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Alongside Gabbard, Kash Patel is in the spotlight with his potential appointment as FBI Director. Senator Grassley raises critical questions on whistleblower protections, highlighting past retaliations under previous administrations. With direct, no-nonsense answers, Patel and Gabbard reassure their commitment to transparency and integrity. This hearing marks a pivotal moment in US politics, where both nominees emphasize the necessity for reform and the protection of fundamental freedoms.
SPEAKER 09 :
Our colleague Tulsi Gabbard begins her confirmation hearing. 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 Sekulow.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome to Sekulow. Will Haines is joining me in studio. Of course, we have to start our broadcast with our prayers and really just to acknowledge the horrifying accident that happened last night over the Potomac in Washington, D.C. As we know right now, a A commercial aircraft crashed into a helicopter that it was just an unimaginable tragedy. And we're going to keep monitoring that. President Trump just spoke on it. We'll go through that and see if there's some some breaking news out of that. But I know a lot of them right now, it's just going through the press briefings. But apparently we're going to hear some answers soon about what went wrong. Now, I know you're being inundated with that. So what we wanted to focus today's show, of course, is our friend Tulsi Gabbard, who's been a member of the Secular Broadcast team for the last few years. She's been someone who has been a part of the show each week. And now her hearing begins, her confirmation hearing. And it has already been brutal, but she's also held her ground. She has done a great job so far. We're going to play some of that coming up. And you've had already an interesting mix because you have some people on the right, that wants to go after her. There are people obviously on the left that don't seem to be her biggest fans, but there are some, maybe even unlike what we saw with some of the other candidates that have been up, that are taking more nuanced approaches to Tulsi Gabbard, who understand her patriotism, her service to this country for the last 20 plus years at this point. And Will, you said it was pretty interesting to see even who introduced her.
SPEAKER 08 :
That's right. So the folks that introduce the nominees typically are someone that would make a good impression on the Senate and someone that is truly a big supporter of the nominee themselves. And you would think that out of this kind of new MAGA movement, it would be people that were more friendly to that. But really, the audience is the senators themselves. And so it was interesting to me to see former Senator Burr, Richard Burr from North Carolina, the former chair of that very committee. the Senate Intelligence Committee, he was the first to introduce Tulsi. Not a very MAGA Republican-style politician. He's no longer the senator from North Carolina. He was very much a more moderate, old guard Republican, is making the argument before his former colleagues at the very committee he used to chair, saying, this is why you need Tulsi. to confirm Tulsi Gabbard. Also, Joni Ernst, who is someone who actually had a lot of issues with the nomination of Pete Hegseth in the beginning, but came around and ended up supporting him. She is a current senator, so she is speaking to her colleagues. She is also very concerned about national security. She's a former military, and she is the senator from Iowa. And she was there also making the case on why Tulsi Gabbard is the right choice. Once again, not a super MAGA type U.S. senator, very old school GOP. If you're in the MAGA camp, you may call them rhinos at this point in time. But but very much a more traditional Republican are the two that were making the case. To me, that was a very powerful moment. Tulsi's opening statement, also powerful. But just the fact that those two individuals were the ones introducing her already set the stage of she's serious and you should confirm her as well as Pam Bondi was in the audience there to support Tulsi as well.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, absolutely. And of course, we support Tulsi Gabbard here. She has been a friend, a supporter for many, many years and has been a member of our broadcast team for the last few years. So we encourage you right now. As today is our colleague Tulsi Gabbard's hearing to be the director of national intelligence. We encourage one pray for Tulsi. She's been doing a great job. She seems unfazed. She is absolutely killing it out there. So, you know, we're very proud of her. Very excited. I didn't expect anything else. But they're grilling her on on lies, on misinformation, on her faith. And we're going to discuss that coming up. And actually, I think in the next segment, because many of you have not seen this yet because it has been delayed because of the crash and all of the things that have happened over the last day, I'd like to play for you her opening statement. So coming up in just a minute, you're going to hear that. We're going to set it up when we get back. Phone lines are open for you. What do you think about Tulsi Gabbard? Do you support her? I know, obviously, she's somewhat of a controversial figure, but has been a friend of ours. 1-800-684-3110. And support the work of the ACLJ. You can also sign the petition. to help secure her nomination. Welcome back to Sekulow. Again, our colleague Tulsi Gabbard. Currently, her confirmation hearing has begun. I know a lot of you have not seen it yet because President Trump was out there and Vice President Vance discussing the horrible tragedy that happened last night in Washington, D.C. But I want you to see her opening statement because I think it's very important. So take a look. This is Tulsi Gabbard just a moment ago, her opening statement.
SPEAKER 02 :
I'm honored and grateful to President Trump for his trust and confidence in nominating me to serve our country as the Director of National Intelligence at a time when trust in the intelligence community, unfortunately, is at an all-time low. Chuck Schumer admitted a few years ago, quote, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you. For too long, faulty, inadequate, or weaponized intelligence have led to costly failures and the undermining of our national security and God-given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. The most obvious example of one of these failures is our invasion of Iraq based upon a total fabrication or complete failure of intelligence. This disastrous decision led to the deaths of tens of thousands of American soldiers, millions of people in the Middle East, mass migration, destabilization, undermining of the security and stability of our European allies, the rise of ISIS, strengthening of Al-Qaeda and other Islamist jihadist groups, and strengthening Iran. Here are just a few other examples. The American people elected Donald Trump as their president not once but twice, and yet the FBI and intelligence agencies were politicized by his opponents to undermine his presidency and falsely portray him as a puppet of Putin. Title I of FISA was used illegally to obtain a warrant to spy on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page using a Clinton campaign-funded false dossier as their so-called evidence. Biden campaign advisor Tony Blinken was the impetus for the 51 former senior intelligence officials' letter dismissing Hunter Biden's laptop as disinformation specifically to help Biden win the election. Former DNI James Clapper lied to this committee in 2013, denying the existence of programs that facilitated the mass collection of millions of Americans' phone and internet records, yet was never held accountable. Under John Brennan's leadership, the CIA abused its power to spy on Congress, to dodge oversight, lied about doing it until he was caught, and yet has never been held responsible. Under Biden, the FBI abused its power for political reasons to try to surveil Catholics who attend traditional Latin mass, labeling them as quote unquote radical traditionalist Catholics. Personally, just 24 hours after I criticized Kamala Harris and her nomination, I was placed on a secret domestic terror watch list called Quiet Skies. Sadly, there are more examples. The bottom line is this, this must end. President Trump's reelection is a clear mandate from the American people to break this cycle of failure and the weaponization and politicization of the intelligence community and begin to restore trust in those who've been charged with the critical task of securing our nation. If confirmed as DNI, I will do my very best to fulfill this mandate and bring leadership to the intelligence community with a laser-like focus on our essential mission, ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people. As the President's principal intelligence advisor, I'll begin by leading by example, checking my own personal views at the door, and committing to delivering intelligence that is collected, analyzed, and reported without bias, prejudice, or political influence. I enlisted in the Army because of the horrific terrorist attack on September 11th, and volunteered to deploy to Iraq in 2005 where I served in a medical unit. After nearly 22 years in uniform with three combat deployments to the Middle East and Africa, I'm now a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve where I serve as a battalion commander of soldiers in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas. I served in Congress for eight years on the Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Armed Services Committees. And it's my experience in the military and in the halls of Congress that have given me a deep understanding of the complex challenges that our nation faces in both roles engaging with world leaders, in both roles being privy to highly classified intelligence. So I know firsthand how essential accurate, unbiased, and timely intelligence is to the president, to Congress, and to our war fighters. I also know the heavy cost of intelligence failures and abuses. Senator Collins, you led the creation of ODNI, specifically to address those intelligence failures of 9-11 and Iraq's so-called WMDs. The need for the ODNI under strong leadership still exists today. If confirmed, I'll bring my experience and fresh eyes to leading the intelligence community. And my day one priorities will be... to assess the global threat environment, identify where gaps in our intelligence exist, integrate intelligence elements, increase information sharing, and ensure that unbiased, apolitical, objective collection and analysis to support the president and policymakers' decision-making occur. I'll work to end the politicization of the intelligence community and ensure there is a clear mission focus in the IC on its core mission of this unbiased apolitical collection and analysis of intelligence to secure our nation. I'll work to rebuild trust through transparency and accountability. This is a national security imperative. And I'll work to assess and address efficiencies, redundancies, and effectiveness across ODNI to ensure focus of personnel and resources is on our core mission of national security. In my meetings that I've had with many of you, you expressed bipartisan frustration about recent intelligence failures as well as the lack of responsiveness to your requests for information. whether it's the surprise October 7th Hamas terrorist attack, to the sudden takeover of Syria by Islamist extremists, failures to identify the source of COVID, anomalous health incidents, UAPs, drones, and more. If confirmed, I look forward to working with you to address these issues. Ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people is a mandate of leadership that rises above partisan politics. I've confirmed my commitment to the President, to you, and to the American people is this. I will do my very best to find the truth, no matter where it leads, and share that truth with President Trump, his advisors, and you in Congress, providing you with that unbiased, timely, and accurate intelligence as you make the tough decisions that will impact the safety, security, and freedom of the American people. Now, before I close, I want to warn the American people who are watching at home. You may hear lies and smears in this hearing that will challenge my loyalty to and my love for our country. Those who oppose my nomination imply that I am loyal to something or someone other than God, my own conscience, and the Constitution of the United States, accusing me of being Trump's puppet, Putin's puppet, Assad's puppet, a guru's puppet, Modi's puppet, not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of five different puppet masters. The same tactic was used against President Trump and failed. The American people elected President Trump with a decisive victory and mandate for change. The fact is what truly unsettles my political opponents is I refuse to be their puppet. I have no love for Assad or Gaddafi or any dictator. I just hate Al-Qaeda. I hate that we have leaders who cozy up to Islamist extremists, minimizing them to so-called rebels. As Jake Sullivan said to Hillary Clinton, quote, Al-Qaeda is on our side in Syria. Well, Syria is now controlled by an Al-Qaeda offshoot. HTS led by an Islamist jihadist who danced in the streets on 9-11 and who was responsible for the killing of many American service members. Democrat senators in the past resorted to anti-Christian bigotry against some of President Trump's judicial nominees like Amy Coney Barrett and Brian Boucher. I condemn those actions as a Democrat in Congress at the time as religious bigotry must be thoroughly condemned by all of us. no matter the religion. Unfortunately, there are some Democrat senators who still don't understand the principle of freedom of religion in Article 6 of the Constitution. Quote, no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. Unfortunately, they're once again using the religious bigotry card, but this time trying to foment religious bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism. If anyone is sincerely interested in knowing more about my own personal spiritual path of Hinduism, I welcome you to go to my account on X where I'll share more on this topic. If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will continue to live by the oath that I have sworn at least eight times in my life, both in uniform and as a member of Congress. I will support and defend our God-given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to your questions.
SPEAKER 12 :
That was our colleague's opening statement. Tulsi Gabbard, as she sets confirmation hearing, begins to be the Director of National Intelligence, and I cannot be more impressed by that statement, and I feel like the comments I'm seeing right now on our YouTube channel And on Rumble and on social media say the same. So a lot of people are very excited that she will be there. We got to really make sure she gets confirmed. This is going to be a tough battle. I encourage you to sign our petition right now. Go to ACLJ.org slash sign. And of course, I encourage you to say a prayer for Tulsi as it is ongoing and happening right now. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Sekulow. I did want to show you that opening statement from Tulsi Gabbard, just so you have a frame of reference. You know, a lot of people did not get to see it. As President Trump said, we are in a moment of anguish for our country as that midair collision occurred last night. He was briefing everyone that's kind of taken over the news, as you'd expect. But we want to make sure we don't lose sight of that. This is happening as well as Kash Patel's confirmation hearings as FBI director are happening right now.
SPEAKER 08 :
That's right. And we will also be discussing the hearings of Kash Patel. But I think we should give some analysis of what we saw and what we have watched so far from Tulsi's hearing. Because one, this one is a little bit more contentious than we've seen in many of them.
SPEAKER 12 :
We've seen hit pieces come out against Tulsi recently. over and over and over. It felt like in the last four or five days. You felt the pressure building. And one of the things that came out was a question of whether she had met with leaders of Hezbollah. And that ended up not making it into one of the hit pieces. So that probably could tell you something, which is, let's leak this information out there and then not put it in our article. So then... So then we could just have the information out there without having to confirm it. And what I like about Tulsi is you never have to question where she stands or what she believes in terms of these questions. So here's a question from Susan Collins directly asking about this.
SPEAKER 01 :
As you know, there has been speculation in the press that you met with Hezbollah, a terrorist organization affiliated with Iran. Have you ever knowingly met with any members, leaders, or affiliates of Hezbollah?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, and it is an absurd accusation.
SPEAKER 12 :
That is another mic drop moment where you can't be any clearer. That is the least politician answer I've ever heard. It's usually like, well, not to my knowledge. I would have not come up with some sort of answer that included some loopholes if you needed it. That's right. But no, Tulsi came out there and said no. And it's an absurd accusation because they are making stuff up.
SPEAKER 08 :
This is one thing I want to bring up as well. And from her opening statement when she said, you know, they're trying to say that I have these puppet masters. But then she says, the fact is what truly unsettles my political opponents is I refuse to be their puppet. And when you see these accusations, and as we've discussed already, off air for the past weeks since she was announced but really these past five days as it's headed towards her confirmation hearing the attacks that have come out in almost every major publication about her religion about trying to still hit that meeting with Assad and one thing that I think should be brought up as well is it shows the hypocrisy of the left and some Republicans that sit on this this panel in the intelligence committee uh that are more of the old guard as as you could say uh is that back in the early uh late late early 2000s so like 2008 2009 john kerry was a sitting senator of the united states and he traveled and had dinner with and we have the photo Bashar al-Assad and his wife, John Kerry and his wife, dined with the president of Syria. This wasn't a time when Bashar al-Assad was a good guy and this was an OK thing to do in the eyes of the collective genius that we see before us today. He was still the brutal butcher of his people. that he is today. This was around the time of the Arab Spring when these things happened and when the Civil War broke out in Syria. John Kerry, sitting U.S. Senator, went and met and had dinner with his wife and Assad's wife. We have that photo. The U.S. Senate confirmed him later to be the Secretary of State for Barack Obama 94 to 3. There was no, are you a puppet of Assad? Are you secretly a terrorist, John Kerry? The same senators, many of these senators, Susan Collins, who's actually pretty aggressive towards Tulsi in this hearing. voted for John Kerry to be the Secretary of State, one of the highest positions in the United States. Just a couple people away in the line of succession from being president of the United States. He was pretty close himself at one point. Right, right. He lost the previous election. But still, you look at this and you say, that's the hypocrisy of the left. That proves the point where she says that what truly unsettles my political opponents is that I refuse to be their puppet. That's why we need someone like Tulsi Gabbard in it, director of national intelligence, to start to push back on the abuses and the failures of our intel community. But someone like John Kerry can get a pass from these senators. I don't buy that. And that's why you got to sign this petition.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, the petition you can sign. You can. That was good. ACLJ.org slash sign to do that now. And look, there has also been attacks on her patriotism, on her loyalty to the country. This is someone that actively has been serving for decades in many different roles. And trust me, there are times where maybe you were like, hey, she was on this broadcast every week, every week, and then she would disappear. I wonder why. Maybe there were some important missions to be taken care of that were happening on behalf of the United States. I want you to hear from Tom Cotton, Senator Cotton, who brought up this very important moment because they have been building this fight against Tulsi since she ran as a Democrat for President of the United States. Hillary Clinton and that group started to plant these seeds, and we are now seeing them come to fruition with no proof, no evidence, and really just to try to put you in an awkward position. But here she is, or here he is, here is Tom Cotton today.
