, because over the weekend, The way, and a lot of people were scrubbing their timelines, but, and Kane, I know you saw this, so affirm this because I'm not crazy. They were acting like Elon Musk was in your bank account. It is the craziest stuff I've ever seen. I mean, I've seen some overreaction in my time. This was nuts. They said he's trying to physically access our headquarters and they would not allow them to access any security system or any systems at the agency. They wanted to look and see where their money is going, right? And it's problematic. So I mentioned earlier prophylactics, right? To like Taliban and that. Oh, that's actually literally one of the things that they said. The Free Beacon, let me pull this up, has that story. Free Beacon has a few things on this. Their 2025 budget request was asking for $42.8 billion. What? Yeah. About $43 billion. So we can continue to give free things to people and pay for condoms for terrorists. I almost said something very politically incorrect. So they said, no, they're not going to let these people stand in defiance. So they're fired. They're out. It was a good move. They're not playing. And like I said, this is one of the legs of the stool that the left uses to push their policy. Because they know they can't do it just legislatively. So they have to create this whole apparatus of, So yeah, you can have an executive. I do, the question about Kennedy's EO, and this is the one question that I do have about that, because that was doing math in my head. I can diagram sentences like that, but math in my head is a different story. It was like 60 some odd years ago, right? Yeah. If it's still a standalone story, executive order, then there's no issue with getting rid of it with another executive order. If there's legislation that has later accompanied it or further submitted it, it'll be a little tricky, a little trickier. But there's still things that you can do to essentially defund it in the meantime. And so, I mean, they market it as some big life-saving thing. Again, all of the money that they have spent is not in keeping with that declared mission. The other, oh, pull this in. This is another free beacon piece. The Biden administration, very, very quietly in the 11th hour, while no one knew, funneled $3 million to Gazan government, their security forces for weapons training. Just let me read that again. The Biden administration gave more than $3 million of our taxpayer money to the Gazan's security force. Yeah. For weapons training. So I guess they can, to teach them to go and kill Jews better? Like, what's the... Yeah. They did, they literally conducted firearms and ammunition training. And this is after their literal members attacked innocent Israelis. They were behind dozens, dozens of attacks. According to an independent watchdog, it's a nonprofit that's based in this area. They said they've documented 55 attacks by Gaza security forces against Israeli soldiers or civilians since 2020 alone. And in the last month, there were four. And in each case, the security forces and the ruling party, so you have Hamas and you have Fatah. Fatah, they, as Beacon notes, they eulogize the attacker as one of their own soldiers. We gave over $3 million to terrorists to train the terrorists how to shoot better. You can't make this up. You cannot, and there's been, they've demanded on the left, they've been saying that, oh, you need to reinstate more funding to these security services. They had a $45 million a year in funding to that. Now, last month, we've started freezing all of this stuff. And Trump comes in, we started freezing all of it. But this is unreal. When your government is so big that you don't know that you're giving that much money to terrorists, your taxpayer dollars to terrorists, we've got a problem. That's a major issue. Huge issue. Now, a few other things I want to touch on. We've got... We had Trudeau. We also have this. Tariffs in the EU. This is Trump responding on this. Listen.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, you're asking me a question because I'm sure you didn't hear. Am I going to impose tariffs on the European Union? Do you want the truthful answer or should I give you a political answer? Absolutely. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 13 :
Do you want the truthful or the political one? Oh, the truthful one. Absolutely. I get just ready for it. Good. This, I think some of the, look, I get weird about tariffs too. However, I think that people need to sharpen their perspective more. through which they're viewing this. Because it looks like this is not something that he's looking to implement and have this go on ad nauseum just forever. I mean, this is your leveraging to get the best outcome for the United States. We're already seeing that with Mexico. I mean, they said our dollar is going to tank, all this other stuff. We're not seeing that right now. But I think that when you carry out a response like this, it has to be, I think, very streamlined and very to the point, which I think it has been. I mean, they definitely have an objective that they need to accomplish, and I think they're doing it. I mean, I'm not being myopic, am I, Cain? I really feel like this is not... Whenever the subject of tariffs come up, the capital L's go crazy. The moderates go crazy. Everyone loses it. And then they act like it's just being done willy nilly punitively for no justifiable purpose, which I don't understand how anyone could hold that position, especially if you've seen the way that the United States has been treated as a trade partner internationally.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think we both know that our media is garbage.
SPEAKER 13 :
Not even our media, like other people that are supposedly on our side.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, I get it. But the idea of the truth getting out about these makes Trump look good. And so far, we're going to see it play out, and it will make the country and Trump look good when this all plays out the way it's intended to. And all these people crying and whining and acting like this is such a horrible dictator-type position to take, hopefully will eat their words. But they're Democrats, so they won't.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. We have more to come. And also this week, too, we're going to deep dive into some more with this, the the the tariffs, especially as we kind of get a lay of the land, because I think this stuff is like fluid. It's changing so fast. I mean, who knows? Maybe Canada is going to come to the table tonight. We don't know. We don't know what's going to happen. With everything going on in the world right now, the economy, conflicts, the open border, spiraling national debt, the devastating inflation, it's critical that you have a plan for diversifying and protecting your savings. And that's why so many, including myself, have turned to precious metals like gold and silver to help protect our savings. And I partnered with the top rated precious metals company Goldco to make that happen. It's a great company with a great reputation and they could not have made the process any easier. And right now, Gold Co. is offering a free gold and silver kit that will show you how precious metals can help protect and diversify your savings. And for my audience, they're offering up to a 10% instant match in bonus silver on qualified orders. All you have to do is visit danalikesgold.com to get started today. Gold Co. has helped thousands of Americans place over $3 billion in gold and silver, and they can help you as well. Join thousands who trust Gold Co. Visit danalikesgold.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back. And we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan & Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe-to-toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this, everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit ForThePeople.com to learn about our firm. Morgan & Morgan, For The People.
SPEAKER 05 :
Injured? Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you.
SPEAKER 07 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 13 :
All right, get rid of your broccoli. If you got it at Walmart, get rid of the broccoli. Because apparently 20 states have upgraded the recall to the highest risk level. I didn't know there were levels. So they said that it's the broccoli recall. It's a class one. The most serious. It's Braga Fresh of Salinas, California. They had market side broccoli florets. And Health and Human Services said, oh, there's lots of lots of listeria in multiple samples from Texas Walmart. So, maybe don't eat the broccoli if you got it from a Texas Walmart. Just, you know, FYI. They said they've had no illnesses yet, but, you know, be smart about it. Kane hates broccoli, so he's not concerned at all. He doesn't care. He didn't eat broccoli. Let's see. Also, this... A... No, I can't do that one. That's going to take a long time. That's... Nope, that one's... Ooh, London's secret tunnels are going to open as a new tourist attraction with the UK's deepest bar. Okay, I don't like tunnels. I hate tunnels. Whenever I'm in New York, I just close my eyes to the tunnels. I don't like... I get claustrophobic kind of badly. And I don't even like being in a tunnel. I don't like being in little elevators. I'll take 15,000 flights of stairs if I get in a little elevator. But this is 40 meters below the streets of the Capitol. It's the Kingsway Exchange. They were sheltering Londoners during the Blitz. And now apparently they're open to the public. And it's like this big immersive tourist attraction, the London Tunnels. Stick with us because I think we've got Florida lawmaker Jay Collins. It's the non-firearm firearm, BURNA gun, B-Y-R-N-A. There are a lot of, you know, instances where, you know, we have to go to places where you may not necessarily be allowed to carry your firearm. And with this, with BURNA, You have, well, they don't care about gun-free zone signs. Berna doesn't care about gun-free zone signs. It shoots chemical irritant projectiles that can deter threats from up to 50 feet away. There's no waiting period. There's no background check. It's legal in all 50 states. And it's good to diversify your weapons array for those instances where either a municipal or... you know, private property restrictions prevent you from carrying to defend yourself. I think it's always smart. I mean, you got blades, you know, you carry knives. I mean, it's, you know, it's like diversifying what you carry in terms of defensive tools in that similar fashion. This is the perfect time of year, by the way, to reevaluate all of those defensive options. Visit Burna.com slash Dana, and you can get 10% off your purchase. See all the models they have. The Burna SD is the most popular model that they sell online. And you can also check out the accessories, the projectiles, and more. It's B-Y-R-N-A, Burna.com, slash Dana for 10% off.
SPEAKER 04 :
Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back, and we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan & Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe-to-toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this, everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit ForThePeople.com to learn about our firm. Morgan & Morgan, For The People.
SPEAKER 05 :
Injured? Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you.
SPEAKER 10 :
Keep your finger on the pulse with the Dana Show podcast, delivering timely news with insightful analysis. Whenever you want, straight to you on YouTube, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 13 :
Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash here with you. We're at the bottom of this third hour. You can listen coast to coast, Channel 347, DirecTV, X, the chats at Rumble, all kinds of stuff. And we've been following a number of issues. And today, actually, just last hour, I spoke with Florida Senator Randy Fine about this amnesty bill. And the reason I'm so concerned about it, other than the fact that I love the state of Florida, I have a lot of friends and family there, I'm really worried about our two greatest red states. Because, dear heavens, if you lose Texas and Florida, oh my gosh, how do you ever get another Republican president? Thank you. How does that happen? How are you able to implement a lot of this stuff federally that POTUS wants if you don't have the cooperation of a strong Republican legislature? And further, Florida is really the blueprint of the nation. I do not want to lose that as an optic. That would be like a surrender to the left to just give that over. So I'm very, very invested in this because, you know, I'm concerned. I vacation in Florida. I like it there. You know, and I think that my next guest, Florida Senator Jay Collins, great American hero. I You know, he likes Florida, too. You know, it's his home. It's a beautiful state. He joins us now via Skype. Sir, pleasure to have you. Thank you for joining me.
SPEAKER 01 :
I know that you've been busy.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, you've been busy working, you know, doing your job, representing your, you know, the voters as a good lawmaker. But I got to tell you, you know, I spoke with one of your colleagues, Senator Fine, just a little bit ago about this bill. And I know you've been very outspoken about this bill as well. What bothers me is the threat of a precedent that this could establish. If all these other very soft Republicans like, heaven forbid, an Austin, if they start seeing what some of the soft ones in Florida are able to do, I know they're going to totally take a page out of their playbook and try to do the same thing here. This is de facto history. There's in this bill that I've read, and correct me if I'm wrong, no mention of deportation. I don't even know how they can give the authority to the Ag Commissioner when it's clear that it's invested with the Florida governor. And further, I don't even understand how that works federally with federal law, because the governor is the only one that can actually work that. Give me your thoughts on this, because you are an ardent opposition of it, and you're one of the strongest fighters against this.
SPEAKER 08 :
Dana, absolutely. And again, thank you for having me on here. You hit all the high points, right? It's a fact. This bill unconstitutionally puts the power of the executive office in the Ag Commissioner's hands. You know, take away the person Let's look at the role, the position that they're in. Why would we focus all the powers of immigration right there with the Ag Commission? We know this is an executive function. There's a precedent for this. This is not a space that Florida wants to lead in. You talked about the backdoor amnesty. The fact is it doesn't deal with bail. We have to understand who we're talking about here. They're a flight risk. If we give them bail, they're going to run. We're going to chase them down. It's backdoor amnesty, and we just can't have that. We only have so much time, so much money, so many resources. Ultimately, we've got to do better. I think there's a functional mandate that we have to have that you have to cooperate with the law enforcement, with the feds. That 10% that Governor DeSantis wants to have allocated to it, there's an interesting thing that I keep hearing brought up. They're going to lose 10% of the law enforcement. That's not a fact. I was a Green Beret for 23 years. I went to Free Fall. I went to many other schools throughout my career. Those are all additional skills. It prepares you to do the mission should you need them. It's the same way with this. A minimum of 10 percent have to be allocated to this. What you're going to find is those who want to be at the cutting edge of this, well, they're going to step in. They're going to want to be a part of this because they know it's the right thing to do. Dana, you hit on one of my favorite talking points on this whole entire issue. When Florida leads, America wins. It is that simple. We have been at the forefront under Governor DeSantis for several years now. Why would we step back at this moment in time and not have the strongest bill humanly possible? We only have fleeting moments of opportunity to really accomplish the most that we can do. We've got to maximize our space and time now.
SPEAKER 13 :
Absolutely. We're talking with Senator Jay Collins out of the great state of Florida discussing this amnesty bill that they're dealing with. I wanted to ask you about Kevin Guthrie because Senator Fine was saying that, well, because I asked him specifically, why are you going to give it to this? Why do you want an ag commissioner? who, you know, no disrespect, but it's just, you know, fact, you know, he's an egg farmer. He's got ties to illegal labor. You know, he's a true lever. He gets paid by Big Pot. He gets paid by pig sugar. You know, clearly there's a conflict of interest there. And I got all this linked on Substack. If anybody's got questions, it's all publicly reported data. You know, that creates a conflict of interest. They don't oppose having him run enforcement, but they said that Kevin Guthrie, the executive director for Florida Division of Emergency Management, is deep state and is unsuitable. Kevin Guthrie is deep state?
SPEAKER 08 :
Dana, that's absolutely crazy. One of the things Florida's led on is our disaster management. Look at what we've done. We had 50,000 power vehicles lined up pre-storm. We are the best in the nation at that. That is Governor DeSantis' leadership, but Kevin Guthrie, he's absolutely amazing. He's not deep state. He is a serious-minded person. And last I checked, When it's a serious time, you want serious leaders, right? That's what Governor DeSantis is. Kevin Guthrie is the same way. He will absolutely own this if that's the position and he's still here. We're a blessed state. We're a blessed nation. He'll get it done.
SPEAKER 13 :
I saw how quickly y'all had, what was it, the bridge open going to Sanibel after the last hurricane came in. I mean, it was not even like a day and it was already back up. I've never seen anything like it. Yeah, I would want that guy to be in charge of deportations. Damn right I would.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. He's going to get it done. The man knows how to do business, and the fact is he comes from a law enforcement background. That's exactly who I want to do this. He's the guy. He's incredible. He'll get it done, just like Governor DeSantis has been talking about. This is the path, and Florida absolutely has to lead on this.
SPEAKER 13 :
What do you make? How did this even happen? I mean, I get that, you know, you got some some of these folks and it's all very interestingly, you know, people that have, I think, conflicts of interest. The publicly the public reported data about what what campaign donations they're getting kind of, you know, I question the allegiance with that. But there seems to be a little more to it. It seems like they're just mad that I one of the soundbites that we had that I didn't get to play when Senator Fine was on was there was a lawmaker saying that essentially DeSantis would be too effective. And Republicans like you would be too effective with enforcement on this. Oh, we can't have that. Make that make sense.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, Dana, I don't know that I can. I often feel, this is the third time I've had to bring this up. I feel like this is the 300, right? This is Sparta when he's kicking the guy in the hole. Well, this is Florida. We choose to do the hard path because it's the right path. Our conservative values, they're not up for compromise. We believe in what we believe in and we're going to act and we're going to fight for those things. But that's what the American people want from their leaders.
SPEAKER 13 :
Exactly. We're talking about this Florida, this amnesty bill with Jay Collins, Florida Senator, the great Sunshine State. You know, I'm I I saw some of the talking points go out over the weekend and they were all hitting it. All the tweets looked or all the posts on X looked exactly the same. And then some paperwork leaked and it showed that there was some. a pretty wide scale operation to flood social media with AstroTurf content in support of this amnesty bill. There are some Florida Republicans that have some questions to answer. What do you know about this? Because it seems like Daniel Perez and some of these others, they might, are they behind this? I mean, are they paying influencers to tweet in favor of amnesty?
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, Dana, I've seen some of that. I haven't done my own investigation. And rather than talking about a serious issue and throwing someone under the bus, I'm not going to rush to be wrong or right. I'm going to make sure that I have my principles, I have my information, and I'll make my assessment. Here's what I know. I know that many of us stood up because we listened to our community because we heard what was going on and it's the right thing to do on this fight. Ultimately, we have to put all this aside because the fact is the people that are losing right now are the citizens of Florida, the American citizens, because again, as you mentioned, when Florida gets this right, other states are going to fall in line. That's what we do. That's who we are. We've got to lead.
SPEAKER 13 :
The, uh, The ability to work with the federal government on this is also a big issue. You know, there were a couple of things that I was looking at this in terms of what power the governor has and what power the ag commissioner has. And I don't know. I asked Senator Fine if he could tell me another state where they invested, you know, the ag commissioner with this kind of power. And he couldn't. The way that I understand it is that. the state would not even be able to respond to illegal immigration and people who need to be deported because the ag commissioner can't work directly with the feds. And then there's a limitation on that. So this is creating a hurdle of bureaucracy that it seems like this is designed to fail. Am I reading this wrong?
SPEAKER 08 :
dana that's exactly what i saw you know i went through and i broke this thing down right you did a great job on that by the way thank you and i put the components in place and what we're creating is a choke point right in the middle where there's a decision right that has to happen are we going to act or are we not and everything hinges around there why are we going to artificially limit our people on the ground doing the job with a positional pause with that. Look, I've been on objectives. I've been in targets. I've been out there at the pointy end of the spear. You have to act when you have the opportunity. You can't wait for those things to happen. We don't need more bureaucracy. We have to have a clear path because look, we've got President Trump, we've got Governor DeSantis, and they are on the same page. We owe them the strongest language possible because ultimately they owe the American people safety, security, and preserving the American way of life.
SPEAKER 13 :
It really seems like voters are not buying what the people pushing the the amnesty bill, what they were selling, because we got a lot of affiliates in Florida. And I always joke like the Floridian listeners are the loudest and they also write the longest emails and they leave the most comments on social media. I mean, they are all over my Facebook page. I am like getting hammered with email and people are like, we do not support this bill. We don't. I've just never seen Republicans, well, maybe except for in Austin, certain Republicans, not good Republicans like you, so out of touch with what the voters are wanting. Just your last thoughts on this, because I can't see. I mean, I know the governor said, you know, if you're if you're trying to run in a primary in the future and you got this around your neck, you know, you're DOA. I think voters will make that happen.
SPEAKER 08 :
Dana, it's been overwhelming. I've talked to many of my colleagues. It has been 90 to 95% positive. They want the governor's bill. Here's what you hit. You nailed it again, as always. They understand the policy. They understand the precedent. understand that Florida leads. And ultimately, we got to get this right. We cannot stand idle on this. It's an incredible opportunity to do what we have to do. And again, 95% of Americans can't agree on anything, but they agree on this in the state of Florida. It's incredible.
SPEAKER 13 :
They want to run their immigration. They don't want to give it out to, they want their elected officials statewide to be able to run it. That's what they voted on. And, you know, honestly, acting like you're giving everything to the federal government, that's kind of a 10th Amendment, you know, betrayal. State's rights. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 08 :
It is. Yeah, it absolutely is. And Florida has led the way on that. We know that the federal government isn't going to act. Well, the states better step up. And when more states work together on good policy, we're going to push the federal government. That's why the power is in the states. And we have to use that to our advantage as well.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, a really great way to put it. Jay Collins from the great state of Florida. Appreciate your service. God bless you. Thank you for serving your country. Still continuing that today. We appreciate your time.
SPEAKER 06 :
God bless. Thank you.
SPEAKER 13 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Injured? Visit ForThePeople.com for an office near you.
SPEAKER 10 :
On the go and need a quick news fix with a fun twist? Follow Dana's Absurd Truth Podcast for bite-sized informative episodes, perfect for your busy schedule on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 13 :
I'm watching DHS Secretary Christine Owens. She's on horseback in Texas where they used reins, and everyone's like, those are whips. Look, I know people are criticizing her over her outfits and treating the office like it's a little spirit Halloween, and she's got a hat for every occasion, and she's swapping out the body armor for the cowboy. I don't care. We had a damn twink in the nuclear department stealing ladies' luggage. At least what she's wearing is... Profession appropriate. Is it, does it kind of look dress up? Yes. Do I care? Not really. I really don't. I just, again, Sam Brinkman. Do you guys remember him? The nuke twink? The guy who was out there stealing all these ladies' luggage? So there's a, you know, I'm just saying. The dress up, eh. As long as we're out there getting the job done, I don't care. I really don't. Although it is kind of interesting. Kane and I were talking about it on break a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I have opinions.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. I mean, the flat gear with the hair perfect out on either side. You know what? You know, just let it go.
SPEAKER 07 :
Don't hate a girl for rocking it.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I'm just saying, like, you know, but speak, you know, be careful, like, because you're doing that where cartels are firing on Border Patrol and all of that. That's true. But, you know, you got to be careful with this. So coming up this week, we're going to take a deep dive into tariff history. And although everything could change tonight, I don't know. I mean, hell, Colombia came. What was that? There was a half hour. And then this was what, a week? Maybe with with Mexico?
SPEAKER 07 :
Not even a week.
SPEAKER 13 :
And I feel like Canada is going to be like, you know what, we're sorry, and then send like a basket of maple syrup or write, I'm sorry on the border in maple syrup. I don't know.
SPEAKER 07 :
I mean, he did say, I mean, Trump did say, what do we need Canada for? Honestly, he's like, he laid it out. If you want to hear it.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, I know.
SPEAKER 07 :
Because it's only 30 seconds.
SPEAKER 13 :
Have you heard of that Pierre, the Pierre Polyvier? He was saying, you know, yeah, we got to put Canada first. I like Pierre Polyvier. He follows me on X. I think it's Polyev. Whatever. But yeah. Ozark. Milk. Polivare. Pillow.
SPEAKER 07 :
Worsh and machine.
SPEAKER 13 :
Worsh. I don't care if there's no R in it. I say there is. So, but at the same time, we got to be friends. You know what I mean? Like, it has to be mutual. There's got to be a respect. You know what I'm saying? A respect. All right, today in stupidity, Cain.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, Juan, this will actually be cut 25. We'll use for this. The DNC had a circus yesterday, and they were electing their chair and vice chair. David Hogg ended up being their vice chair. I'm all for that. This is part of what happened yesterday. Just listen to this.
SPEAKER 14 :
Hello, Democrats. Hey, I am speaking, and I would love your attention. There is a black woman at this podium, and I deserve your attention like the 11 people who went before me.
SPEAKER 13 :
Gosh, I ran out of time to even make fun of that today.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's worse than the Grammys.
SPEAKER 13 :
Can we please save all of that? That's the Grammys for stupidity.
SPEAKER 07 :
It was so bad. It was so bad. I almost wanted to watch the Grammys.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, note to Steve, all of the 11,000 audio cuts that we have of that, let's save that because we ran out of, everyone's like, great, Dana, thanks. We ran out of time for that today. It's good to be back. So everybody stay well, stay healthy. Make sure you sign up over at Substack, chapter and verse, a lot of good stuff coming out over there. And I will be back behind the mic with you tomorrow. God bless.
Join Mike Gallagher as he takes us through a journey of personal anecdotes and political discussions that highlight the divides and debates in today's America. With guests and callers sharing their experiences, from strained friendships to unexpected policy outcomes, this episode offers a candid look at how politics permeates everyday life. Listeners will hear about how some Americans find solace in fulfilled promises, while others wrestle with deep-seated fears about the future. This episode offers a rich tapestry of voices and perspectives on the American political landscape.
SPEAKER 11 :
He's the happy conservative warrior. From the Relief Factor studios, here's Mike Geller.
SPEAKER 08 :
How are people in your life who don't support President Trump coping with the first two weeks of the Trump presidency? I have a number of people in my life who don't like the guy at all, didn't vote for him. And I can give you the unequivocal answer to how they are dealing with it. Not well. Not well. They're real unhappy with the first two weeks of the Trump presidency. And you know what I find really intriguing about that? The American people voted for everything we're seeing over the last two weeks. This isn't a surprise. The tariffs... He promised that all through the campaign. The mass deportation of illegal immigrants isn't a new idea. It's what he has been saying all along. And the people in my life who are upset about this seem surprised that he's actually implementing what he said he would implement. It's so novel. It's such a crazy concept to have a person elected to political office who's fulfilling his campaign promises. And if you go through the whole process of 2024, he campaigned on deporting illegals. He campaigned on imposing tariffs. He doesn't want to be reliant on Canada for our lumber or our dairy. And he doesn't think Canada and Mexico are doing enough to stem the tide of bad people, drug dealers, who want to cross our border and poison the American people. And, you know, one particular friend of mine is a New Yorker. And like most New Yorkers, he hates Trump, hates all his policies, hates him. And let me just qualify. This is a good person. Just because I disagree with somebody politically doesn't mean I have to hate them. Now, they may feel that way about us, and many of them do. But the truth of the matter is, this is a big-hearted person. This is one of those touchy-feely progressives, a leftist, a liberal, who doesn't like to see people rounded up and sent back to Venezuela or Mexico City. And I get it. I understand the emotion. We knew this going in. That when we saw the video images of people being arrested, and there have been now almost 10,000 in the first two weeks... It was designed to tug at the heartstrings. You know, Christine Nome made a comment over the weekend, which made all the sense in the world. Look, if you haven't done anything wrong, you've got nothing to be worried about. If you're not here illegally, you shouldn't be concerned. And I know they're targeting, Tom Holman has said, we're targeting the worst first. But if a kidnapper or a sex offender... or a murderer or a gang member is in a house with an illegal who's not a gang member or a killer or a rapist, well, that illegal is going to get swept up in the raid, and they're going to go home too. And for people like my New York friend, that hurts. They don't like that. They don't like the way this is unfolding. But it seems crystal clear to me that every American has to respect the outcome of an election. As Barack Obama famously put it, elections have consequences. You know what consequence we're witnessing right now? A president fulfilling his promises. And you know what American citizens are seeing, even in New York? Better conditions. I saw this video on TikTok over the weekend. Here's a New Yorker expressing relief that they're starting to clean up the crisis of illegal immigration, even in New York City.
SPEAKER 03 :
What? What? So you mean to tell me there's no drunks? At this time, blasting their cumbia on their little bootleg JBL speakers? Catcalling me? What? I'm loving it. I'm loving this piece.