SPEAKER 10 :
I am dismayed by the attacks on Ms. Gabbard's patriotism and her loyalty to our country. For instance, Hillary Clinton has smeared Ms. Gabbard, calling her an asset of a foreign nation. Let me remind everyone that Ms. Gabbard has served in our Army for more than two decades. She has multiple combat tours, and she still wears the uniform to this day. She has undergone five FBI background checks. I spent more than two hours last week reviewing the latest, putting eyes on more than 300 pages. It's clean as a whistle.
SPEAKER 12 :
So thanks to Senator Cotton for that, for saying what needed to be said, which was what? She not only has worn the uniform, still wears the uniform, has undergone five FBI background checks. And you may wonder, and this is just a personal thing that you may know about her, is obviously if you look at Tulsi Gabbard, she has a gray shriek in her hair. And a lot of people think that's a cool fashion statement or maybe it's just how it was. It was not like that before she went to war, before she was serving during the war on terror. When it got back, they believed that that is something that was caused from traumatic stress. And she has decided to wear that proudly. Okay. This is not somebody who we need to be questioning like this to be just feeding lies to. And look, it's going to be close. I'm not going to lie to you and say it's not going to be close. So we need your help. Sign that petition right now. And Will, you can explain why it's important to sign the petition. This is not just putting your name on a document that's just going to float into the ether. We are taking action.
SPEAKER 08 :
That's right. And many of you may not know that ACLJ has an office right on Capitol Hill. That we have a government affairs team that goes to Congress and lets them know what the members, the donors, and those of you that watch this broadcast or listen... that what y'all want to happen in in the senate when you sign this petition we go to these senators that will be taking a vote on tulsi gabbard's nomination and say here are the people from your state your constituents that elected you that want you to confirm tulsi gabbard go to aclj.org sign make your name heard your voice heard to your senator and say, we want Tulsi Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence. That is what the ACLJ can help you do. We can go to these senators and let them know, confirm her.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yep, and we have another half hour coming up, so make sure you join us. If you don't get us on your local station, find us broadcasting live on YouTube, Rumble, ACLJ.org, Salem News Channel. We'll be right back. We'll also take your calls at 1-800-684-3110.
SPEAKER 09 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Sekulow. Second half hour coming up for the day. If you missed the first half, you can find it archived on ACLJ.org on our podcast, Sekulow podcast, or on YouTube, Rumble, or however you get your podcasts. We are there archived later on. I did want to bring up, we are currently monitoring Tulsi Gabbard's confirmation hearing, our colleague, our friend, someone who's been on this show for a number of years, now giving us her very unique insight as someone who serves the country, as someone who's served the country in many different roles, and now is up to be potentially, if confirmed, the Director of National Intelligence. Pretty amazing to see that happen. Now, Will, there are some questions coming in, and I think we need to answer this because people have asked about RFK, where things are with that. Kash Patel is currently up. This is just round one, if you will. There is still quite time. People are asking, like, is the vote tonight? When will this happen? We've got a little ways out.
SPEAKER 08 :
That's right. So when you look at these hearings, this is just the first part. They get a hearing scheduled. Sometimes there are follow ups. I know that there will be some closed door, more classified settings for this role specifically. So after the members of Congress, or the senators rather, feel like they have gotten what they need, if they have follow-up questions, they can ask those, then the committees will vote on whether to advance the nomination. So the gatekeepers of the nomination are the committee that would have oversight of the activities of this member.
SPEAKER 01 :
When does that happen?
SPEAKER 08 :
That takes time. Well, it depends on how long their follow-up questions or sometimes, as you've seen with Supreme Court justices going before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which are also confirmed by the Senate in the Brett Kavanaugh issue, they had the hearing and then they said, we need to have another hearing. So none of that is off the table. There isn't a constitutional or statutory timeline. But once they do choose to advance it, I mean, they can sit on it. If they decide not to, I don't think there's a scheduled time right now. It could be weeks from now. Hopefully not. Even as you saw with RFK Jr. yesterday, he had a hearing in the, in the finance committee, but today he's before the health and human services committee. So he actually had to appear before two committees. And I believe only one has to advance his nomination and, But it gets a little bit hairier there. What you could see, though, is once the questions have been the follow up questions or any other issue has been resolved, the committee will take a vote. Sometimes the chairman that wants to advance it will hold off trying to convince maybe a Susan Collins or a John Cornyn, which could tank her nomination when you have narrow majority on the committee. to try and convince them otherwise. So I expect what we've seen is there is not a scheduled committee vote on this, this week, or I believe even next week. So it could be a couple weeks before they even decide to try and advance her nomination, but that could also change by her performance today. If she is able to satisfy some senators or some senators are told by their other colleagues, what are you doing here? Let's move forward. Then I think you could see an expedited version of this. But after that, remember, that's not confirmation. That's not just advice. advances the nomination to the full Senate. They are the ones that confirm. There is normally a cloture vote, which is where the Senate agrees to take up the nomination. You have to get, I believe, the 60 vote threshold just to invoke cloture. That's where the filibuster that we hear about comes in. It's stopping something from even being brought forward. After that, there's about a 30 hour debate period. And then finally, unless the Democrats say, let's just get rid of the time limit, Then you finally get a full Senate confirmation vote once it is scheduled, and you only have to get to 51.
SPEAKER 12 :
I didn't know what I was asking. I'm sorry, because you had to take a breath, man. That's intense. But hopefully that does answer your question. I can't imagine it didn't answer your question. Hopefully that does. We are going to take your phone calls on this and Kash Patel's confirmation hearing. Harry Hutchins joins us in the next segment. Give me a call, 1-800-684-3110. If you're watching on Salem News Channel, YouTube, Rumble, wherever it is, you can call in. I'd love to hear from you. Also, throw a comment in. If you don't know what to comment, tell me where you're watching from. Because a lot of you are engaged in this. And we also know that about half the people that watch this show each and every day have never seen us before. So if you're one of those people, I encourage you to hit that subscribe button. We do this show every day from 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. as well as post incredible content throughout the day. That's at ACLJ.org, on YouTube, on Rumble, on X. However you're watching right now, we are currently engaged. So do that right now and support the work of the ACLJ. Become an ACLJ champion if you can at ACLJ.org. Welcome back to Seculo. I did want to continue our coverage of our friend Kelsey Gabbard's confirmation hearing, but it's not the only one happening right now. Kash Patel, his FBI director, is up right now as we speak, and I think it's important to show you some of the clips and some of the highlights and also get Harry Hutchinson's opinion, who's joining us right now in studio. One of the big things you've always heard the ACLJ talk about over the last few years has been our support for these whistleblowers, Will. There's whistleblowers who have courageously made statements, but have suffered the consequences, sometimes unjustly. That's right.
SPEAKER 08 :
If you've been following this broadcast, you know about this, but if you're new, the ACLJ has defended and had his clients whistleblowers from the FBI that were unjustly and illegally retaliated against just for trying to voice their opposition to things that they saw internally that were unconstitutional unfair targeting not equal justice under the law and they had their homes basically then their lives ripped apart one was was reassigned across the country the FBI was moving his possessions and his family's possessions And then they put him on a suspended situation, no pay. And then his belongings were placed in storage. They were held. Because they were in the custody of the FBI. He couldn't even get his own personal property back. And his family. They were left homeless.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, his family's clothing and their furniture and everything that they owned was being held. So this is where the FBI, I guess to quote, sort of eroded the trust of a lot of people. And we need to get that restored. And Kash Patel is currently, again, up for his hearing right now. We think likely that he will be confirmed. But let's hear from Senator Grassley asking questions specifically about the whistleblowers.
SPEAKER 04 :
Will you protect whistleblowers from retaliation, unlike former Director Wray, and promote a culture at the FBI that values whistleblowers' important contributions? Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. I share in your beliefs about the importance of whistleblowers. So we've spent a lot of taxpayers' money ruining whistleblowers. Will you commit to ensuring that no taxpayer money will be used to identify and retaliate against whistleblowers?
SPEAKER 03 :
Senator, if I'm confirmed, it will not.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Professor Hutchison, we this very week are going to be filing a lawsuit representing Empower Oversight, who we've worked with for years now on protecting these whistleblowers, to get more information from the deep state that still exists and to some degree needs to still be rooted out by someone like Kash Patel about their targeting of whistleblowers. But One question I had for you, you've seen now, both in Tulsi Gabbard's hearing and Kash Patel's hearing, you're hearing a lot of talk about whistleblowers. And whistleblowers are an extremely inconvenient, to put it mildly, phenomenon when it comes to the deep state. Because they are the ones that are putting sunshine on corruption, illegal activity, or even just mismanagement or misuse of resources everywhere. And we know that under the Biden administration, Christopher Wray was not necessarily very helpful at protecting those whistleblowers. And we now look to these nominees that are more whistleblower friendly, even though a whistleblower could potentially. be a negative thing for the image of the department they will run. But how important is it that we have nominees that look at whistleblowers as essential to an efficiently run government, a non-corrupt government, and ultimately a freer and safer government?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I think you're absolutely correct. And so one of the things that is of utmost importance, I believe, is a root and branch removal of deep state operatives who basically have corrupted the whistleblower process in the United States government, but particularly in the FBI, particularly in the Department of of justice. Keep in mind that the FBI has gone after whistleblowers. They've gone after pro-life Catholics. They've gone after parents at school board meetings. And then you have someone like Merit Garland testifying before Congress and saying, oh, we're not doing any of these things. Or we have Christopher Wray testifying before Congress and essentially denying that the FBI has gone after these individuals who are citizens first, but in many cases they are members of the FBI itself. And so the ACLJ has done a great job in representing individuals who fall in the whistleblower category. Basically, when we support whistleblowers, we are supporting freedom. We are supporting the Constitution, and we are supporting all of the constitutional amendments, including the Bill of Rights. And so if you look at Crossfire Hurricane, if you look at the FBI, which has been engaged in allegedly false activity in terms of procuring fraudulently FISA warrants— All of these things have been done by the deep state before Trump was elected initially in 2016. It's continued while he was in office, and it certainly has continued during the Biden administration. And so we need someone like Kash Patel to come in and engage in a root and branch effort to eliminate this.
SPEAKER 12 :
that are this time up, Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, RFK Jr. It's a new group. It's a group that, again, may be more controversial than any group that has ever been tried to get put up. I mean, we've obviously seen Pam Bondi now when Matt Gaetz was originally put up because these are people who are coming to shake things up to actually take the issues that have been sort of exposed over the last decade, I'd say. Things like the whistleblower situations. All of these other concerns that have come out of the American people, where if you were going to an era in the early 2000s, it wasn't like you were sitting there questioning the FBI very much. I mean, you may have been, but the national... feeling temperature of the country was not something of questioning everything that we were hearing and sadly over the last handful of years i mean we even saw it let's just get to to the fact of those drones i mean think about this the drone situation for weeks it was what are these drones why are their drones flying over new jersey why does this keep happening incredibly loud people are panicking uh copycats start happening we don't know what's going on But guess who did know what was going on? The Biden administration. They could have easily said, hey, these are FAA, you know, okay. They're doing research and don't worry about it. But they didn't. They let the American people whip themselves up into hysteria, probably because of some sort of political gain. Now you have the Trump administration, day one essentially of doing press, come out and say, hey, just to clear that up, that wasn't the enemy, that was us. Of course, there's a lot of issues going on currently. We're going to see what happens with that tragedy last night. But this is why it's a new group of people. And this is why it's some new faces and some ones, like I said, that maybe on first glance, you go, oh, I don't know if I would have put Kash Patel as my leading candidate for FBI director. But here we are.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and I think also, Professor, when you look at Tulsi's hearing today, there are clearly individuals within the intelligence community, even within senators on that panel, that are concerned about disruptors of the status quo. They are very pleased with the status quo, not recognizing the mandate of the American people to change, reform, refresh, and root out corruption. And Tulsi Gabbard brought the receipts. She went through in her opening statement. her priorities of the one two three four there are more than four bullet points of her just saying here's the things that americans are concerned about our intelligence community in deep state and we need to get to the bottom of this and if that falls on deaf ears of of any senator on that committee i think that they're in for a rude awakening when they run for re-election
SPEAKER 05 :
I think that's precisely correct. So President Trump has nominated individuals who will not back down, who will strongly enforce the law and the Constitution. And that is precisely what many of the senators are afraid of. They don't really want the Constitution interpreted fairly. They want inside information. They want to control the American people. So if you look at Pam Bondi, if you look at Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, and others, they are prepared to basically be incredibly transparent with the American people and to support their officials when they are right so for instance they are prepared to allow whistleblowers to move forward and i think that's a refreshing uh movement uh on on behalf of the american people absolutely and phone lines are open for you if you just heard that from professor hutchinson or any of the comments that we've had today i would love to hear from you and get your point of view kash patel tulsi gabbard this whole group what do you think 1-800-684-3110 you don't have to agree with us
SPEAKER 12 :
If you're respectful, I'm happy to take your question or comment. 1-800-684-3110. And a lot of you are just joining us right now. We're going to play a lot of clips coming up in the next segment as well as take calls. So you're going to see more from Tulsi's confirmation hearing, maybe some from Kash Patel's as well. Give us a call, though, if you want to be on the air. 1-800-684-3110. We'll do our best to get to you. Today, again, our colleague Tulsi Gabbard. You can't stress enough how important this is to us. She is a friend. She is a colleague. She's someone that we obviously have gotten along with for the last few years and have known her family for a very, very long time, decades and decades. So I encourage you to sign that petition to support Tulsi Gabbard and say a prayer for aclj.org slash sign, it's S-I-G-N, or scan the QR code right now that you see on the screen if you're watching, and you should be watching. Check us out, aclj.org. We'll be right back with your calls, comments, and more from the confirmation hearings. How are you? Good to hear from you. I'm glad America is back on the mend of being America again.
SPEAKER 06 :
And I hope that Tulsi Gabbard is nominated. Her military record speaks for itself. She has always defended the Constitution. And when Trump's time is done, I hope that she's the next president of the United States.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I think a lot of us probably couldn't agree with you more. She is someone who has shown a lot of courage and a lot of bravery and has, like they've said, gone through five FBI clearances already. The fact that her patriotism or loyalty has even been questioned is really a shame and a sham. But I want you to hear from her confirmation hearing because, John, you brought up that there's no real reason for her not to be confirmed. And thankfully, you have a senator like Ted Biden, North Carolina, who gives her that opportunity to even share that. So take a look. This, again, is a little bit of a longer clip, but I think it's important to set things up.
SPEAKER 07 :
Section 3023 of Title 50 states any individual nominated for appointment as DNI shall have extensive national security expertise. You served four terms as a member of the House of Representatives, which is a constitutional office. And throughout your tenure, you were a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee, is that correct?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, Senator.
SPEAKER 07 :
You also served over two decades in the US Army, including holding commands at multiple levels and served through administrations of both political parties, is that correct?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, Senator.
SPEAKER 07 :
Throughout your time in the U.S. House and in the Army, you've been both a consumer of intelligence and a policymaker. How important is it for the intelligence community to provide timely, relevant, factual, and objective intelligence to policymakers?
SPEAKER 02 :
Senator, it is nothing less than a matter of our national security. Too often in the multitude of intelligence failures that our country has seen, that objective has not been met. Now CIA Director Ratcliffe talked about in his testimony before this committee how The CIA's own internal metrics have shown that analytic objectivity has gone down within that organization. This is the very kind of thing that I would seek to address if confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, is ensuring that politics, biases, or personal views are checked at the door. I would lead by example by doing it myself, and ensuring that that intelligence analysis and reporting meets the objective that the President and Congress requires, which is no politics, no personal abuses, and making sure that that objectivity in a timely, relevant fashion is brought to the president so that we can get ahead of problems in ensuring our national security rather than being caught on our heels and being forced to respond to them.
SPEAKER 12 :
Again, another amazing response from Tulsi Gabbard, giving you a real reason to vote for her and hopefully ending some of this really slander that's going against her to try to get her not confirmed. And look, Will was just giving me some information, some data, some predictions that are happening just while that segment was happening, while we were just playing that clip. Right now, it is massively important for you to go sign that petition. at ACLJ.org slash sign to call your representatives to get involved in this. If you want to see Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence, I have no doubt that she will put the American people and your families first in terms of safety, security, and with all of our nation's, uh, sometimes best and worst kept secrets and to make sure that she, um, So right now, I encourage you just to do that. I think she's there for a very important reason, and we need her. So go to ACLJ.org and sign the petition.
SPEAKER 08 :
I want to highlight one thing she just said in that clip. The CIA's own internal metrics have shown that analytic objectivity has gone down within that organization. This is the very kind of thing I would seek to address if confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, ensuring that politics, biases, or personal views are checked at the door. Who in their right mind could disagree with that? Yet they are trying to go after her. Why? Because I think they're afraid of being forced to do their job objectively. That is terrifying when you think of our intelligence community fighting against someone when the own internal data show that their analytic objectivity is going down within the CIA. That is the opposite of what should happen in our intelligence community meant to keep us safe. The founders of this country would be mortified by hearing something like that. And then also seeing the attack from members of this bureaucratic deep state that the rumor the slander that is being fed to every publication that is printing it with anonymous sources printing or leaking with no real hard fact not even getting statements to the contrary journalistic malpractice they would be completely mortified the founders would of what is taking place today
SPEAKER 12 :
I think it's also important to play this clip from, this is Josh Hawley talking to Kash Patel during these hearings, because what is really cool to see in this moment, to be honest, we can at least end with some positivity, is that all the topics we talk about on this broadcast, whether it's the whistleblowers, whether it's pro-life activism, whether it's religious freedom or Christian representation, they're coming up in these hearings. And you're liking the answers. And it's been a little while since we've heard that. So I want to play this, bite 17. This is again, Kash Patel. First Josh Hawley, and then Kash Patel.
SPEAKER 11 :
Let me ask you this. Do you think it's appropriate for the FBI to target people of faith, particularly those who hold pro-life convictions? Do you think that it's appropriate for the FBI to single out and target people of faith in order to discourage the exercise of their first amendment rights?
SPEAKER 03 :
There can never be a targeting by law enforcement just based on their people's faiths.
SPEAKER 11 :
And yet under this last administration, The FBI and DOJ together brought numerous, numerous prosecutions under the FACE Act for nonviolent protests. President Trump has recently pardoned some of these folks, but it also includes individuals like Mark Houck from Philadelphia region, from Pennsylvania, who had an FBI SWAT team arrive at his door in the early hours of the morning, armed, of course, terrorizing him and his children, took him into custody. They charged him with a face act violation. Why? Because he took his young son to a peaceful demonstration outside an abortion clinic. When his young son was shoved to the ground, he defended him. Mark Houck was acquitted by a jury, acquitted. Nevertheless, The FBI used their full resources, including a SWAT team, to try and terrorize him. Meanwhile, how many churches that were firebombed or pregnancy care centers that were firebombed, how many of them were protected by the last administration? Just about zero. It is an unbelievable instance of targeting. Mr. Patel, will you end this targeting? If you get to the FBI, if you are confirmed, will you end it? And will you make clear to all agency personnel that there can be no targeting on the basis of religious belief and this will never happen again in the United States of America, at least not under your watch?
SPEAKER 03 :
Senator, if confirmed, and this speaks to an issue we were talking about earlier, there will be no such targeting if I'm confirmed as FBI director.
SPEAKER 12 :
Direct answers. There will be no such targeting if I'm confirmed as FBI director. And we obviously heard very similar things with Tulsi Gabbard. Did you meet with these people? No. And it's absurd. It's refreshing to hear those kind of answers. I'm going to ask you to put up the graphic right now to sign the petition. Because right now we've got 35 seconds. And I want to give you guys that opportunity to scan that QR code and do it right now. Because I think this is immensely important. Today, as I said, our colleague Tulsi Gabbard's hearing to be President Trump's Director of National Intelligence. You know, with the United States Director of National Intelligence, not just President Trump's. The deep state and the radical left have unleashed a firestorm of attacks on her. And we've got to help it. They even put her on the terror watch list as someone that's currently serving. We've been actively working on Capitol Hill to get her confirmed. I want you to join with us right now. Sign that petition. Scan the QR code, ACLJ.org. Talk to you tomorrow.
In this riveting episode, join Mike Gallagher and Mark Davis as they delve into the shocking recent events at the Reagan National Airport. The duo discusses the complexities surrounding the airport's precarious location and the political implications of such incidents. They reflect on personal experiences and pilot stories, providing an insightful backdrop to a tragic event that has left many questioning safety and politics in aviation.
SPEAKER 03 :
Mike Gallagher. Every day, Mike visits with Mark Davis, morning host on 660 AM, The Answer in Dallas. Here's today's M&M experience.
SPEAKER 05 :
Look, we got a lot to cover today. And of course, just our hearts are so heavy. We all went to bed last night with the grim, grim news that this unthinkable thing happened at Reagan. You know, I was obviously those of us went to the inauguration. We just went out in and out of Reagan. And you I know you've gone in and out of Reagan many, many times. There is an issue about its location, its proximity to the district, and how really harrowing every approach is into Reagan National. And it has to do largely with the lawmakers who love the airport being right where it is.
SPEAKER 04 :
It is a badly placed house. harrowing i don't say dangerous airport but it's it's it ain't ideal it'll never move because the other the other washington airport uh option is dulles which is 45 minutes out to the west which would make perfect sense but nobody in congress hello or anybody in the cabinet or anybody at the white house wants to schlep all the way out to dulles they want to go across the bridge and be at national in 15 minutes which you can do
SPEAKER 05 :
I was talking to my seatmate going into Reagan last week for the inauguration, and I said, now watch this approach. It's going to be really intriguing. And it is. They bank one way. We're going to get pilots on the show today as well. I'm going to catch up with my buddy Captain Will Smith of Will Smith Aviation here in Tampa Bay, Florida. He's gone in and out of Reagan many times. And your pilots, I've been listening to your pilots talking about their experience. And I've been struck about North Texas because, as I understand it, the community that Denise and the kids and I called home, Southlake, was largely built because of the presence of American Airlines at DFW.
SPEAKER 04 :
From Southlake to ULIS to, you know, DFW, I guess, kicked off circa 1971. The number of human beings that were going to be employed there, it is its own city. And so it, of course, affected development within a 10 mile radius, to be sure.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about the ugliness of this awful, awful catastrophe. And that is the politicization of an airplane crash. I mean, and look, our side isn't immune from it. Let's just stipulate we had people, we had knuckleheads on our side saying, oh, DEI, DEI in the control tower. Not the time. The bodies aren't even out of the river yet. And to weaponize an event like this, to try to score political points one way or the other, I'm not trying to be holier than thou, but knock it off. And, you know, from the Nashville journalist who was blasting Trump, and then he took the Post down to... What did he say?
SPEAKER 04 :
What are you talking about?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, same crap about Trump's policies, hiring freezes and all this nonsense. I mean, the man's been in office nine days. There's nothing Trump has done in a week and a half that could have anything to do with what happened last night.
SPEAKER 04 :
And yet, because I think you're going to go to one post and I'll let you share it because you very kindly attached me to it. And as an example of Trump hatred, making nice people mean and smart people stupid. But as I went to bed last night, I had a political thought of my own, and I had a thought about the aftermath of this under Trump and Pete Hegseth with the Department of Defense and Sean Duffy at Transportation, and I found myself grateful that we do have an administration that I believe in the fog of speculation and with the mystery of an impending investigation and so many questions, I have the confidence that we have an administration that will shoot straight with us, and that's confidence I have not had for four years. We talked about this a couple of days ago. It took Caroline Leavitt like 30 seconds at the thing to say, oh, the drones were totally ours, yet the FAA knew it, and they just didn't tell you. And why didn't they? And why didn't they?
SPEAKER 05 :
What could possibly – I'm not asking that as a rhetorical question. Why would they keep that from the American people? No. I mean, the Trump administration took five minutes to say, here's what this was. The Biden administration kept us in the dark. Why? Why?
SPEAKER 04 :
or anything that we learn that's nefarious or weird or strange. We have an open and transparent administration, at last, that will shoot straight with us. And now here's Mike with someone who feels differently. You want to go ahead? And I hate to give idiots like this attention.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I don't even like to give it a lot of oxygen. In fact, the problem is I'm really making some editorial decisions today. For example, when I take to the air with Salem News Channel and the video side of what we do, not unlike what we're doing right now on X, I refuse to let my team, play any video of the actual impact. And I thought about this when I went to bed last night, and I'll tell you why. Somebody's wife was on that plane. Somebody's husband, somebody's dad, son. There are loved ones. There are at least, it sounds like there are 68 souls that died that moment. I don't like playing that. I don't want to show that impact. I understand we are in the information business and we can analyze and we can break things down. But I told Christian, no video of the crash. Because of where it is, there are already tons of videos that have been released. You know, there was a webcam from the Kennedy Center. And admittedly, I will tell you, and you and I talked about this last night, One of the videos appears to show the helicopter streaking across the sky directly into the jet. Like one of your pilots said, you don't have a lot of leverage on how you're doing the approach. In fact, did the pilot, incidentally, quick diversion here, and pardon me for, I digress. Did the pilot tell you, I refuse to go in on runway 33?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, he said, I don't want to do 33 at Reagan National Park.
SPEAKER 05 :
They're allowed to do it. The pilots can do that?
SPEAKER 04 :
That's what I said. You get to wave off somebody.
SPEAKER 05 :
Wow, the power of pilots, too. Look, I don't want to question his veracity there, but that seems like a really hinky system. Well, I don't feel like flying in on runway 29 today. Give me 27. What? You go where they tell you to go or else you're going to have chaos.
SPEAKER 04 :
I don't quite understand that. I don't think you get to do it on the fly, so to speak, like with 30 seconds to spare, but maybe well in advance. Maybe he picks it out. On the imagery, you brought up something really important that I support you on 100%. Is such a video newsworthy? Of course it is. So if you have a news network, and obviously Salem News Channel is a news network, but we're running talk shows all day like yours and others, et cetera. So does it – is it –
SPEAKER 02 :
Hi, everyone. If you've been injured in an accident that was not your fault, listen up. We have legal professionals standing by to answer your questions for free. Call now and find out if you have a case and how much it's potentially worth. Call 800-702-5400. I'm here with spokesman John Wolf. So, John, tell everyone listening who should call right now.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, Maria, first off, thank you for having me here. It's always nice to answer the listeners' questions. Now, as far as who should call in, anyone who's been injured in an accident and think you deserve compensation, give us a call right now. 800-702-5400. You'll find out if you have a case and how much it's potentially worth.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks, John. You heard it, folks. Take advantage of this opportunity and call now. 800-702-5400.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
Is there justification in showing it on a CNN, a Fox News? Yes, there is. And for loved ones, I might say don't watch cable news because you might see your loved ones die on TV 14 times. Now, the thing is, though, however, but it's the decision you've made. Here we are morning after. You're showing B-roll alongside your discussions. Do you need to show it 35 times? No, you don't. And that is a very thoughtful and proper decision that you have made.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I'm also not going to play the interview, a heartbreaking interview. And I just got emotional when I saw this poor young husband who was interviewed by a reporter at Reagan who was getting texts from his wife on the plane moments before they landed. And he's showing the reporter her texts. And I thought, I can't even begin. Look... All of us have had loss in our lives. We've all experienced heartache. This poor guy is telling the reporter, I haven't heard anything. I hope they're pulling her out of the water. Now, I'm not going to exploit that. I'm just not going to play that. I told Christian, every day we go through a process of what videos we're going to show, what we're going to air, what we're not. I'm not airing that. Rightfully so.
SPEAKER 04 :
But I'm just not going to exploit it. I would throw in, as Journalism 101, I would throw in, does a reporter get to ask somebody that? Yes. Yes. And the guy, the guy with a loved one on the plane can say, you know, get lost. Or if he does talk to the cameras and the microphones, that is something you can run.
SPEAKER 05 :
But like you said, let's, but wait a minute, real quick, this let's stipulate. And you said something that's important. And I want to reiterate this. We're, we're kind of, we're different. We're a talk show. We do cover breaking news, what to make of it all. But it's our show, and we can make editorial decisions. And I'm just going to respect the families right now. There are 68 families right now that are going through the unimaginable, and I just want to respect that.
SPEAKER 04 :
And they deserve better than this. I'm not even going to mention the guy's name. He shows up on social media every once in a while. Shocker. Trump hater. So whatever. And shares this. Mm-mm. Needless to say, at a time like this, you really wish you had some confidence that the head of the DOD, Department of Defense, had some clue of how to lead an organization. A Blackhawk right on the Pentagon's back porch and in the approach path of a major domestic airport? We need answers. Shut up, you moron. Taking this moment to bag on what all Pete Hegseth has done is said, look— Prayers for everybody. We're going to get to the bottom of this. Investigation's underway, which is exactly the proper thing to do.
SPEAKER 05 :
It's the Mark Davis rule.
SPEAKER 04 :
Nice people get mean. Pray for people who are this bent. Pray for people whose petty, stupid political hatreds lead them to post garbage like this.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and they should largely be ignored. Yesterday, also in Washington, D.C., of course, Bobby Kennedy Jr. I've got a little bit of a different take than you do. I sense a little bit of reticence on your part. I thought he was spectacular.
SPEAKER 04 :
He was great. Oh, good, good. He batted it down with enormous skill. They tried to poke at him, and he was hitting home run.
SPEAKER 05 :
How about Bernie with the onesie? I know.
SPEAKER 04 :
Look at these onesies. It says, no vax, no problem. Do you support these onesies?
SPEAKER 05 :
Do you support the onesies? And Megyn Kelly was in the background. She was over Bobby Kennedy's right shoulder. And it was classic because you saw Megyn just laughing hysterically. Now, Bernie Sanders thought that was such a good idea. He had signs made and everything of the onesies.
SPEAKER 04 :
Do you like the onesies?