SPEAKER 08 :
So she took a video. She took her cell phone. She was filming a park where there are normally hordes of folks. Hanging out in the park. You know, I'm going back to New York in a couple weeks. I can't wait. My first stop will be 8th Avenue outside the Rowe New York City Hotel on 8th and 43rd. It's a migrant shelter. What's happening with the migrant shelters? These are luxury hotels that the city of New York has turned into essentially free hotels for illegals. People who have been bussed here and have wound up in New York, and they're living in places like the Row Hotel. It's a luxury hotel. You'd get $400, $500, $600, $700 a night for a hotel room there. And illegals are being housed there for free. And what happens, because I stay in that neighborhood all the time, what happens is hundreds and hundreds of men, women, and children, many, many children, are out roaming around on 8th Avenue at 10, 11, 12 o'clock at night, 1 o'clock in the morning, because that's their playground. It's unsustainable. It's unsustainable. And so the New Yorkers who claim that they're furious at Trump's policies and Trump and Trump voters, because that's the problem. That's what they have to come to grips with. They're having to now accept and realize that a majority of Americans voted for mass deportations. A majority of Americans voted for tariffs. A majority of Americans voted for this guy to clean up the mess that Joe Biden and the Democrats have left behind. And there's nothing they can do about it other than be upset and angry at America. And let's face it, that's the problem. They're angry at America. So let me just ask you, I want to go through a little exercise as we kick things off here on this Monday. Tell me about your experience with people in your life who didn't vote for Trump, who don't support Donald Trump. What are they saying now? 1-800-655-MIKE. Again, I've got, I run the gamut. I've lost a couple of friends. One friend in Los Angeles, never talked to her again. I'm just not. I blocked her. I don't have any desire to talk to somebody who won't talk with me in good faith. The New York friend of mine is somebody I've had many disagreements with over the years, but he's open-minded and can discuss and debate in good faith. And he's a good person, a good guy. I hope I don't lose the friendship with him. I don't want to. But if he can't come to grips with what the majority of Americans want in this country, I don't know what to do exactly other than wish him luck. I'd hate to lose his friendship. I don't have to have friends in my life who see the world the way I do politically or even socially. I've lived my life with a whole gamut of people who are friends and family. That's the way it ought to be. But elections have consequences, and it seems to me they should accept the will of the American people. And right now they're in a state of denial. Do you agree with that or not? Let's find out. I want to hear what your experience has been with people in your life who are upset at Trump's policies. 800-655-MIKE. There's no better time than right now to call my friends at PhD Weight Loss and Nutrition to start your journey to a healthier you. As I hear from you about how PhD Weight Loss and Nutrition has changed your life, I know that each one of us has had our own reasons for starting. I started my journey because I gained enough weight and was ready to make a change. I sat down with Dr. Ashley Lucas, and like they say, the rest was history. I lost 53 pounds, and I've kept it off. I'll see you next time. Call 864-644-1900, 864-644-1900, or just go to MyPhDWeightLoss.com, MyPhDWeightLoss.com. Wow. Our text line and our phone lines have exploded with people who want to tap into this issue that I've raised about how you're dealing with people in your life who are unhappy with the tariffs, with the mass deportations, with the purging of those in the government who weaponized the government to punish their political opponents. This is what we voted for. This is what the majority of Americans wanted. So why are they surprised? Let me read some of the texts before we take your phone calls from Illinois. The Democrats don't like seeing somebody actually follow through with their promises. They also don't like it when you actually have a solution to things that are ailing our country. You don't like the immigration policies of our country? Come up with a plan that will work and not overrun our country. North Carolina, I've had both friends and family unfriend me on Facebook. Their loss. Pennsylvania, my friend who used to be my best friend for more than 50 years, has had Trump derangement syndrome for nine years. I've suffered in silence rather than arguing with her. I've been insulted many, many times. I prayed that the election would calm the rhetoric and the insult, making it worse, if that's even possible. I'm truly grieving the loss of my friend. Because I don't really have any interest in trying to save it at this point. Michigan. Mike, I've been blocking them little by little. They seem to be the same. As soon as you prove them wrong or misinformed, they get personal. You're in a cult. You're stupid. You can't have an intelligent conversation without them getting personal. Washington State, oh boy, my liberal sister, she is livid, always posting on social media articles that are false. Her husband, who's been a citizen for decades, even has had security clearances, claims to be afraid of being arrested. She thinks Christians like me are mean and anti-democratic. And finally, perhaps the best text of all, up to now, from South Carolina, from the upstate, I'm personally exhausted by those who cannot accept the will of the people. The majority has spoken, and that's it. So for those in my life who struggle with this, I just don't argue. I pray. It's a great bit of advice. Pray for them. Because the truth is, They're going through a miserable, miserable time. Incidentally, so were we in 2020 when Biden upended everything Trump accomplished and led to this disastrous economy that we're trying to get out from under. We were pretty miserable, too. They didn't seem to care then. Isn't that funny how that works? Todd's in Tampa. Hey, Todd, welcome. How are you?
SPEAKER 01 :
Mike, the only person that's doing a better job than you and your team is Donald Trump. We love you, Donald. You're doing a tremendous job. You're doing everything you promised to do. And I don't talk to anybody but conservatives. I got a half-brother who's a Democrat, and I don't bring up politics. I'm happy about the tariffs, and praise God, because the American people can buy their product right down the street for somewhere else, and they'll go with the McDonald's program, which is make it a dollar, and they'll make a buck, and we'll be richer quicker.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. God bless you, Todd. Thanks for your kind words. Rob is in New York. Hey, Rob, how are you? Hey, Rob, you there? Hey, Mike, how are you? I'm good, sir. How you doing?
SPEAKER 12 :
Good, good. So I have my mother that told me to lose her number because I texted her an American flag when Trump won the election. Your own mother? She told me to lose her number.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, my gosh.
SPEAKER 12 :
She's got full-blown Trump derangement syndrome. My sisters have it. If she comes to my house, I have to take the Trump flags down.
SPEAKER 08 :
That's unbelievable. Lose my number. She's your mother. I mean, this is how bad it is. These folks, I've got a friend who always says, hatred of Trump makes nice people mean, and it makes smart people stupid. It's crazy.
SPEAKER 12 :
My mother's done everything for me my whole life, and now she tells me to lose a number.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, how do you feel about that? Does that break your heart?
SPEAKER 12 :
Oh, yeah, it's terrible. I know. It's terrible. I try not to let it bother me, but it does.
SPEAKER 08 :
Of course it does. Thanks for sharing that, Rob. I'm telling you, this is something that a lot of Americans are going through, and what I hate about it is it's one way. It's a one-way street. The people that I've decided to sort of cut out of my life are people who are showing, I try to show them grace. I say to them, look, I'm sorry you're hurting. I appreciate that. Elections swing both ways. The pendulum goes both ways. 2016 was Trump. 2020 was Biden. 2024 was Trump. Who knows what's going to happen? But to... The one person that I blocked for good, and I never want to speak to her again, is somebody I said, I'm really sorry and sad for you and for everybody who's hurting. And she just turned on me, just chewed me out. I thought, wait a minute, I don't need you in my life. And I've been friends with her for 20 plus years, more, longer. But look, we're going to have to figure out a way to get along. And the people who hate Trump ought to accept the fact that the people have spoken, whether they like it or not. Just like past elections have dictated. 800-655-MIKE. You know, there's a cross that Mike Lindell of MyPillow wears around his neck. And for years, people have said, Mike, can we get that cross? And so I'm real proud to share with you that MyPillow is now offering the MyCross necklace. It's a beautiful sterling silver cross, onyx-styled black enamel with a protective clear coat, mother-of-pearl-styled translucent white enamel. They've got a men's size and a ladies' size. The MyCross necklace is now available for you at MyPillow.com. If you go to MyPillow.com, look for the Mike Gallagher specials and click on that box. You're going to get a huge discount. I mean, big-time discount. In fact, you're going to get, I think, $30 less of a price than what is available on the MyPillow site if you don't go to MySquare. So if you want a beautiful gift, if you want to remind yourself what matters, if you want the same cross, it's the same cross that Mike Lindell wears every day whenever you see him on TV. This cross is now available for you, and you're going to get a huge discount when you enter the promo code MikeG. So go to MyPillow.com, look for the Mike Gallagher specials, click on that box, and then find the MyCross. There's also all kinds of great items to get you the best night's sleep of your life. Just don't forget to enter the promo code MikeG so you'll save big, and you've got to go to that square. Go to MyPillow.com, look for the Mike Gallagher specials, click on that box, and then with anything you order, enter the promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com, promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG. Or call 800-928-6034. 800-928-6034. Sing along with me. For the best night's sleep in the whole wide world, visit MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG.
SPEAKER 11 :
He's the happy conservative warrior. From the Relief Factor Studios, here's Mike Geller.
SPEAKER 08 :
Some breaking news out of Washington, D.C. and Mexico. You know, over the weekend, there was a media meltdown over the tariffs. Oh, we're not going to be able to afford our guacamole anymore. Oh, my goodness, how are we going to buy coffee? Trump is going to destroy this country. He's going to take us into a depression. It was wild, wild to watch the media meltdown. Well, moments ago, the president of Mexico has announced that the tariffs are being paused for one month. Mexico will reinforce the U.S., Southern border, the U.S.-Mexico border with 10,000 troops on their side of the border to try to restrict the flow and the entering of fentanyl and other horrible things into our country. The U.S. will crack down on firearm trafficking into Mexico. So Mexico is going to send 10,000 soldiers to the border on their side of the border. And the president said, this is mutual respect. We respect America's sovereignty. We respect Mexico's sovereignty. Yada, yada. Zing, boom, bah. Just like that. This is how it's done. This is what, look, tariffs work. And Trump has said it all over and over and over again. The bottom line is, Trump's going to get it done. This is what peace through strength looks like. This guy is known as the king of the art of the deal for a reason. Nobody negotiates like Donald Trump. I heard Tara this morning in South Carolina talk about President Trump. It's like Vito Corleone has come to the Oval Office. It's like Trump has a cat on his lap and he's stroking the pussycat and he's saying, you know, we're going to make them an offer they can't refuse. It's like the, I mean, it's incredible. Under 24 hours, boom. Mexico has bent the knee. Mexico has bent the knee. And it was 24 hours. And I saw over the weekend all the Sunday morning news shows. This is going to be terrible. Look, we're two weeks into this administration. Tomorrow, Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump will meet at the White House. It's just insane. And there are people that hate this man so much. But you know what they're going to hate more than their own personal contempt for Donald Trump the man? They hate the winning. They hate the success. They hate New Yorkers saying, wow, look at all these illegals who've been kind of gone now from the parks where they've been loitering and harassing. Let me play the video of a woman in New York walking through a park that was well known to be a kind of a playground for people from Venezuela and Mexico and Mexico. Foreign countries who are roaming the streets of New York. Here's an area where they hung out. And she walks through the park and notices they're all gone.
SPEAKER 03 :
What? What? So you mean to tell me there's no drunks at this time? Blasting their cumbia on their little... Bootleg JBL speakers? Catcalling me? What? I'm loving it. I'm loving this piece.
SPEAKER 08 :
Americans are getting exactly what they voted for. And the only people upset about it are people who didn't want him in office. And moreover, they don't want America to succeed. Meanwhile, the Democrats are flailing. They had their big convention over at National Harbor over the weekend in Maryland at the Gaylord. I want you to hear a little bit of what they sound like. This is important because they've got new leadership. They've got a guy who I've never heard of who's been running the Democrat machine in Minnesota for years. That's who's the head of the new DNC. They've got David Hogg, the kid from Parkland, as one of the vice chairs of the DNC. We've got to have a peek into what it looks like and what it sounds like when a political party has learned nothing. Now, some of the veterans know what's going wrong. James Carville, for example. But I want to start with how the DNC... Voting on the new DNC leadership had to stop the election. There was a crisis at the convention over the weekend. You want to know what the crisis was? As they were casting ballots for DNC leadership, nobody voted for any of the non-binary candidates, which brought the whole balloting to a screeching halt. See if you can keep up with this logic.
SPEAKER 07 :
Rules specify that when we have a gender non-binary candidate or officer, the non-binary individual is counted as neither male nor female, and the remaining six officers must be gender balanced. With the results of the previous four elections, our elected officers are currently two male and two female. In order to be gender balanced, we must... We must elect one male, one female, and one person of any gender. So again, this is what we have to do for this vice chair race. We have to elect one male, one female, and one person of any gender.
SPEAKER 08 :
I promise you, I give you my word that's not a skit from Saturday Night Live. That's the actual DNC official stopping the voting because they didn't have a non-binary person voted for. They had two male and two female, but then they had to find a non-binary person, and since they didn't have any, they had to stop the voting and start all over again. That actually happened. Identity is – this kind of identity politics is all they know. And it's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. We're going to stop because we have – we've got two male, two female, but that's not good enough. What about people of any gender, i.e. non-binary? Because the Democrat Party believes that there are qualified people to be DNC vice chair who – Go back and forth. I mean, look, I am as tolerant and understand. I try so hard. The non-binary, binary stuff and some of this, I have no idea. I don't know if you wake up and you say, today I feel like a man, tomorrow I feel like a woman. And I'm not trying to be insulting here. That's this mindset. The thinking is you are of any gender. You're all genders. And try to ask somebody who claims they understand this, how many genders there are. One of these young kids that is a social media influencer was asked that on some panel a couple of weeks ago with Piers Morgan. Piers Morgan had on his podcast, said, well, how many gender? He wouldn't answer. And finally, when they cornered him, they kept saying, well, how many genders are there? He said, at least two. At least two. But how many could there be? Five? Thirty? I mean, you've heard the they-them, zee-zay. I can't even claim to understand it. But let's listen in to some more of the fun and frivolity at the DNC. And this is under the category of they wonder why they lost. Here was one of the DNC chair candidates, a young woman by the name of Quintessa Hathaway. Quintessa had a novel approach during her opening statement. Here is DNC...
SPEAKER 13 :
chair candidate quintessa hathaway delivering her opening remarks good evening everyone it is my desire to be the next dnc chair and i just want to give you all a little bit of something that's been on my heart here over the last couple days
SPEAKER 14 :
You fight on, you fight on. You fight on, you fight on. When your government is doing you wrong, you fight on, oh, you fight on.
SPEAKER 08 :
Met with a rousing ovation. You know what? I'm shocked they didn't vote. They didn't elect her. That's the craziest part is imagine that. They didn't say, that's our gal. That's our choice. Uh-huh. So there are some people who still get it. James Carville, the veteran Democrat politico, appeared on PBS once.
SPEAKER 02 :
We ran a presidential election. If we were playing a Super Bowl, we started our seventh string quarterback. That's what happened. Okay, you can't address a problem unless you're honest about a problem.
SPEAKER 08 :
And according to James Carville, Kamala Harris was the seventh string quarterback. Listen, and I've just been corrected. Quintessa? That wasn't just Quintessa. She is Dr. Dr. Quintessa Hathaway. I will not rest until I find out what she's a doctor of. Well, I mean, look, a doctor is needed. Is there a doctor in the house? Is there a doctor in the house for our country? Yeah, his name is Dr. Donald J. Trump, and he is going to cure what ails us. Welcome in to a Monday episode of the Mike Gallagher Show in the Relief Factor Studios. You want to jump in and join us on all this? Eric, incidentally, just sent me a note. He saw a list online that claims there are 81 genders. Is there a list? Boy, that would be a list that... You talk about going down a rabbit hole. 81 genders? Well, that was the problem when they were voting for the DNC chair. There was nobody from those 81, or I guess 79 options, on the ballot. That's a big problem. Look, I hope they do more of the same. If they keep going down that road... Republicans may just be in control for the next 100 years. 800-655-MIKE. Welcome in.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
Mike Gallagher. Every day, Mike visits with Mark Davis, morning host on 660 AM, The Answer in Dallas. Here's today's Eminem experience.
SPEAKER 08 :
The family probably didn't want her identity revealed because they know they're going to be put through hell. They're going to experience the wrath of Americans who are livid about the whole DEI issue. Now, the problem, Mark, I don't even know if the DEI issue applies here. Maybe it does. It may not. To her, it may not.
SPEAKER 10 :
It may not. Doesn't mean it's not worth bringing up at a time when safety is a key focus.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, let's deal with what we do know. I mean, something went terribly wrong. Mm-hmm. And here's the problem with trying to give her anonymity. This is a big problem here. First of all, we need to have respect and compassion. Her family is mourning and grieving, and they may have an extra burden. They may have the burden of living with the fact that on top of her loss— she may have been to blame. I mean, she... Because something went... And if every report is correct, it appears that that helicopter was, I guess, higher than it was cleared to be. It was over... Right, 200 feet. They were at 300 feet. The plane evidently made a last-second desperate effort. The pilot of that plane tried to pull up to avoid the collision, and that helicopter just slammed right into it. And incidentally, have you seen the video... of the flight attendants on the doomed flight. Somebody took a video of them the night before the crash. No. Oh, Mark. It is so heartbreaking. You want to hear it? It's just a normal... You want to hear it? It's the night before. I'd be happy to. And let me tell you why we should play it.
SPEAKER 10 :
I was going to say, because I hear people go, oh, no, it's... No, because these were people.
SPEAKER 08 :
These were people.
SPEAKER 10 :
They had lives. They were filled with joy. They were filled with purpose. It was the blissful normalcy of their night before.
SPEAKER 08 :
And the guy, the lead flight attendant, Ian, who just introduced his partner, the female flight attendant, who were, of course, both killed... The joy he has in serving his passengers, the clear – and he leaves behind, of course, a wife and kids and just grieving. And people love this guy. You know how you get flight attendants who you know love their job? They just love – Southwest comes to mind. And sometimes I always joke about they're too happy for me. Just calm down here a little bit, all right? You know, they're singing happy, happy, joy, joy and, you know, all that stuff. We got it. It's like they're working a club sometimes. It's like, okay, we get it. But this guy, a passenger was on the same route the night before the crash. And the flight attendant, Ian, had such a delightful monologue that the passenger pulled out a cell phone and took a video of it. And the family of the flight attendant saw this on social media, and they said, thank you for sharing this. Thank you for reminding everybody how special he was, how his passengers loved him.
SPEAKER 10 :
Not just a name in the paper.
SPEAKER 08 :
Not just a name, not just a statistic, not just a number. These were two flight attendants. He's a veteran. She was apparently brand new. And here was that final video taken the night before the awful crash over the Potomac.
SPEAKER 09 :
raise your hand at this time everybody fine whatever we'll go to wichita i can't believe i'm saying that out loud my name is ian everybody i am your app flight attendant tonight i'm going to be working with all of those amazing people in the back that can't afford first class hi everybody Look at my people. I want everybody to introduce you to one of my newest, coolest friends. This is your first class flight attendant and a really cool lady. Everybody say, hey, Danasia. Hey, Danasia. It's Nasia with a duh. There you go. Very easy. We are so glad you guys are here. We know, well... We know the reason we have jobs is because you guys are flying. We love you. We appreciate you. Sit back, relax, and enjoy our four-hour and 15-minute tour. We're regional. We only go five miles an hour. We'll get there eventually. You're lucky this airplane has wings, for crying out loud. I'm just kidding. 46 minutes, wheels up, wheels down. Fast, fast, fast tonight. It's a beautiful night to fly. Let's just get there. The four of us can find a place to have a cocktail and a hamburger at 1130 at night in Wichita, Kansas. I can't believe I'm going to Kansas. I'm not even a Jayhawk. I mean, I'm a Notre Dame fan. Come on. We want to talk about a real college? All right, we'll talk about that later. Folks, sit back, relax, put your feet up. Welcome to our house.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow, that's Ian Epstein. Mike, that's beautiful.
SPEAKER 10 :
That is just absolutely beautiful. That was him. That was his heart. That was his talent. And it was quite the talent, the self-deprecation, the having a little fun with everybody. Everybody say about flying that flying is a massive pain in the neck, which it is. And it's just the quality of it and the enjoyment that we glean from it as passengers has been reduced over the years. It can be made better by people with a sense of humor and a sense of and a heart for service like he had. I am so glad to have had you share that.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I came across that this week. And, again, the family member, somebody named Epstein, saw that post. That's our guy. Debbie Epstein wrote, Thank you. This has reached his family, and we appreciate you sharing this. It does bring us comfort. And the passenger wrote back, He truly brought so much joy to all of us on our flight. I shared, hoping that the country and the family would see. Yeah. Anyway, just heartbreaking, and just as heartbreaking for the helicopter pilot, the Black Hawk helicopter pilot. Here's why it matters, why we know the details. And this is going to sound crass, but it's true. As a member of the military, she works for us. She's, in a sense, our employee. Because here's what's going to happen. If indeed that crew was to blame – the U.S. Army is going to be on the hook for millions and millions and millions of dollars to the families of the victims, the surviving family members. So we have a say in this. I mean, as crude as that may sound, you can't keep this covered up. The American people have every right to know, did that crew err? Was there a mistake made? If so, how do you keep that from happening again? And is it too soon to inject the DEI debate?
SPEAKER 10 :
I mean, see if this makes sense. There's a list of things. Of course, it's premature to say, ha, woman must be her fault. Of course. Of course, you don't say that. But here's in fact, another thing. Let's say it is her fault. Her womanhood may not have been to blame. I've especially I've got this wonderful relationship over the years. With the second of the 149th General Support Aviation Battalion based out of Grand Prairie, Army National Guard, Blackhawks, Chinooks, I've met some women who are magnificent pilots. And by every account, it looks like she's one of them. Doesn't mean she didn't screw up. Guess what? Guys screw up, too.
SPEAKER 11 :
Download the podcast and hear all of Mike and Mark's conversations at MikeOnline.com for the M&M experience.
As international tensions rise, Sekulow brings you firsthand accounts of diplomatic maneuvering on a global scale. In this episode, we explore the complexities of modern governance, from imposing tariffs on neighboring countries to securing agreements with adversaries. Discover the intricate details of Tulsi Gabbard's committee vote and how political alliances are shifting. With expert insights from Rick Grinnell, learn about the delicate balance between strength and diplomacy in the ongoing fight for freedom and justice.
SPEAKER 05 :
Another senator flips in favor of Tulsi Gabbard as a committee vote is expected tomorrow.
SPEAKER 03 :
Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Seculo. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Logan Sekula.
SPEAKER 05 :
Good Monday, everybody. This is Logan Sekula. Will Haynes joining me in studio. We got some special guests lined up later, including our friend Rick Grinnell, who you may have heard some pretty breaking news that came over the weekend that he was involved in. And the first thing I did was text him and I said, I cannot wait to hear this story. and you're going to have to do it on air. So we're going to talk about that as he went and negotiated a bit of a hostage release. So it's going to be a fun one. We also have some breaking news out of Washington, D.C. as Tulsi Gabbard, who of course has been our colleague and our friend for many years now, her Senate confirmation vote sources are indicating could begin tomorrow to get it out of committee. And we had a major change in the sense of who could be voting for her. There have been a few people that have been on the line, Republicans. And this one comes from Senator Lindsey Graham, who I know, look, a lot of you have had have feelings about. I see him in the comments. He has been a friend to us here at the ACLJ and on this show for many, many years. But look, he certainly is not someone without controversy, someone who doesn't necessarily always toe the party line in that sense, not even toe the party line, more than he would Others, however, he was impressed and he was on Fox News this weekend on Shannon Bream yesterday and made a pretty declarative statement.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's right. And when you look at some of the Republicans in the Senate, especially, there are some that are seen as a little bit more hawkish, a little bit more pro-Fox. foreign interventionalism and I think Lindsey Graham definitely would fall into that camp and so some of the concerns that were being voiced in some of the reports that were out is that he may not be a solid yes on someone like Tulsi Gabbard for this nomination and we hadn't really heard a ton from him in the recent weeks so that also led to speculation that perhaps he may be leaning no on her confirmation vote but here is what Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina had to say on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream just yesterday, bite one.
SPEAKER 02 :
You're a yes on RFK Jr., assuming you're a yes on Kash Patel. What about Tulsi Gabbard?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes. Yeah, I'll be yes on her. I was waiting to see what she said about 702. That's the ability to attract foreigners overseas who may be involved in plots against the country. I actually served in a reserve unit with Tulsi. I've always liked her. I think a lot of her criticism against her has been really mean and off base, but I'll be a yes now.
SPEAKER 05 :
So B, yes, thanks to the love, the stuff that's been mean against her has been off base. And you think you may forget that Lindsey Graham served in the Air Force for many years, fairly recently. I think he was in the reserves until 2015, something like that. So somebody said, I've served with Tulsi. I have a couple of questions. And look, I think we should be looking for our politicians and people that support us or represent us. I think we should give them the opportunity to ask important questions. Right. This is part of the process. And he asked the one question he was really basing it on. Now, do I think that one stance should really determine whether you vote for someone's qualifications? Probably not.
SPEAKER 04 :
but that's where senator graham ended up and we're happy to see that he seems to be a yes vote and i think that this vote is more important in some ways than the senator cornyn one that we saw on friday where senator cornyn put out there that he would be a yes because he believes that president trump deserves to have his cabinet senator graham's statement is actually more endorsing that he he got what he needed from her the the some of the questions he had has been resolved and also he likes her and thinks the criticism against her has been mean and off base and he is a yes vote so that is an important move here but With reports that we'll get into in the next segment about the vote could be tomorrow, it's now more than ever, it's so much more important that you get out there and sign the petition so we can let our senators know where we stand on Tulsi Gabbard's nomination.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, our fight on Capitol Hill to defend and to confirm Tulsi Gabbard continues on. We saw that good movement from Lindsey Graham. And of course, the ACLJ is always involved and really supportive of our friends. So sign the petition right now. ACLJ.org slash sign or scan the QR code. You can also support the work financially at ACLJ.org. If you are watching online and you are new, hit that subscribe button. If not, hit that thumbs up. Give me a comment. Of course, phone lines are open for your questions or comments related to these confirmation hearings, as well as some of the big moves from President Trump over the weekend. 1-800-684-3110. Welcome back to Sekulow. As I said, phone lines are open for your calls or questions. We head into this confirmation vote, potentially the beginning of the confirmation vote to get Tulsi Gabbard out of committee tomorrow. But we also have, of course, RFK, Will, and you also have Kash Patel, and those should be also getting scheduled very soon.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's right. And what we're seeing actually out of reports about the Intelligence Committee is that they will be holding a vote tomorrow in closed session. So the concern here is what we talked about last week, is that in a closed session vote, they may not report who voted how, and then you just get the raw number. You get how many voted for and against, and it could give some cover for some of the potentially flaky Republicans on the panel to not vote to advance her nomination in a positive way.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so keeping their allegiance secret. Now, fortunately, hopefully, she makes it through. No problems. You know what? We move on from that fight. Do I think it's ridiculous? Absolutely. It just shows there's a bit of cowardness running on with people deciding. Because it also shows they're voting against probably what their constituents want them to vote for. That's right. That's what it's showing. It's showing that you know when you're up for re-election that this is going to be a talking point that you did not vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard and that your own people may be upset with you. Well, then maybe you should be looking at who you're representing.
SPEAKER 04 :
And when you look at some of the members, even Senator Lindsey Graham, who's not on the Intelligence Committee panel, but he is a very strong national security voice within the United States Senate. So I think that his words carry a lot of weight for those other members, as well as his tenure in the Senate. He has strong relationships with some of the others that have been there a long time that he has that that seniority, that kind of statesman feeling within the Senate body itself, that he can be persuasive in conversations with some of these other senators. But I think. One of the criticisms that sometimes falls on someone like Senator Graham is that he is almost always a yes vote on whoever the president is for their nominees, because he sees the advice and consent role of the Senate very much like what J.D. Vance was saying and what even Senator Cornyn was saying is that. Unless there is some egregious real reason that surpasses just some policy differences that you should vote yes to confirm a president's pick.
SPEAKER 05 :
Qualification and agreement on all issues is not the same thing. He often votes for the more liberal Supreme Court justices to be confirmed if their pedigree shows that they are qualified for the job. If you're looking at someone's politics, that kind of goes against what they should be doing. Now, I understand we're living in a very different time in 2025 here, where you do need to ask some important questions. We do need to make sure there are some checks and balances here. But that is the situation in terms of Lindsey Graham. And I think that's a big move. When you had, last week, some moves happen, and now you have Lindsey Graham. And he also tweeted, or not tweeted, they put that in the chat. Well, posted on X. Post it on X, people.
SPEAKER 04 :
Get it right. That must have been Will in the production team. He tends to be on my side of being historically inaccurate at this point.
SPEAKER 05 :
It is X. And this is what the post was on X about Tulsi Gabbard from Lindsey Graham yesterday. A lot of criticism against Tulsi Gabbard has been mean and off base. She demonstrated that she understands the importance of tools we need to protect our national security. I will be voting. Then all caps YES. on Tulsi Gabbard a lot of people will are asking about that secret vote because that's not being reported very much you know in these conversations that isn't one of those top things we're seeing but now that that's looking like that could be the way that's right so
SPEAKER 04 :
the report is is that it will be a closed session on tuesday so this won't be an open hearing or open meeting where then press is involved so i mean they could still report the tally based on the senator but the fact that they are doing a closed session means that they one probably want to have open discussion amongst the senators about why they're voting and also it could give cover for some senators that are concerned about how their constituents would maybe feel about how they're voting. I feel like the momentum is in a good spot, but that does not mean that we can let up the pressure right now. We have to tell our senators that they should confirm Tulsi Gabbard. They should move this favorably out of committee because there are ways that it could be moved out unfavorably to still get a vote from the full Senate because that's really who confirms. But what this reminds me of a little bit is a famous instance of then Senator Joe Biden with Robert Bork, who was nominated to the Supreme Court. And what did the chairman of the Judiciary Committee do then? They voted him out unfavorably and really sabotaged a very well-qualified originalist judge to go on the Supreme Court. Voted him out of committee with an unfavorable recommendation. The full Senate voted and he lost that confirmation. Many times it doesn't go that far that you lose the confirmation. You pull the nominee. However, it went that far that the name Bork has become memorialized even in the dictionary as sabotaging someone of ruining their progression. I thought that was from the Swedish chef from the Muppets. Bork, Bork, Bork. I thought that was more it. Maybe they took some liberties there. He was always a mess. But that has become a part of Joe Biden's legacy, how unfairly he treated a very well-qualified nominee. And who did we end up with on the court? Justice Kennedy, who was very moderate and the swing vote for generations. So when the left or someone who is not in favor of sometimes the conservative president's pick for something, sometimes you end up with something that is not really what you want as a compromise.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, phone lines are open. I'd love to hear from you on this. And there's a lot of you joining us right now online. If you are new to this show, if you've never seen us before, I always encourage you hit that subscribe button. We do the show each and every day. Now, I'd say I usually say about half the people that watch only are brand new. Actually, I was looking at some of the data that's shifting a little bit. We got about 75% of people returning and watching this broadcast. So that's very cool. A lot of you are coming back each and every day. So hit that subscribe button. You can ring the bell. And make sure you hit that thumbs up and put the comment in. All those things help get this message out into more hands. And we have this fight right now for Tulsi Gabbard. This is very important that we do this. Senator Graham also... was questioned about his support or lack thereof of RFK Jr., obviously someone who has been another controversial pick, another former Democrat who shifted, just like Tulsi Gabbard was a Democrat who found that her party had left her. We saw that with RFK Jr. Here's actually the questioning. I think a lot of you who are not very supportive of Lindsey Graham, who are not sure, what he was mainly curious about was Kennedy's thoughts on life, thoughts on abortion, because he had been notoriously very pro-choice in his life. And Senator Graham wasn't sure if he was comfortable with that. So let's take a listen to that bite. That is bite two.
SPEAKER 01 :
I am now OK supporting RFK Jr. because I think during the course of the hearing, he's committed to a Republican pro-life agenda, President Trump's pro-life agenda, Mexico City policy, dealing with chemical abortions. So I will take him at his word. I'm comfortable what he said on the pro-life issue. He has been radically pro-choice as a person. But I do believe that as secretary, he will implement a pro-life agenda that will be pushed by President Trump. So I will be a yes. OK, but I'll also watch every movie makes somewhat.
SPEAKER 05 :
Isn't that what we want? Right. You know, someone who's saying, you know, I'm gonna make sure I'm going to watch every move he makes, because historically he has been someone who is very pro choice, has moved his way. Certainly has moderated over time. Even over the last year, we've seen him be able to almost apologize for some of the stances he's made before. But someone's going to watch RFK say, look, I'll support him. But I'm watching him like a hawk because there's some things I disagree with. And his stance on life has been one of them. And we have seen RFK as well as Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel all say, hey, we are serving to serve the president's agenda here. So this isn't about us. This is about serving the American people and as well as implementing what the Trump administration wants. And if they want a pro-life agenda, we will see if RFK is able to accomplish that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and I think when you also take that statement, what is the purpose of the Congress in a checks and balances system? It is to conduct oversight of the executive branch. And so that is absolutely the job of members of Congress and the Senate is to watch very closely what the executive branch does and provide that oversight. They have the power of the purse. They're the ones that allocate the funding to the executive branch. And that is one way they can also very directly provide
SPEAKER 05 :
uh help control the the agenda of the executive branch is what they allocate funding for and i think that's a big point that uh senator graham was making there yeah absolutely we're going to talk a little bit also in the next segment about the tariff war that kind of uh lit up over the weekend as you saw mexico and canada getting uh very involved we'll discuss that with professor harry hudgson coming up we also be taking more calls if you have a question about that because look i even my some of my most conservative friends came to me and were like, oh man, I kind of wish, I'm not sure if I wanted President Trump to do all of these at one time. Are we setting ourselves up? What is this going to look like? We'll discuss all of that coming up, and maybe you have a question like that as well. Is it too much too soon? 1-800-684-3110, or do you support where we're going with it? 1-800-684-3110. Later on, the broadcast will be joined by Rick Grinnell, who has an amazing story to tell as he was negotiating a hostage release that happened over the weekend. I think hostages we didn't even know existed for the most part. Certainly something that, you know, we've seen this administration move very fast and be very nimble and move around the world, I mean the world, to protect Americans. Again, phone lines are open at 1-800-684-3110. As you have a huge victory from our colleague Rick Grinnell over the weekend. When you have a fight to confirm Tulsi Gabbard, another one of our on-air colleagues, It is an important time to support the ACLJ. These are our friends. These are our colleagues. And they need your help. Go to ACLJ.org right now. Donate if you can. If not, sign that petition as well. That's at ACLJ.org slash sign. S-I-G-N. We'll be right back with more on Sekulow. Welcome back to Sekulow. A lot of you are joining us right now, so we certainly will continue that conversation about Tulsi Gabbard and her confirmation voter to get out of committee potentially happening tomorrow. And you have someone like Senator Lindsey Graham now saying he will vote for her. So that's positive movements. But I did want to discuss what happened over the weekend. Well, Professor Harry Hutchinson is joining us in studio as well. Because the big talk, maybe around, if you're watching the Royal Rumble like I was with a lot of my friends and maybe more conservative-leaning friends who were over, they were like, well, what about these tariffs? Is this going to cause us problems? He's doing a lot of these right up front, all three at the same time. What's going on here? So we want to give people a bit of history and a bit of what this is going to actually look like and, of course, what President Trump did. And there are so many of you watching right now, I'm going to say it again. Hit that subscribe button. Comment if you can. If you don't know what to comment, just put in there where you're watching from. That really helps me out. I love looking at that. But also, it helps get more people to see this and hit that thumbs up. Okay, those are the three things I'm asking you to do.
SPEAKER 04 :
Will? So, we've known that tariffs are a tool that President Trump enjoys using to get other nations to fall in line. It is... prerogative of the United States government and of the executive to find ways within their power to try and use this as a negotiating tactic. We saw a very quick trade war with Colombia just a couple weeks ago where tariffs were announced and they immediately flipped after trying to bluster a little bit back They caved and said, OK, we will take the migrants. But Professor Hutchison, this comes not with just a more smaller economy in South America. This is now with our direct neighbors. These are tariffs on both Mexico, Canada and as well a blanket tariff on China. But give a little background of what was proposed and why. And then we'll get into some of the moves that have already happened.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. So it's important to note that both Mexico and Canada were warned on January the 20th that punitive tariffs would indeed be imposed on both countries if they did not help the United States stem the flow of fentanyl and other forms of trafficking. Neither country moved forward, at least expeditiously. And so last Saturday, President Trump did impose those tariffs to take effect, I believe, tomorrow. And many of those tariffs are very punitive. Now, those tariffs were designed to do one thing, to force those countries to come to the bargaining table, and they worked. And so one of the things that the American people have noted, I think, is that if you indeed have a backbone, people will react. In addition to Canada and Mexico, President Trump has imposed tariffs, up to 10% at least, on China. With more to come potentially on the European community, keep in mind that Trump's threats of tariffs have worked with respect to Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela. Also, and this is the last point I'll make here, You should note that President Trump imposed tariffs during his first term, and yet inflation came down and employment rose. So it's important to keep in mind that tariffs are not necessarily inflationary, contrary to what the Wall Street Journal is saying.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's right. And I think if you're reading kind of the more mainstream media, what you'll see these days is the people freaking out, Logan, about what is this going to do to our economy? What is this going to, this is all of a sudden going to destroy everything. I thought he cared about the price of eggs.
SPEAKER 05 :
Tariffs has become a dirty word. Right. And it's been good. So look, it's something a lot of us have to get educated on. It's not like we all know everything about how this all works. As Professor Hutchinson said, a lot of this is negotiating. This is a tactic to get people to the table to get it done. The difference is you actually have a and we discussed this a little bit in our prep meeting. You have an administration. that is working on overdrive right now. We are seeing mass movements and changes happening almost to the point of overwhelming the American people. Like I said, I have very conservative friends who were talking about President Trump, but they were like, this feels like a lot. It feels like a lot when you have those things happening. You have Netanyahu meeting today in Washington, D.C. A lot of this feels very frantic, but it's really not. You have J.D. Vance in East Palestine today, visit on the second year anniversary of that horrible, train disaster, when for years you couldn't get the Biden administration to even show up. So it is this like, aggressive rethink of how the government works and that you can take these actions and i have to say there's a lot of you joining us right now if you are joining us about that senate vote uh we're going to continue that conversation in the next segment as well that's about tulsi gabbard rfk kash patel who are the senators that have now flipped in support and who do we still need to put the pressure on so i just want to make sure if you just joined us for this we are going to get back to that in just a second if you have a question about that or the tariffs 1-800-684-3110
SPEAKER 04 :
But Professor Hutchison, also, we've seen already, while the world within, and by the world I mean the liberal media here in the United States, freaking out about these tariffs, the very left-wing president of Mexico has already announced just this morning, right before we went on air, that She and President Trump have agreed to a deal that will be a pause in this for one month. So Mexico's off the hook for a little bit, but they are going to work through an even more broad deal on security in trade with the United States. What happened there?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, that's a brilliant point. Mexico has announced that they will now send 10,000 members of their National Guard to the US border. This will help stem the flow of two things, fentanyl and human trafficking. And I think there's more to come. Now, I think the onus is on Justin Trudeau to reach a similar agreement. I suspect Justin Trudeau is in a weaker political position and so we don't know whether that will push him to cave or whether or not he will stiffen his backbone because he doesn't have that much to lose. But his political party, the Liberal Party in Canada, has a lot to lose. Only 16% of the Canadian people support Justin Trudeau, partly because he's been such a horrible prime minister.
SPEAKER 04 :
And remember, he is in kind of political purgatory right now because he has resigned pending the new prime minister that will be happening at the end of next month. Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
I mean, I'm looking up right now and I just looked up at the news that's on and Secretary of State Rubio right now is in El Salvador speaking. Earlier was in Panama. This is a different Washington, D.C. This is a different America in the last two weeks. And you have someone like Schumer out there being like literally holding an avocado and a Corona and saying this is price is going to go up for the Super Bowl. Can you believe it? Do you think that's what the American people are worried about right now? This is the big issue? No, that is living in 2020. That is living in 2021. That is living in a time where the economy was doing okay, but the world seemed a bit on fire. Now, the world seems like it's on fire and the economy is terrible. So what you have right now is movement in the last, what, two weeks? Two weeks. The President Trump's administration has been in office. Most of these cabinet picks haven't been confirmed yet or even made it out of committee. And we are seeing these massive moves happening. And hopefully, with 10,000 troops headed to Mexico, to the border of Mexico, from Mexico, we will stop some of that influx of fentanyls. I know it has impacted all of us. All of us directly. I'm going to encourage you right now. We've got a second half hour coming up. Some of you don't get us on your local stations. Join us on ACLJ.org. Join us on YouTube, on Rumble. Thousands of you are right now. If you're brand new, hit that subscribe. This is only a one-minute break. So stay tuned. We'll be right back. Again, go to ACLJ.org right now.
SPEAKER 03 :
Keeping you informed and engaged. Now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome back to Sekulow. Will Haynes joining me in studio as well. We're going to take some of your phone calls. A lot of you are joining us right now because maybe you saw that headline that the second senator has flipped the vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard. Of course, that is Senator Lindsey Graham. Now, there are sources indicating that tomorrow could be the vote to get Tulsi out of committee. We will see what happens. Again, those are anonymous sources. But we want to support Tulsi, as I said, pray for. There's also a lot of calls coming in about this. And in the next segment, we're going to be joined by Rick Grinnell to tell us about this hostage release that he was able to secure that's amazing over the weekends. Let's go to Ray, who is calling on line one, who is watching on YouTube, along with thousands of others right now and hundreds of thousands later on. Ray, you're on the air.
SPEAKER 11 :
Hi, Jordan. Thank you very much for taking my call. Uh, it's a multi, um, question, multiple questions. So give me time to answer, go to the end of them. Uh, I know, I know. I understand if Tulsi, uh, is not, um, uh, is given a no vote tomorrow. Uh, does she have, will she know what Republican senators vote against her? If, uh, she does know, uh, Can she tell the public? Now, you guys know Tulsi. If, in fact, I am correct and she does have this information and it does go all wrong for her tomorrow, I'm asking you guys to let her know that she can make the public aware. And I'm also making... I'm also stating that... And the people whose senators are on the fence, maybe we should contact them at this time. I'll shut up.
SPEAKER 05 :
Ray, I'm going to start with your last question first. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 04 :
absolutely and will's got that list that's right one easy way you can do it is go to aclj.org sign and sign our petition and we will be getting those names to those offices but also you can call the capital switchboard 202-224-3121 that's 202-224-3121 and here are the senators on the intel committee that you should be asking to that are in the press They are not confirmed yes votes for her. And based off some of the things in the hearing, lean towards they were a little bit more antagonistic. That's Senator Young from Indiana. You can call his office and be polite, respectful, and say that your constituents want Tulsi Gabbard as the next DNI. Same thing for Senator Collins from Maine. senator jerry moran from kansas and this one is a little bit surprising but this is based off press reports senator lankford from oklahoma he was previously publicly you can look up on his website that he was a yes vote in supporting tulsi gabbard because of the 702 issue she gave a sufficient answer to him in private meetings now He was very aggressive on the Edward Snowden issue during the hearing. He circled back to it. Many people in the press are concerned. They may not be concerned in the press, but they are saying that he may be not as confirmed of a yes as he previously was based off his line of questioning. So I think it would be very important for people to contact Senator Lankford out of Oklahoma's office. Very good friend of this broadcast. Yeah, been on many times. Senator Lankford has done incredible work and has worked with the ACLJ. Be respectful when you call these senators. Say, we listen to the ACLJ and we are a constituent and we want you to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence. You have a very important vote tomorrow and the American people want her in.
SPEAKER 05 :
we want to hear from you as well 1-800-684-3110 what are your thoughts on all of this of course we talk about tariffs we can talk about uh tulsi rfk and cash and whether who's gonna make it why they wouldn't make it and to answer some of the other questions i know that you had we'll get to some of those later on as well which is will she know how can we advise her some things we can talk about some things we can't uh 1-800-684-3110 to have your voice heard coming up in the next segment rick grinnell who you know has been a part of this broadcast for many many years but is also now a special envoy he had a very important mission this weekend and when you see the pictures and you see the videos and this is members of our team that are out there doing some really amazing work and i can't wait to hear this story from rick grinnell so stay tuned for that but again of course we want to hear from you and you want to support the work of the aclj right now aclj.org we'll be right back in just a moment with rick grinnell Welcome back to Secular. We are connecting with Rick Grinnell now, so he'll be on in just a moment. Let's go ahead and take a quick phone call while we wait for that. Let's go to Jack, who's calling in Pennsylvania, watching on YouTube. Jack, you're on the air.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my call. I watched an interview with Kellyanne Conway recently, and she kind of mentioned the reason why they have this barrage of executive action and tariffs and things like that is to keep the deep state media off their backs. because they can only counter a couple of things at once. Do you think that strategy is effective and will we continue to see that strategy as Trump's presidency continues on?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, we'll have to see about whether they continue on. I think what's happening right now is we're seeing a lot of action very quickly, which is what the American people uh voted for and i think that's a big part of the strategy here going forward and some of those things we don't even know to expect or anticipate and now we got rick grinnell joining us and i think that's what happened over the weekend rick i sent you a message like i can't wait to hear this story because All of a sudden, out of nowhere, there's these posts with you negotiating a hostage release out of nowhere for most people that probably don't even know that these Americans were even there. So I just kind of want you to back up. I know there's certain things you can share, can't share. Let us know. Start at the beginning of what this story really is.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, we had two big pieces of news. And we basically and rightfully released the hostage story first, because that was unfolding in real time. We got them out of Venezuela. And that was a huge win. Their stories are emotional. It's unbelievable. And probably the best career day of my life was meeting these six individuals on the tarmac and getting them on the plane, the Air Force plane and taking them home. But we also were able to negotiate getting a big win by having the Venezuelan government and Nicolas Maduro directly agree to take back all of the Venezuelans in the United States who are illegally here. Obviously, we have a lot of Venezuelan Americans here legally. We love them. They're a huge part of the fabric of the United States. But for all of the individuals that have cut the line, that have come over without proper paperwork, who are here illegally, they need to be sent back. And if they wanna wait in line and try that process, they have every right to do that, but you don't get to just skip the line and come into our country. And so we are gonna send all of them back And the big win is that the Venezuelans are gonna take them back, but not only take them back, they're gonna send planes to come here and pick them up and pay for these individuals to go back to their country.
SPEAKER 04 :
Rick, one thing that you've talked about on this broadcast for years now is the power of diplomacy. And when you look at how the left reacted to the new presidency, the re-election of President Trump, that diplomacy would be over, this is going to be the end of the world again, over and over. But what we've seen since the inauguration on January 20th is some of the most savvy next level negotiation and diplomacy that we've seen in a long time in the United States. It's actually a return to diplomacy, getting things done through talks, even talks with an adversary like you just completed. What does the American people need to know about what real diplomacy is that's happening now compared to what we've seen, especially over the last four years?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, look, I think I've said this on the show, Will, with you and Logan and others, but talking is a tactic. It's not a reward. And I think we have to be very clear eyed about that is when an American shows up to speak to Nicolas Maduro, we believe the Trump administration believes that it's a tactic to get somewhere, to get something, to represent America. And so I was there and spoke to Maduro and his team. And I said, look, You have to take back all of these people in our country that are illegal. You need to come and get them and pick them up. And there's hundreds of thousands of them. And if they're illegal in our country, they need to be sent back. And we want some hostages that you have. And part of this is a negotiation because these six individuals that you were just showing, they were accused of crimes that just didn't make sense. They were accused of being spies or terrorists and you know it's it it's diplomacy it's talking to show uh the the venezuelan government you're wrong this is not true these are these individuals are innocent this is their story in and what i said to maduro i looked at him when he was saying you know some of these individuals are people who tried to kill me and tried to kill the vice president and there are are others down in Venezuela still in prison that we're going to have to go back and continue talking about. But these individuals, I made the case to say, look, they're not. And I said to President Maduro, if you have evidence that these individuals tried to kill you or the vice president or anything, those are serious charges that we would take very seriously. We would not want... to just free someone who was trying to kill the president of Venezuela or the vice president. Those are incredibly serious charges. However, we don't think that that's true. We think that you're confusing some facts and maybe there's some misinformation. So let's talk this through and let's share information. That's how you do this. The Biden team didn't even visit these individuals in prison. At the State Department, we call it a wellness check. If there are Americans in prison overseas, American diplomats are required to go see these individuals and say, hey, how are you doing? Are you being treated well? Raise alarms if they're not being treated well. Let them know that there's a legal process. Keep them in the loop on what's happening with their family and the attorneys that they have. If they don't have an attorney, we help them get an attorney. This is called the rule of law. And so we are constantly pushing to make sure that Americans have the rule of law. There are times that we determine that a country doesn't have enough rule of law, that the charges are trumped up. And so we just demand the return. And we say, this is not fair. And you're going to face consequences if you don't return these Americans. President Trump is great at it. He understands the tools of the U.S. government. The Biden team was horrible at it. They didn't know how to use the leverage of the United States. They didn't know how to go down and just, you know, look at someone like Maduro and say, let's talk. And talking is a tactic. They didn't do it.
SPEAKER 05 :
I wanted to bring that up, Rick. And I think people are curious about this because I got to see, you know, one of your posts said you were able to almost have like Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you a moment where you got to go up to these hostages. I'm here for privacy. in honor of President Trump and I'm here to get you out of here which is amazing but you almost feel that when you hear hostage and you hear I'm here to get you out this sort of you know hectic you know intense moment but you know I see these photos with you with Maduro and are these conversations I know you can't share details conversations but in terms of tone is this you know kind of how you've dealt with foreign leaders before is this a respectful conversation because I believe under the Biden administration we've kind of were led to believe almost all of these are these big bad villains and not necessarily they're not, but that's how it would be if you went to go and speak to them. That you were talking with someone who was gonna be aggressive and rude and obnoxious and like I said, not diplomats. But it feels like looking at those photos, maybe it paints a little bit of a different picture.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think it's a really good question and I welcome it, but let me just say a couple of things. One, I'm a diplomat and I have a job to do representing America. And President Trump has been amazing at showing us what our job is, which is to protect Americans and put America first and put our country first. The question that we ask every day when we wake up as diplomats, what do we do to make America stronger and better and safer? That is the only question. We're not there to, as you know, when I was US ambassador to Germany, I wasn't there to talk about how great Germany was, or to travel around the country of Germany and post pictures to say, these are amazing places you should come visit. That's not my job. My job is to push America. So when I'm looking at Nicolas Maduro, I'm a diplomat. I'm representing America. It's a different mentality than if I was in the private sector, which I think people in the private sector, NGOs, have a role to play to push American diplomats to do and say certain things. But when you are a diplomat, when you represent America and you are trying to bring home Americans, you have to have a completely different mentality. And that's what I do when I'm looking at Nicolas Maduro.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, thank you so much, Rick, for joining us today. I know that it was a lot of seconds. I wanted to get you on and I wanted to hear this story. And we're so proud of the work that you're doing. We're proud to have you still as part of our team here because it is amazing to see how quickly things can change in this country, that you actually could turn so much of this on a dime. I think a lot of us thought this was going to take time, but here we are. We only got a minute left here, Rick, but we're able to see quick, fast action. It's pretty amazing.
SPEAKER 06 :
Look, you look at what Marco Rubio is doing in Panama and a bit clear-eyed about the Chinese threat, not only in Panama, but throughout a region that he knows really well, the Western Hemisphere. You look at Kristi Noem this morning going into the border, up north and down south to say to the border agents, what do you need? What have we been giving you? This is our common sense leadership. J.D. Vance absolutely focused on what happened in Ohio. How do we fix that? He brought Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator. He had been instructed by President Trump, get to work, protect America, make America better.
SPEAKER 05 :
Awesome. Thank you so much, Rick, for joining us. I'm sure we'll have you on later this week. We're going to take some calls coming up in the next segment, a few questions about any of these topics. And of course, that big boat coming up, 1-800-684-3110. We'll be right back with your calls. Welcome back to Seculo, final segment of the day. But make sure you are subscribing because we always put up new content and we'll go back live if there's anything we really need to cover. 1-800-684-3110 because I know a lot of you want your voice heard. It's a great time to do it. Put in a comment, put in a question. If you're watching online, if you're watching on Salem News Channel or any of the other networks, you can give us a call at 1-800-684-3110. 6, 8, 4, 31, 10. We'll try to go mostly for the order that they came in. Let's go to Martin in North Carolina, who is watching on YouTube in line three. Martin, you're on the air.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yes. I know you already talked about the fact that already and within the last hour of President Trump and the president of Mexico has started talking and things have been pushed off. And all of a sudden, we find from the left and everything else, the ex-speaker of the Senate jumped on things with a very feeble thing. Look at how your Super Bowl is with an imported beer that most people don't probably drink and a fruit that a lot of people don't like. Trying to... That fear that they're...
SPEAKER 05 :
Sorry, you caught me off guard. Most people don't like it. Oh, that was a very Trump thing to say. I like that, Martin. Look, we have that bite. Let's go ahead and play that because I agree. It's trivializing important issues and making it like, you know, it reminds me a lot of the COVID times where it was like, let's trivialize this one moment. And you remember like, oh, delicious cheeseburgers and fries or, you know, it feels like those kind of moments where you feel like you're being talked down to as an American. Let's hear from Chuck Schumer.
SPEAKER 07 :
Let's just take Super Bowl Sunday, okay? It's gonna affect beer, okay? Most of it, corona here, comes from Mexico. It's going to affect your guac because what is guacamole made of? Avocados, both from Mexico.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, remember what he looked like grilling? Okay, we don't remember that. This is the guy telling you how to have your Super Bowl party. This is somebody with frozen patties. What was that?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, they were still frozen and he put them on the grill. With cheese. They said it was his first time ever grilling after they pulled it down.
SPEAKER 05 :
He's going to grill you on what your Super Bowl party is going to be because, Martin, your avocados, your guacamole is going to suffer. And sorry about your corona. And of course, we saw what this really is, as Rick Grinnell said, as Professor Hutchinson said, we've said, which is these are negotiation tactics. And now Mexico's got a little bit of reprieve and they're going to do what? Send 10,000 of their own troops to the border, going to help stop the flow of fentanyl into this country. This is a moment.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and I think to Martin's point as well, what this entire issue around the tariffs on Mexico had to deal with is legitimate security for our border. This is something the Biden administration said only Congress could fix. But instead, the same party that was saying, oh, you're concerned about your price of eggs, but he's going to ruin everyone's human rights. all of a sudden are now like, oh, but what about your price of guacamole at your Super Bowl party? It's so disingenuous, especially because when you think about the real reason that now Mexico has conceded and is going to send 10,000 of their troops to the border to help, and that is compounded by our troops on the other side of the border trying to stop the flow of trafficked humans and fentanyl, which kills Americans every single day. I think you, Chuck Schumer, saying, what about your guac? It's a little disingenuous when you are so concerned about President Trump violating human rights. He's trying to save lives and the dignity of those trafficked by putting an end to it at the southern border. He used trade as a bully pulpit, as a stick. The carrot is we won't do this. And Mexico, with their left-wing president, is now complying. This is a good thing for the world and for those that are disenfranchised by cartels.
SPEAKER 05 :
But what about your avocado toast? What's going to happen to it? Your cost of brunch is going to go through the roof. Let's go ahead and take some more calls. Sophia is calling from New Jersey on line one with a very interesting question. Watch it on YouTube. Go ahead, Sophia.
SPEAKER 09 :
Here's my question. We have a blue state. We only have three districts that are Republican. We wonder when we call, is it a waste of time? Because I don't think they care.
SPEAKER 05 :
Look, Sophia, you may be right that in some ways it's that, but you never know. And also, that is also why we have that petition. You go to ACLJ.org, you can join the entire country and those will be delivered. It doesn't matter what state or district you're in. You are saying, I'm an American and this is how I feel. So I encourage you, that's a good way to do it. You can still also call the offices of the ones that are on the fence and just tell them, I'm an American and I believe this needs to get done. And I will quickly, can we go through the list of those people? That's right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. These are the ones that are on the Intelligence Committee so that we'll be voting if reports are true by tomorrow. Senator Young from Indiana, Senator Collins from Maine, Senator Moran from Kansas, and Senator Lankford from Oklahoma. The three, Young, Collins, and Moran, have been a lean no or unknown for a while. Senator Lankford... good friend of the aclj and friend of the broadcast was a yes publicly on tulsi he hasn't said he's a no but based off the questioning and some of the reporting coming out people are concerned about his vote in in the press this is this is where this information you can see so i think that is another one that you should probably be engaging with his office letting him know that you are an american especially if you're from oklahoma that you are one of his constituents and you want to see Tulsi Gabbard as the next DNI. But once again, for everyone, ACLJ.org slash sign. When we send it to these senators, it says, here are the ones from your state, your constituents, but here is the total number of Americans that are joining the ACLJ and asking you to confirm Tulsi Gabbard. So great place to do that as well.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, absolutely. Continuing on, Andrew in New York is listening on the radio. Andrew, you're on the air.
SPEAKER 12 :
Hi. My original question was going to be about the tariffs, but you guys expertly answered those questions. So my question is, I remember hearing about in the past when American citizens were being held hostage by various factions, we would sometimes send special forces to retrieve them. And of course, that's not always the best solution. And I love diplomatic solutions. But how has America gone to a point where We let our citizens sit as hostages for long periods of time.