SPEAKER 05 :
Will you take these off the market? Will you take them off the market? My gosh. If that doesn't guarantee his confirmation, I don't know what does. But here's the problem. We're going to go back to Mitch McConnell. We're going to go back to Susan Collins. We're going to go back to Lisa Murkowski. And it's only going to take one more. And he doesn't make it. And that's going to be a big, big blow.
SPEAKER 04 :
And you know who it might be? Republican Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is a doctor. and has that doctor's ego thing going. And by the way, if you are a doctor, you deserve to have a pretty big ego. But this, I don't know. I think that I don't trust these people.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, but let's admit, doctors always have outsized egos.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know what? If you survive medical school and you have life, in fact, and pardon this quick aside, I mentioned The Pit, the show that's on, I don't know what, the PITT with Noah Wiley from ER. Oh, yeah. Third episode of that. It is so incredible and it gives you the thought, this is people's lives every day. Life, they save lives. They see life end. There's an older gentleman. Oh, please.
SPEAKER 05 :
I put my life on the line every day with this show.
SPEAKER 04 :
Come on. I'm risking life and limb. P-I-T-T. I think it's on HBO Max or some such. Noah Wiley. It is fantastic.
SPEAKER 05 :
And the Kennedy thing comes down to one thing. They just don't trust him on his vaccine skepticism. And he shares the same skepticism we all do. I did a thing yesterday. Should I get a flu shot or not? 98% of people on social media said it's got the mRNA.
SPEAKER 04 :
in it.
SPEAKER 05 :
You're going to have an eyeball. People don't like that, and I'm not getting it. You know what I did yesterday? I was in the chair. I got my IV treatment. I got my flu kicker.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
I'm in the red room.
SPEAKER 04 :
I got laser beams.
SPEAKER 05 :
I got laser beams. I got light. No, I'm not doing the flu shot. That's for me. But, you know, hey, like they say, my body, my choice.
SPEAKER 04 :
So you'll do that witch doctor chelation stuff, but no flu shot. And I'm kidding. I'm half kidding. Half kidding. You're half kidding.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, today, this week, we've got to get ready for Tulsi Gabbard. Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
The secret vote. How's that going to go?
SPEAKER 05 :
I think it'll be... I don't know. I got doubts about that. Kash Patel, get out the popcorn. What are your doubts about Tulsi's worthiness or doubts about whether she'll succeed? As I understand, the Tulsi Gabbard vote is the one that will be held in secret. Now, why that is, I don't quite fully understand that. But no one's going to have to answer whether they voted or not. Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
SPEAKER 04 :
I'd better know exactly how my senator and every senator deal on everything.
SPEAKER 05 :
We got a new administration with a ton of transparency, and you nailed it. Trump posted something on social media last night. It's like he's just like a guy. He's not the president. You talk about the people's president. I mean, we were all doing this, speculating about what did this look like. And that's what he did. He said the helicopter went straight for the plane, and why didn't it go up? Why didn't it go down? But that's a normal, average American asking, how could this happen? And it's our president. Sorry. We love that. We love that about him. So here we go. All right. Well, prayers out for everybody involved and the first responders who are doing an amazing job. So God bless them all.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. Hang in there, Mark. Appreciate you. Mike, show starts as soon as we're done at 10 right here on 660 AM. The answer.
SPEAKER 03 :
Download the podcast and hear all of Mike and Mark's conversations at MikeOnline.com for the M&M experience.
This episode also marks a pivotal conversation around the iconic Super Bowl halftime show as families nationwide anticipate a return to family-friendly entertainment. Engaging with state legislators and pro-family advocates, this dialogue highlights the influence of grassroots movements in prompting corporate responsibility and reassurance in American households. Tune in as Washington Watch continues to advocate for values that revolve around faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 01 :
From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 15 :
We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas, and I think we'll probably state those opinions now. Because over the years, I've watched as things like this happen and they say, well, we're always investigating. And then the investigation three years later, they announce it. We think we have some pretty good ideas. But we'll find out how this disaster occurred and we'll ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was President Donald Trump earlier today responding to last night's tragic collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter at Washington Reagan's National Airport. Welcome to Washington Watch, and thank you for joining us. Well, this morning, the rescue effort at the crash site shifted to a recovery mission after it was confirmed there were no survivors. Now the big question is, how did this happen?
SPEAKER 18 :
We are going to wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point, but to back up what the President said, what I've seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was newly confirmed. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaking earlier today. We'll get an update from Congressman Troy Nels of Texas. He's the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation. And for anyone who flies frequently in and out of Washington, it's obvious there are a lot of military helicopters in the air. But have they made the skies above D.C. too crowded? We'll discuss that with retired Air Force Brigadier General John Teichert later here on Washington Watch. Meanwhile, President Trump's nominee for FBI Director Kash Patel had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. The topic of government weaponization took center stage.
SPEAKER 08 :
And in many ways, the worst legacy, in my opinion, of the Biden administration. was the complete politicization and weaponization of both the Department of Justice and the FBI, turning them into tools to attack the perceived enemies of the Biden White House.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was Texas Senator Ted Cruz. We'll get reaction from Congresswoman Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, a member of the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. And amid ongoing news from the Middle East and the continuing war in Ukraine, there's been less focus on South Korea, where impeached President Moon Seok-yool faces charges of insurrection. Is South Korea's democracy at risk? We'll talk with Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former CIA Deputy Division Chief for Korea. And finally, as I mentioned yesterday, there's some encouraging news regarding the content of the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show. Louisiana State Senator Valerie Hodges will join us later to share the details. All of that and more coming up on this Thursday edition of Washington Watch. Be sure and check out the website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, if you've not yet downloaded the Stand Firm app, I encourage you to go to the App Store and get the Stand Firm app so you can take Washington Watch with you wherever you go. Well, there was quite a bit of fireworks today during the confirmation hearing for three of President Trump's most, I'd say, controversial picks for key roles in his administration. Among the issues that came up during the hearing for Trump's nominee for FBI Director Kash Patel was the weaponization of the federal government, which Democrats claim is what President Trump is threatening to do. But as Republicans have rightly pointed out, weaponization is what we saw from the previous administration under Joe Biden. And President Trump has made clear that he will not be continuing a weaponized DOJ. Well, that message doesn't appear to be getting through to Democrats. Here now to discuss the issues, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman. She serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. She represents the at-large congressional district of the great state of Wyoming. Congresswoman, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always good to see you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wonderful to see you, Tony.
SPEAKER 07 :
Before we get into the confirmation hearing and the president's executive order on the weaponization of government, I want to get your reaction to the tragic crash that took place in D.C. last night.
SPEAKER 02 :
It is absolutely heartbreaking. I flew out of DCA just a couple of hours before that to head home to Wyoming. One of the observations I had was looking out the window at the Potomac and thinking how absolutely frigid cold it looked with all the ice flows in it. And to hear about that last evening as I was driving from the Denver airport, again, it's just heartbreaking. My heart goes out to those families, to the teammates, to everyone who was affected by this terrible, terrible tragedy.
SPEAKER 07 :
I am pretty confident, as we've heard from the president, Sean Duffy, former colleague of yours, this is going to be thoroughly looked at. And I think it will be, given the fact that so many members of Congress fly in and out. And we've seen it. I mean, I'm flying it out every week. And you see the aircraft. It's a very crowded airspace. So I imagine that something is going to be done there. to deal with this. Let's talk about the weaponization. Let's first start. One of the first executive orders of President Trump was dealing with the issue of the weaponization of the federal government. Talk a little bit about that and how, given the position that you had on that weaponization committee, looking at all those issues, are we going to get a handle on this quickly?
SPEAKER 02 :
I've had a front row seat to see what happens when the federal government is weaponized against political opponents. We saw it play out in a couple of different ways under the Biden-Harris administration. One of them was the manner in which they charged and prosecuted the J6 folks, going after people who might have just simply walked through the Capitol, not even knowing that there were barricades up. and overcharging them dramatically. We know that because the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of many of the people who were charged, where the Biden-Harris administration was actually using a statute that was adopted to address the Enron situation of disposing of and destroying documents and records. And they used that as a way to try to enhance the sentences of the people on January—who were involved in anything associated with January 6. Then you contrast that with what happened in Portland, what happened in Minnesota during the summer of 2020, what happened in New York City. And the reason that I say you have to contrast it is, for one group of people that were disfavored by the Biden-Harris administration, they did everything they could to destroy them. For the people such as Antifa, the people who were involved in CHOP in Seattle and those kinds of things, they not only dropped charges or didn't bring charges in the first place, many of those people they settled with and paid them tens of thousands of dollars if they were at all inconvenienced at any time while they were burning down cities and causing billions of dollars of damage. If you look at what they did to President Trump, it's so clear in the cases in New York, Florida, and D.C. that the folks aligned with Biden and Harris and the Democrats, again, were using our justice system to go after a political opponent. As an attorney, as a long-term advocate for civil rights and civil liberties and adhering to our Constitution, I was pretty shocked to see how the government was weaponized as quickly as it was. When you look at the Russia, Russia, Russia collusion hoax and what the FBI did and their involvement and what the White House knew, in fact, they knew in August of 2016, before the 2016 election, that the Steele dossier was a hoax, that it was paid for by Hillary Clinton, that there was no validity to it. Yet they use the whole-of-government approach to get FISA warrants against the Trump team, to spy on them, to continue with an investigation against President Trump for a year-and-a-half under the auspices of claiming that he was conspiring with or colluding with the country of Russia to undermine America. I mean, all of these things together give you an idea of how weaponized the federal government became under the last administration.
SPEAKER 07 :
Congresswoman, I think it's been a process, because I think back into the 80s and 90s, where, even early turn of the century, where RICO statutes, which was, they were created back in the 1970s to go after the mob and racketeering, were used against pro-lifers. So I think, you know, those things were allowed to go forward, and I think it's kind of like the camel's nose under the tent. If you don't address it, it only gets worse.
SPEAKER 02 :
That's why I refer to what President Trump is doing as accountability. People want to say, well, he's going to weaponize this against his enemies, and Dick Durbin is saying that now. No, the people who engaged in this contact need to be held accountable for the decisions that they made. And so far, no one has been held accountable. One of the things that we did a lot of work on with the Select Committee on weaponization of the federal government related to the First Amendment and the mechanism that was used by Biden and Harris and their cohorts within that administration to stop us, the conservatives and Republicans, from being able to exercise their First Amendment rights. We know that from the Twitter files and the testimony of Matt Taibbi and Michael Schellenberger, what Professor Jonathan Turley has found. All of these things, all of these mechanisms by which the government was used to suppress the First Amendment rights, not only the freedom of speech, but as you point out, freedom of religion, using the FACE Act and literally turning it on its head and taking, you know, 72-year-old grandmothers who are praying outside of an abortion clinic and trying to throw them in prison for five years, not because that woman was any kind of a threat or violating anyone's civil rights, but for the purpose of making her as an example so that no one else would dare risk objecting to and fighting back against abortion. So that's what they did.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes. And that's probably the most chilling aspect of this is that it was designed, it was to shock others into silence so that they would not speak or challenge these policies. And that's what happened with the J6 folks and what they endured. But the EO, the executive order, is great. I mean, you look at it, it addresses this issue, but it's an executive order. It can be repealed by the next administration. Congress has to deal with this. Are your colleagues ready to statutorily deal with this so that the government cannot be weaponized in the future against the American citizen?
SPEAKER 02 :
So a couple of things. In some ways, we already have. So being on the Judiciary Committee, part of our jurisdiction was revising Section 702 of the FISA warrants. And so after we learned what the FBI was doing in collusion with the Hillary campaign, in going after the Trump campaign during the 2016 cycle, we made fundamental changes to Section 702 of FISA that makes it much more difficult for the FBI to be using that process, at least to be weaponized against us. So we've already started that process. And I agree with you that this is an executive order. To the extent that any of these executive orders should be turned into statutes, we are already working through that process. so that we can be introducing them. But the other thing that I think is going to happen over the next four years, Tony, is that we're going to see so much exposed. And I think it happened over the last year and a half. I think that the reason that Donald Trump won with the resounding victory that he did was that people were horrified at what had happened with our legacy institutions, with those institutions that all of us grew up revering and thinking, hey, maybe I want to go and work for the FBI. What has been exposed over the last couple of years and what will continue to be exposed, number one, will help us to draft better legislation and make sure it doesn't happen again. But the other thing we need to do is just simply enforce the Constitution as written. I have an absolute First Amendment right in speech, in press, to peaceably assemble to petition my government for redress and to exercise my religion as I see fit. And one of the things that I have done is I have introduced a bill called the First Amendment Restoration Act. It is patterned after a similar federal law that applies to states. But basically what it says is that any federal employee who under color of federal law violates someone's First Amendment rights, they can be held liable in damages. We can get injunctive relief and we can also seek attorney's fees. So that's one of the bills that I actually worked with Jonathan Turley and some of my cohorts on the bill. Judiciary Committee, that we're going directly at these things, that it will be very clear that if you violate the First Amendment and you are a federal employee, I can sue you personally. So that's the kind of legislation we're pushing forward with.
SPEAKER 07 :
Harriet, I want to help you with that. We need that. We need accountability. That is a means of accountability. We're out of time, but always great to see you. Thank you so much for joining us today. And we look forward to working with you to protect that first freedom and to get rid of the weaponization of our federal government. All right, folks, we're going to look at South Korea next. The crisis there. Don't go away.
SPEAKER 17 :
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, D.C., 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 03 :
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 07 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you on this Thursday afternoon. The website, TonyPerkins.com, but better yet, get the Stand Firm app. And by the way, on the app, we have our first 100 Days Toolkit. That will enable you to engage in the process of helping correct some of the things that have happened in the last four years. There'll be action items. You'll have contact information for your member of Congress and your senators. You can find it, and it'll keep you up to date on what's happening. So you can get it on the app or just text the word TOOLKIT to 67742. That's TOOLKIT to 67742. All right. We're waiting for our guest. I've been tracking what's been happening in South Korea. South Korean President Eun Suk-yool shocked the world when he declared martial law in his country, a move widely condemned as an abuse of power. Now, that set off a political firestorm that has only grown more intense. Well, on Saturday, the impeached president was then indicted on charges of leading an insurrection. Now, A lot of stuff sounds very familiar, does it not? And this guy, he's kind of a conservative. And it's been the moderates, the liberals that have been opposing him in South Korea. Well, this ongoing political turmoil in South Korea has raised serious concerns about the stability of one of America's key allies. I mean, their democratic form of government is relatively new going back to the 1980s. And so it has some asking, can South Korea's democratic government And it's an important question because they're a stabilizing force there in that region of the world. All right, while we're waiting for a guest, I'm going to go to Meg Kilgannon, Senior Fellow for Education Studies here at the Family Research Council. She's been tracking a number of the confirmation hearings as we're watching these go through the process. And so I'm going to bring her in. Meg, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you.
SPEAKER 11 :
Great to be here, Tony.
SPEAKER 07 :
Let me continue my conversation I was having with Congresswoman Harriet Hageman regarding the – weaponization of government. Today, Kash Patel had his confirmation hearing in the Senate. This issue factored in very heavily, and Harriet made reference to this. This is what was brought up in the committee, that President Trump simply wants to weaponize government to be used against the left. How do we prevent this tit for tat, back and forth?
SPEAKER 11 :
Right. Well, I think that the problem with that analysis is that you're assuming that what happened the previous four years to former President Trump and people who had worked for him was not the weaponization of government. and that it was in fact perfectly legal behavior and something to be proud of, whereas we know that it was illegal behavior that has consequences. And so when you're enforcing consequences on people who've behaved badly, that doesn't mean you're weaponizing the government against them. It means that they are paying the price for the mistakes that were made. very grievous mistakes that have repercussions across the entirety of society. I mean, everything that was done to those folks that were serving in political power could be done to you or me.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. But does it also kind of reveal with the Democrats the – They're kind of projecting. I mean, this is what they did when they had power. So they're just assuming that Donald Trump's going to do the same thing. Republicans will do the same thing. This is what they did.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right. I think you're seeing the trouble they're having sort of getting their foothold in this new paradigm since the big Republican win in November and this shock and awe campaign we're seeing from the White House and the executive branch. The Democrats are not responding, I think, very well. responding in their usual fashion, but it's not meeting the moment, right? People see through this now.
SPEAKER 07 :
So we're going to see a course correction. I mean, we've already seen the president in his executive order on January the 20th regarding the weaponization of federal government, the personnel that he is appointing. But how can the people that were targeted by the DOJ under the Biden administration and the victims of the weaponization of the federal government, how can they be made whole?
SPEAKER 11 :
Right. This age old question, where do I go to get my good name back? Right. It's it's there. These are these are crimes against people that are hard to to to really make right. And so I think maybe that is part of the reason why the other side is so focused on it. They understand on a primal level the grievous wrongs that were done, and they're probably operating out of a sense of fear that they will be held accountable for what they did.
SPEAKER 07 :
Meg, we've got our guest now to talk about South Korea. So unless you want to talk about South Korea, I'll let you.
SPEAKER 11 :
I can't wait to hear the guest.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. All right. Meg Kilgannon, thanks so much for joining us. All right. Do we have him now? Okay. All right. So we don't have it. Okay. All right. This is the joys of live programming. So we're going to see if we can get connected with him. There's some issues there with our connections. But again, let me jump back here to South Korea. When we look at the parallels, we talked about this a while back when this was first unfolding, but it's continued. And we need to be aware, especially when you look at South Korea's spiritual history and the vibrancy of the church and what's been happening over there, and then all of a sudden it just began to implode. And The conservative, progressive, liberal, whatever you want to call it, leftist, have been fighting and taking their fragile democratic government really to the edge. And so anyway, it's something I think we need to keep an eye on while we're looking at domestic issues, looking at issues in the Middle East and elsewhere. All right. We're almost out of time in this segment. And when we come back, we're going to talk about some good news. All right. You want some good news? Good news is that the NFL is responding to a group of pro-family leaders and legislators from the state of Louisiana regarding the halftime show in the upcoming Super Bowl. So we're going to be joined by state senator, Louisiana State Senator Valerie Hodges next, to share their response to this letter and a commitment. We'll see if they hold to that commitment. But nonetheless, they're listening. We could be in a moment of sea change where we see a lot of things shifting. All right, don't go away. We're back with more Washington Watch after this.
SPEAKER 06 :
Have you ever been to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.? Well, now you have a special reason to be there on Wednesday, February 5th. First, 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.
SPEAKER 12 :
Forgive our nations against you and you alone have we sinned.
SPEAKER 06 :
You can be there in the room to pray along with members of Congress, dignitaries from other nations, and Christian leaders from across the U.S. The NGPR is hosted by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and Dr. Jim Garlow, founder of Well-Versed World, along with Rabbi Jonathan Cahn and former Congresswoman Michelle Buchman. Right after the prayer and repentance gathering, participants will move to the World Stage Theater for a private update on important events happening in Israel. and watch a preview of the historic new documentary on the Megiddo Mosaic, the most remarkable archeological find in Israel since the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is truly one of a kind opportunity to learn what's going on behind the scenes in Israel and how it could affect the whole world. Both of these Bible honoring events require tickets. Go to PrayDC.org, register today to attend in person on February 5th. As a bonus, your ticket grants you a free admission to experience the rest of the Museum of the Bible. Seating is limited for both events. Go to PrayDC.org to get tickets today.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you with us on this Thursday. Well, in just 10 days, the Super Bowl will be in New Orleans. And this year, there's some good news for families across the country. After concerns were raised over past halftime performances featuring explicit content, event organizers have confirmed that the Super Bowl, Super Bowl 59, their halftime show will be a family-friendly event. So will this be the year that families won't have to switch the channel when it's halftime? Could this be a pivotal point going forward for the Super Bowl? Joining me now to discuss this, Louisiana State Senator Valerie Hodges, who led Louisiana lawmakers and pro-family groups in addressing this issue to get this commitment. Senator Hodges, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thank you for having me, Tony. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. So it's always good to have some good news. Tell us about the response that you received to the letter.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, we got a I didn't know whether to really expect a response or not. We sent the letter on the 16th and all the press releases went out on Monday and they were very quick to respond. After that, we got a letter from Jay Cicero saying, who is the CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation. And he issued a statement in response to the letter that I was very, very excited about and impressed by. And I don't know if you want to read the response, but I have it in front of me. No, go ahead and read it, Valerie. Okay, it says, he wrote, we respect and value the comments of our legislators who play a critical role in our ability to secure large events, providing an economic boost to our city and our state, Cicero said. We have shared the letter with the NFL, and we are all in agreement that this year's halftime show will be a family-friendly event befitting New Orleans' storied history hosting Super Bowls. And I was very, very pleased with that. He recognizes that the legislature does contribute greatly to this event and that we're all excited about the event being here in Louisiana and that it should be a family-friendly event. And he agreed that the NFL would do something about it. So we'll see.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I know it's a trust but verify as we look at this. But it's encouraging that they responded to it. There's recognition there's a problem. They're now on the record saying that we want to see this as well. And, of course, we also know I've been in touch with the the head of the Louisiana State Police, as well as the attorney general in Louisiana. And they are going to be watching a lot of the, whether or not laws are violated. They're also going to be addressing the issue that you and I talked about earlier in the week, and that was the issue of human trafficking, which is at its peak around such events as the Super Bowl.
SPEAKER 13 :
Correct. And I thought... the quote that was released was through the Louisiana Illuminator. And I posted the response from Mr. Cicero and the link to the article from the Louisiana Illuminator on my Facebook. It's Valerie Hodges State Senate page. And I want to ask your listeners to go to that and look at it, read the letter, read the response. And the article was really a good article. And they even referenced at the end the fact that the NFL and Roger Goodell still, They signed a contract last year with, I think, I don't remember, J.C., J.Z., that was accused of rape. And I don't know where that court case is. But these are not issues that we can any longer ignore. We've seen the issues that are going on across the nation with the... with P. Diddy, I'll just say it. And so this is not appropriate behavior, and it's certainly not appropriate behavior at one of the largest sports venues in the nation of the year. And so that's what we're hoping, that they will take the letter into account and make some changes. And that's all we're asking is family-appropriate halftime shows.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. I mean, everybody's watching a sports event, and next thing you know, you've got a script show. The good thing about this, you pointed out, when you look at everything that's happening across the country, is that you have... Corporate America is taking note of the last election. They've been taking note of the grassroots efforts pushing back against their woke DEI policies. And so I think sports is not immune from that. They've been bitten by that as well. And I think when you look at this in context... It was a great time to weigh in and ask for them to clean up their act because I think that's the moment we are in. So hopefully this will not just be for this Super Bowl, but maybe we change and raise the standard going forward.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I believe that, Tony, and it's time for our voices to be heard. And they've been, a few have spoken up, I think, even though, so many people told me, I'll never watch the halftime shows. I'm not even going to watch the Super Bowl anymore. Well, that affects their advertisers. The advertisements, the... the ads are great, that they spend a lot of money. But then when people turn off the television or they switch the channel, that's hurting their viewers, their viewership and the advertiser. So I'm hoping they take this into account. This is not a small handful of people. Everywhere I go in the last this last week, people have come up to me, gone out of their way to thank me for the letter and say because they said, thank goodness somebody is saying what we all feel. And there's And that's the thing, that when you have got 18 legislators, you have got national groups like your group, other groups, statewide groups, local groups, this is a large majority of people who are expressing the same thing. And, hopefully, they are listening, according to what Mr. Cicero said, and that they have agreed to make it family-friendly. And this is what America wants. This is who we are. We are people of dignity. And I believe we have moral values. And there are places to go if you want to see a strip show or pole dancing. But the Super Bowl is not the place to do that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, let's play football. All right, Valerie Hodges, thanks for joining us. Great to see you. Good work.
SPEAKER 13 :
Good to see you, too.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, folks, coming up next, we'll discuss the latest developments following the Reagan Airport disaster last night. So stay tuned. Don't go anywhere.
SPEAKER 04 :
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 07 :
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 10 :
This is not an interreligious 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 09 :
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 04 :
The 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 07 :
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 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 you know, the Bible talks about four institutions of government. You know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this saying 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 05 :
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 07 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Be sure and get your first 100-day toolkit. You can get it by texting TOOLKIT to 67742. Our word for today comes from Jeremiah chapter four, where Jeremiah reflects upon the prophetic message he has received. Oh my soul, my soul, I am pained in my very heart. My heart makes a noise in me. I cannot hold my peace because you have heard, oh my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried for the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered and my curtain in a moment. As followers of Christ, if we are following him and we are in his word, we will see the words of warning from the Lord unfolding right before our eyes. It is a burden to see and it should grieve us to see the steady drumbeat of our nation marching toward destruction because of our rejection of God and his word. Understand the reality of hell as the coming judgment for all who do not repent. We should be motivated to issue the same warnings as Jeremiah with passion. Repent and return to the Lord. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. That's Bible to 67742. Recovery operations are underway now following last night's mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight from Kansas, which killed all 67 people aboard both aircrafts. At least 28 bodies, including all three soldiers who were on the helicopter, had been recovered from the icy waters of the Potomac River near D.C. when the collision took place last night at 8.48 p.m. Eastern. Now, many right now are searching for answers in what do we know so far and what steps can be taken to prevent something like this from occurring again. Joining me now to discuss this, Congressman Troy Nels, who serves on the Judiciary Committee as well as the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where he is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation. He represents the 22nd District of Texas. Congressman Nels, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thank you, Tony. Good to be with you.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. So what's the latest? What do we know regarding this incident that occurred last night?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, we know that there are still recovery operations continuing. You know, you had 67 lives lost, and we need to make sure that we can account for each and every one of those individuals. We know that the NTSB, they've been on the ground within a few hours of this taking place last night. I believe they're up to almost 44 people or so from the NTSB is assisting first responders and others, but they will also be the lead investigative group in this crash. So we know that there are dive teams there. The FBI has sent their response team. There are dive teams there trying to recover the black boxes You know, there's two black boxes on that aircraft. There's the data recorder and then there's the cockpit voice recorder trying to get those two black boxes recovered. And I know that the NTSB has received what they'll call like a full package, a full ATC package, which is the air traffic controller. So all the communications prior to the crash and moments after the crash are all in the hands of the NTSB, and they'll be doing their investigation. I had a briefing with them, and Chairman Graves, he's the chairman of the full Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. We had a briefing with NTSB a few hours ago, and they informed us on the most current information, and it's just, you know, very, very sad. when you see what took place. And now the real question is, you know, the NTSB report, how long will it take for them to, you know, to conduct an investigation and what kind of findings will there be. But I just, I encourage the NTSB and FAA to make sure that, you know, they have accurate information. It's all factual. And then we will look at that information and see if it leads to any type of recommendation. But that's what we have up to this point.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's been nearly two decades since we've had an air disaster such as this right here in our nation's capital. I would assume, being that so many in Congress are flying that same route, each week. And the skies in D.C. have become more crowded. We're seeing a lot of military aircraft, a lot of commercial aircraft. I would think all of those things are going to be looked at by members of Congress because they want to make sure that this is, in fact, made safe again.
SPEAKER 14 :
Sure. I do it every week. I fly out of Houston, Intercontinental, and I got a direct flight right into D.C.A., so I'm very familiar. with that route. They're very familiar with that airport. And so we'll have to wait. A lot of people coming up with their own opinions as to whose fault, pointing fingers, this and that. I think that's, I want to just say, maybe a little irresponsible at this time. We have to give the NTSB an opportunity to look at everything, come up with a report. And And speaking to them earlier today, they stated they could have a preliminary report, possibly within 30 days. So I think that's a step in the right direction. I don't want to see something like this be drug out where we don't know anything for 18 months, because I don't think President Trump is going to want that. He's going to want a very thorough, deliberate investigation into this. I believe that President Trump would want to have some answers and then to try to rectify any type of issues going forward to make sure something like this never happens again.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I would imagine that he's going to be pushing for that report very, very soon. Congressman Troy Nels, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate you joining us by phone. Great to talk with you.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thank you. God bless you.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. Congressman Troy Nels of Texas, 22nd District. And I want to continue this discussion on last night's tragedy that took place. As Troy was saying, he flies it. I fly it every week almost as well. Same route as I fly from my home state of Louisiana into D.C. And, you know, you can't help but see the military aircraft that's around. There's a lot of it. It's also just the slightest weather issue backs up the traffic because it is so heavy coming into Reagan National. So what do we need to be looking at here? And if you look at some of the video, it looked very odd from the helicopter that collided with the jet. Joining me now to discuss this, retired Air Force Brigadier General John Teichert. He was a former command pilot with more than 2,000 hours and 38 different aircrafts. As a distinguished military career, General Teichert retired as the Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs. General, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 16 :
Tony, thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 07 :
So what can, I know you've been discussing this with others, your contacts. What can you tell us that you have learned so far from last night's crash?
SPEAKER 16 :
Tony, very clearly there was a breakdown in deconfliction between the airliner and the helicopter. And normally when that happens, it's due to some sort of confusion or breakdown in communication. And as these mishap investigation boards stand up, one from the NTSB, one from the Army, They're going to be gathering the information. Part of that will be collecting the full tapes of the air traffic control transmissions over the course of that flight. And then those black boxes, or flight data recorders, are going to have information about what was being discussed within both of those cockpits. And I think the breakdown and deconfliction is going to tend back to a root cause of confusion or lack of communication that those pieces of evidence will help sort to reveal.
SPEAKER 07 :
JOHN YANG What do we know about the Black Hawk helicopter? What was its mission? What was it doing?
SPEAKER 16 :
Tony, any helicopter pilot that flies within the D.C. area has special training and qualifications because it is such a congested and highly prescripted area based on national security concerns. But any helicopter that flies is either performing or training to perform one of three primary missions, distinguished visitor transport. protecting Washington, D.C., from the air or responding to a national emergency. In this particular case, the Black Hawk crew was training for one of those mission sets. And in order to train, you need to fly in the airspace in a realistic way. And that's what they were doing last night.
SPEAKER 07 :
Have you seen the video that was caught that you just see the lights? It was a clear night, as the president pointed out, that you can see. And it just appears that the helicopter just flew right into the airplane. It is.
SPEAKER 16 :
That aircraft was on a very predictable, slow and vulnerable part of its approach from the south to the north at DCA. And clearly that helicopter, for whatever reason, did not see that aircraft, was not provided deconfliction help by air traffic control. And you're right. You see a very fast vector from the left to the right that slams the helicopter into the aircraft that initiated this tragedy.
SPEAKER 07 :
Have the skies over our nation's capital become too congested?