SPEAKER 05 :
Andrew, I don't even think people were aware of what was going on in Venezuela. And I'll put myself in that camp that I didn't know that there are these Americans that are there ready to hopefully be freed. You know why? Because the last administration didn't talk about it at all. They didn't visit them at all. They made us pretend that wasn't happening. When you hear hostage right now, you're thinking Israel. No, this is happening. American people. who are currently held hostage. And now you have someone like Rick Grinnell, a member of our team, going and getting things done quickly in a diplomatic way. It's a wake up call. It was a wake up call to me to watch this footage. of these hostages being released and I encourage you right now to not only continue to support the work of the ACLJ because as we wrap up the broadcast today there's a lot of new people joining us right now I can just tell with the numbers I know a lot of you are interested in a lot what's happening and if you didn't see what we were talking about early on it was that Lindsey Graham has said he will vote yes on Tulsi Gabbard on Kash Patel on RFK Jr. that is what's happening right now and now there are reports that tomorrow that vote for Tulsi Gabbard will happen. Then you have, and it may happen in secret. So put the pressure on right now. Sign that petition at ACLJ.org. You also heard from our friend Rick Grinnell. We had a huge victory this weekend. He went there, freeing six American hostages from Venezuela. Again, these people have been on our team for years. And now they're going to be able to do incredible, incredible life-saving work. So remember the type of caliber of people we're able to bring on because you support the work of the ACLJ. So I encourage you right now to donate if you can at ACLJ.org. We're going to be back tomorrow with so much more, of course, covering if things happen, if things change with Tulsi's vote. I encourage you right now, if you're watching online, hit that subscribe button if you haven't yet and share this show with your friends. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
Amidst socio-political negotiations, Tony explores the ongoing legal issues surrounding abortion pills, shedding light on a high-profile case with Louisiana State Senator Thomas Presley. The conversation expands to include the growing debate on education reform and school choice initiatives, emphasizing the bipartisan need for meritocracy over divisive DEI policies. In the latter part, the dialogue emphasizes the critical role of religious freedom in global human rights, with former Ambassador Sam Brownback sharing insights on international liberty. This episode navigates through structural challenges with diligence and a commitment to faith-led dialogue.
SPEAKER 02 :
from the heart of our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation's leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 11 :
We're dealing with tragedy, but we need to improve safety. We need 200-plus recommendations fixed. We need people to take action. We go to East Palestine, the community gets devastated. Still nothing's happening. We have several hundred recommendations open for aviation. Want to do something about it? Adopt the recommendation of the NTSB. You'll save lives.
SPEAKER 06 :
That was National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman over the weekend addressing last week's tragic collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter. Welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in to this Monday edition. Well, lawmakers in both parties indicate that Congress will play a key role in the federal response to last week's air disaster. The Safety Board may have everyone's attention and reforms could be on the way. We're going to talk with Utah Congressman Burgess Owens, a member of the House Committee with oversight of the Federal Aviation Administration. Also, Elon Musk says President Trump will shutter USAID. Now, that's the agency responsible for providing U.S. humanitarian aid abroad. And he says that because of gross inefficiency.
SPEAKER 04 :
I just went over the numbers twice with you in the amount of aid that actually makes it into the hands. I mean, you could almost say this is a little bit hyperbole, but there's probably more dollars that go towards state dinners around the DC Beltway than what actually goes into rice and beans abroad. That's the state of what's going on with USAID.
SPEAKER 06 :
That was Congressman Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee this weekend. We're going to speak with Mark Moyer, who is the author of Masters of Corruption, How the Federal Bureaucracy Sabotaged the Trump Presidency, about the problems within USAID and alternatives to its bloated bureaucracy. Well, late Friday, a Louisiana grand jury indicted a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills online without medical consultation and sending them through the mail. New York's pro-abortion Governor Kathy Hochul declared that New York would not extradite the doctor to Louisiana under any circumstance.
SPEAKER 01 :
I will protect this doctor and all health care workers because this is the continued collateral damage of the overturning of Roe v. Wade that we saw at that moment and we sound the alarms about it. But sadly, this is the law right now where it's left to individual states.
SPEAKER 06 :
We'll get details on the case and possible outcomes from the law's author in Louisiana, State Senator Thomas Presley. Also, what does this Louisiana case coming from one of the most pro-life states in the nation reveal about the Biden era policy that's still in effect on mailing abortion pills into pro-life states? Can the federal government call abortion a state issue while permitting abortion pills to be mailed nationwide? FRC's Mary Sock, director of our Center for Human Dignity, joins me to discuss. And finally, this Wednesday is the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance at the Museum of the Bible here in Washington, D.C. Many participants, including Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, Michelle Bachman, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and about two dozen other members of Congress, Former Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, will also be there. And he'll actually join us later on this edition of Washington Watch to talk about Wednesday's event. Now, the event is sold out, but you can register and join us online. So go to PrayDC.org to find out how. That's PrayDC.org to find out how you can join us Wednesday. Well, it could take at least a year to complete a full investigation into last week's deadly midair collision here in D.C., but investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board are hoping to have a preliminary report within 30 days. While the investigations and recovery efforts are ongoing, Democrats continue to berate President Trump over his remarks last week connecting the wokeness of the FAA to the tragic crash that took the lives of all those on board both aircrafts. But is it really a stretch to believe that DEI and other distractions took focus away from the mission at the FAA and elsewhere? Joining me now to talk about this is Congressman Burgess Owens, who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as the Education and Workforce Committee. He represents the 4th Congressional District of Utah. Congressman Owens, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you. I'm looking forward to chatting with you, my friend. Absolutely. So there appears to be interest on both sides of the aisle to very quickly address this issue and work with the National Transportation Safety Board to come up with recommendations to make our airways safer. Is that an accurate read?
SPEAKER 12 :
Very accurate. And I'm blessed to be on a committee, the Trans-States Defense Trusting Committee, and it's chaired by Chairman Graves, who's actually a pilot. So this is one of those committees you'll hear a lot about because it's very thoughtful, very bipartisan, and it's all about getting the right things done. So I look forward to having these conversations. And at the end of the day, we want to make sure that we will never allow this type of tragedy to happen again. And I'm excited about, again, getting to the bottom line of this for sure.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, I want to play a clip from this past weekend. This was former DNC chair Jamie Ricardo Harrison at the National Harbor right outside of D.C. in Maryland talking. It gives a great example of the left's fixation on DEI and that after all that's happened, even the election and the rejection of their agenda, they still don't seem to get it. Play clip five.
SPEAKER 10 :
As you know, we are required to use the vice chair positions to gender balance our leadership team. Our rules specify that when we have a gender non-binary candidate or officer, the non-binary individual is counted as neither male nor female and the remaining six officers must be gender balanced. What do you make of that?
SPEAKER 12 :
this is why they lost and they keep it up they can continue to lose americans are tired of this uh this is a country based on merit if you wonder why all of a sudden the conversation around this even this tragedy diaz is part of it's because they did this they're the ones that start putting in place a policy that they're not looking at merit at all they're looking at everything else color skin gender things that make no difference and the minute you get into a position where you get an airplane get in a car get a taxi anything we do We want the very best to be in control of that process. So we're getting back to that. They say the chickens come home to roost. This is what happens when you start putting everything else before true merit. And that's why, by the way, we got rid of affirmative action, because that was also a very racist, a very demeaning ideology or process when it came down to Black Americans and their ability to think. So we're going to get to the bottom of this. We're going to make sure moving forward. And I'm so thankful for the fact that all this This stuff is being pulled out from the roots from our government. And we're going to be putting the same process into our school system, teaching merit and make sure we're holding people to the highest standards. And I'll tell you, Americans will stand up. They will they will come to the plate and do the very best when they know that's what the expectations are.
SPEAKER 06 :
I mean, Congressman Owens, you're a professional football player. You played with the Oakland Raiders. Would DEI work on the football field?
SPEAKER 12 :
And to that point, isn't it interesting that DEI is not put into athletics? It's not put into sports. In sports, you expect to win. So you put the very best talent on the team. Anybody who did it, a coach who did that DEI stuff would be fired in a heartbeat. So here's the point I'm making, Tony. They don't mind doing this when it comes down to intellectual stuff. When it comes down to athletics, where we have to show ourselves our strength, then they don't. So it is a true racist thing, and I'm just glad we're pulling away from this and getting back to what really matters.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I mean, it's known from our listeners I'm not a huge sports fan. So they'll take this in context, but I think it's more important than an airplane land safely than someone win a Super Bowl football game. I mean, I think when Americans get onto a plane or they get onto a train or whatever it might be, they expect it to do its very best to arrive at its destination. And the individuals directing it, driving it, flying it ought to be qualified, period.
SPEAKER 12 :
And we're going to get back to that. The fact is we have for years gotten on these on the airplane. We say safe travels just as a way we we just say have a good trip. But we also expect to be there to land safely and not to have this conversation about whether people were the very best. And I'm hoping that's not the case in this particular situation. We'll find that out. But we need to. We realize across the board, our country is based on merit. That's how we respect each other. That's how we command respect. And we're going to get back to that basic rule of getting that done. And I'm excited about that process.
SPEAKER 06 :
Congressman Owens, to that point, I mean, your success, sports, education. Let's talk about a measure that you're working on. You're also on the Education Committee. School choice, giving parents an opportunity to give their children the best opportunities to succeed.
SPEAKER 12 :
The blessing of the last four years is that we now are one as a nation. Families across the country looked over the shoulders of their children, realized that education was not up to par. We just came out of a study that 30 percent, only 30 percent of our country's kids are proficient in math and reading. That is unacceptable. So we're putting together something called Education Choice for Children Act. It's an opportunity for individuals and corporations to invest in what's called a scholarship-granting organization. It's a nonprofit. There's no link to the Department of Education at all. And from that, Those who invest can actually get tax credits. And from this CGO, parents can now request funds for anything they want to, public, private, brokerial, homeschool, whatever they want. And that money comes to them to send their kids to the educational process that they want to go to. I'm excited about it. It's truly bringing meritocracy into the process of education. And at some point, Tony, we're going to also figure out a way to reward the best teachers in our country, to bring those who love this profession, love to teach, bring them to this industry so they can make a lot of money. And the better they are, the more they can make. And we can make sure we're rewarding those who are doing a good job. And those who don't want to do the teaching the right way, let's have them find something else to do. This is one of the most important national security issues in our country's history is our education of our children.
SPEAKER 06 :
And when you look at it from a school choice standpoint, many people get worked up about that, saying you're attacking public education. No, what you're doing is you're allowing the best to rise to the top. But you're also doing something else, is that you're involving parents into the education of their children by giving them a choice and a vested interest in it.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, the great thing about this legislation, it does not touch one red cent of public educational funds. It does not touch district, local. This is something that people are investing themselves. And what it does, and we found out by six different states, that the more they have, the more merit, the more competition, the better public school systems get to be. out. It's very much common sense. We're a country that likes to compete, and the very best will be paid the best. So this is a very common sense legislative process. It does not take away from public school systems, but allows us as Americans to invest in our kids. The return on investment is that we're going to have the smartest, most innovative, the most productive kids and adults in the entire world. And that's what we should be looking at. And it doesn't matter what zip code they live in. No one should be given a death sentence of education because they live in a certain zip code. We're changing that in American people behind us, and we're going to make sure we educate particularly those at-risk communities. And those who do not vote for this, they need to be voted out. Out here should be the most important thing of all things we can do. And if they don't see a way of getting that done, they want to highlight labor unions instead, then we need to figure out how to get new people in D.C.
SPEAKER 06 :
I could not agree more, Congressman Owens. I think competition is the key to improving everything because everybody, they're on the top of their game, or at least they try to be if they want to be in the game when they have competition. And I think without it, everybody gets lazy. And I think that's what's happened in our education system in the United States. I'll give you the final word.
SPEAKER 12 :
This is the only place that we have not had innovation. Innovation and education should be the top of mind for all of us. We're going to get that done through this process and bring the very best minds in our country to where they can teach our kids so we can produce the very best minds in the world. So I'm looking forward to that. I just want to congratulate all the people out there who's given us this opportunity by bringing President Trump into this process. The last three classes in Congress. We're going to make a big difference. We just need to make sure we're explaining this and educating everybody as we move forward.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. We'll be tracking it very closely. Congressman Burgess Owens, thanks so much for joining us. Always great to see you, my friend. Thank you, Tony. I appreciate it. All the best. And folks, so that you can keep up with this and be a part of the process, you need to get your first 100 days toolkit. Text the word toolkit to 67742. That's toolkit to 67742. All right, don't go away. We're coming back with a lot more Washington Watch right after this.
SPEAKER 18 :
During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we're making an eternal impact. 2024 was a year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, DC. Last fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins marked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC's outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere with the community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God's intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel's peace, prosperity, and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Government. Launching early this year in January 2025, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us, and we look forward to 2025 and standing for faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 07 :
Looking to grow closer to God in the new year? FRC's Stand on the Word spiral-bound journal is here to help. Dive deeper into scripture with thought-provoking questions, note-taking space, and context for each book and author. This second edition, covering Isaiah 2 Revelation, will guide you in tracking your journey through God's word while deepening your faith in Christ. Order now at frc.org slash store or text journal to 67742. Perfect for you and your loved ones.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. Great to have you with us. Well, a grand jury in West Baton Rouge Parish, that's just across the river from where I live in East Baton Rouge Parish, has issued an indictment, an arrest warrant. The grand jury has issued an indictment and the District attorney has issued an arrest warrant for a New York doctor for issuing abortion drugs to the mother of a pregnant minor. Now, notably, the mother did not travel from Louisiana to New York. Rather, she received the abortion chemicals after making an online request. They came through the mail. This is the Biden era policy that remains in place. So how can it be that a doctor in New York provided abortion access to a state where the procedure has been outlawed? And what are the implications of this case? Here to give us the details on this case, Louisiana State Senator Thomas Presley, whose bill, Senate Bill 276, made Louisiana the first state to classify abortion pills as controlled dangerous substances, which is what this case is about. Senator Presley, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thanks so much for having me on, Tony. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER 06 :
So give us the facts of this case.
SPEAKER 15 :
Sure. So what happened in this case is that the mother of a pregnant teenager conspired with a New York doctor to obtain chemical abortion pills in the mail. They were then given to the teenager, who did not want to have an abortion, in order to induce that abortion to occur.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, was she aware that she was being given these pills?
SPEAKER 15 :
She was aware, but she had also already planned a party to announce the gender of the baby and was very excited to have the baby, is what I've been told. But the mother of that teenager... worked with the New York state doctor to conspire to force the teenager to have an abortion using chemical abortion pills.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now this is, let me just stop you right there because this is very, this is very similar to the reason that you actually introduced this law, was it not?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, I initially introduced the law because my brother in law at the time, unbeknownst to my sister, chose to grind up a misoprostol bill, place it in a drink that my sister was having, a glass of water, and tried on seven different occasions to try to kill my now two and a half year old niece, Josephine. Catherine was able to recognize what was going on, realize that when she was having a medical emergency that she could take the abortion-reversing pill, which she did, and was able to save the life of my niece.
SPEAKER 06 :
So this is, I mean, this is almost a casebook. A classic case of what you were trying to prevent with this mother getting this for a teenager. Now, this could also happen with those who traffic, you know, young people, minors in sex trafficking, and they try to cover it up by getting these abortion pills contrary to their own desires. So let's talk about this. The grand jury issued an indictment. A rest warrant has been issued. Where does it stand now?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, so I spoke with the DA, Tony Clayton, this morning, as well as with Attorney General Merle, about where we are. And we have, according to the Attorney General, as well as the DA, an arrest warrant has been issued for the doctor in New York. And we are awaiting New York to do its duty. under the Constitution and arrest the doctor. Based on the conversation that the governor of New York has had publicly, it does not sound like she will be willing to do that. However, if this doctor were to travel to any other state that would be willing to extradite the doctor, then Louisiana will do everything we can to extradite the doctor to the state in order for her to face the criminal charges that she
SPEAKER 06 :
is currently facing so just for the benefit of our listeners that's a former police officer what would be happening she's driving down the interstate in some other state maybe uh you know who knows where she might travel to for vacation she stopped for speeding they run her driver's license and it comes back that she has a warrant for her arrest that's outstanding in louisiana they would arrest her hold her contact louisiana officials say hey we have such and such you have an award do you want her
SPEAKER 15 :
And that's how it works. There's a national database that all warrants go into, and police officers are able to use that information in order to determine if a state would extradite someone that's facing criminal charges to that state. And in Louisiana, we certainly would be interested in prosecuting this doctor, which is why the indictment was made in the first place.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Senator Pressel, let me ask you this question. This is a... So, the FDA... removed the in-person medical consultation that had been in place for Mifeprestone for many years. And then the Department of Justice under the Biden administration said that the Comstock law does not apply to abortion pills and therefore they can be sent through the mail. Now that policy remains in place that the Biden administration enacted. So a state like Louisiana that has pro-life laws, they're almost, I mean, they're circumvented by this policy that's currently in place allowing abortion pills to be mailed into the state.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, this policy needs to be changed. And in this instance, again, Tony, one of the fascinating parts is the child, the teenager that was pregnant, didn't even have the consultation with this New York-based doctor. It was her mother that actually had the consultation and was able to get the pills. You know, it's even worse than not having it or having a medical telemedicine consultation. There was no consultation at all that I'm aware of. But no question that the laws in the country need to be changed in order for states' rights in the 10th Amendment to take effect on this issue. issue regarding abortion. And Louisiana is a pro-life state. There's no question about that. And we want to have abortion illegal in this state. And the current federal policies are not allowing that to occur.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, Senator, I have a feeling this is this is not the end of this law in this case. I think this is something that could end up before the Supreme Court.
SPEAKER 15 :
I think you're exactly right. I would be very surprised if this doesn't end up before the Supreme Court. And I trust Attorney General Merle to use her team at the attorney general's office to ensure that Louisiana puts on a important 10th Amendment case and in a case that that's state rights. And we need to ensure that the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution is in effect and that the state of New York turns over this doctor who has committed a crime in Louisiana.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, Senator Pressley, I want to thank you for joining us today. And I want to thank you for your pro-life stand. You're representing Louisiana quite well, and we're grateful for it.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you, Tony. I appreciate you having me on today.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. All right, folks, we're going to continue this conversation after the break. We're going to talk about what President Trump needs to do to ensure that states like Louisiana, my home state, can actually have their pro-life laws. Mary Sack from FRC joins me next here on Washington Watch. Don't go away. A lot more still ahead.
SPEAKER 05 :
Have you ever been to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.? Now you have a special reason to join us for a livestream event on Wednesday, February 5. You can take part in the third annual National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance. God's ways are higher than our ways. The Lord clearly reveals in Scripture any nation that genuinely worships him is a nation with leaders willing to repent and ask forgiveness for sins. The NGPR is a unique public gathering where scores of congressional leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson, join with international leaders representing more than 50 nations for one sole purpose. Forgive our nations against you and you alone have we sinned. Go to PrayDC.org for access to the live stream. That's PrayDC.org for access to the live stream.
SPEAKER 17 :
America was a bright light, until the culture gave into darkness. But we won't. We are in a battle for the soul of our nation, between right and wrong, between truth and lies. At a time when the mainstream media is blocking Americans from truth, millions are searching for a source of trustworthy news that shines a light in the darkness. At this time of great need, FRC is lighting the way forward. For 40 years, Family Research Council and its partners have stood together to advance and defend biblical truth in government and culture. Between our flagship broadcast program, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, to our news outlet, The Washington Stand, FRC is providing believers across the country with news they can trust from a biblical worldview. When you stand with FRC, you help light the way forward for America and the next generation. Go to frc.org slash give.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. And let me remind you, get your first 100 days toolkit to help you stay involved and be a part of the process. Text the word toolkit, that's one word, toolkit, to 67742. All right, with President Trump's return to the White House, many of his first administration's previous pro-life policies are being reinstated. And to that we applaud. It's great. He's doing good. Democrat state officials are fighting back, even openly and proudly subverting the pro-life laws of other states that were put in place to protect their citizens from the harms of like the abortion bill. Now, you'll recall that the Biden administration during the last four years had the FDA change so that the abortion pill no longer required any type of medical in-person medical consultation. And they also got a ruling from the Department of Justice that the Comstock Act, which prohibits abortion material from being mailed through the U.S. mail service didn't apply to the abortion pill. That's still in place. And that's what we were just talking about with Senator Pressley. So how can this be? Well, here to discuss this is Mary Sock, director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council. Mary, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thanks so much for having me on.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now let me just, so we can set the context here for our viewers and listeners. What is the estimated number or percentages of abortions that now occur through the use of the abortion pill?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, at Guttmacher's latest estimate, the percentage was about 63%. And that is up from 39% in 2017. During the COVID pandemic, that number increased to 53% of abortions. And now we're actually up to 63%. And what's more is that the telemedicine percentage of abortions has increased from just 4% in 2022 to now 20% of all abortions. So not just have abortions done through the use of mifepristone increased, but abortions performed through the use of mifepristone that has been prescribed via telehealth and presumably sent through the mail have increased significantly as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, last week on the program, I was talking about how the medical complications in emergency issues have increased as well as more of these chemical drugs, chemical abortions have been undertaken. But let's talk about this. For years, I mean, the abortion pill is not new, but it required medical consultation, in-person medical consultation. That was changed. And now the case that we just heard, it was a mother ordered this through the mail, online, got it through the mail, gave it to her daughter. Her daughter didn't even have a medical consultation, didn't know anything about the medical history of this child.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, and we've seen that that doctor or that daughter had medical complications. And that's that's what led to this lawsuit. The rounds were put in place. Those safety requirements were put in place because Mifepristone is a dangerous drug. It sends one in 25 women to the hospital. It has a significant percentage of women. And the number increases as the gestational age of the child increases who need another surgery. who need a surgery following taking this drug to complete the abortion and prevent sepsis and potentially death. This is not Tylenol. This is a drug that harms and maims women while it kills their unborn child.
SPEAKER 06 :
So can a state, let's take Louisiana, that was the one, that was the state we were just talking to, the state senator there, can a state of Louisiana based on what, like President Trump says, he says this is a state issue, and many in Congress are echoing that. How can this be a state issue if the FDA and the DOJ are allowing abortion pills to be sent through the mail into a pro-life state without any kind of medical consultation?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, I think one thing that we have to keep in mind here is where did this start? It started back in COVID when the ACLU sued to allow mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth because of the quote unquote emergency situation that COVID caused. And when that happened, the Biden, sorry, the Trump administration challenged that lawsuit. And the Supreme Court actually ruled on the side of the Trump administration reinstating that requirement for in-person dispensing. So if President Trump wants to say or says that abortion is a state's rights issue, we need to hope and pray that he follows what he did during his first administration and he protects a state's ability to protect unborn children within their state boundaries.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, this is actually pretty simple to do. It would, number one, just have the FDA go back to requiring consultation, right?
SPEAKER 14 :
It is. And, you know, I'm actually hoping for much more. In RFK Jr.' 's confirmation hearings, we heard him say that President Trump wants him to study the safety of Mifepristone. Well, that will actually be the first time in American history that that study has been conducted. We don't have studies on Mifepristone's impact on minors, which... was the issue in this case in Louisiana. And if RFK Jr. looks at the studies, which we have seen from other countries, he will see that this drug is not safe for women. It's not safe for minors. And this is something that should not be prescribed at all.
SPEAKER 06 :
And the other component of this is through the mail, which is simply requiring the enforcement of the Comstock Act, right?
SPEAKER 14 :
Certainly. And we've seen the Trump administration is the administration of law and order. The Comstock law could not be more clear. It says that no, nothing, nothing that is meant to induce an abortion can be sent through the mail. That it is pretty impossible to read as allowing Mifepristone to be sent.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Mary Sock, thanks so much for joining us. Always great to see you.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thanks so much for having me on, Tony.
SPEAKER 06 :
So it's pretty straightforward. And of course, we're appealing to the Trump administration to do just that. All right, coming up, we're going to discuss two faith-driven events taking place here in Washington, D.C. this week and how you can participate in the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance. Stay tuned.
SPEAKER 08 :
As President-elect Donald Trump's second inauguration approached, a powerful prayer gathering took place in Washington, D.C., drawing Christians together to intercede for our nation.
SPEAKER 06 :
The church does not recapture its prophetic zeal. It will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority. God help us to recapture that prophetic zeal.
SPEAKER 03 :
This is not an inter-religious service. We will not be praying to Allah or Buddha. We'll be praying to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We're talking to God. A holy, righteous, just God from a nation that desperately needs the touch of this God.
SPEAKER 13 :
We've not been a secular nation. We don't want to be a secular nation. We've been a nation built around God, and our history shows that.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well-versed and Family Research Council led the inauguration praise and prayer convocation, urging attendees to pray for the incoming presidential administration and for the church to embody holiness and righteousness, champion biblical justice, and proclaim truth prophetically.
SPEAKER 06 :
Lord, may this not be the end, but may this be the beginning, this convocation, this gathering. And may we commit to pray and to seek you and to walk in your word and in your ways. In Jesus' name, amen. Hello, I'm Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But do you know the Bible talks about four institutions of government? Do you know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing, separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn't be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
SPEAKER 09 :
Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today and join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We've created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective, read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family and church members and stand firm everywhere you go.
SPEAKER 06 :
This is Washington Watch. I'm Tony Perkins, your host. Good to have you with us. All right. Another busy week here in D.C. And there are a number of gatherings that are going to draw international participants. And I want to focus on two of them. And as I've shared over the past couple of weeks, this Wednesday is the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, which will bring together faith leaders, members of Congress, international guests for the purpose of repenting. Yes, you heard me correct, repenting, repenting for our sins as a nation and seeking God's mercy and guidance for America. And starting this evening, the International Religious Freedom Summit will convene global advocates to address the growing threats to religious freedom. And joining me now to talk about these important events is former U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, who is now co-chair of the IRF Summit. Ambassador, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you.
SPEAKER 19 :
Always good to see you, Tony. I hope you've been doing well.
SPEAKER 06 :
I am doing well. I'm anticipating this week. I think it's going to be a significant week with focus on obviously what you're doing, religious freedom, something that's near and dear to my heart. as well as exercising that Wednesday at the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, which Pastor Jim Garlow and I first organized back in 2023. And you're going to be a part of that. And this is something I remember you and I have a conversation back after 9-11. You were a senator. And we talked about the need for repentance, not something that's heard very often in this city. Why is that important at this moment in America's history?
SPEAKER 19 :
If you don't own it, you really can't get cured from it, Tony. I think, and you look at Lincoln as kind of our best example in this. He called for repentance of the nation for its sins, that we've been blessed as a country, but yet we've gone astray and we've done wrong things. And we need to repent and own it and ask forgiveness from a loving God for it before we can be forgiven. I mean, On my own personal sins, God doesn't just say, okay, Sam, they're forgiven. He makes me own them. He makes me say, okay, I did this. It was wrong. I shouldn't have done this. I am sorrowful for this sin. Would you forgive me? And he will. And he's good to forgive. But it's the same process really for us as a nation. We need to own it, ask for forgiveness for it from God before we really can move forward.
SPEAKER 06 :
And scripture instructs us to do that individually, collectively, as a nation. And if we're truly going to exercise religious freedom, which is something you and I have spent a lot of time defending, we've got to truly exercise it and feel free to do so. And I know the word repentance and that causes some people to bristle a little bit because it does become personal. But it is so important. So I appreciate you being a part of the Wednesday event. And folks, you can be a part of it, too. It is sold out. However, you can join us online. Go to PrayDC.org and register and you can find out. How? So let me turn now to defending religious freedom as a former ambassador for international religious freedom. And during the time that I served on the you serve commission, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Let's talk about the International Religious Freedom Summit that you are hosting this week. Talk about the the motivation. Why? What do you hope to accomplish with this?