SPEAKER 16 :
It is worth the discussion, Tony. And several legislatures have had this discussion already as the number of flights out of DCA grows. And you think about those number of flights and then all of the helicopter traffic that is only there for first response law enforcement or military purposes. But it is such a tight area of airspace because of the population and the limits based on national security that it is worth having a full discussion about whether there is too much traffic in and out of DCA and to reassess the processes, procedures and techniques of military and law enforcement aircraft to make sure that there's no unnecessary missions going on in that airspace.
SPEAKER 07 :
So, General, as you point out, the three reasons for them to be flying missions there are, We've seen an increase in the commercial air traffic because every time the FAA is reauthorized, we see more slots created for D.C. because it makes it convenient for those of us who fly into D.C., for members of Congress. But also, we live in a different time. Increasingly, the security threats to our nation's capital have increased. So is that also a part of... creating a greater need for those assets to be in the air in our nation's capital.
SPEAKER 16 :
Tony, part of the answer is yes. But we have two very capable airports in the D.C. area, one up in Maryland, BWI, one out at Dulles, that could handle some of this traffic. And we need to be careful that we're not trading in convenience and creating risk like seemingly happened last night. And, you know, the investigators First, we will preserve perishable evidence. Second, they will figure out what happened. But, most importantly, they will get to the root cause of why it happened, so that we can update procedures, policies, techniques and airspace, so that nothing like this happens again. That's their primary charge. And I think part of that assessment is going to be air traffic control and the amount of volume of traffic both at DCA and those other missions around the D.C. area.
SPEAKER 07 :
Now, I know no one wants to jump to conclusions on this because there is an investigation, and I'm sure it will be thorough. Again, I think this will be investigated very, very closely because it is in our nation's capital, and so many members of Congress are directly touched by this. But some have said, and there's certainly reason and justification to say it, that when you look at both the commercial, the FAA, and you look at the military, there's been such a misplaced focus on non-essential services. skill sets, DEI, that it could distract from the necessary training that is needed to make people proficient in their jobs. Is that justified?
SPEAKER 16 :
Tony, I have seen some of that distraction in the DOD during the last four years. And we see now a president and a secretary of defense who are insisting that we get back to a constitutionally grounded, mission-focused, merit-based system within the national security sphere. And we heard some of that from the president about air traffic controllers as well. And we think about how diversity has been elevated during the last four years to the sacrifice of unity and shared purpose. And I have seen many in the military who have lamented the fact that we have drifted away from the focus that the military is there to be lethal and ready because of all these other distractive elements. And now it is very welcome amongst the vast majority of the military members to get back to a focus on the mission and a focus back on merit-based elevation.
SPEAKER 07 :
General Teichert, it's sad that it requires a tragedy to bring us back to focus on what is essential. I mean, I can cite several recent examples going back to July of this last year, President Trump nearly then died. former President Trump, nearly assassinated because there was issues in the Secret Service. We're looking at California that's been on fire because their fire department looked at DEI as opposed to fighting fires. And now we see, and I hope it's not the case, but there's enough to point to it that that's probably a contributing factor to what happened last night.
SPEAKER 16 :
Tony, I think you're right. And I think the breakdown in law enforcement in New Orleans over New Year's is one of those same types of situations where when you focus on things other than the mission, then you're naturally going to have the opportunity cost where you are less professional, less capable and less able to handle the situations that are demanded by the mission. And we see it in a variety of areas in our country. And I really do hope, whether you take that away from this accident or not, that we recognize that institutions are there to accomplish a mission. And when you don't focus on that mission, then there are harms that will result from the distraction that is a part of those lack of focus and lack of unity.
SPEAKER 07 :
It unfortunately is the reality. It just is. General Teichert, I want to thank you for joining us and appreciate your insights on this.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thanks as always, Tony.
SPEAKER 07 :
And folks, that's another matter of prayer. We just need to be praying that our nation would move back to operating in truth, common sense, constitution, truth, so that the mission of our government becomes its focus, its real mission is its mission. Right, out of time for today. Thanks for joining us. Until next time, I leave you once again with the encouraging words of 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, and when you've taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 01 :
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.
Join professional money manager Bill Gunderson in this episode of the Best Stocks Now show as he dives into the latest market movements following the recent Fed decision. With insights from chartered financial analyst Barry Kite, the discussion provides an overview of how tech giants like Tesla and NVIDIA are performing amidst market volatility. From Bitcoin surges to the impact of Europe's interest rate cuts, Bill wraps the latest economic indicators affecting the market. He takes us through the strategic implications of past sell-offs and the potential opportunities they present for astute investors, offering a seasoned perspective on navigating current market trends.
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 Thursday edition of the Best Docs Now show with professional money manager Bill Gunderson, president of Gunderson Capital Management, a nationwide fee-based only firm. And I'm here with Barry Kite, our chartered financial analyst. And the day after the Fed decision and the many earnings reports after the close tomorrow, We have at least a green day so far. Not big, but some stocks doing better than others. The Dow right now is up 83 points, IBM helping the Dow. The Dow is at 44,796, and it is running into that resistance level, that ceiling of around 45,000 once again. We'll see if it can break on through to the other side or if it's going to bump its head on that ceiling and back down like it did last time. The S&P is up 16 points. It's also running into resistance here. It's at 6,055. The NASDAQ is up just 16 points. Microsoft hurting the NASDAQ today. And ServiceNow also hurting the NASDAQ today. But Tesla and Meta giving a boost to the NASDAQ. The NASDAQ is at 19,644. Small caps are up 30 points, having a good day.
SPEAKER 06 :
Energy through the roof again as well.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, the interest rate's down a couple of basis points after a soft GDP report, which we'll get to here in a minute. And our favorite commodity, our favorite asset class, Bitcoin right now, was at 104,000, 104,000, just a little over that. So welcome to today's Best Stocks Now show with professional money manager Bill Gunderson. Actually, Bitcoin is now up 3,819 to 106,091. And looking back on Monday's deep seek sell-off, deep sell-off, probably the worst sell-off I've seen in tech so far. In the 25 years I've been in the business, except for those years back in 2020, 2000, that's 25 years ago when the NASDAQ took a beating. Bitcoin at 106.091. Monday, if you're looking back on that day.
SPEAKER 06 :
And the market's bigger now. The market's bigger now. I mean, you trimmed a trillion dollars off of the market, which most of that was likely would be in the tech world on that day. So it was a pretty brutal Monday.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I mean, looking back, that was a big buying opportunity. NVIDIA hasn't done so well, but the nuke stocks are roaring back.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, the other names around the story, that's kind of what's interesting when I look at it, and you've kind of hinted at it a couple of times in your notes where NVIDIA really hasn't bounced back, but all the other names that were kind of affected and rattled that day have bounced back.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, they're bouncing back. It was a buying opportunity once again, and every sell-off in big tech in recent years has been a buying opportunity, but not for all stocks. It's still on a stock-by-stock basis, but it was an interesting day. The market was on hold all day. I twiddled my thumbs until about 2 p.m. We got what we expected, I would say, from the Fed. No change. even though Europe lowered their interest rates today by a quarter of a point. They need to. They have sluggish growth. And Canada, I think, also lowered their interest rates, but not Jerome Powell. He's still a little bit hawkish on inflation, despite rents going down. I guess it's that bacon, the bacon factor, bacon and eggs factor that's hitting the inflation equation. Yesterday, We kind of had a muted response, pretty much a down response to Powell's press conference where he hinted at, you know, I don't look for any rate cuts in the near future, even though he's going to be pressured by Trump on that. And also he's going to be pressured by other countries around the world. Cutting rates. Okay, we woke up to a tragedy. You never know what you're going to wake up to. A commuter jet, American Airlines landing at RFK. Is it RFK Airport in Washington, D.C.? I think it was. RFK Senior. And crashing into the Potomac River, killing everybody on board. Hit by a Sikorsky Blackhawk helicopter. Very strange accident. It's like... The Sikorsky either hit them on purpose or just never saw them. We had an accident like that in San Diego many years ago that I witnessed. We were driving on the freeway, my brother and I, when a small plane, a PSA jet, bigger than a commuter jet, hit that small flight training Cessna airplane. And man, that thing went straight down right into a neighborhood. That was probably in the early 90s, I'm going to say. So anyways, that's not good news. Trump's a little bit upset about it. It should have been avoided, and there will be a full investigation into that. Another thing that came out of Powell's speech is something I've been saying for a long time. In fact, my first commentary on 2025 was how expensive the market was. especially given the fact that the NASDAQ has gone from a P.E. ratio of 20 to a P.E. ratio of 35 since we put out that buy signal, which we still have, by the way, on the NASDAQ. We put it out on January 6, 2023, after that pause in the NASDAQ. Powell said asset prices are elevated by many metrics, with a good part of that due to AI and tech, and he's exactly right there. I publish that in the newsletter every week, the S&P 500. What are the four metrics that everybody looks at? Price to sales, price to earnings, price to forward earnings, price to cash flow, and to some extent, price to book value. And by any one of those measures, we're at very, very high numbers. Now, we had a lot of earnings come in last night. Tonight, it's going to be Apple and Intel, a couple of sluggish stocks. hoping to change their trajectories. I don't give either one much hope, however, but we'll see what comes in. Last night we had IBM, we had Tesla, we had Meta, we had Microsoft, we had ServiceNow, and we're going to go into those earnings on every single one. I sent out an X message this morning. I've got to fit about three hours' worth of news into one hour, Barry, today, so I'm highly caffeinated, so let's not worry about that, okay? GDP growth, okay, that's helping the bond market, and I think it's helping the stock market because it cooled off to 2.3% in Q4, weaker than expected. And, you know, what the Fed is trying to avoid with the high interest rates is a slowing of the economy. And while that's not a big slowing, it did miss the 2.4 number. But let's compare our number, okay? 2.3% is what our annual growth should be. And I would expect that to rise under Trump.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think the new Treasury Secretary mentioned he's targeting 3%.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, good. That's best.
SPEAKER 06 :
Which is a healthy growth rate. Healthy growth rate, not too hot, not too cold.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now let's look across the pond in Germany where it's 0.2%, hardly anything. And France actually shrinks in Q4. So, you know, they still have their very, very sluggish growth in Europe. And they kind of continue in the trajectory that America was on under the Biden administration. Europe is ahead of us on all that stuff. And, I mean, there's been some attempts at a reversal of the policies, the heavy regulations, et cetera. But they still remain under regimes that are pretty much, you know, climate change and regulations. And it shows up. There's absolutely no growth over there at all. Initial jobless claims retreat in the past week, clear down to 207K. Wow.
SPEAKER 06 :
How about that number, 207,000?
SPEAKER 05 :
That's the lowest I've seen in a long time. That is a bellwether, and it is an indicator of where our jobs market is right now.
SPEAKER 06 :
I mean, it's hard for your economy to fall off a cliff, right, with numbers like this. And so, I mean, that's why kind of that long-term, you know, this long-term trend is expected to continue, you think, at least the status quo at the moment.
SPEAKER 05 :
And let's not forget the consumer. 32% rise in same-store sales at Chili's. That's just incredible. I mean, they haven't added any stores, right?
SPEAKER 06 :
I haven't made them any promises that we're getting over there yet.
SPEAKER 05 :
I'm waiting for you. I think I might have to go there myself tonight and see what the buzz is.
SPEAKER 06 :
We'll have to go catch a hockey game over there and swing by Chili's. I think that's where the closest one is. There's not one very close to where we are, surprisingly enough.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, and then the other thing, going back to Europe, the U.K., which is the other big economy over there. France, Germany dominate. U.K. is a big economy, too. They say that the public interest is more important than private interest due to climate change, and they rejected two massive projects in the North Sea for oil drilling. So climate change still drives their agenda, and oil prices and gasoline prices will remain high in Europe. And looking back here to the second quarter of today's Best Docs Now show, I want to go back to this story here right before we went to the break. The U.K. court on Thursday blocked the U.K.' 's two biggest offshore oil and gas developments from producing any fossil fuels, ruling that the private interest of members of the public in climate change outweigh the private interest of the developers involved. Well, it's hard to argue that the members of the public don't get some interest and some benefits from cheaper oil prices and more abundant energy prices. But the court has ruled, ruling by the Scotland's top civil court, overturned licenses granted to Equinor and Ithaca Energy and Shell, And the bad thing is, I mean, these companies were granted licenses, and they've been going full speed ahead on the jacked off.
SPEAKER 06 :
They've been making investments. I mean, they've been spending capital for this to occur, and then you pull it out from under them for whatever reason. I mean, what have we been saying? U.S. innovates, the Chinese, what is it, replicate?
SPEAKER 05 :
Counterfeit.
SPEAKER 06 :
And, of course, Europe regulates.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, they've spent $2.8 billion on these projects, and they're making big progress. And a judge in Scotland in the court comes in and shuts it completely down. So that's, you know, the tale. We've gone the other direction here in the U.S., and obviously right before Trump took office, You know, Biden closed down the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean for any exploration. Okay, here's your biotechnics today.
SPEAKER 06 :
That would be known as sunk cost now, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. They'll have to write it off. T-E-C-X, tectonic therapeutics. It was not in my app. It is in it now out of Watertown. Massachusetts jumps on positive data from early stage trial for lead asset pulmonary hypertension is what they're working on. Pulmonary hypertension, which I had on Monday, by the way. After that deep seek news, I had pulmonary hypertension. But hopefully Tectonic can help me out with it. This stock is up 94% today. So we've added it to the app. That's one that slipped by.
SPEAKER 06 :
That'll give you hypertension, too, just in a good way, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
That's a good deal there.
SPEAKER 06 :
Excitement, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, a couple, you know, and this baffles me, too. I don't understand why NVIDIA's stock is trading so poorly. And it's trading poorly. And a lot of times, you know, the chart knows. The chart tells the truth, what the public or what the investors really think out there, the big guys think. And it's really a dull, sideways chart.