SPEAKER 19 :
I hope to accomplish a relaunch of the human rights project around the world. Tony, human rights have been in decline, substantial decline globally over the last 20 years. And I think it's because we both don't get the basics right. And one of the real basics of this is religious freedom. I call it the freedom of freedoms. You get this one right, you'll get more freedoms. across the board but instead what you've got is these totalitarian states and increasingly democracies persecuting people of faith particularly of minority faith so you don't have this basic freedom and that causes all of your freedoms to decline That's why I think this is so critical. And the Trump administration has a great opportunity to relaunch the global human rights project around getting this cornerstone human right correct, which is that religious freedom is for everybody. It's everywhere. It's all the time. It doesn't matter if you're a majority or a minority faith. You are entitled to it as a dignified human being.
SPEAKER 06 :
Ambassador, studies revolving around religious freedom show that it not only is the hinge on which the other freedoms turn, but it also points to the fact that you have greater economic opportunity, you have greater social stability. It is really kind of a foundation for a healthy society, is it not?
SPEAKER 19 :
It really is, Tony. And we've just got to fight for it. And then as we get in a greater and greater, bigger and bigger conflict with China, it becomes clear polar opposites of how the two nations view religious freedom. China views it as an existential threat, and they are at war with every faith that operates there. The United States views it as a foundational freedom around which you build the other freedoms. And I think it really shows the world, OK, these two key polar differences determine which way the world's going to move in the future. Are we going to move towards more freedom? Are we going to move towards more tyranny?
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Ambassador, a final question for you on this. What is the what are the biggest threats to religious freedom today, both both here and abroad?
SPEAKER 19 :
I think there's a number of them, unfortunately, but I think communism, just by its very nature and its atheism, is a piece of it. I think the lack of respect for people of faith is another one in more democratic societies. You've got oftentimes a majority view, and sometimes in Western countries, it's a secular majority view that says that they don't want to tolerate these traditional values that they aren't in stream with the current culture. And that creates a series of problems for people who are religious, who simply want to peacefully follow the dictates of their faith and his tradition. And in a in a faith that's In many cases, thousands of years old. And there's also all sorts of variables. At the root of it, Tony, is really that faith is a conscience to people in a society. It's a conscience to a government. It's a conscience to a public. And often the public just doesn't want to have their conscience pricked that way. But it's essential if you're going to have a free, open society and really if you're going to progress as a nation.
SPEAKER 06 :
So Ambassador, how can folks find out more about the conference going on this week?
SPEAKER 19 :
They can go on our website, irfsummit.org. They can see some of our plenary sessions on there. They can sign up. And I hope they will grow. They will join this growing movement, global movement for religious freedom. Because we've got to guarantee this right. We lose this right, you're going to lose it all.
SPEAKER 06 :
I agree 100%. I look forward to being with you there this week at the summit.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thanks, Tony. Look forward to seeing you.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, Ambassador. Thanks for joining us. So go to the website, TonyPerkins.com, and find out more about the summit. And you can also, again, go to DCPray.org to find out more about the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance. All right, as we talked about at the top of the program, the Agency for International Development, USAID, is facing major scrutiny with growing concerns about waste and inefficiency. Originally intended to provide humanitarian aid and promote democracy, USAID critics argue, has become a bloated agency that mismanages taxpayer dollars and even funds groups that work against the U.S. And it funds the left's priorities, not American priorities. Joining me now to unpack this, Dr. Mark Moyer. He previously served at USAID as the director of the Office of Civilian Military Cooperation. He is now chair of the military history at Hillsdale College. He's the author of the book, Masters of Corruption. Dr. Moyer, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 16 :
Hey, great to be with you, Tony.
SPEAKER 06 :
So critics argue that USAID has become bloated and inefficient, and there's word that Trump wants to shut it down. Does your research back that up?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yes, certainly my experience during the first Trump administration shows that. It is a big, unwieldy bureaucracy. And foreign aid was originally supposed to be a largely temporary measure after World War II. And the plan was we would phase it out. And we did phase it out in Europe, but it's become perpetual in much of the world. And a lot of it simply is unnecessary or wasteful. And there are people in the agency, including me, who thought there is a lot of waste, fraud and abuse. And when we tried to report that, we became targets and the bureaucracy has sought to protect itself and put its own interests first. And that's why I think you're seeing these drastic measures that have been taken in the last week where they put 60 senior staff on PAID ADMINISTRATIVELY, WHICH IS ALMOST UNPRECEDENTED. I DON'T KNOW OF ANOTHER CASE. AND THEN OVER THE WEEKEND, THEY HAD TO FORCE OUT THE HEAD OF SECURITY, WHO TRIED TO KEEP THEM FROM GETTING RECORDS. AND JUST AS OF TODAY, IT LOOKS LIKE THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS GOING TO BE TAKING THIS AGENCY OVER.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Mark, from both your research and your insider information, having served in their Is there a legitimate purpose for USAID still today? I mean, I know you talked about the history of it. It should have been phased out. But does it still have a legitimate role to play?
SPEAKER 16 :
I think parts of it can be very useful. For example, if there's humanitarian disaster overseas and other countries can't deal with it, those are things sometimes we might want to contribute to. When we're negotiating deals with other countries, for example, if we want better trade deals or we want them to stop illegal immigration, sometimes we may want to offer them various foreign aids. FOREIGN AID AS AN INCENTIVE, AND A LOT OF THESE COUNTRIES ARE POORLY GOVERNED, WHICH IS WHY THEY STILL NEED AID. I THINK THERE'S SOME THINGS WE CAN DO IN TERMS OF TRAINING AND EDUCATION TO HELP THEM OUT, BUT MUCH ELSE OF WHAT THE AGENCY DOES IS NOT HELPFUL AND IS, IN FACT, OFTEN COUNTERPRODUCTIVE. I MEAN, WE'VE SEEN THEY'VE SPENT HUGE AMOUNTS. on DEI, on dubious climate change initiatives, advancing radical LGBT policies. And so I think those sorts of things we will see getting cut and eviscerated here in the very near future.
SPEAKER 06 :
So if you were to put a percentage on it, Mark, what percentage would you say falls into the category of bloated bureaucracy that we need to get rid of?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, that's hard to say because one of the problems with USAID is they are masters at hiding the money. Just very recently, it's been reported that $100 billion in aid to Ukraine seems to be missing. Zelensky's saying he never received it. And so there's a huge amount of mystery surrounding all of this. I mean, that was one of the shocking things I found there. Three years into the Trump administration, we were still finding out about programs that had been hidden by the career staff. So it's very hard to get a handle on this. I'd say probably at least 50 percent of it could go away. But again, I think now that finally the administration is getting its hands on its records have a better idea of where the money is being spent. I should add to one of the biggest problems they have is massive overpayments to contractors. And so there in itself you can see a lot of savings.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Mark, is the solution, as you mentioned today, that this is now under the purview of the State Department under Secretary Rubio, is that the answer or is there other alternatives here? Is it privatization? What do we do here?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, my sense is, for now, certainly the preferable alternative is to put it under state where it's more closely controlled and you have strong leadership under Secretary Rubio. I think you may see parts of it parceled off to other agencies that are more relevant. I think going forward, that's probably where things are going to stand. I think there are some valuable pieces, so I don't think you just – get rid of it uh entirely but the part of why you have it under state is that it really is an instrument of u.s foreign policy and sometimes especially under democrats it has become uh tries to be its own thing and so secretary rubio has made very clear that aid is part of the foreign policy apparatus and so it does make sense to have it in the state department but
SPEAKER 06 :
But did the USAID administrator, were they totally separate from the State Department? Or is there some connection there with the Secretary of State previously?
SPEAKER 16 :
They have been an independent agency. Now, the State Department does have a say over where the money gets spent. But we saw, and I saw certainly when I was there, even in the first Trump administration, it was very difficult to get the career bureaucracy to go along with what the administration, the State Department wanted to do. So this way, I think you'll eliminate any sort of disparities between what aid and state are doing. And you certainly see that overseas, too, where you'll have a State Department and USAID people trying to go in different directions because they don't report to the same people.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, Marcus, maybe beyond your area of expertise, but does this require congressional action just to kind of eliminate or absorb one agency into another?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, so I'm not an expert on congressional relations, but it certainly seems that Congress is going to have to go along with some of this. Now, the Republicans, I think, can probably muster the votes. That was a problem in the first Trump administration. They couldn't get enough people on the Republican side. But it remains to be seen. There may be some in Congress who are not sure this is the right way to go, but I think we'll find that out in the next... few days, if not weeks.
SPEAKER 06 :
I certainly think that I think you'll get Democrat support to some degree for reforms, because once I think all this waste and abuse is made public and I have a feeling we're going to see a lot more of this now that the president's focused on Elon Musk, I think you'll move some Democrats in that direction. Dr. Mark Moyer, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your insights on this important topic.
SPEAKER 16 :
Great. Great talking to you, Tony. All right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, we will see. And my prediction is that as more and more of this government waste is exposed, and as Mark was saying, there's still legitimate purpose for some of it, but it needs to be managed more efficiently and effectively and not through bloated bureaucracy. But this is why you need your 100-day toolkit. So text the word toolkit to 67742 so that you can be involved. All right, we're out of time for today, folks. Thanks for joining us. Until next time, I leave you with the encouraging words the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you've done everything you can do, when you've prayed, when you've prepared, when you've taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 02 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today, or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
As discussions unfold regarding the accountability and transparency of aviation accidents, we explore the public's right to know and the impact of these events on victims' families. We weigh the complexities of responsibility, the role of DEI concerns, and the importance of preventing future tragedies while maintaining compassion for those who serve and protect in the skies.
SPEAKER 02 :
what a weekend huh holy moly i mean starting with friday and here we go again with another aviation disaster and this horrific horrific crash in philly then you had a plane catch on fire in houston what in the actual heck is going on i know what all of us we go all these years without anything happening and then all of us and they say it happens in threes Which, for those of us who fly a lot, that's good news. You don't want to be after number two. Stay home. Don't drive. Just take the stagecoach. I mean, just awful. And did you see the video of that Lear jet, that medical jet? It looked like a missile. It looked like a missile. Straight down. Straight down. Planes don't usually do that. Something bad happened. So let's rewind and go to the crash over the Potomac because this thing has gotten ugly. And, you know, the family of the apparent female pilot didn't want her identity released. The military said, well, we're not going to release her identity. I thought, well, you can't pull that off. What are you talking about? Exactly right. Big problem. You can't get away with that. You're going to find out. And we did find out. And the family probably didn't want her identity revealed because they know they're going to be put through hell. They're going to experience the wrath of Americans who are livid about the whole DEI issue. Now, the problem, Mark, I don't even know if the DEI issue applies here. Maybe it does. It may not.
SPEAKER 03 :
It may not.
SPEAKER 02 :
And it really may not.
SPEAKER 03 :
It may not. It doesn't mean it's not worth bringing up at a time when safety is a key focus.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, let's deal with what we do know. I mean, something went terribly wrong. And here's the problem with trying to give her anonymity. This is a big problem here. First of all, we need to have respect and compassion. Her family is mourning and grieving, and they may have an extra burden. They may have the burden of living with the fact that on top of... her loss she may have been to blame i mean she because something went and if every report is correct it appears that that helicopter was i guess higher than it was cleared to be it was over over right 200 feet they were 300 feet um the plane evidently made a last second desperate effort the pilot of that plane tried to pull up to avoid the collision and that helicopter just slammed right into it and incidentally have you seen the video of the flight attendants on the doomed flight. Somebody took a video of them the night before the crash. No. Oh, Mark. It is so heartbreaking. You want to hear it? It's just a normal. You want to hear it? It's the night before. And let me tell you why we should play it.
SPEAKER 03 :
I was going to say, because I hear people go, oh, no. Because these were people. These were people. They had lives. They were filled with joy. They were filled with purpose. It was the blissful normalcy of their night before.
SPEAKER 02 :
And the guy, the lead flight attendant, Ian, who just introduced his partner, the female flight attendant, who were, of course, both killed, the joy he has in serving his passengers. The clear, and he leaves behind, of course, a wife and kids and just grieving. And people love this guy. You know how you get flight attendants who you know love their job? Southwest comes to mind. And sometimes I always joke about they're too happy for me. Just calm down here a little bit, all right? You know, they're singing happy, happy, joy, joy, and, you know, all that stuff. We get jokes. It's like they're working a club sometimes. It's like, okay, we get it. We get it. But this guy, this guy, a passenger was on the same route the night before the crash. And he had such, the flight attendant, Ian, had such a delightful monologue that the passenger pulled out a cell phone and took a video of it. And the family of the flight attendant saw this on social media. And they said, thank you for sharing this. Thank you for reminding everybody how special he was, how his passengers loved him. Not just a name. Not just a name. Not just a statistic. Not just a number. These were two flight attendants. He's a veteran. She was apparently brand new. And here was that final video taken the night before the awful crash over the...
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
everybody? Fine, whatever. We'll go to Wichita. I can't believe I'm saying that out loud. My name is Ian, everybody. I am your app flight attendant tonight. I'm going to be working with all of those amazing people in the back that can't afford first class. Hi, everybody. Look at my people. I want everybody to introduce you to one of my newest, coolest friends. This is your first your first-class flight attendant, and a really cool lady. Everybody say, hey, Danasia.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hey, Danasia.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's Danasia with a duh. There you go. Very easy. We are so glad you guys are here. We know, well... We know the reason we have jobs is because you guys are flying. We love you. We appreciate you. Sit back, relax, and enjoy our four-hour and 15-minute... Sir, we're regional. We only go five miles an hour. We'll get there eventually. You're lucky this airplane has wings, for crying out loud. I'm just kidding. 46 minutes, wheels up, wheels down. Fast, fast, fast tonight. It's a beautiful night to fly. Let's just get there, so... The four of us can find a place to have a cocktail and a hamburger at 11.30 at night in Wichita, Kansas. I can't believe I'm going to Kansas. I'm not even a Jayhawk. I mean, I'm a Notre Dame fan. Come on. You want to talk about a real college? All right, we'll talk about that later. Folks, sit back, relax, put your feet up. Welcome to our house.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wow, that's Ian Epstein.
SPEAKER 03 :
Mike, that's beautiful. That is just absolutely beautiful. That was him. That was his heart. That was his talent. And it was quite the talent, that self-deprecation, that having a little fun with everybody. Because what does everybody say about flying? That flying is a massive pain in the neck, which it is. And it's just the quality of it and the enjoyment that we glean from it as passengers has been reduced over the years. It can be made better by people with a sense of humor and a sense of and a heart for service like he had, I am so glad to have you here.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I came across that this week. And again, the family member, somebody named Epstein, saw that post and said, Debbie Epstein wrote, thank you, this has reached his family, and we appreciate you sharing this. It does bring us comfort. I mean, and the pastor who wrote back, he truly brought so much joy to all of us on our flight. I shared hoping that the country and the family would see. So anyway, just heartbreaking. And just as heartbreaking for the helicopter pilot, the Black Hawk helicopter pilot. Here's why it matters, why we know the details. And this is going to sound crass, but it's true. As a member of the military, we pay – she works for us. She's, in a sense, our employee. Because here's what's going to happen. If indeed that crew was to blame – the U.S. Army is going to be on the hook for millions and millions and millions of dollars to the families of the victims, the surviving family members. So we have a say in this. I mean, as crude as that may sound, you can't keep this covered up. The American people have every right to know, did that crew err? Was there a mistake made? If so, how do you keep that from happening again? And is it too soon to inject the DEI debate
SPEAKER 03 :
See if this makes sense. There's a list of things we can do. Of course it's premature to say, ha, woman, must be her fault. Of course you don't say that. And here's, in fact, another thing. Let's say it is her fault. Her womanhood may not have been to blame. I've got this wonderful relationship over the years. with the 2nd of the 149th General Support Aviation Battalion based out of Grand Prairie, Army National Guard, Blackhawks, Chinooks. I've met some women who are magnificent pilots, and by every account, it looks like she's one of them. Doesn't mean she didn't screw up. Guess what? Guys screw up, too.
In this episode of Best Stocks Now, professional money manager Bill Gundersen dives deep into the volatile tides of the stock market amidst the newest round of tariffs announced by President Trump. As the Dow takes a hit and various sectors such as technology and agriculture navigate choppy waters, Gundersen dissects the winners and losers emerging from these market shifts. The discussion provides insight into the factors influencing these market dynamics, including international trade tensions and their implications on global economies.
SPEAKER 03 :
He's been seen on CNBC, the Fox News Channel, and the Fox Business Channel. His articles can be found on MarketWatch, Seeking Alpha, TheStreet.com, and many other places. He's the author of the weekly Best Stocks Now newsletter and the inventor of the Best Stocks Now app. He's president of Gundersen Capital Management. Here is professional money manager Bill Gundersen.
SPEAKER 05 :
And welcome to the Manic Monday edition, Tariff Monday, I guess we call it, of the Best Stocks Now show. Seems like we were here last Monday with the deep seek news. I think I'll stay in bed next Monday. Right now, the Dow is down 609 points. That works out to 1.4%. The NASDAQ is down 431 points. Chips, especially taking it on the chin, AI stocks, down 2.2% overall as the NASDAQ. The S&P is down 1.8%. It's down 109%. Small caps really taking it on the chin as they would be affected most, I would think, by tariffs, although it affects a lot of companies. And we're going to go through the winners and the losers here today on the show. The Russell 2000 down 55 points or 2.4%. The surprise to me is the 10-year. You would think it would be fearing inflation from this move, but instead the 10-year right now is actually down six basis points. to 4.51%. Now that could be a flight to safety, but you would expect interest rates to be up today. Gold is up 1.2%. It's closing in on a new all-time high. And crude oil is up 1% to 73.24%. Bitcoin getting slammed today. Bitcoin is down 2,400. It's cleared down to 96,000 after hitting 106 last week. So welcome to today's Best Talks Now show with professional money manager Bill Gunderson. Just another day at the office, Barry. You never know. I mean, we kind of knew we were going to win. At least we had plenty of advance. Of today's drubbing, it really began Friday afternoon when Trump said, yes, I am going through with my promise. February 1st, we're going to slap tariffs on Mexico, 25%. I'm going to slap tariffs on Canada, 25%. And I'm going to slap tariffs on China, which he announced a few days later, of 10%. An additional 10%, yeah. Yes, and his reasoning is several things. Number one, the huge trade gaps that we have. We buy a lot more Canadian product than they buy from us, which creates a trade deficit. And ditto with Mexico. Europe's even worse. And, of course, China's horrible. And Trump wants them to buy more U.S. goods. And there's going to be some pain in between now and then. And we knew that there would be. I mean, if you voted for Trump, you knew what you were going to get. And you're getting it here today. And we didn't know what the reactions of the other countries would be. Canada seems to have really stiffened their neck in fighting back with some pretty severe measures of their own.
SPEAKER 06 :
Booing the national anthem at sporting events, I hear, in terms of an NBA game or in Canada or a hockey game.
SPEAKER 05 :
I don't think Trudeau likes Trump all that well. Another reason is how Canada and Mexico have handled or not handled the borders. And I was listening to a show last night. The guy was reporting from the border in Canada up where Vermont is. He says you can walk right across the border, bring anything in that you want. There's nobody protecting it at all. Well, I would say that's partially our fault, but it's also Canada's fault. And a lot of that fentanyl supposedly is coming in through that northern border along with other people. from all over the world. So that's the price you've got to pay, I guess, is a tariff war. Markets do not like uncertainty. And, of course, we're in the midst of earnings season. So fasten your seatbelts for another week of volatility both ways. It works both ways.
SPEAKER 06 :
We knew we were going to get some volatility in this first quarter. I mean, we talked about it in terms of outlook for 2025, some near-term volatility as the first 100 days of the new administration comes in. And that's normal. It's going to create winners and losers in certain parts of the economy and certain parts of the market. You know, that creates uncertainty. Of course, you had the deep seek piece thrown in the middle of it, right? That wasn't kind of a planned volatility moment. But, you know, you knew it was going to be kind of a rocky start just as the market gets used to what this is going to look like going forward.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, if you're running to the market to stockpile avocados today for Sunday's big game, make sure you buy the really hard ones, right, that might be ripe by... We call them rocks in our household.
SPEAKER 06 :
Just hold on.
SPEAKER 05 :
Because the soft ones, they're not going to make it until Sunday. Okay, so anyways, Friday was going along just fine, and then all of a sudden I saw the Friday fade set in. And by the time it was over, the Dow was down 330. The NASDAQ was down 54. There were only really two good days in the market last week. One day was really good, full of momentum. And Tuesday was pretty good. And then the other days were not so good, and we still have an expensive market, and we're hitting technical resistance, which I pointed out. I should have called it a little earlier, but in the newsletter on Saturday, I said a lot of these inverse ETFs are really setting up for a swing trade here. I mentioned Europe. I mentioned the emerging markets. I mentioned the small caps, the inverse ETFs. They were all hitting support on Friday after the close while all the indexes were hitting resistance. And then, of course, they got some help, did the inverse funds with all of this tariff stuff that came in over the weekend. Okay, let's begin. Let's first start with this story. A third event in the air happened. Over 100 passengers evacuated from a United Airlines flight from Houston to New York on Sunday due to an engine issue. Now, that wouldn't be so fun. You're all loaded on the plane, and they had to either use the slide or stairs, and they were bused to the terminal. The engine caught on fire. It was headed to LaGuardia Airport. So what in the heck is going on? Now you've got the Washington, D.C. incident. where it appears that the helicopter was flying higher than it should have been. Then you've got the incident on Saturday with a Learjet dropping from the sky like a missile. And it could have been a lot worse on the ground.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, right after takeoff.
SPEAKER 05 :
I mean, that's just baffling what happened there. Almost like it was shot down, and then you have this incident. So I don't know if I'm going to get on an airplane anytime soon. There's some issues. Okay, we're going to get to the earnings, where we stand in earnings season here in a bit, and who we'll be reporting this week. But first we need to look at this tariff news and the impact that it's having on the markets today. U.S. agricultural products. Obviously, liquid natural gas, coal, all in focus as Trump hits China with the 10% tariff. That was a smaller one that he announced on Sunday, I think, Saturday or Sunday. That's an additional 10%. And I would say, I'm just looking at the fallout. The tech stocks seem to be taking it pretty hard today. the Chinese tariff, NVIDIA looks horrible. It really does. I mean, NVIDIA's chart looks awful.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, no way.
SPEAKER 05 :
And China, you know, they purchased cheap liquefied natural gas from Russia, and they've increased their own coal production and whatnot. So the commodities are not doing well, and we wait to see how China will retaliate. Canada, Christina Freeland, who's no longer the finance minister over there in Canada, she wants to slap 100% tariff on Elon Musk. Tesla. And Canada has also, the state of Ontario, maybe it's the city of Quebec, they turned off Starlink. which is obviously... I saw something.
SPEAKER 06 :
They were tearing up the contract or something, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, symbolically tearing up the contract. Canada has decided to not knuckle under, but who's going to give? Someone's going to give, and I would just say... that we have a lot more leverage over Canada. We don't need their timber. Look around us, Barry. Do we need any more? We need more timber like a hole in the head. We've got tons of timber.
SPEAKER 06 :
The problem is we don't have any mills. I don't know the last time a significant mill has been created because we ran into the same issue, kind of that go back to COVID where Canada was on more lockdown and we had kind of some – Supply issues coming from there, so maybe similar for a bit.
SPEAKER 05 :
But we don't need their oil, and I think you can get by without Canadian whiskey for a few months. Well, until this gets settled, I don't know if you can or not. When we come back, Trump tariffs are the largest shock to trade in 50 years. We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
And welcome back here to the second quarter of today's Best Stocks Now show. Well, looking at the Canadian ETF right now, which is EWC, is a good proxy there. It's down 2.7%, okay, while our S&P is down 1.9%. And Mexico's ETF is down 2.8%. And you've got Deutsche Bank saying that it will put those two countries into recession if something is not done. And Shopify CEO, Shopify is the second biggest company now in Canada. It's based in Ottawa. And the CEO has some choice words for Trudeau. He doesn't think that he should be fighting back. He should... He's saying that he should just give in to Trump's demands, which we'll get to here in a minute. But Toby Lubke, CEO of Shopify, is criticizing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who's not very popular. I mean, he's going to resign. He's already announced that he's going to resign. His favorability numbers are like double, single digits almost, just barely above 10%, 15%, somewhere in there. And the CEO of Shopify says, you know, what Trump is asking for is not outrageous. He believes, Trump believes that Canada has not held its side of the bargain. in terms of the fentanyl dens and the borders, getting the borders under control. How many people have died from fentanyl and got a major threat of illegal aliens coming through that northern border? And that's what Trump is asking for. And instead, Trudeau's turning around and slapping 25% tariffs. Of course, this is the first salvo of the war. The negotiations will begin.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and I think the fentanyl angle is probably more the tariff angle, I think. Yes. I think at some point, in really everyone's best interest to figure out the proper terms of trade, But, you know, the fentanyl piece, I mean, it's an issue. It doesn't matter if somebody's Republican or Democrat, right? It affects the entire country. It's a drain on, you know, health care. It's a drain on really humanity in general. And so I think it's a leverage tool.
SPEAKER 05 :
It's leverage, absolutely. And you would expect Canada to come around because it's not unreasonable to, You know, El Salvador. No one's pro-Fentanyl. Who was the country? Colombia. Colombia wouldn't take in the people. And now they took, after like an hour discussion, they changed their mind. And Venezuela totally turned around 180 degrees. And they're going to not only take in. the people being sent back, but they're going to help pay for their flight back to Venezuela. So, you know, this is the opening salvo, and there is definitely a problem up there. I listened to a talk show that had boots on the ground on that border in Canada, which I haven't been there. I've been to Windsor. And the tunnel and everything. And Windsor, you know, a lot of automobile. And that's one of the areas that's taking a hit today are the automobile stocks. Because that is an issue. I mean, what does Ford do? What does GM do on a lot of the parts that they're using to put the cars together?
SPEAKER 06 :
When you can have one auto, you know, you can have one, you know, component, you know, manufacturer, right, who's a smaller company that goes under potentially, right, and it affects, you know, the entire supply chain. Not different than, you know, kind of times that happened in COVID. Yes. But it'll be, you know, you can get a disruption pretty quickly, and it can, you know, kind of spiral through an entire supply chain. Right.
SPEAKER 05 :
Alcohol seems to be one of the issues here. Ontario is pulling all U.S. alcohol products from shelves before Super Bowl Sunday.
SPEAKER 06 :
Constellation Brands, you see, they're taking a pretty significant hit, I believe, today.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. And now, let's not forget, somebody asked Trump on Saturday, what about Europe? Well, I mean, he's definitely going to go after the European Union because we buy a lot more of their product than they buy of ours. And then there's the whole NATO issue. And as far as the U.K. goes, I was watching the BBC for a little while yesterday. They say they're worried too, but Trump supposedly has said we can work things out with the U.K. So anyways, that's the fallout in the market. The dollar, okay, I've got to look at the dollar. It's got to be moving a lot higher here today.
SPEAKER 06 :
A little strength, yeah, a little strength there.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yep, a little strength in the U.S. dollar. It is surprising to see interest rates falling.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, so on the long end. So it's pretty interesting.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, on the long end.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and the thought there is, of course, on the short end, right, this could keep short-term rates higher for longer. Of course, it keeps the Fed from maybe being able to move if they wanted to at this point. But on the long end, if... Say tariffs are in place for a while, right? One thought is that economy could slow over time, right, which usually keeps long-term rates lower. And then the other piece is, I think you had it today, is also a flight to safety in your note this morning. So both of those combined probably are kind of what I've heard in terms of long-term. The disconnect between long-term and short-term rates today.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, if tariffs aren't enough for this week ahead, the first full week of February has got a packed earnings calendar. We've got Amazon. Ever hear of them? Google, AMD, Palantir, Pfizer, Pepsi, Disney, Ford. PayPal, Merck, Amgen, Eli Lilly, Philip Morris, Qualcomm, Chipotle, Spotify. Today the big one will be Palantir. They picked a bad day to release their earnings. It just came up that way, but maybe they can help turn the market around or they could get caught up in the big selling. And tomorrow will be Google, which broke out to a new all-time high last week. AMD, which has not been a good chart, not been a good stock. And then Wednesday will be Ford. And I imagine they'll be giving us an update on their situation with the Canadian auto parts makers and tires. A lot of tires come from Canada. And Amazon on Thursday, and if you haven't noticed, Amazon's been hitting new all-time highs here recently. So when we come back, we'll talk a little bit about where we're at. Okay, we now have, let's see, 36% of the companies in the S&P 500, that's what, 180 companies, have now reported earnings. How many of them have beaten the earning? How many have beaten revenues? What's the quarter look like? Are we going to beat the estimates that we had from early on in this quarter? Where are we going to come in? Last year, the same comparable quarter, the S&P earned $55.56. And we're on pace right now. We'll talk about that number when we come back. What kind of growth are we looking for? And then, you know, we looked at earnings, but then the second part of that equation, obviously, is the multiple. Where are we trading at right now with that multiple, all the multiples on the S&P 500? We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is Bill Gunderson. Thank you for tuning in to today's Best Stocks Now, Best Inverse Funds Now show.
SPEAKER 05 :
I put several hours of research in during the wee hours of the morning each day to bring you the very best cutting-edge stories that I can. To get two free weeks of my newsletter, go to GundersonCapital.com. To talk to us about our fee-based only money management services, call us at 855-611-BEST. Now, back to the second half of the show.
SPEAKER 01 :
And welcome back here to the second half of today's Best Talks Now show. Guess what happened during the break, Mary?
SPEAKER 05 :
Not only do we have volatility from day to day, we have volatility from hour to hour. We have volatility during the breaks of the show. Trump tariffs on Mexico to be paused one month as Claudia Scheinbaum, their prime minister, president, announces a troop border deployment. Okay, we were just talking about he's using it for leverage. Look, we can send in troops or we can announce a tariff, right?
SPEAKER 06 :
Now the NASDAQ is only down 1%, just over 1%. And we were down like 2.5%, 2.3% I think when we went to the break.
SPEAKER 05 :
There's a lesson here in the markets that I've learned during my 25 years. And it's probably one of the harder lessons to swallow. You've got to go through a lot of bad days in the market. And, you know, if that earnings picture still looks good, right, you've got to let that be your North Star. Absolutely, because if you get caught up, oh, I've had clients over the years, not lately, people have seemed to mellow out or something, but I remember in the early days I had a dentist in San Diego. He would call us two or three times a day, you know, worried about the market. And, you know, look, that's all I know. When I got into it, the Dow was 3,000. Now it's 45,000. It's not a gambling casino. It makes a lot of logical sense. Stocks follow earnings. That's the bottom line. And along the way, you're going to have a lot of rough days. Look at last Monday. A week ago, Monday was probably the worst day I've seen in the market, in the AI sector, in the tech sector. since the year 2000. And yet I didn't flinch. I knew it would blow over eventually. And that'll be interesting to see. Canada's got to be saying, wow, one phone call to Trump saying we're going to deploy troops on the border.
SPEAKER 06 :
It buys you at least a month, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
And guess what? If they follow through and deploy troops on the border, I'm sure he's going to back off. I've got to believe Trudeau's a little bit more hard-headed, a little bit more proud, even though Scheinbaum stands her ground down there in Mexico.
SPEAKER 06 :
Although, and she just got in, I believe, and then, of course, he's on the way out, right? Yeah. So, you know, I don't know if... He doesn't like Trump.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. Trump doesn't like him. I don't think they like each other. So, anyways, we'll see if Trudeau blinks, but that was pretty easy. Scheinbaum bought herself a month and... and halted a recession. Avocados are safe. But they're probably all gone by now, you know, over there at Walmart. Okay, all right.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, they move quickly here in Charleston and Mount Pleasant, don't they?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Big time. You know, if there's a hurricane coming, the shelves are wiped out in about two hours. Now, 36% of the companies have reported actual results. 77% have beat earnings. So... I say 77% of the companies have been very good at maintaining their sandbagging of the analysts, and the analysts don't seem to catch on because that seems to be about the average number. The earnings game. Yeah, the earnings game. 63% have beat their sales numbers. And when we started this quarter, we were looking for, I think, 11.7% growth. Now it's up to 13.2%. So we're one-third in, which is a pretty good base, a pretty good indication of where we're going to end up, and the earnings estimates have gone up. We're now looking for $62.56. If you annualize that, this is the last quarter of last year, we're running at about $250 now in annual earnings with 12% growth expected this year. The earnings situation still remains good. That $62.56 compares with $55.56. So we were running at about $220 a year 12 months ago. Now we're running at about $250 a year, and that number continues to go up. We don't have an earnings problem. The S&P forward PE ratio goes down a little last week, but it's at 22.04%. And the PE ratio is at 27.7. The highest it's been in the last 10 years is 30. And the average, you know, has been a lot lower than that. The forward PE is 22.0. The five-year average is 19.8, just under 20. So we're running a little hotter on the PE ratio, which makes the market very vulnerable today. to any kind of bad news. When this is all said and done, we're expecting 9.4% growth in earnings, which would end the year 2024. This year that we're in, we're looking for 14.3% growth in earnings, and next year we're looking for 13.7% growth in earnings. So don't tell me we have an earnings problem and the market is a gambling casino. No. Markets, stocks, indexes follow earnings. Now, yes, the valuation on those earnings is important. But anyways, again, we don't have an earnings problem. The market's off to a pretty good start, 2.7% for the month of January. So the January barometer doing okay. The biggest winner so far, the top 10 in the S&P 500. I'm proud to say we own three of them. The number one, Constellation Energy, which is one of our biggest positions. It's up 34% year to date. And that's even after last week's sell-off. CVS is up 26%. General Electric is up 22%. Vistra, which we own, is up 21.9%. And then rounding out the top 10, F5, Starbucks, 3M, DaVita, Meta, which we own. Actually, we own four of the top 10. Meta is up 17.7 year-to-date. And Texas Pacific Land, one you probably don't hear much about, but we own that in our trading portfolio. We own it in our emerging growth portfolio and in our ultra-growth portfolio. It's up 17%. So we have four of the ten top performers. Did you hear Johnson & Johnson in there or Kimberly Clark or any of the others, GM, that are so widely held and liked by the big Wall Street firms? This is a good story. I've watched it over the last four years. The SEC has been weaponized. edit you know i get targets how many times is the s e c dot after elon musk at the bus since he bought acts he's at the top of the s e c's last that of course over in europe they really weaponize it against big tack they monetize that they can speak to him for a few uh... that's their version of tariffs over there for the s e c is tightening their rules over investigations ok how many times do you read The SEC is opening up an investigation against so-and-so. Well, now they have to be approved. Let's see who has to approve them. They're going to have to approve them through some higher-ups before they can start these investigations, which I think the SEC was just a little bit out of control. myself. So anyways, I think that's a good thing. Okay, so Mexico has caved. The EU is on the way. We'll find out. That probably happened this week. And the EU markets are already pulling back here. uh in fear of that consumer stocks fall okay they're kind of caught in the middle here uh not a good place to be and of course we already talked about constellation brands and diageo with all the alcohol canada is known for uh Some beers, I think Molson and, of course, I think Canadian whiskeys and other things.
SPEAKER 06 :
Of course, in Mexico, you had lots of big, I think it's 60% of beer imports or so or something like that are from Mexico.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, metals and miners are sliding as Trump tariffs raise global growth fears. And, yeah, so that's about it on the tariff side. Now, do you support the tariffs on Canada and Mexico and China? They did a survey on seeking alpha. Well, you know, I would just say the early indications are that they work. Canada caved at the open of the market this morning and said, we're going to send troops to the border, Mr. Trump. and keep that fentanyl from coming in and uh... we had a raid i don't know if you noticed it on the newspaper uh... our congresswoman uh... mace nancy mace was in the back seat of a car like christy noem was uh... uh... in uh... i believe chicago but mace was here in goose creek south carolina where they came in to haul the way to drug cartel leaders right there in goose creek over the weekend and you can see that in the newspaper And on X over the weekend. Okay. We're not going to get through all the news today. There's still more when we come back.
SPEAKER 01 :
Go where you want to go, do what you want to do, with whoever you are.
SPEAKER 05 :
And welcome back here to the final segment of today's Best Docs Now show. And, you know, I've decided for now we need to catch up on all of our... All of our trial subscribers. We're going to end it by Friday, this Friday, and take a little break. Everybody that's got their four-week trials will still be good. Don't worry. We obviously will fulfill that. Of course, you're able to sign up and subscribe if you liked it. But I need to give my crew a little bit of a break. My crew is here today. We're having our annual meeting, kickoff meeting for 2025 in downtown Charleston. So we welcome Edie and Sandy from Arizona and Jennifer from Georgia. And we're all getting together. We're going to have a couple of days of fun, show them around Charleston and everything and
SPEAKER 06 :
It's like a staycation. Yeah. I don't know if I've packed for a staycation before.
SPEAKER 05 :
I was thinking of taking them for a boat ride, but you see the fog today? I don't think I could.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I couldn't even see outside this morning.
SPEAKER 05 :
I don't know if I want to go on that. All right, now, okay, but we will take them for a carriage ride downtown. I think that's tomorrow night. That's a lot of fun. Now, do you see the improvement in the market all of a sudden?
SPEAKER 1 :
No.
SPEAKER 05 :
This is crazy. This is why you can't panic in the markets. The NASDAQ, which was down, wasn't it down over 2%?
SPEAKER 06 :
It was down, I think, 2.25% at one point.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, now it's only down 1%. And the Dow is almost positive. Well, it's down a third of a percent.
SPEAKER 06 :
basically half the gains, I mean, the S&P this morning, you know, just the futures were down, I think, you know, minus 1.5%, and right now we're down just under 0.7%, so the how the market narrative changes so quickly.
SPEAKER 05 :
From hour to hour.
SPEAKER 06 :
We mentioned there was going to have this volatility as the new administration takes over and certain things are going to hold and other things are going to be fluid.
SPEAKER 05 :
We found the first Trump, four years to Trump, the first time there was never really a dull moment. And it seems like it's going to be that way again. And it'll be interesting. I mean, look, one problem solved for now with Mexico, okay? 25% tariffs off. So that's a lot. I mean, that's all your fruits. This time of year, we get a lot of produce. All of our tomatoes come from Mexico. Our avocados come from Mexico. Lettuce, a lot of things come. from Mexico and some from California there. But, you know, it's important. And that problem is solved for now. We've got a 30-day reprieve. If Mexico delivers those troops and gets that under control, I've got to believe that they're going to dodge a bullet or a tariff, I guess. Now we'll see if Canada blinks. I would think that they would, but who knows? Trudeau's a little bit unpredictable. Okay, now, all right, so let's take a look here at a few other stories. Last week it was DeepSeek. I see that Taiwan has banned DeepSeek. The whole country has banned their people from using Chinese DeepSeek. We had the Army ban it. And, of course, a lot of people are worried about it. We still don't know how many chips they use, how much it really did cost. It would seem that the initial reports that they put out were understated. But it is a change. There's no question about it. OpenAI has now launched an AI agent called Deep Research, which goes in even deeper down, dive into the internet for very complex tasks. And I think probably at some point there will be pay levels, right? Do you want just a kind of a surface scan, kind of like when you do your cybersecurity software, or do you want to do a deep scan? If you want to do a deep scan, that takes a lot longer. And if you want the really, really good cybersecurity software, you've got to pay a little bit more. So do you want just an average answer to your question? Or do you want a really deep seek answer to your question? It seems like AI is going to become a commodity. And I also noticed that OpenAI, which is now closed, using a closed system, they're considering making it an open system like DeepSeek did. And that was obviously the number one story in the newsletter this past Friday. So if you didn't get that, You go to GuntersonCapital.com. That's part of that four-week trial. And you've got until Friday. And then we're going to shut it down for a while. I need my people to catch up. We have just been overwhelmed. By the way, we had over 60,000 downloads of our podcast last month. I think that was a record month. for the Best Stocks Now show. Okay, let's see what else we got. No, we're out of time. That's what we got. Yeah, there's a few other stocks in the news. There is an earnings report today, the first one of the week. And by the way, it's blowout. IDEX, which makes veterinary medicine. They're in the veterinary business. Have you ever taken your dog or cat to a vet and paid the bill?
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, yeah, just took him on Friday for a little checkup. Thankfully, he's doing well, but it still cost me $400. He's a big dog.
SPEAKER 05 :
I noticed we have more veterinary clinics than we have people clinics here in Mount Pleasant. People must have more dogs than they have spouses and kids and whatnot. I don't know, but Idex Labs is sitting in a sweet spot there. They're in Westbrook. Is that Maine that they're in? Westbrook, Maine? M-E? That's Maine, right? Okay. They've got to be the biggest company in Maine at $38 billion in market capitalization. The stock is up $45 a share or 10.7% today. Okay. Well, you know what? It's not a passive market at all. There's something to be said for being passive and not doing too much, but there's also times when there is need for action and being a little bit active in the market when there's major changes like we've seen recently. So anyways, that's kind of what we do a little bit different. And we do a little deeper dive into the market than just on the surface and scooping up the Johnson & Johnson's and the Procter & Gamble's of the world. I think you can tell that from the content of our show. If you'd like to talk to us, 855-611-BEST, 855-611-BEST. And to get a four-week trial, you've got until Friday. Before we shut that down for a while, go to GundersenCapital.com. GundersenCapital.com. Have a great day, everybody.
SPEAKER 04 :
This show is not a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Bill Gunderson or clients of Gunderson Capital Management may have long or short positions in stocks mentioned during the show. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Gunderson Capital Management is a fee-based registered investment advisory firm. All accounts are held at Charles Schwab. Schwab is a member of SIPC and FINRA.
Get informed on the latest political maneuvers and controversies. Join us as we dissect the recent turf war at USAID and delve into the social media storm surrounding TikTok's security debate. Host Karen Murray also offers an eye-opening look at government spending inefficiencies with insights from Rand Paul's Festivus report. A conversation that's as compelling as it is necessary for these tumultuous times, don't miss this episode of Shooting the Breeze.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome to Shooting the Breeze, brought to you by the team at Franktown Firearms, a family-owned, family-friendly shooting range in Franktown, Colorado. Franktown Firearms offers practical, defensive training as well as an impressive selection of firearms at the lowest tax rate, so you can develop confidence with your firearm. The team at Franktown Firearms believes the only difference between a beginner and an expert is practice. so they equip you to keep yourself and your family safe in a welcoming atmosphere. And now, here are your hosts of Shooting the Breeze.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hello, hello, hello, everyone. Happy Monday. You know, the chipper voice, I find it necessary because it is Monday, right? It's Monday. Nobody likes Mondays. So I'm here for the next 58 roughly minutes to try to, I don't know, put a smile on your face and maybe get your brain juices flowing and make you think. So thank you for tuning in to Shooting the Breeze today. My name is Karen Murray, and I am the lead instructor at Franktown Firearms. And you all need to head to Franktown Firearms and just stop in for a visit. You've got to take a look at the new inventory, sign up for a class, take a tour of the range. I don't know, maybe sign up for a membership. We're located just east of the intersection of Highway 83 and Highway 86 in Franktown. We are open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6, Sunday from noon to 6. You can reach us by phone at 720-770-7777, or you can visit franktownfirearms.com, or you can go to the KLZ radio website and visit the advertisers page. We would love to help you get into the right firearm for you, and y'all need to do this sooner than later. The Colorado gun laws are not getting any friendlier, and there are a lot of things going on in that arena. I believe the second reading of SB003, the bill that would make most semi-automatic firearms illegal, was postponed until Friday, February 7th. This is probably the worst, most egregious piece of legislation that we've seen in a long time. So if it's within your capabilities to do so, you should go to the Colorado State Capitol and make your voices heard. You know, one thing I'd like to add here, is that I see a lot of people saying, and this is always the boxed, canned response when something is coming down the pike for people to say, and I'm guilty of it too, you know, write your congresspeople, write your senator, write your representatives, and let them know that if they vote yes on this bill or if they vote no on that bill or whatever, they're going to be primaried. I am so sick of hearing that. As if these people take any of that seriously. You know that their inboxes are, and I can tell you right now that I sent so many emails to my Congress people, well, not just mine, but the people, the Congress senators and representatives in the state of Colorado. I wrote so many emails that Outlook closed, they locked me out of my account. So it doesn't matter. You can talk until you're blue in the face. You can show up. You can raise your fist. You can carry your signs. You can do all that stuff, and they don't care. They're going to do what they want to do, and they're not going to be held accountable in any way whatsoever, including being primaried. Trying to reason with these people is like trying to talk to a grizzly bear with blood dripping out of his mouth. There's not a lot you can say to him to make him not attack you. These liberal Democrats that are in the Colorado General Assembly are not interested in what any of us have to say or any concerns that we have about anything. And I believe that most of them are installed through our, you know, obviously rigged voting system. And so being primaried is just laughable to them. As citizens of this country, we seem to believe that our only recourse is at the ballot box. That's it. We can't do anything else. And when the ballot box is rigged and rife with fraud, oh, well, there's nothing I can do about it. And this just sickens me to no end. And if I'm being honest, I'm kind of in that camp of there's nothing I can do. Because really, what am I going to do? other than move to a red state, which is not off the table, might I add, in the future. So lots going on in the news right now, so much so that I really wasn't even sure what to talk about today. These past two weeks of Trump's presidency have been like drinking from a fire hose. So let's dive into a couple of things that I find pretty interesting. So first of all, let's talk about the tariffs that were proposed. Trump was talking about 10% on countries like China and then 25% tariff on Canada, 25% on Mexico. And at least that's what he threatened to do. Well, it seems Mexico may be coming to the negotiating table with Trump. Trump posted on X, I just spoke with President Claudia Scheinbaum of Mexico. It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican soldiers on the border separating Mexico and the United States. These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl. and illegal migrants into our country. We further agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one-month period during which we will have negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Besant, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level representatives of Mexico. I look forward to participating in those negotiations with President Scheinbaum as we attempt to achieve a deal between our two countries. And I guess we'll see if Trudeau or whomever is going to replace him will also come to the table. I'm thinking that they probably will, but I guess we'll see. Then we have this shakeup at the USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, or so they call it. Keep in mind that the USAID has been the recipient of over $50 billion of your money. Elon Musk of Doge wants the agency to be shut down. Marco Rubio has said as much, and he's actually the acting director of USAID. Trump authorized 15,000 people to be put on administrative leave. Charlie Kirk, if you don't know him, Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk refers to USAID as a deep state slush fund. Kirk says there was an entire division of USAID funding LGBTQIA, MNOP, XYZ programs in Asia, if that tells you anything about the level of their depravity and corruption. He goes on to say that this agency is designed to make foreign tin pot dictators rich, to enable Zelensky and his oligarch friends to be able to buy Chanel purses, Incidentally, Zelensky is now saying that Ukraine received less than half of all the U.S. aid money that we've sent them. He says he doesn't know where all that money went. So that's very interesting. Just print it, send it, whatever. Just keep it going, and we wonder why our prices are so high. But USAID staffers were attempting to hide classified information from Doge. So what are they trying to hide? We know for a fact that USAID funded and financed the COVID pandemic via Fauci. We know that USAID funded AOC's miraculous rise in her political career through some bogus college program that she got in on. I say shut it down. So I don't know if you guys have any opinions on this or anything else that I'm talking about today. You can give me a call at 303-477-5600. I'd love to talk to you about it. And then, you know, Trump is talking. He's going full force. I mean, he's truly leading this country like somebody who's been put through the ringer. And I can't say as I blame him. And I love it. Then we have Pope Francis saying that Trump isn't a Christian if he builds a wall. Walls aren't Christian, says the guy who lives behind a wall in a strongly fortified place known as Vatican City. And I think Kim Monson's guest was just alluding to something like that at the end of the show there. So these deep state players are being exposed, and I am so here for it. So let's talk for a minute, too, about these terrible things and these very coink-a-dinkle things going on with the plane and helicopter crashes and plane fires. So the incident at Reagan International Airport with the Black Hawk helicopter colliding with the passenger plane is very interesting, although tragic, obviously. There are so many unanswered questions. And, of course, the blame game is already being played. Heck, it was being played like the day after, possibly even the night of. We have the radical left blaming Trump for the incident. I'm not willing to say definitively and call it an accident. Sorry, not yet. More on that in a minute. But they're saying it happened because of the DEI cuts that took place, as if the DEI hires were keeping the airports and the airline industry safe, which to me is hilarious. Of course, we have a lot of AI-generated stuff floating around there, videos and photos that are coming out, and many meme creators, the professional meme creators, have been working overtime dishing out fake information and about the crash. So we have to really use our discernment on this, which is difficult when these pictures and videos made with AI, they make it really hard to differentiate real from fake, right? But there is an interesting theory floating around out there that the Blackhawk helicopter might have been controlled or may not have been controlled by the pilot in the seat, but rather may have been commandeered remotely. So I know that sounds out there. You can strap on your tinfoil hat, but I'm getting ready to read from Lockheed Martin's website, so I don't think you need the tinfoil hat. It says on the website, command an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter from 300 miles away. This was written October 17, 2024. How do you command a Black Hawk helicopter to perform a mission autonomously from 300 miles away? Quite simply by using a tablet connected to the aircraft via data link. During the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., visitors and U.S. Army senior leaders saw how a Black Hawk helicopter integrated with Sikorsky's Matrix autonomy system can receive remote mission commands in real time, then carry out that mission on its own using its own onboard autonomous systems without remote control or pilot inputs. The matrix system is unique because it's not a simple flight director following a planned route. Instead, the system acts fully independently, reacting to the dynamic combat environment to avoid threats, optimize routing, and execute emergency procedures if necessary. Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems President Stephanie Hill, a non-pilot, commanded the autonomous Black Hawk helicopter to take off, hover, fly a circuit, and land in Connecticut from a tablet during the AUSA symposium in Washington, D.C. Although safety pilots are in the cockpit, the aircraft flew and navigated itself without pilot input. Following more than 10 years of co-development with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, the Matrix autonomy system is operationally tested. Matrix will enable contested logistics and operational flexibility with any aircraft, any operator, and in any weather slash environment to deliver mission-critical, time-sensitive sustainment to the point of need. As part of the DARPA alias program, Sikorsky has furthered the development of the matrix autonomy system to perform missions with greater efficiency and safety with blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So it goes on to talk about how these helicopters can be flown remotely. And I don't know if you've seen the enhanced videos. So people, you would think that there would have been way more video available to see and to watch and to dissect than what we're getting from, you know, I mean, this is Washington, D.C., right? There's cameras everywhere. So you would think that, but we're seeing this one view, right? We're seeing the one view from the opposite side of the Potomac. But these enhanced videos, that have been produced are showing very clearly the amount of distance that that Black Hawk covered before crashing into the plane. And it was quite a ways. I'm sure it seems as if there was an ample amount of time for that helicopter to do some avoidance maneuvers or something. I understand the black box in the plane and the air traffic controllers tell two different stories as well regarding the altitude of the plane at the time of the crash. Two different things, like 100 feet difference or something. One, I think the air traffic controller said that the plane was at 300 feet and the black box said it was 200 feet or something like that. And people who know about these things said the plane appeared to have attempted to avoid the Black Hawk by doing some kind of a maneuver or something. But In my mind, there are a lot of things that don't add up. And when you put on top of that the crash in Philadelphia and the plane that caught fire in Houston, you just have to think that something very weird is going on. Well, I think something weird is going on, but I always think that. So that's just me. It's kind of how I'm wired nowadays. It just seems like it's just a huge coincidence that all this stuff relating to air travel is The FAA and the NTSB and, of course, Trump's recent appointment of Sean Duffy as transportation secretary. All of a sudden, all these problems are happening with air travel and with, you know, and I don't know, is it fear? I don't know what it is, but it's just crazy that it just happens to be happening right now to me. I don't know. This is just a ploy to discredit Trump's incoming cabinet, point fingers at him, and cause all of this tragedy. It's just too coincidental, and I'm not buying any of it. You guys know me. I don't believe anything the media says about anything, ever. So give me a call if you want to talk about that, if you want to talk about the plane crashes or anything weird that you guys have come upon. I'd be all ears. So RFK Jr., as you guys know, went into battle against the deep state cretins in the Senate starting last Wednesday. Did any of you guys watch the confirmation hearings? Boy, it's just, I don't know, the blood pressure. I think I need to have an IV of blood pressure medication when I watch that stuff. And I don't have high blood pressure, but it's insane to watch it and just grit your teeth, and I thought Elizabeth Warren's head was going to explode all over Bernie Sanders' head as his head exploded. I mean, it was just kind of a circus. Some of the questioning was absolutely ridiculous. And did you notice that those senators who screeched the loudest were the ones, of course, taking money from the medical industrial complex? Senators like Patty Murray, for example, I hate that she has my last name or my husband's last name. She's a Democrat from Washington, and her post on X is very telling. She says, to confirm a notorious anti-vaxxer like RFK Jr. as Secretary of HHS could seriously cost our country in lives, in health, and in our economy. Let's use our common sense. We cannot let a fringe conspiracy theorist make major public health decisions. Anna Mattson, an account on TikTok, and she's on X, and she responded in a video about her response to Patty Murray that she responded on X. And she said, what's making you say this? Could it be the $666,970 from health professionals who bribed you? Or is it the $513,635 from pharmaceutical companies? Oh, wait, maybe it's the $311,844 from insurance companies. If not any of those, is it possible the $198,376 from HMOs? She says you have absolutely no room to talk to the American people about health when you're profiting off of policy that is making the American people sick. And she could not be more right. Did you know that the FDA gets 47% of its funding from the pharmaceutical industry? Can you say conflict of interest? So Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and many others got millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the health care industry. Bernie can scream all he wants that the contributions made from individuals employed by health care industry, it doesn't really matter. I mean, I suppose it does legally, but ethically, when CEOs with companies like Pfizer are giving you hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign money, don't you think that's a conflict of interest when it comes time to confirm someone who's all about actual health and not sick care to a cabinet position? Yeah, I'd say that it's kind of a conflict of interest. It doesn't matter how loud and obnoxious these Democrats and RINOs get, Nothing can stop the freight train that is the Trump administration right now. I think they all know it, and the rats are either lashing out because they're like, you know, cornered rabbit animals right now, or they're jumping ship. The writing is on the wall, and they are in a deep state of panic. Kash Patel's hearing was just as fiery. Adam Schiff, For the love of all things, that man, why is he still there? Adam Schiff exposed himself as probably the most corrupt and dishonest member of the Senate. Remember Russiagate? Of course you guys do. Remember Adam Schiff's role in that whole thing? Him and Vinderman and John Brennan and all, just you name it. Comey, all of his lies and deception has been documented. And he had the nerve to get in Kash Patel's face, metaphorically speaking. Did you see that? I'm sure you did. I guess if you watch Fox News, you saw it. But in case you missed this exchange, I want you to hear this exchange between Adam Schiff and Kash Patel. Check this out.
SPEAKER 10 :
I want you to turn around. There are Capitol Police officers behind you. They're guarding us. Take a look at them right now.
SPEAKER 09 :
Turn around. I'm looking at you. You're talking to me. No, no, no.
SPEAKER 10 :
Look at them. I want you to look at them if you can, if you have the courage to look them in the eye, Mr. Patel, and tell them you're proud of what you did. Tell them you're proud that you raised money off of people that assaulted their colleagues, that pepper sprayed them, that beat them with poles. Tell them you're proud of what you did, Mr. Patel. They're right there. They're guarding you today. Tell them how proud you are.