SPEAKER 06 :
Leverage. I mean, you've got to think. I was thinking about this a couple of days ago. If somebody had NVIDIA, one of those two times or even three times ETFs, I mean, you have a three-time ETF and the stock is, what, down 20%, 22% at one point?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, that thing got murdered on Monday.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and that's capital that just disappears. And so now, okay, you sell out. Well, maybe you buy one share of NVIDIA next time instead of times three. But to me, I think probably some leverage in that whole space got kind of obliterated for a bit.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, former CEO of Intel, Pat Gelsinger, uh has been buying nvidia and he said his comments are i don't understand why people are selling in their nvidia stock he countered with the news that this is more boom than a bus for ai stock and uh computing obeys the gas law he says that means it fills the available space as defined by available resources And he thinks it's a very bullish development for NVIDIA. But you know what? Look, I just looked at the chart. It's dead in the water. And I would definitely, I have a line drawn, a line in the sand. Should it drop below that line of the sand? It's not as big of a position here as it used to be. We cut it a couple times. And right now, NVIDIA, now we're up on our original NVIDIA position, which we still own. We're up 414% in the premier growth portfolio. And in the aggressive growth, we're up 595%. But it's a 6% position in the ultra-growth portfolio. It's a 5.4% position. I remember when it was 10, over 10%, because it had gone up so far. But the stock is dead in the water. You can't argue that. that it makes sense from a valuation point of view, but what it lacks is that momentum. And I say all the time, look, you've got to have the valuation and you have to have the momentum and a good stock chart. And right now, NVIDIA lacks two of those. Maybe we'll get the value players coming into it. I don't know, but it's not trading well. Okay, we've had, we sent up astronauts, the government did, right, in space. For a 10-day mission. It's now going on six months. I don't know what kind of overtime pay these guys are going to get, but it's going to be massive. And NASA has reaffirmed that it's working with Elon Musk at SpaceX to bring back astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station. I hope they got enough food up there and water and oxygen and all that kind of stuff. After U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that he's tasked the space company's CEO, Elon Musk, with their return. So he obviously doesn't have a lot of faith. in NASA bringing them back this was the first crewed mission of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft which was another problem when Boeing was having all the issues that was one more problem that they have so anyways NASA and SpaceX have been tasked to expeditiously expeditiously bring back these two astronauts that are stranded in space biden blamed the the biden administration for the astronauts being virtually abandoned in space elon will soon be on his way hopefully all will be safe he posted on truth social kind of reminds me of apollo 13 mission and the movie with tom hanks and all that thing's hard to watch you know i'm I'm struggling for breath as I sit there and watch it and claustrophobia and everything else. Just watching the darn thing. Okay, now when we come back, more on Elon Musk, okay? Tesla earnings, which are right up there. I would say NVIDIA is probably going to be the most highly watched earnings out there. But Tesla is right there with them along with Microsoft and Meta. Three of those companies reported last night. Tesla right now has given up some of its gains. Musk was really promoting the future of the company, which he's pretty good at, the long-term potential. He says there will be full autonomy in Austin this year. We'll see about that. And he gave a lot of other updates on Robotaxi. Tesla originally, initially was down. because the earnings report missed. And now, then it was up about 3% or 4% in the after hours last night. And as of right now, it's up just 1.2%, 1.2%. And we're going to go into what the analysts have to say, what the target price has to say, and what the chart has to say about Tesla right now. We'll be right back. This is Bill Gunderson. Thank you for tuning in to today's Best Stocks Now, Best Inverse Funds Now show. 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 02 :
And welcome back here to the second half of today's Best Stocks Now show. The NASDAQ has slipped into negative territory, down 36 points. The Dow is holding on to a 69-point gain.
SPEAKER 05 :
Mostly IBM. S&P is up eight points right now. Now, let's take a look at Tesla. Let's peek under the hood a little bit. Okay, their earnings came in a little lighter than expected. Their sales came in a little bit lighter than expected. And the stock initially sold off until Elon Musk did his conference call and talked about all of the irons in the fire that Tesla has. But at the end of the day, okay, here's their quarter. Their sales were only up 2% year over year. You know, they have massive competition now in China. I mean, obviously it hasn't hit the U.S. market. They dominate the U.S. market. But the U.S. market, I think, has softened a lot. I think that the demand and the issues around having an electric car and the inconveniences, et cetera, I think it's made it less palatable. EVs are not as popular. I talked to a local auto dealer, and he says they can hardly get rid of their EV cars right now. So that's a couple big headwinds for Tesla. And consider that it's got a 161 PE ratio. You've got to look to the future. And he's going to have to deliver on RoboTaxi and fully autonomous pretty soon. Because when you do the valuation on Tesla, I come up with 65% upside potential over the next five years. I'm using a 12% per year growth rate, which is very, very aggressive. Because they haven't had that over the last year. They've only had low single-digit growth. But they're hoping for bigger growth this year. In fact, they're looking for 33% growth this year and 27% growth next year. Hence, my target price, which doesn't meet, I would not put new money into Tesla right now. You're buying the future, and that future has to hit. The momentum's still pretty good, not like it was. I mean, when Trump got elected, it took off. You know, it's almost like Musk is the vice president, one of the vice presidents. It's like we have two vice presidents right now. He has the presidents here, there's no question about it.
SPEAKER 06 :
He's like the vice president of the budget for sure.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, puts him into a pretty good seat there. So we're going to continue to own it. Would it be something I would, if a new client came to me today, wouldn't be one that I'd put them in right away? He's got to deliver on this full autonomy and this whole robo-taxi thing, given the high valuation, nosebleed valuation. that the stock is trading at okay now let's just take a look what other analysts are saying out there bank of america found positive and negatives from the earnings date uh... however headwinds seeing include the volume risk and impact on margins of lower average selling prices that was another problem with this uh... uh... call his his report was the margins are down the profit margins And Morgan Stanley said it's kind of obvious that he kind of blew past the numbers and instead talked mostly about the future of autonomy, AI, robotics. which some people have said that's another iron they have in the fire is the humanoid robot that he says everybody's going to need someday. Wedbush says they think the stock's going to $2 trillion. Okay, well, Wedbush has always been bullish on Tesla. Tesla's currently at $1.26 trillion. And my numbers would take it to $2 trillion, 65%, but that's over five years. They see it coming in 12 to 18 months. I don't, but I hope Wedbush is right and I'm wrong. So anyways, we're just kind of neutral right now on Tesla. Okay, Meta. The first thing Meta did was settle a lawsuit. Trump sued them when he got kicked off of Facebook. And they settled for $25 million. I think they want to get back in good graces. Trump had his social media account suspended following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots. The $22 million will go for his future presidential library and the remaining for legal fees. So anyways, they smoked the peace pipe and everything good there. Now, Meta came in. I thought they had a pretty powerful report. They beat by $1.26 in earnings, and their revenue beat by $1.4 billion. I thought it was really a good quarter. Meta has delivered many good quarters in a row, and that's kind of the stock of the day, really. Look at that chart, Barry. Look at that one-year chart on Meta. Isn't that a beautiful thing? I mean, that's like Dan Fouts' touchdown pass to Kellen Winslow. Just beautiful.
SPEAKER 06 :
That's how you draw it up, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
That is gorgeous, and that's one of our biggest positions because we own it in the premier growth. We only own 18 stocks in that portfolio. That's how particular I am. But we also own it in the dividend and growth portfolio. So we have a double position in Meta. I bought it recently. New clients are coming to us all the time. I wouldn't buy it right now today. It looks a little bit extended. But let's compare its valuation versus Tesla's valuation. On Meta, I currently have a five-year target price. And I can't tell you how important this is. And you get that in the Best Stocks Now app. Man, I live and breathe by these five-year target prices. It's totally important to me. And I've got to have 85% upside potential or more. which eliminates about 80% of all the stocks out there. Meta, I've got so many here. Meta comes in at 106%, upside potential still. So it's still a buy in my universe. Certainly 112%, actually. Yesterday it was the number one ranked stock in the app. Look at the reaction today. I think the app steered us in the good direction there, and of course it has been for the last several years. Today it's number two. Vistra has reclaimed the top spot in the app once again. a stock that we have a heavy position in.
SPEAKER 06 :
You added to it. I added to it, yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
So Meta has momentum. It has the three things. Here it is. Here's the pillar. I've got to have that valuation of 80% to 80% or more upside potential, number one. Number two, it has to have good momentum. Well, this is one of the best performers in the market. We went through the performance yesterday on Zuckerberg's company, and it has to have a good stock chart. It's like you say, if you drew up a beautiful stock chart, there it is. Picture perfect today. A new breakout, a new high. Meta is now $1.77 trillion. in market cap, the stock formerly known as Facebook. Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
Do you remember when that thing IPO'd?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Yes. Right after he graduated. I don't know. Did he even graduate?
SPEAKER 06 :
I never had so many people ask me about a stock at that particular moment in time, like in terms of an IPO, whenever Facebook finally, probably because they were all on Facebook at the time.
SPEAKER 05 :
I had a few people, I remember when Tesla went public, and I had a few people say, Bill, you need to look at this thing. Of course, it had nothing at that point, really.
SPEAKER 06 :
It could have gone either way at that point. It could have gone the way of... Who was Elon Musk?
SPEAKER 05 :
We didn't even know who he was.
SPEAKER 06 :
Could have been Fisker, right? But ended up like Tesla.
SPEAKER 05 :
He was very determined to make that thing work. Now, Microsoft... Not good. That's what's taken the NASDAQ south here, I think, the biggest impact, along with service. Yeah, down over 6%.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and I mean, in their report, I mean, to their credit, their report wasn't... It wasn't terrible, of course. The Azure portion of the business had kind of underperformed expectations, but their AI revenue growth, albeit still a small portion of the business, that the AI portion of the business grew, I think it was like over 100, and I want to say 120%. I didn't get the exact number here, but to me, does it deserve to get... 6% trimmed off of it?
SPEAKER 05 :
Probably not. It had 10% growth in sales and 12% growth in earnings. For a company that size, which is number three behind Apple and Nvidia, That's still pretty good growth, but my valuation currently has it 76% upside over the next five years, which I need 80 or more. It doesn't meet my valuation criteria. The momentum is not very good. It's been sideways for quite some time, and the chart is not very good either. So it's a hold right now, and it is also a big position because we own it in two of our portfolios. We'll be right back with a whole lot more of earnings news.
SPEAKER 02 :
You've got to go where you want to go. Do what you want to do with it, whoever you are.
SPEAKER 05 :
And welcome back here to the final segment of today's Best Docs Now show. Now, I've got to throw in a clunker every once in a while. This is for comparison. Comcast is another one that is owned... widely held is what we refer to there, widely held by a lot of the big wire house firms and talked about on CNBC ad nauseum.
SPEAKER 06 :
You want to guess what the institutional ownership of, it's pretty amazing, 83%.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, so what are Comcast businesses? Let's see. Comcast business, you know, obviously they have the Internet.
SPEAKER 06 :
Xfinity, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Xfinity, but they have CNN, right? And look up their, while I'm giving out the numbers, look up their holdings.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I know they have NBC.
SPEAKER 05 :
This is just a dog, a dog of a stock. They beat by 10 cents. They beat their sales. Obviously, they sandbagged the analysts quite a bit and were able to beat because the stock, that's like a sock in the gut there. Take Meta's chart, turn it upside down, you have Comcast. Comcast is still a $126 billion company, but it's a dog. What can I say? It's down 9%. Look at that chart. It's horrible. It's hitting a new 52-week low yet almost every time somebody, well, NBC Sports.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's NBC Universal. I mean, Peacock now. I think they have Sky Sports. They may own Sky News.
SPEAKER 05 :
They compete with Netflix. Compare them to Netflix. And, you know, very few portfolios that come to me from the wire house firms have Netflix. They almost all have Comcast. And here's another telltale sign, okay? I've always said this. Comcast is going to raise their dividend. to 33 cents per share that's what bad companies do for the most part they have to entice people in on why would i own content well we're raising our dividend so that raised my bill a lot more yeah so that fits into the whole by the companies that consistently raise their dividend i don't buy into that philosophy i'm sorry because the stocks underneath when they're raising their dividends now look if meta raises their dividend that's a different deal there because it's still got a growth growth engine comcast is losing business uh raising their dividend big time uh money burner uh their sales up two percent year over year so i don't like I'm not a dividend hound. You know, I've seen Seeking Alpha finally kind of switch away from the dividend hounds because they've been burnt so badly by the high dividend stocks. Those guys aren't as popular as they used to be.
SPEAKER 06 :
To me, it's a simple adage in terms of if you've got a company that's paying a 15% dividend, what they are telling you is that you as the investor can do better with that 15% than they can. What does that tell you about their business?
SPEAKER 05 :
There's nobody that sees the future there. Okay, I'm going to do two more stocks in the four minutes I have remaining. Number one, we always list our poor performers, too, because it happens, right? I mean, look at Microsoft down 6%.
SPEAKER 06 :
Can't get away from the warts.
SPEAKER 05 :
No. You know, I had a guy, I don't know, I just saw a tweet yesterday. He says, if you had to buy one stock, what would it be? And I said, Meta, that was yesterday. He said, would you put all your money in one stock? I said, no, I wouldn't. I think 10 to 15, 15 to 20 sounds a lot better. He was looking for college funds for his kids, putting together a portfolio. And here's the reason why. ServiceNow is one of those 18 stocks that we own in our premier growth portfolio. It's down 12.3% today, 12.3%. So if you do the math, if it's a 5% position down 12.3%, that works out to about less than 1%, just over a half a percent impact on your overall portfolio. If this was your only stock, your overall portfolio would be down 12%. ServiceNow, I think maybe their sales are starting to decelerate.
SPEAKER 06 :
They beat by a penny. I mean, they basically only beat by a penny, and their revenue is basically in line. So it was essentially a, you know, these types of companies were used to that beat and raise, you know, for infinity. And in this case, it was a, you know, a slight beat and raise. You know, in line with revenue.
SPEAKER 05 :
I will say this. I mean, I'll look at it today. It's pulled back to its support level at $1,000 a share. This may be a good entry point. I can't tell you that right now. I have to look at the numbers, let the dust settle a little bit. But this could be a good entry point because it's been one of the greatest stocks of all time.
SPEAKER 06 :
I mean, I will say subscription revenue was still up 20% year over year. They added a new AI feature. So if you're going to pick a winner in the software space, that translates in the AI space. ServiceNow is one of them.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. CRM is one of them.
SPEAKER 06 :
That's why we're in that, too.
SPEAKER 05 :
I can one-up Meta today. Even a better chart than Meta today is IBM, which looks like a SpaceX rocket ship. Even though sales were up 1%, earnings were up 1% year over year. I mean, that is anemic growth. Yes, the dividend is 2.6%. But you have to wonder if IBM doesn't have some kind of AI component or something. I will have to dig into the numbers on IBM later. I doubt very much that it meets my criteria because over the last five years, it's averaged 1% per year in growth, which doesn't mean my... And you're not going to pay 21 times forward earnings for 1% of growth. Unless they announce something today that's going to bring 10% growth over the next five years, which I highly doubt. But we'll look into it. We'll see. Tremendous move today, up 13.5%, and that's lifting the Dow. Okay, I told you, we did it. We got three hours' worth of work done in one hour. We have the government efficiency. I had Doge working at Gundersen Capital Management to make us more efficient and productive. And we've got a full day ahead. I've got about 1,000 charts to look at here today. It tells me so much about how the market is behaving or the weak spots are. I'm anxious to see how some of these oil stocks are doing here today. And the free week trial is still on. I can't even believe the interest and the people that have signed up for that. It blows me away. Exceeded all my expectations. Go to GundersenCapital.com for a four-week live trading trial and to learn from. a seasoned money manager of 25 years in the business. Say, I don't have the time for that. We'd like to interview you about managing our money. Give us a call at 855-611-BEST. 855-611-BEST. 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.
Join Rick Hughes as he addresses the consequences of resistance to spiritual authority and the importance of nurturing a hunger for truth in your life. Emphasizing the difference between organized religion and personal faith, Rick challenges listeners to develop a deeper connection with God's Word. Navigate through biblical principles that highlight the vital role faith and knowledge play in personal growth and discover how to protect yourself from the adversities of the world while pursuing divine happiness.