SPEAKER 09 :
That's an abject lie, and you know it. I've never, never, ever accepted violence against law enforcement. I've worked with these men and women, as you know, my entire life. And I did not make a single dime out of it.
SPEAKER 10 :
How about you ask them if I have their backs, and let's see about that answer. Let me ask you this, Mr. Patel. Let me ask you this. If an FBI director promoted a song of people who sprayed pepper spray in the face of an FBI agent, would you say they were fit to be director? Mr. Schiff? Yes or no? Would they be fit to be director?
SPEAKER 09 :
I am fit to be the director of the FBI.
SPEAKER 10 :
If you were the FBI director and you promoted a song of someone who beat an FBI agent with a pole, would you say you were fit to be FBI director?
SPEAKER 09 :
Mr. Schiff, I am fit to be FBI director based on my 16 years in government service.
SPEAKER 10 :
And yet you did all these things, Mr. Patel. You can say, oh, I support law enforcement. I decry violence against law enforcement. You could say all that.
SPEAKER 04 :
I can't. I can't with that guy. You know, so much information has come out about January 6th. And Kash Patel worked so hard at digging into all those files. And the complete January 6th unselect committee has been discredited, and Liz Cheney is gone, and just the whole thing, and he's still bringing that crap up. As if, you know, maybe, I mean, I've heard that one of the worst assaults on a D.C. police officer was where a Trump supporter said, tripped and kind of patted the guy on the back as he was kind of moving forward, and he patted the officer on the back, and the officer said that he got assaulted. So I don't know. I think, I mean, I'm sure there's a lot that we don't know, obviously, but it sure seems to me like the lies that they perpetuated are just continuing on, and even though they've been brought out as lies, they still continue with the lies, right? And considering the role that Schiff played in the four years of Russia, Russia, Russia, for him to talk to Kash Patel like he did is a disgrace. Turn around. Look at them. I'd be like, huh? Don't talk to me like that. Don't you dare order me around. Kash Patel kept his cool, obviously. I'm sure many people would want to bulrush that Senate panel and shove a dirty sock in Schiff's mouth. Yes, that was my G-rated, family-friendly version of what most people would want to do to Adam Schiff, but I think he is as corrupt as they come, and I can't believe California continues to elect that guy. And in all fairness, they most likely haven't been voting for him. The rigged voting system just keeps installing the same people over and over and over. I mean, do you really think that the people of California kept electing Dianne Feinstein? up until the day that she could barely sit up straight and she didn't even know where she was sitting in there. Really? Really? They're voting for her and Pelosi guilty of all kinds of insider trading and probably money laundering and extortion and racketeering and planning the January 6th thing and, you know, denying security for January 6th and the whole thing. She keeps getting elected. Really? It's, it's, I don't know. It's mind-blowing to me, and I think it's a bunch of BS personally. So this leads me to another video that I found, and this is regarding TikTok and all the controversy. You guys know I have to talk about TikTok, right? And all the controversy surrounding this Chinese-owned company who's stealing our information. Remember the hearings that took place about a month ago when they were threatening to ban TikToks? because it's a threat to national security. Well, it turns out there were some top secret documents released, but they didn't come from TikTok. They actually came from a 21-year-old guy. And I'll let this guy explain it to you. And he is fired up and he's kind of yelling. So prepare yourself. Check this out.
SPEAKER 07 :
I think my brain's going to explode. That's the only way I can react to this news right now. OK, do you remember? Do you remember during last month we all sat through that TikTok committee hearing and we just heard about how, you know, they were grilling the TikTok CEO and they were screaming at him that it was all Chinese spyware and they're going to steal our information while that was happening last month. Documents from the Pentagon were being leaked online from January until very recently, and we had no idea where the documents were coming from. There were members of the Department of Defense thinking this was a high-level member of the bureaucracy that was being blackmailed, maybe somebody who was being paid off, all these different things. And we finally have the answer, and it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It was a Discord server. It was a Minecraft Discord server. Hundreds of documents putting our entire spy network at risk. And it was not TikTok. It was a Discord server where people discuss Minecraft and share racist memes called Thug Shaker Central. It was full of a bunch of teenagers. And one teenager was a 21-year-old guy named Jack Texiera, and Jack posted on there trying to get clout. Jack posted, huh, although you guys are nothing but a bunch of betas, I have high-level military clearance. And somebody replied, no you don't, you cuck. So Jack started posting pictures of Ukrainian battle plans. Lists of spies all over the world that are helping America. Oh my God. He didn't do this for political reasons. He didn't do this for an ideology. He did this because he's sad and had access because he works in IT. And everyone in our government is so old, no one thought, don't give the 21-year-old guy who's on Discord servers all day access to the United States worldwide Intel network. Now, we're going to have to sit through a House committee of new congressmen and senators sitting there with their questions for the CEO of Discord. They're going to have to say things like, I see on Discord you have a thing called Discord kittens. Tell me, does uwu mean a good thing? Yes or no. That's what we're going to have to sit through. This is so dumb. And it's because our government's run by the oldest people possible while our technology has been advancing faster than they ever have. We have members of Congress who are older than television.
SPEAKER 04 :
So there you have that. So I don't know. I think all of it may have been just a big hoax, all that whole TikTok thing. So very interesting there. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. I'm going to talk a little bit more about some government waste. We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 08 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
And we're back after that quick break from Franktown Firearms. And again, it's a reminder for you guys to get your stuff in, get it ready before July 1st. I'm telling you, my job and the concealed carry permitting process is going to look a lot different. A lot more money and a lot more time. And yeah, so I'm going to talk a little bit about that later on here in the show. But, So according to that guy, you know, just once again, money is being wasted through these bogus hearings. And these hearings allegedly aim to expose wrongdoing through this long, arduous process and these grueling hearings, right? And the TikTok hearing was a complete waste of time and money. Our money. Our money. Let's be clear. And these confirmation hearings are equally painful. All these hypocrites in the Senate grilling these appointees, yelling at them, posing impossible questions, demanding yes or no answers. When the question clearly requires an explanation, it is so hard to watch without getting angry, like I said. thankfully, some positions don't require confirmations like that of the new DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency, that's already finding and eliminating wasteful spending on programs that should have never been there in the first place, and whoever put them in there should have been fired a long time ago. I want you to hear from an account on TikTok known as DogeUpdateGuy, but first, I want to read to you a list of... I don't even want to call them programs, a list of waste, just money that's been flushed down the proverbial congressional toilet, if you will. It's already been allocated, already spent. It's gone. Poof. This information comes from Rand Paul's annual Festivus report for 2024. And I think I read the 2023 report a while back, like at the beginning of 2024, I think I did. So it's no different. And I don't think there's any repeats, which is kind of scary. So $10 billion a year on maintaining empty federal office buildings. $10 billion with a B. We gave the city of Las Vegas a $12 million grant to build a pickleball complex. The State Department spent $333,000 censoring conservative media. For some reason, that number seems really low to me. It seems like they spent a lot more on censoring conservative media. The Department of Health and Human Services spent $2 million for a study to see how kids reacted to food advertisements on Facebook. And I wish that this was all a joke, but it isn't. I continue. $8 million in stolen COVID relief funds was used by a Florida man to buy a private island. Huh. Cocaine and lonely rats. The National Institutes of Health said, spent $419,470 to see if lonely rats were more likely to use cocaine than social rats. Let that one sink in. I'm just going to assume that the lonely rats probably used more drugs than the social rats, but I'm just guessing. $15.5 billion was spent by the Department of Energy trying to convince us to buy electric cars that we don't want nor do we need. $4.8 million for Ukrainian influencers. What is that? $365,000 to the National Endowment for the Arts promoting circuses in public parks. $3 million for girl-centered climate action in Brazil. $3 million. I'm going to take a pause right here. Johnny, what do you got for me?
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay. You were speaking about the National Endowment of the Arts. Well, I applied for one of those grants through Denver's initiative, whatever. And so they awarded the grant like July the 8th, but we didn't receive the actual cash for the check until October 25th. And I have a feeling that this national grant was probably given to them, and they were probably switching things around to dole out more money to the illegals and to whoever else, because I kept pushing them because I kept calling every week. Right. That's great. Probably other nonprofits were doing the same thing. They had to maybe shift the money over, and it wasn't that much. in a big scheme of things, but still it was money they promised. So it's almost like I have a feeling that they're shifting, like they're shifting people around to say, well, we're not a part of that DI, whatever that is. DI. And they're switching money around trying to, Because they said they didn't want him to see the classified files. That's what it was. And I just have a feeling that they're trying to hide something.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, of course. Of course. Yeah, it's like a shell game. You know, the shell's got something hidden underneath there, and which shell is it under kind of thing.
SPEAKER 01 :
And so, I don't know, it's just so nice to see this stuff being exposed. And did you apply to be a part of the Washington reporter kind of thing? Because you would fit very well in there.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, I did not.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, man, you're on top of it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, they're not ready for me, baby.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay, that's all I got.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks, Johnny, for the call. I appreciate it. So I'll continue down the list here. We have $873,000 to fund films in the country of Jordan. We have $345,000 to fight terrorism with soccer. Oh, my gosh. $700 million to a failed trucking company. Now, That money could have gone to disaster relief for the people in North Carolina rather than the $750 loan that they were eligible to apply for. Possibly the victims of the Maui fires or the L.A. fires, but no. That money is gone. The trucking company is gone, so the money is gone with it. Poof, there you go. $288,563 given to the National Science Foundation for diversity in birdwatching, trying to make birdwatching groups more diverse. $892 billion paying interest on the national debt. Of course, we're not paying into the principle of this debt at all. Of course, we're just paying the interest, close to a trillion dollars in interest every year. $500,000 to Ethiopia so they can expand their social media presence. $7 million for magic-related projects, including a podcast about American magical beliefs. $7 million. $2.1 million for border security in the country of Paraguay. And that one should really take you off, since we're not allowed to secure our own border, but we can spend $2.1 million for border security in Paraguay. $385,000 for a giant 16-foot pigeon statue in New York City. $20 million for fertilizer research abroad, meaning we did fertilizer research in Pakistan, Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil. $2.2 million on COVID experiments on cats. $123,000 to teaching kids how to make viral videos in the country of Krasistan. One of those stands. I don't know. All I know is there's not nearly enough vowels in here for me to pronounce this. $1.5 million spinning kittens. Let me repeat that. $1.5 million spinning kittens to study motion sickness. $720,479 for Mexican duck conservation. Meanwhile, our American ducks didn't get squat. And last but not least from the Festivus report, $20 million for a Sesame Street reboot in Iraq. So You know, I wish I was kidding. I wish all of this was fake. And most of it probably is. Most of it probably all this money went into the pockets of some legislator somewhere. But this is what Rand Paul found in his Festivus research, I guess, for the 2024 Festivus report. And if you add up all the money on that list, it comes out to nearly $903 billion in And that isn't all of it. There's much, much more. So listen to this other piece I've got here for you from Daily Doge Update from the Doge Update guy. Sadly, he has a lot of videos and a lot of programs to cover. But thankfully, these programs are going away thanks to Elon Musk. But you've got to hear this. Check this out.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hello again, fellow taxpayers and citizens. This is your daily Doge update. And I want you to understand that the Department of Government Efficiency is hard at work saving you money one cut at a time. So let's start with today's top 10. Number one, the Federal Bureau of Advanced Stapler Engineering. And at $1.7 million annually, their mission was to create the ultimate stapler that never jams. Elon had his engineering team step in. They've created a brand new stapler that will never jam, and that department has been eliminated. All right, number two, the National Institute for Memo Formatting Standards, that's 1.2 million dollars a year we would spend to develop an official government memo format doge has done away with that funding as well we'll just keep it simple and save some millions all right number three the bureau of desk plant placement optimization we're spending eight hundred thousand dollars annually study whether a fern or a ficus improves workplace morale gone you're welcome employees can now pick their own plants and make their cubicles the way they want them All right. Number four, the commission on conference room chair synchronization. I don't know what the hell that's all about, but it was 1.5 million a year to ensure every chair in the meeting rooms across federal government all swiveled at the same rate. The funding has just been deleted by Doge. We don't need that anymore. Number five, the National Punctuation Integrity Project. That's $2 million a year to enforce standardized comma usage across all internal documents. Elon says just download a piece of software. It'll take care of your punctuations for you. That is gone as well. More useless spending down the drain. All right, number six, the Federal Grant for Binder Clip Durability Testing. $900,000 a year to determine how many papers a single clip can securely hold. That funding has been clipped for good. Hope you caught my reference to the Sopranos there. Number seven, the Office of Highlighter Color Coordination. 1.3 million annually to ensure uniform highlighter color codes in all federal agencies. Doge says you can choose your own colors. That one is gone as well. All right, number eight, the Research Initiative on Pencil Sharpening Efficiency. I don't even know what the hell that's all about, but it's gone. Saving us $2.4 million. Number nine, the Strategic Paperweight Development Program, $1.6 million a year to design paperweights with the optimal weight-to-surface distribution ratio. Whoever came up with that program just needs to be fired, along with the funding, which has been cut. All right, number 10, the Office of Redundant Documentation Reduction. We were spending $3 million a year to catalog and reduce redundancy in documents by doing what? Creating more documents. Elon says this is one redundancy that is no more.
SPEAKER 04 :
So how do you like that? And that's just the tip of the iceberg. If you go to that guy's page, he's got lots more for you. The amount of money that this country wastes is truly mind-boggling. With all the absolute plight that we have in this country, the drug problem in our communities, the roads and bridges that are in desperate need of repair, the human toll from the storms in North Carolina and in Tennessee and Hawaii and L.A. and other places, and we're spending money like drunken sailors on stupid crap like this. Doesn't this just grind your gears? Isn't it time for some bean steaming right now? Like I said, this isn't even close to the end of the list. So if you're on TikTok, go find DogeUpdateGuy, and you can learn all about the rest of the cuts as they are happening. He pulls them out, he learns about them, and then he posts a video about it, which I think is an absolute beautiful thing. And if you hear a relatively small amount of money, like the list that I gave, the one from Rand Paul's Festivus report, You know, in the grand scheme of things, you think, oh, well, $123,000, that's not a whole lot. Well, in terms of government spending, no, I guess it isn't a whole lot. But $123,000 teaching kids in Kazakhstan or whatever how to make viral videos, just think about a homeless veteran and what he or she could do with $123,000 a year because this is annual spending. And so when I look at it in those terms, my head wants to explode. It's just beyond comprehension to me. Oh, my goodness gracious. And let me see. I'm going to pull another small little amount here. $500,000 to Ethiopia so they can expand their social media presence.
SPEAKER 1 :
$500,000.
SPEAKER 04 :
Do you make $500,000 a year? Does anybody you know make $500,000 a year? $288,000 for diversity and birdwatching. Who is that guy? Who is the person who created this program for diversity and birdwatching? And how can that even be a thing? And who approved it? This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. And like I said... You can go down this list, and you can go down the list of everything that that Doge guy, the Doge update guy has, and you can sit there and say, that can't be real. But it is very real on paper, and monetarily, it's very real. These programs exist, and the money goes into these programs. To what end? To what end? I mean, you have to think about it logically. Really? We're spending that much money on these bogus programs for real? No, I think that that's going straight into the pocket of some bureaucrat somewhere. Jim, what do you got for me?
SPEAKER 03 :
Hey, Karen. Hey, I'll tell you one I'd like to see him really go after. I mean, this stuff just irks me beyond no end. You know, they need to clean up the Social Security programs. Because, you know, let me tell you, Karen, I know people that are on social security disability that really should not be on social security disability. I know this one guy, I never thought he was this kind of a person that he would do anything just so he could be lazy. And I asked him one time, I asked him one time, I said, well, if Donald Trump could find you a job sitting at a computer all day and just Enter any information into the computer. Would you take the job? He goes, no. And I says, what if Donald Trump would find you a job just basically sitting in front of the computer monitoring the computer all day? Nope, wouldn't do it. I said, what about just sitting in front of the computer and not do nothing? Would you do it? Nope, wouldn't do it. No, I'm serious. No, I'm serious. And I mean, after that, I stopped being friends with the guy. I just, I couldn't take it no more. I'm like, people like you are sucking off the system. And it's like, you know, you're bleeding this country dry of social security, of people that literally worked hard. And one of my responses to him was, well, I said, wait a minute. I says, you've got people that are paraplegics, quadriplegics that have jobs.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I can give you a couple of examples that I know personally. I know exactly what you're talking about. And I think that that is a government program that should be put into place is people that go out and investigate the people that are on Social Security disability that are able-bodied and can work. And kick them off of it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Well, I mean, it is more than just that. I mean, there's a lot of other people that are on Social Security, up to and including children. I mean, I know adults that, I mean, people think I'm going to be ruthless, mean, and hard, but I'm not. It's just the way life is. Sometimes life doesn't always deal you a good deck of cards. And, you know, just like children, you know, if their parents end up dying or something, you know those children are going to end up in their grandparents or aunt and uncle. And those kids get Social Security, too, until they're up until, I think, 18 or some odd age like that. And that's not right either, Karen. Sure. No, it's not. I mean, those grandparents or whoever, they've got to put roofs over their heads anyways. So, I mean, and what, you don't care about your children or your grandchildren or whatever? I mean, come on. I mean, what in the world is wrong with society?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it's a lot. A lot is wrong with society. And, you know, this is completely irrelevant, but I was just having a little bit of a tiff with some people online because I've got – we've had this situation going on in my neighborhood where the main secondary streets that are, you know, outside of our neighborhood, you can hear race cars and stuff. You can hear them all the way around. And the cars are just – I mean, all into the night, 1030, 11 o'clock at night, you can hear these drag races taking place on – on some of the main roads and people were on, um, threads and next door and Facebook, Parker PD was talking about it and the, and there's people that are complaining about it, rightfully so. And then there's people saying, you know, these kids spend their hard earned money on these street cars and this is their passion and, and they should be able to do what they know. They shouldn't be able to do what they want. If my son's, I don't have a son, but if my kid's passion was playing the drums, can he come and set up a drum kit right outside your bedroom window and, you know, practice until 1030, 11 o'clock? It's just ridiculous. But to your point about the Social Security stuff, I have a very close friend who I've known for years and years and years and years. I don't know the name of his condition, but he's in Arthur. If you're listening, I'm talking about you. He I don't know the name of it, but he's he's got limited mobility and his hands are he's got limited mobility in his hands and he has worked the same job for ever. And he has never taken a dime. He's run for office before. He's very involved in conservative politics and stuff. And he's tried, you know, podcasting and he does videos on YouTube and anything that he can do to make some money without taking government assistance. And, you know, my hat's off to him. And I've always admired him for that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, well, and I do, too. That's why. That's why I say, I mean, just the social welfare programs in this country, if you just clean up the social welfare, you know, actually, what a lot of people don't understand, Karen, is the social welfare programs in this country, the spending on those programs are actually, they're way more than what we spend on defense in this country for our military. Oh, of course.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. Yeah, career welfare recipients need to be kicked off. Absolutely. I'm going to read this letter here from this guy on X. You're going to love it, so stay tuned for this.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you so much for the call, Jim.
SPEAKER 04 :
I appreciate it. Bye-bye. So to close out today, I just want to read this post for you from investigative journalist Benjamin Fulford. I don't know if you know who he is, but you can go check him out. He's BenjaminFulford.com, and he's also on Telegram. And I love this so much that I could kiss it. And, of course, you're going to hear this and you're going to get nuances of Q, okay? But sometimes you just have to hope that some of this Q stuff is real and is coming true. And sometimes, you know, I look and I'm thinking, oh, maybe this is what's going on. So. Here's what this post says. Attention to all deep state operatives. Your time is up. This message is for the corrupt. The judges, attorneys, district attorneys, doctors, politicians, governors, senators, mayors, city counselors, county commissioners, sheriffs, bankers, court clerks, and county clerks who have participated in the deception, exploitation, and destruction of the people you were supposed to serve. Your reign of corruption ends now. Today marks the turning of the tide. The corporation is dead. The republic is restored. President Donald J. Trump has freed us from the chains of tyranny and deceit. The power you once wielded through fraud, manipulation, and treason is gone. We, the people, are free at last. Your crimes, financial fraud, human trafficking, and theft of property, judicial misconduct, and political treachery are no longer hidden. Military oversight is active. Evidence is being gathered. Tribunals are coming. You thought your titles and positions made you untouchable, and you thought your alliances with the good old boys club would shield you. You were wrong. The very system you used to oppress and profit off of hardworking Americans will now be your downfall. To those in the banking industry who enslaved people through fraudulent debt, your fraud is exposed. To the judges and attorneys who ruled and argued in favor of corruption, justice will catch up with you. To the politicians who sold out their constituents for personal gain, your betrayal is documented. To the sheriffs, clerks, and commissioners who enabled the theft of property and ignored justice, you will be held accountable. The people are awake. The system that protected you is dismantled. There is nowhere to hide. We say to all of you, run if you must, that there is no escaping the truth. Your actions have been treasonous, your crimes unforgivable. The American people are coming for you, not with violence, but with the law, the Constitution, and the truth. This is a new era of freedom, justice, and accountability. The time of corruption is over. Every one of you will face the consequences of your actions. We are free at last. Thank God Almighty. Justice is here and there is no escaping it. So I think that's brilliant. And I look at that and I read that and I just, I hope and I pray that because you know that with Trump doing what he's doing right now and the monkey wrenches that he's throwing in every single aspect of our government right now and people are getting PO'd and it's going to get ugly. There's no way that it's not going to get ugly. So buckle up and get ready for a crazy ride over the next four years. That's all I got to say. So that's going to do it for me today, you guys. Thank you so much for spending the last 58 minutes with me in the fastest hour of broadcasting, like I always steal that line from Rush Limbaugh, the great. Thanks for tuning in to Shooting the Breeze, brought to you by Franktown Firearms. I appreciate all of you taking the time to listen. greatly, greatly appreciate it. Shoot me an email if you'd like to get some private training on your handgun. My email address is karen.murray at franktownfirearms.com. Mama Glock's out for now. Until next Monday, everyone, take care and God bless.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you for listening to Shooting the Breeze, brought to you by the team at Franktown Firearms. Mention that you heard Shooting the Breeze on KLZ when you purchase a gun and Franktown Firearms will waive your background fee. Veterans, first responders, and law enforcement receive a Patriot discount on everything in the store. Get in touch with Franktown Firearms now at klzradio.com slash guns. Franktown Firearms, where friends are made.
SPEAKER 02 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
In this episode of The Flatline, Rick Hughes offers a deep dive into the intricacies of God's divine plan for each of us. Through engaging storytelling and scriptural analysis, Rick explains how spiritual maturity and growth are vital in fulfilling your divine purpose. Discover the key steps to overcoming personal sins and the importance of maintaining fellowship with God. With practical advice and spiritual encouragement, this episode promises to uplift and motivate you toward achieving a life that glorifies Christ. Don't miss this opportunity to realign your life with God's ultimate plan and experience the peace and fulfillment that comes with spiritual obedience.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you'll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
SPEAKER 01 :
Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I'm your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, I'd like to ask you to stay tuned. Stay with me. A few minutes of motivation, some inspiration, a whole lot of education. And if you listened before, you know we do it without any manipulation. No solicitation. Just 30 minutes of education. That's all. My job is to verify and identify the plan of God for your life. Your job, if you decide to accept it, is orient and adjust to the plan. But the plan always starts with the good news that Jesus Christ, the anointed Son of God, has redeemed you and me out of our slave market of sin. Our debt to God has been paid, and we are free now from the penalty of death, and we're free from the power of sin in our life. By receiving Jesus Christ as our Savior, we, in effect, accept the offering Christ made on our behalf. And that offering was a free gift from God, compliments of God's grace. The Bible says in Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith. It's a gift of God and not of works, lest any man would brag about it. No one can brag about it because Titus 3, 5 says, not by works of righteousness, which we did, But according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Christ our Lord. So that's us. That's you. That's me. Having received Christ as Savior. Last week, we talked about eternal security, how you could know for sure that you're saved, how nobody's going to take it away from you. We went through a lot of different verses and a lot of different things and It was great to get some correspondence from listeners that said thank you, that it cleared up a question they had. But let me remind you that you're not going to lose the free gift that God gave you. If you could lose it, then you had to do something to earn it. If you had to do something to earn it, it's not free. Look at it this way, if you gotta do something to keep it, then you had to do something to get it. It's a free gift from God. When you receive Christ as your Savior, When you put your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and his resurrection, then you are planted into God's royal family. And he's not going to kick you out. He's not going to disown you. And Jesus said that my Father is greater than all, and no man can pluck you out of my Father's hand. Paul wrote and said, even if we believe not, yet God still abides faithful for he cannot deny himself. But there is something that I want to bring to your attention. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and you've accepted him as your savior, then you may be experiencing some trying times in your life and it may not be for what you think it is. It's something in the Bible called divine discipline. And it's always good to understand this. It's always good to know this. Because sometimes the difficulties and the pain that we experience, the suffering we go through, is God putting discipline into our lives. Let me give you a definition of divine discipline. Divine discipline is the sum total of God's punitive action taken by his justice. And he always does it in grace because he loves you. He does it to correct us, sometimes to punish us, to encourage us, to train us, to motivate us to live his plan. When we get out of fellowship, some people call it backsliding. I call it going into reversionism. In other words, you revert and go backwards. But when you get out of fellowship through sin, then we bring suffering into our own lives. And if we don't use the most common problem-solving device of rebound, problem-solving device number one, if we continue in our state of carnality, reversionism as we call it, then we're going to suffer. We're going to go under divine discipline. All this is taught in Hebrews 12. And I want you to think about this for a minute in regards to your own life and things you may be going through. In Hebrews 12, the Bible clearly says, And beginning in verse 5, Have you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto sons? My son, the writer of Hebrews said, Despise thou not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens. and he scourges every son whom he receives if you endure chastening god deals with you as with his sons for what son is he whom the father does not chasten but if you are without discipline or chastisement of which all are partakers then you are a bastard and that's in the bible by the way so don't faint you are a bastard and not a son Furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh who corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? This is teaching divine discipline. Divine discipline always comes in three stages. Stage one of divine discipline is called the warning stage. This is where God will warn you that you're out of line and he will seek to get your attention. It might not be the painful stage. But it's the warning stage. Stage two is the painful stage. That's the intense stage. And this is when the father has to take you out behind the woodshed to get your attention. And that's not fun. And stage three is the dying stage. And this is called the son of the death. where the believer who is incorrigible and incorrectible, God can and does have the option to remove him and bring him on to heaven before he screws up the life of everybody else he's in contact with. So when we get out of fellowship through sin, then we bring suffering on ourself if we don't rebound and recover from the sin. And I want you to make a note that divine discipline must be distinguished from the laws of volitional responsibility. You know, the law of volitional responsibility said, as a man soweth, so he reaps. You may have suffering in your life from self-imposed, self-induced, self-indulged forms of misery, things that you did, decisions that you made, bad decisions that you made. and they destroyed the future options in your life, and they may bring about tremendous misery that you manufactured yourself, and you have to take the responsibility for that. This may not be divine discipline, but the discomfort and the misery and the unhappiness may only last for a short period of time, but you can get out of it. You can recover, you can reconsider what you did, you can even relocate if it's necessary. But sometimes your suffering is a result of your own bad, rotten, crummy decisions that you will make. But divine discipline, if you continue to continue in your sin, and if you don't own up to that sin, if you don't confess that sin, then the Father will bring divine discipline into your life. And the first would be the warning stage. This may be where you're listening to a pastor in a church and you'll think, you know, somebody told that preacher all about me. Somebody told that preacher what I'm doing. Somebody let him in on my secrets. No, they did not. That's God the Holy Spirit speaking to you. It's God the Holy Spirit giving you a warning It's not the preacher doesn't know you. He hasn't snooped into your business. It's God, the Holy Spirit, alerting you to the fact that you have not pulled the wool over God's eyes, that he knows exactly what you're doing. You may be carrying on some sort of nefarious thing behind someone else's back. Maybe you have a business and you're siphoning a little money out of there and you think nobody knows about it. Maybe you're having an affair. You think nobody knows about it. Maybe you're lying to someone. You think no one knows about it. It is tax season, you know, You may have a tendency to want to lie to the federal government so you don't have to pay as many taxes. Listen, God knows everything. He's omniscient. He's all-knowing. So when you persist in hiding sin in your life, you're going to be warned by it. You're going to be warned by God. It may be a road sign. It may be a book you're reading. It may be a movie you're watching, or it may be a pastor you're listening to. But God the Holy Spirit will use that person, that individual, that sign, that book to let you know you are out of line. You need to recover. You need to get back with it. And problem-solving device number one is the rebound technique. Rebound is taught in 1 John 1.9, and we haven't talked about that in a while. But 1 John 1.9 said, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. and to purify us from all our wrongdoing. And the big word is if. We go back to volitional responsibility. If we confess. And confess is a word that used in the Greek New Testament is not really found in English. It's a compound word. compound word being homo the same and legale to say to say the same now we use homo in the english language homosexual and uh but this is not that word this word is confess if we say the same in other words god wants you to own up to what you're doing he wants you to admit it to him Quit trying to hide it. Quit trying to sneak around and think he doesn't know about it. If you go to him and admit it, the Bible says he will be faithful, means he'll do it every time. He's just. He doesn't compromise his righteousness by doing this. He's faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you from all of your wrongdoing. What a wonderful way to take a spiritual bath. What a wonderful way to get yourself cleansed But if you don't do that, if you continue to persist in your secrecy and hiding things, then you're going to come under intense discipline. And that is not going to be fun. Proverbs 3.12, for whom the Lord loves, he judges by punitive action. Therefore, like a father to a son in whom he delights. And just as a father may have to take his son out behind the woodshed, God may have to take you there. And the whole reason is to break your arrogance. Because it is your arrogance that keeps you from admitting your sin. You know, arrogance always goes through self-justification, self-deception, self-absorption, and eventually self-destruction if you don't get a hold of it. And you have an arrogant tendency because of your relationship to Adam's original sin. You have a sin nature. That sin nature doesn't want to obey. And so when a little child, for example, mom and dad says, don't do that, son, and he does it anyhow, that's his little arrogant sin nature. Nobody taught him to be disrespectful. Nobody taught him to lie to his parents. Did you do that, son? No, I didn't do that. He just lied. And so you have to use discipline to correct the arrogant tendencies. If you don't use discipline, then your child gets no orientation to authority and they wind up anti-authority in their life. Discipline is critical. And the same thing is true with God. He uses discipline to give you a different attitude. You can have genuine humility or you can have enforced humility. Genuine humility is you doing the right thing in the right way. Enforced humility is when God has to come knocking on the door and take you out behind the woodshed to make sure you do the right thing in the right way. The punishment or the punitive action from God is designed to train you, to teach you, so that you stay off of the my way highway, so that you stay out of your sin and Because if you don't, then you're going to crash and burn in your physical life. You're not going to be able to redeem the time that God has given you. You're not going to be able to enjoy the protocol plan of God and the phenomenal things God has for you because you got into your own personal area of sin. And there are three things we face as Christians. We face sin. we face the devil, the world, and the flesh. And all three of those can lead you into sin in your life. So if we go back to Hebrews 12, the Bible tells us those that God loves, it's not a matter of God not loving you. It's a matter that God does love you, and he's trying to stop you before you destroy your life or destroy someone else's life. You're a believer, and he loves you. He loves you and demonstrated that in John 3, 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. He loves you. He loved you enough to send his son, and he loves you enough not to let you self-destruct. That's why the discipline's there. That may be why you're going through the suffering you're going through today. I talked to a young man yesterday who made a statement to me. He said, I think I know why I'm suffering so much. And I said, what do you mean? He said, well, I know God called me to be in the ministry and I turned it down. And he said, I did my own thing, and I think that's what's happening to me, why I'm under so much discipline, suffering in his life. I don't know. That's between him and God. I can't make that shot. But I can tell you this. I have seen Christians, people that I know are born-again Christians, who turned their back on God and went down the my-way highway, and they suffered mightily and they died prematurely because they would never rebound, they would never recover. In their arrogance, they would never admit that they had done something wrong. And the end result was a wasted life, a painful life, a miserable life, and that may be where you are today. You see, the purpose of divine discipline is to motivate you To recover, get back in fellowship with God. Because as a member of the royal family of God, if you're not in fellowship, you can't execute his plan. Being in fellowship means that you are controlled by the Holy Spirit. And the Bible warns you, don't quench the Holy Spirit, don't grieve the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells you in Ephesians 1.13, you've been indwelled by the Holy Spirit. And there's a mission. Jesus said, I'm going to send him so he can guide you and teach you and tutor you. And that's the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But he cannot do it with unconfessed sin in your life. Unconfessed sin in your life quenches the Holy Spirit. Unconfessed sin in your life grieves the Holy Spirit. Don't tell me you can't keep up with all your sins. I can hear you. I can't keep up with all my sins. Well, who can? Once you start sinning, it's like chain smoking. You do one sin after another sin after another sin after another sin. Listen to the verse again. If we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us and to purify us from all wrongdoing, even the ones you don't remember. That's how good God is. But you have to at least admit the one you're aware of. If we confess, if we say the same, homo legeo, the same, legeo, to say, homo legeo, to say the same, tell him what you did. I lied. I cheated on my taxes. I cheated on my wife. I did this. I did that. He's faithful and just to forgive you. Don't go to the front of the church and do it. It's nobody else's business. some pastor tries to get you to come up from the church and confess your sin to the congregation leave get out of there that's manipulation and that's not in the bible you go to god and you confess your sin to god and he will be faithful to forgive you and you have to grow spiritually so you can overcome those temptations because if you don't grow spiritually If you don't get some spiritual muscle, some spiritual assets in your life, then you're going to fall right back into the same lust patterns that got you where you are to start with. So intense discipline is going to suffer. You're going to hurt. It's painful. And then there is the sin unto death. The sin unto death is when a believer actually goes out way too soon. Way too soon. And you can see it. For example, in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul had to deal with an individual in a church at Corinth who got under the sin unto death. I think I'll turn over and read it to you so you can see it for yourself. You can read it for yourself. 1 Corinthians 5 and verses 1 through 5. He says this. It is reported commonly... that there is fornication among you and such fornication as is not even named among the Gentiles. Even the Gentiles, the goy, the Gentiles don't do this. A man has his father's wife. This is sexual immorality where a young man is fornicating with his stepmother. And it says you are puffed up, verse 2, and have not rather mourned that he that did this deed would be taken away from among you. For I, Paul said, as an apostle, verily as absent in the body, but present in spirit, have judged this already as though I were present. And I judge the one that did this. And in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you're gathered together, and with my spirit and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, deliver this man unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. That's death. But listen to the rest of it. Listen carefully. So that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. He's going to die the sin unto death, but he's going to be in heaven. You see, 1 Corinthians talks about a foundation. No other foundation can we lay than the foundation which is Jesus Christ. You know, if you build a house and put it on a concrete foundation, the house can burn up, but the foundation will still be there. The foundational faith of faith alone in Christ alone is never going to be destroyed by your sin. Your physical life may destroy it. You'll destroy yourself by your own arrogance, by your self-deception and self-absorption. But the foundation, once you put your faith in Christ, is never going to go away. You're not going to lose that. But just think about what you are going to lose. You're going to lose rewards. You're going to lose time. You're not going to leave a legacy of an invisible hero. You're not going to leave a legacy of a person or an individual that contributed to their family in a fantastic way. You're going to leave a legacy of a loser, a loser in time and a loser in eternity. losing eternal rewards and losing time because you couldn't stay out of sin. It's an age-old problem. It's nothing new. We all have to fight and deal with this every day in our life. Divine discipline is warning from God. that we are out of bounds. It's not executing God's plan. It's us getting under the cosmic system that Satan has. And then the boundaries of God's plans begin to be defined in nebulous terms where you don't really know it. God has a plan for your life. And let me tell you what that plan is. First of all, for you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the single greatest decision you could ever make. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, Acts 16, 31. Secondly, once you believe in Christ, what comes next? What am I supposed to do? And that's where the Bible says, grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Where the Bible says, study to show thyself approved unto God. a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. That's where the Bible says, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn, learn of me. My yoke is easy, my burden's light. Study, grow, learn. Unless you learn how to execute the protocol plan of God, you will wind up never advancing to maturity in your life. God wants you to be a mature believer. He wants you to grow in grace and be a believer that glorifies Jesus Christ to the maximum, actually replicating the life of Christ by means of your life. And if you don't learn God's word, you cannot do that. It's impossible for you to do that. And that's why the Bible clearly teaches this. Listen to Hebrews 5. Hebrews 5.11, I have a lot of things to say and they're hard to be uttered because you're dull of listening. This is the person in church that can't stay awake. The person that can't keep his nose out of other people's business even sometimes. And he says, the writer says, for when the time you ought to be a teacher, you now have gone back to someone needs to teach you again the basic principles of God and you are much like a baby that needs a bottle of milk and can't handle a steak, can't handle solid food. Listen, if you're going to glorify God, you gotta be able to eat the meat. You gotta be able to eat the solid food. You gotta be able to take something other than three songs and a hymn and a poem. You gotta be able to submit yourself to the well-qualified pastor that can teach you the in-depth things of God. He goes on in Hebrews says, for everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness. He's just a baby. But solid food belongs to them that are of full age Those who by use of reason have determined the difference between evil and good. And you have to understand that. If you don't grow up as a believer in Jesus Christ, if you walk the fence in fellowship, out of fellowship, in fellowship, out of fellowship, you'll stay under discipline your whole life. God will constantly be knocking at the door, constantly disciplining you because he can't keep your attention. And that's a sad thing to say, but can God keep your attention? Or do you have one of those wandering minds that you can never sit still? Or have you sold out what could be the most fantastic life in this world because you have some hobby or some interest that's more important to you than fulfilling the plan of God? How could you do that? You think that's the most important thing in your life? You're kidding yourself. And therefore, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ and you chase the dream down the my way highway, you're gonna get a lot of discipline. You're gonna have a lot of knocking at the door with God warning you and telling you and even taking you behind the woodshed so that you suffer. You haven't even began to suffer yet. Not that he's mad at you, not that he hates you, he loves you. This whole thing about discipline is to spare you something much worse in the future. If he can just get your attention, wouldn't you do that with your own children? When you say, don't touch that fire, don't put your hand in that fire. If you put your hand in that fire, you're going to get burned. And the kid says, I'm going to put my hand in the fire anyhow. I don't believe you. And that's what you're doing. God's warned you, stop. He's telling you through this message, stop. And you're still so hardheaded. You're saying, I'm just going to put my hand in the fire because I want to. All right, you've heard it, you've been warned. This is why you're having the difficulties you're having. This is why you're going through the suffering you're going through, because you walked away from the plan of God, you never grew up spiritually, You're still a baby in Jesus Christ. Yes, you're saved. Yes, you're going to heaven. But you are not living the life God designed you to live. And sooner or later, you're going to have to wake up and realize that. When will you do it? When will you confess your sin to God? When will you seek after a well-qualified pastor that could teach you God's word and help you to grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Every day you put it off, every day you wait is another day you lose. And that's why the Bible tells you to keep redeeming the time, to keep growing in grace. I don't know how much time God gives any of us, not you, not me, not anybody. But as long as you wake up this morning and you have a breath, you have an opportunity to get with it, to get with God's plan and to get off the my way highway because it's a dead end in your life. You're trying to make it work, but it won't work. It never will work. It's not God's plan for your life. And that's why the discipline will get harder and more intense. And unless you recover, you will be checking out of here way too soon. I promise you. I hope you're listening, and I hope you're learning. All of this is designed to get you back to where you belong in fellowship with God and growing in the grace and knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Until next week, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Floodline.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you'd like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
In this enlightening episode, Rick Hughes delves deep into understanding what God expects of us and how accepting His divine plan can transform our lives. Through the discussion of spiritual stability, balance, and the options we have in life, Rick shares insights into overcoming mental attitude sins. Discover the joy and freedom that come from living a life dedicated to God's teachings, as Rick emphasizes the role of spiritual maturity and growth through grace orientation.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to the Flatline with your host Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes you'll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now your host Rick Hughes.
SPEAKER 02 :
Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I'm your host Rick Hughes and for the next few minutes please stay with me It'll be a brief time of motivation, some inspiration, a whole lot of education, and we do all of this without any type of manipulation. We don't try to con you. We're not trying to hustle you. We're not going to ask you for money or solicit any membership. We just want to give you some accurate information. information designed to verify and identify God's plan for your life. And if you can respond to that by orienting and adjusting to the plan, you have the opportunity to have an amazing, amazing life in Christ. So the Flotline comes every Sunday morning on this radio show. We broadcast this by faith. We know if God's in it, he'll pay for it. So we don't solicit money. And we would like to tell you that we've been on the road traveling quite a bit. We have a new book we've written called Life's Toughest Years, written for teenagers. And that book is available if you contact our website, rickhughesministries.org. It's free for the asking. We also have DVDs available from various churches where we've spoken, and you can watch those messages. And you can go to our website and see a list of the messages available. And we also have MP3s available of various schools that we've been in where we talk to teenagers. And if you have grandchildren or children, you might want to hear those messages. And again, you contact us through the website. We'll provide all of that for you. It's all free, God's grace. And so thank you for listening to the FLOT line this morning. Thank you for dropping by, and I hope you enjoy the show today. Remember, FLOT, F-L-O-T, stands for the Forward Line of Troops. It's a military metaphor. And what we're trying to convey is the thought that in your soul you can establish a forward line of troops or a main line of resistance so that you can stop the outside sources of adversity before they ever become the inside source of stress. We always say, like my pastor used to tell me, adversity is inevitable, but stress is optional. And that's right. If we learn God's Word and use these tremendous problem-solving devices as a flatline in our soul, then we can stop all that outside sources of adversity from becoming the inside source of stress. Stress is never something a Christian should entertain. We never have to worry. We never have to be afraid. We never have to be bitter. We never have to be angry. We never have to be full of guilt. Those are mental attitude sins, so many of them, and we don't have to live like that. We have a new way to live. We think a new way. The Bible says, let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. The Bible says in Proverbs 23, as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. So the real you is how you think, and the issue is you want to think human viewpoint, which is what the world tells you, happiness is in circumstances and people, etc. Or you can think divine viewpoint, where the Lord Jesus Christ said happiness is belong to those who hear my Father's Word and keep it. And so it's about you having a wonderful life, about you having a magnificent time while you're here. And if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him as your Savior, you have that opportunity if you take God's Word and learn it. That's why the Bible says, study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So, it all starts with that good news that Jesus Christ, the anointed Son of God, has redeemed me and you out of the slave market of sin. And our debt to God has been paid, and we are now free of that penalty of death, and we have the freedom to exercise the freedom from the power of sin. And we're told in Romans, don't let sin reign in our mortal bodies any longer. Sometimes I wonder sometimes if people understand what God really expects out of them. And that's a question that's a fair question I could ask you this morning. What does God expect from you? And I base that question on what I call the Fantastic Four. We've been teaching it for a while, Proverbs 2, 10, and 11. Discernment, understanding with the result that you have wisdom and insight in your heart, in your mind. And it's not you contemplating something. It's not contemplation. It's application. So if you understand God's Word, do you know your options in life? Well, let's start there. You have the option, number one, of thinking human viewpoint, or you have the option of thinking divine viewpoint. You are a victim of your decisions. You are a product of your decisions. If we sow to the wind, we reap the whirlwind, the Bible says. So you are responsible. for every decision that you make. And every decision that you make is based on your choices or your options. And what are your options? Well, that's where the Word of God comes in. What does the Bible say about this? What do my friends say about that? Who am I going to listen to? And if you listen to the Word of God, if you listen to the Bible, then you're going to have the opportunity to have a wonderful life. But if you listen to some expert who says, I've been there, done that, and let me tell you what you ought to do, well, you can just bet on it that you're going to be miserable. Option one, the choice must be made in relation to believing in the Lord Jesus Christ because arrogance rejects God's plan, and it substitutes works for grace. There's only one way into the plan, only one way to enter the royal family of God, and that's through faith alone, in Christ alone. That's why the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man would boast about it. It's repeated in Titus 3, verse 5 through 7. Not by works of righteousness, which we've done. Are we saved? But according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Lord. That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. And that word hope is the word confidence. the confidence that we have in eternal life. So your first option is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Your second option, what do you do with this new life you've been given? Because the Bible says if any man's in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away and all things become new. So what are you gonna do with this new life you get in Christ? What's going to be your basis for living? What's going to be the rules that you live by? Because in life's experience, we only get one shot. Unfortunately, there's no redos, no makeovers. So it's crucial that any one of us believers in Jesus Christ, that we maintain spiritual momentum by having balance and stability in our life. Do you have balance and stability? I know you just said, what do you mean by that? Well, balance comes from the filling of the Holy Spirit, problem-solving device number two. And balance comes from what else? The filling of the Holy Spirit and from grace orientation. If you know how to be filled with the Holy Spirit and if you understand grace orientation, then you can have balance in your spiritual life. stability in your spiritual life comes through doctrinal orientation. Both grace orientation and doctrinal orientation are two of the problem-solving devices we've talked so many times on this show. And remember, We have a book called Christian Problem Solving. If you want it, write to me. We'll send it to you free. And it lists all 10 problem-solving devices. But grace orientation and doctrinal orientation are two of them. You either live by grace or you live by works. You either live by doctrine or you live by human viewpoint. It's up to you. And so Romans 11, 33 says it this way. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. You want to be rich, I assume. You want to have a good, wonderful life, I assume. And the riches that God provides comes from wisdom. The word Sophia comes and from the knowledge of God. You know, the word understanding is a Greek word pronounced sunesis, and it means two things coming together. When you have knowledge, which is the insight of the Word of God, and you have understanding that comes together with it, they form the river of wisdom. And it's wonderful to have wisdom from the Word of God, because it will protect you. But there is no wisdom without knowledge and understanding. And so these grace provisions that I'm talking to you about, they're barely explored in our human life. I mean, what God has provided, the depth, I'm talking about the depth of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. It's barely explored. We only know so much. We have a Bible and we know what's in the Bible. But I can assure you in the future, once you cross over to the other side, you will know more than you ever in your lifetime could have imagined. Earthly wisdom is nothing compared to the spiritual riches that are revealed to us through God the Holy Spirit and to the believer that's growing especially. I did say growing now, growing believer. You're not growing if you're staying out of fellowship and you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. And you're not growing if you're not taking in the Word of God in a consistent manner. And so advancements in your spiritual life are made by this balance in your life. The balance, stability and balance, that's how you advance in your spiritual life. But circumstances can really throw you off sometimes, and that means failure. If you lose your routine, loss of routine, it's very, very hard to keep a routine in your life. Professional football players, athletes do. Christians don't. They let details of life and circumstances distract them, so they're not consistent in attending church or attending Bible class regularly. They're not consistent in having a routine to study every day. They're not consistent in confessing their sin. And so they must understand that circumstances can throw you off balance. Now I want you to go in your Bible with me. I'll read it to you, but it's in Romans 12, 1 through 3. And this is in regards to the question that I ask you. What does God expect from you? And let me read what Paul wrote, okay? He said, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Did you hear that? I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, this is the second time he said this, by the way, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. What does God expect from you? I just read it. That you present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is expected of you. It's reasonable. And then Paul goes on in verse 2, says, and here's the only way you can do it, don't be conformed to this world. but be transformed by the way you think, by the renewing of your mind, so that, purpose clause, you can prove what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God. In order for you to fulfill your spiritual destiny, you're gonna have to change the way you think. You can't think in terms of self more highly than you ought to think, the Bible says. Listen to verse three. For I say through the grace given unto me, Romans 12, three, To every man that's among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, that means with humility, according as God had dealt to every man a measure of faith. So in order for you to fulfill your spiritual destiny, You're going to have to change the way you think. There's no way around it. You can't think more highly of yourself than you should. You can't have some unrealistic self-image like the Pharisee in Luke 18 who said, I am worthy of you, God. I fast, I tithe, I do all this good stuff. I'm a religious, self-righteous person and ad nauseum, ad nauseum, ad nauseum. And the poor publican sitting over there beside him said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. This is the one that was saved, the Lord Jesus Christ said. So if you're going to understand what God wants out of you, you got to understand what it means to present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. Just what exactly does that mean? It also says it's our reasonable service. So let's break it down. Paul said in Romans 12, 1, I beseech you. And it's a verb of indicative mood, a present tense reality verb of parakleo. And he's inviting them. He's calling them. I'm inviting you. It's a verb of exhortation where Paul gives an open invitation to It's not a mandate. It's not him giving a mandate. It's an invitation to the believers in Rome that they would surrender their personal will and desires to God's divine will and desires for their life. That's the first question I have to ask you. Have you done that? It's a volitional decision that you're encouraged to make. but it's not mandated in this passage. And it's been presented to the church before, as I told you, Romans 6, 13. Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourself to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness. Wow. In positional truth, positional truth, you are dead to the effects of sin, not in experience, but in position. but in experience you still may be enslaved to send nature habits and those habits have to be broken so if you're going to present yourself to god which is your reasonable service you've got to break those sin nature habits in verse 12 romans 6 do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lust do not let sin control your thoughts and your actions In your flesh, your mortal bodies are your flesh. You see, even though Satan may have lost you to the grace of God because you expressed faith alone in Christ alone, he's still going to seek to manipulate you and use you if he can impugn God's name by exposing the flaws of your sin nature. What are the flaws of your sin nature? Well, it's your lust patterns, the various lust patterns of the soul. You see, some people lust for sex, can't get enough of it. Some people lust for money, can't get enough of it. Some people lust for drugs and alcohol, can't get enough of it. Different people have different lust patterns. The ones that are the most evil are those who lust for power, politicians especially, those who lust for recognition, approbation, those who lust for attention and do anything to get it. And so we must recognize our lust patterns. You have a lust pattern. And by that I mean if you get out of fellowship with God, this is what you're going to be drawn into. If your flesh takes over, if you sin and do not rebound, your flesh will begin to manipulate you and control you. And like quicksand, it will draw you into the lust pattern you desire. The lust pattern that's always been with you. And that thing is going to always be with you until you die and get a resurrection body because it's part of your sin-infected soul. So, Romans 6, 11 says we're to consider ourselves dead to sin, but alive to Christ. That means we're to ignore the call of the flesh. Dead to the lure of the flesh, but obedient to the service of the one who bought you. This is not something that you do very easily, I promise you, because the flesh does not want to surrender control. of the spiritual life. In Galatians 5, 17, the Bible says the flesh wars against the spirit, and the spirit wars against the flesh, and they're contrary one to another. There's a war going on inside of you every day for your thoughts. And the flesh cries out, let me take control. And the Holy Spirit beseeches you, no, let me take control. And you are a victim of what you choose. Your volition makes a decision. Some of you are in trouble today because you made a volitional decision to listen to the flesh. You may have an addictive sin nature. You may have an addictive lust pattern. so that no one else is even aware of it. But guess who is? God is. Because the Bible says his eyes roam to and fro all over the earth. There's nothing you can hide from God. And so even though the lights may be dim and the door may be shut, God sees and he knows. If you're his child, if you're a Christian, He knows what you're doing. If you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, the first thing you need to do when you shut the door is get on your knees and say, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Your heavenly father formed you. He's aware of the struggle that you have. He knows what you're going through. And thus he made a provision for you to have victory over the flesh. That provision is the filling of the Holy Spirit plus the dynamics of the living word of God in your soul. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit and you have the word of God in your soul, You have the resources you need to say no and the resources you need to overcome the temptation. The enemy definitely has a dossier on your weaknesses. There's no doubt about that. And he will attack you at your weakest point. Now, this may surprise you. What do you think is your weakest point? And the answer is this, when you're alone. When you're alone, when you're by yourself, that's when you are weakest. And the flesh can be the strongest when you're alone. That's when the spiritual life is really lived, isn't it? I mean, when you're alone and no one's watching you, that's where we really find out what the spiritual life does, who you are, the real you. Paul said in Romans 12, 1, he wishes we would present our bodies a living and a holy sacrifice. He is referring to clean, acceptable believer who's not tainted by the sins of the flesh by habit or by design. The word present is an aorist active infinitive in the Greek word peristome, and it's at a point in time. And so there's a point in time, a culminative aorist, a point in time in your life when you have to make a conscious decision to grow in grace by studying yourself, making yourself approved unto God. If anyone's going to grow up in being a mature believer and glorify Jesus Christ at some point of time in their life, they have to make a decision. Now, I'm not talking about going forward in a revival and saying I'm here to dedicate my life to Christ and going out two days later and being the same old person. I've seen that. I've seen the same person go forward several times, dedicate my life to Christ, and goes out and does the same old thing because he never understands the protocol plan of God and how it works. And shame on the pastors that don't teach it. But only by the means of the filling of the Holy Spirit are you able to carry out this request. This means that you have to make a determination in your own soul to not allow yourself to be enslaved by the flesh, but rather to present yourself as a free slave to your heavenly Father. And Paul says it's a reasonable request. It's a reasonable service. It's a , the Greek word, reasonable service. It's rational. It's not irrational. It's rational expectation to serve the Lord. It's reasonable that if you came to Jesus Christ, and if, for example, if you go to church expecting to worship God and serve him, you can't allow your flesh to taint your fellowship with God. If you give your life to God's service, it's not just for pastors and evangelists and missionaries. It's for all of us. Everyone's in full-time Christian service. Listen, at this point in time in your life, there's no way you can really fully appreciate what Jesus Christ, our Lord, has provided for you. But once you cross over... From time to eternity, as I told you earlier, then you will become aware of all that's been accomplished on your behalf. So the only way possible for you to fulfill this request to present your bodies as a living, holy sacrifice is to understand what it actually means. Your salvation guarantees that you're going to have a resurrected life, that you have eternal life. It guarantees that your life will be imperishable and undefiled. It's reserved for you in eternity, according to 1 Peter 1.3. But if you're still hanging around in this sin-infected body, in this world, wondering what you should do with your life, then you have to do some consideration. So may I suggest Romans 12, 1 through 3. Since God has been merciful to you in providing your salvation through his Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Is it too much to ask in return that you surrender your will and destiny to him so you can be an instrument of his righteousness? And that requires an attitude adjustment. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That's an imperative mood in the Greek of Romans 12, 1 through 3. You're going to have to change the way you think. Change yourself. Shape from one form to another. Don't emulate the lost world by being sucked into the cosmic system in some frantic search for happiness, but be transformed. That's the mental attitude way of thinking. Change the way you think to morph from one form to another form. And that's only accomplished through humility. You adopting the mindset of Jesus Christ. Until this happens in your life, you will always be a slave to your flesh. You will always be a slave to the inner desires. It is only Bible doctrine or what is the mind of Christ that can set you free from the slavery of the sin nature that enchains you right now. But it's your choice. It's certainly yours. You can be a slave to the lust of the flesh and live your life in shame. Or you can make a decision to do something about your future happiness. May I suggest that you surrender to a new master and serve only that master's interest. Matthew 25, 14 through 30 talks about it. Matthew 25, 14 through 30. Look it up and read it. Serving the master's interest. There's a lot of other things to say, but time is short. I do want to thank you for listening. I appreciate your faithful attendance here on this radio show, and I pray you'll come back next week, same time, same place. Until then, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.
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Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you'd like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.