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 invite you to stay tuned it'll be a short 30 minutes of motivation some inspiration some education and we always do that without any manipulation that's right we don't manipulate people we don't have any solicitations we're not trying to raise money we're not trying to hustle you to join something we're just trying to give you some accurate information Information that will help you verify and identify the plan of God for your life. And if you can do that, then you have the freedom and the privacy to orient and adjust to the plan. That's up to you. But this show, titled The Flotline, F-L-O-T, It's designed to remind you of biblical truths and introduce you to a new way of studying and learning God's Word. And in just a few short minutes, I've got to get that done. But it all starts with the good news that Jesus Christ, the anointed Son of God, has redeemed us out of the slave market of sin. So our debt to God for our sin has been paid, and we are free of the penalty of sin and the power of sin. through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so if you receive Christ as your savior, it is in effect the single most significant decision you'll ever make. And God accepts the offering he made on your behalf. The free gift from God is eternal life. The Bible says in Titus 3, five through seven, not by works of righteousness, which we've done, 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, being justified by his grace that we should be made heirs according to the hope or the confidence of eternal life. And that's the most wonderful promise in the world. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's a gift from God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Who doesn't like a free gift? And the free gift is made compliments of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, where he alone paid the penalty for our sin. We couldn't do it. We could never satisfy the justice of God. But he did it because he who knew no sin, the Bible says, was made sin for us. Today in the Flatline, remember the Flatline is made up of 10 unique problem-solving devices that you can learn and deploy in the thinking compartment of your soul. And if you do that, if you learn these 10 problem-solving devices, then you can stop the outside sources of adversity before they ever become the inside sources of stress. That's why we always say adversity is inevitable and stress is, of course, optional. So today, as we talk about developing a floodline in your soul, learning those unique problem-solving devices, beginning with rebound. How do we solve the problem of sin? We have to rebound. We have to confess our sin. That's why the Bible says if we will confess our sin, 1 John 1, 9, that he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to purify us from all wrongdoing. That's a decision you have to make. Your life is made up of many decisions. I've made decisions and I've gone down the my way highway and I'm sure you've done the same thing. And we are all responsible for our decisions. This is something interesting that I'd like to talk to you about today so that you would understand why we make the decisions that we make. And it is basically because God gave us a volition. Volition, V-O-L-I-T-I-O-N. He gave you a chooser or a decider. And that volition is yours and yours alone, and thus you are responsible for every decision that you make. Joshua gave a challenge to the people of Israel after they had gone through the promised land, taken the promised land, and he was about to come to his time of departure where he went to be face-to-face with the Lord. And this is what he said in Joshua 24, 15. You remember Joshua, the leader of Israel after the death of Moses. Joshua went into the battle of Jericho and on forth, so on. He said this, he said, choose you this day who you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. This is something that you must do also. You must decide who you will serve. Now you can serve the flesh, We have that for sure. The flesh has all sorts of lust patterns and all sorts of desires. Lust for money, lust for sex, lust for power, lust for approbation, lust for drugs, lust for whatever. And you can serve that lust pattern if you want to. or you can serve God. If you've made a decision to believe in Jesus Christ, my advice would be to serve God. This is exactly what Joshua, excuse me, it's exactly what Joshua was telling the people of Israel. You choose this day, but quit beating around the bush. Quit walking the border, you know. Either get with it or get out of it. But quit playing the game. And so many Christians play the game. It's the nod to God crowd. Hello, God. Goodbye, God. See you next week, God. That's a conventional Christian. And they make a caricature out of Christ by living like that. And so God gave you a volition. Here's some principles that I'd like to give you. Number one. God gave each of us a completed soul. And in the format of that soul is your volition. So you have a body. Many people have short bodies, tall bodies, skinny bodies, fat bodies. You know, I have a friend. He can eat anything. He doesn't gain a pound. I can smell chocolate cake and gain three. So, I mean, that's not fair, is it? But God gave each of us a body. And he gave us a soul. And in our soul, we have mentality. We have the ability to think, logic, reason, choose, decide. He gave us a volition, the chooser. That volition is he did not make us into little automatons. He gave us a conscience. And this is where we program the conscience of our young children so they won't self-destruct. And we give them good norms and we give them good standards that they can live by in their life. So God gave you, in your soul, a mentality, a volition, a conscience, a self-consciousness. You're aware of yourself. This is something a dog doesn't have. A dog doesn't have a self-consciousness. If a dog looks at himself in a mirror, he doesn't know he's looking at himself. You would. You'd say, that's me. I know me. So God gave us a completed soul, and in the format of that soul is volition, that's point one. Point two, volition can be negative, that's minus, or it can be positive, that's plus. Negative volition is, no, I will not. Positive volition is, yes, I will. And so Joshua, when he says, choose you this day whom you will serve, he says either you're going to say yes or either you're going to say no, but you're going to quit beating around the bush. Three, in a lost man's life, that's a man who has not accepted Christ as his Savior, a man that does not have eternal life through Christ. In the lost man's life, negative volition, is refusal to accept the gospel or the good news that Jesus Christ was a sacrifice for our sin. He doesn't believe that. He rejects it. Some people are called agnostics, ag meaning no and gnostic meaning knowledge. He's a no knowledge. And some people in their own arrogance like to call themselves atheist. And they declare there is no God. even though they didn't go to every planet in the universe, they didn't go every place in the universe and make sure God wasn't there. See, for you to say there is no God, you've got to be God yourself, because you've got to check out every inch of the universe, because if you miss God and he's there, you're in trouble. So what you say is, I don't believe there's a God. That's the same thing that it takes to become a Christian, faith. You have faith that God does not exist as an atheist. And you have faith that Christ died for you as a Christian. And so that's why the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith. So a lost man has faith in his negative volition and he refuses to accept the good news of the sacrifice of Christ for our sin. Point four. In the believer's life, that's your life and my life, that negative volition is refusal to learn and obey God's word, even though we have been told to do that. We've been told to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. My pastor's been teaching a particular passage in John 15, 25 about abiding in Christ. And if we don't abide in Christ, we have negative volition. We're not growing. We're like the vine that's withering on the branch he's been teaching. And it's a great analogy from the Bible, a great metaphor for a believer out of fellowship with Christ. And if we refuse to learn God's Word, study to show thyself approved unto God, as the Bible says, but grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as the Bible says. but you have a lot of excuses, I'm busy, I'm raising children, I'm on the go, I don't have time to do that, then you have negative volition. I know people that listen to the teaching of the Word of God in their car as they go to work every day. As a matter of fact, you can access these radio shows on your cell phone and play them through your car's Bluetooth if you have that because it's all on the internet. Or you can sit down at night with a cup of coffee and get a Bible study DVD. Or you can get up in the morning like I do, early 5.30 in the morning and listen to a DVD taught by a well-qualified pastor where you can learn God's Word and hopefully apply it into your life. But if you refuse to learn it and you use an excuse like I don't have time, I'm too busy, then what you're doing is you're going on negative volition to God's mandate for you. And point five, under the biblical law of volitional responsibility, that's a bigger word now, volitional responsibility, it means you're responsible for your decisions. Under that law, you must take responsibility for your own decisions. So here's the principle. We have the ability to make ourselves miserable, by making bad decisions in regard to people and circumstances. Did you hear me? We have the ability to make ourself miserable by making bad decisions in regards to people and circumstances. Volitional responsibility, what does that mean? It means, point one, that each one of us must take the responsibility for our decisions and not blame other people for our misery or the suffering that we are enduring. Point two, we all make decisions every day about our activities, but we base those decisions on our motives and our desires. I made a decision yesterday, it was Monday, and I decided I wanted to go fishing on Monday, That was a desire. That was a motive to go catch some fish, and I did, and I had a wonderful time. I made that decision. I made a decision this morning. What would I wear when I came to my office? And you made decisions too. And then I made a decision about studying God's Word this morning. Did you? Did you? I'm not talking about a little short devotional. I'm talking about sitting under a well-qualified pastor, getting your Bible, getting a notebook, and letting him feed you God's Word. In Galatians 6-7, the Bible gives a warning. It says, don't be deceived. God will not be mocked. Whatever man sows, that he's going to reap. And that's volitional responsibility. The Bible says, if you sow to the wind, you're going to reap the whirlwind. And that happens in a lot of lives. People that ignore the word of God and make consistent bad decisions because they don't pay any attention to how God warned them. You see, the Bible is a warning. God doesn't want to make your life miserable. He wants to make your life enjoyable. He wants to give you great benefit and great blessing in time. But when you go against his will, when you go against his plan as a believer in Jesus Christ and refuse to learn his word, then you don't know what your options are. You don't understand the geographical will of God. You don't understand the viewpoint will of God. You don't understand a lot of things, and so you're short-circuited. You're disadvantaged because you didn't learn the Word of God. You can't even use the faith rest drill effectively, problem-solving device number three, if you don't at least know some of the 7,000 promises in the Bible. That's why, by the way, we put together a promise notebook about the size of a telephone book. If you'd like to have one, let us know. We'll ship it out to you free of charge. But you've got to know those promises because that's where the strength of your faith comes from. So one of the causes for our bad decisions in our life, just one, not all of them, but one cause is subjective arrogance, subjective arrogance, where we overestimate ourselves. our abilities, and we fail to see ourselves in the light of reality. You think you're something you're not. You know, an arrogant person has an unrealistic self-image. He looks in the mirror and he sees what he thinks he is. He doesn't see what he really is. And if he has those unrealistic self-image, he has unrealistic expectations. In other words, he wants to be treated in a way he's not worthy of being treated. and he will make many bad decisions due to his subjective arrogance in his life. The first bad decision is the decision related to the gospel. Listen to what the Bible says in John 3.36. He that believes on the Son has everlasting life, and he that believes not, the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him forever. There's positive volition and negative volition in that verse. He that believes on the Son, that's positive volition at salvation, has everlasting life. He that believes not, that's negative volition at gospel hearing, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Another principle is that bad decisions in relation to the laws of establishment Believers and unbelievers alike can make this. The laws of establishment are what God set in motion for the orderly function of the human race. Things like volition, marriage, family, nationalism. And here's what the Bible says in Romans 13, one and two. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. That's positive volition. You must submit to the authority of the rulers of your land. This goes on to say there's no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Therefore, verse two, whoever resists the power resists the ordinances of God and they shall receive to themselves judgment. Now let's back up. There is no power but of God? Are you telling me that God could have stopped Donald Trump from being president had he wanted to? Yes. Could God have stopped Obama from being president if he wanted to? Yes. Did God allow both of these men to sit on the presidency of the United States of America? Yes. And so when this says there is no power but of God, if you say God made a mistake, God should not allow that man to live, God should not allow that man to be president, then you're saying that you're smarter than God. And so the next verse says, whoever resists the power, that's the person that God put there, they resist the ordinances of God and they will receive judgment to themselves because they'll make bad, bad, bad decisions. Here's a little word of advice for any Christian that's listening to me. Stay out of political commentary. you can vote for who you want to vote for you can believe in who you want to believe in but the bible clearly says that cursed is the man that trusteth in man who makes flesh his strength no man can change the course of the history of america only you if you have positive volition If you grow to be a mature believer, you will join what's called the pivot of mature believers. You will be the strength of the nation. You will have an invisible impact as a mature believer in the future of this country, and blessing by association will come from your life. It doesn't have anything to do with who the president is or is not. It has to do with you. Now, if he's a president, God allowed him to be president, but human viewpoint doesn't believe that. Human viewpoint thinking is called a position of weakness. You know, the cosmic system, or the devil's world, we talk about it, it gives out false information freely, and quite frankly, the majority of people that hear it take the bait. I mean, when I go fishing, I use a bait. Sometimes I'll use a topwater bait and tease and trick the fish until they eventually strike it. The cosmic system has bait, and Satan will tease you and trick you until you take the bait. Hunger for truth in this nation. Hunger to understand God's plan. Good old USA, that sort of hunger where people are hungry for the word of God is few and far between. I have been in the ministry going on 50 years, and I do not see a lot of positive volition, a lot of hunger for truth. That doesn't mean I don't see organized religion, Organized religion has a tremendous following for sure, but the majority of those who attend a local church usually just go through the ritual and there's not really any reality to it after they leave on Sunday. Jeremiah, the prophet of God, faced a generation of negative volition, and listen to what he said about that. For my people, Jeremiah 4.22, God speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, My people are foolish. They have not known me. They are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. My pastor has said, and I like the way he said it, in America today, everything good has now become evil, and everything that used to be evil has now become good. And that's true. In Jeremiah 6.15, God speaking again through the prophet Jeremiah, were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed. Neither could they even blush. Therefore they shall fall among them that fall at the time that I visit them. They shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Hosea, the prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, said it like this. My people, God says through Hosea, are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you rejected knowledge, I will reject you, and you will no longer be a priest for me because you forgot the laws of your God, and I will forget your children. Solomon wrote in the Proverbs, Proverbs 1, 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise this wisdom and instruction. That's negative volition, negative volition, negative volition, and it is predominant and prevalent in America today. Your positive volition to the word of God will determine the course of your life. Jeremiah 17.10 again, I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the conscience to give to every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doing. In other words, God knows what you're thinking. He's omniscient. God is omniscient. He's all-knowing. He knows exactly what you're thinking. He knows what your motives, what your intentions, and what your desires are. And the things that come into your life are the result of the decisions that you make and the motives that caused you to do it. Now, if you want to make the right decision, if you want to have a life full of happiness, prosperity, a wonderful life, Then take in some divine viewpoint thinking by learning the mind of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 2.16, who has known the mind of the Lord so he can instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. And in Philippians 2.5, let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. Well, that's a pretty big statement. How can I take the mind out of Christ and put it into me? Well, I gotta have an attitude of humility to start with. And without humility, you're not teachable. Humility is teachability. So if you have some humility, which means you orient to authority of God, you orient to the authority of the Word of God, you orient to the authority of your pastor who teaches you God's Word, then you develop your faith by hearing God's Word taught on a consistent basis. But no one will ever grow to spiritual maturity getting 30 minutes a week. no one will ever grow to spiritual maturity coming twice a week you must eat every day you can't grow if you don't feed every day and on the word of god it's the same thing you must grow why well romans 10 14 how should they call on him whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without someone preaching to them In Romans 10, 17, so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So as you listen to the word of God taught by your pastor, your faith increases and develops if you have positive volition and you believe it and you apply it into your life. Now, you can go through life just playing church and you will never grow up spiritually. Hebrews 5, 11 through 14 says on this topic, I have a lot to say. It's difficult to explain since you've become sluggish in hearing. For although you should in fact be a teacher by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God's utterances because you've gone back to needing milk not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness because he's an infant. But solid food belongs to the mature whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil. Solid food is serious, sound Bible teaching. Milk is entertainment, a little dab will do you. A lot of suffering comes to Christians because they're confused. They lack any serious Bible knowledge. You know, in the military, you have military doctrine of how to win a war. Well, we have Bible doctrine, how to win the war in the spiritual life as well. Many people are ignorant to Bible doctrine. They're ignorant about the principles in life. And if you are suffering from your wrong decisions that you've made in your life, then no prayer in the world is going to help you except to rebound that sin. That's the only solution found in the Word of God. Now, God designed a system for you to protect you because you live in the devil's world, and that system begins with the Bible. He provides a spiritual gift called a pastor to explain how that thing works. But you must submit to the authority of that pastor or that shepherd if you ever hope to find any meaning and any fulfillment in your life. You just keep going on down the my way highway. And I guarantee you, you'll be miserable for what short time you will be here. And your search for happiness in people and circumstances, you'll never find it. That's why Luke 11, 28 says, happiness belongs to those who hear the word of God and keep it. That's the secret. I don't know if you've been listening. I hope you are. And I hope you'll come back next Sunday at the same time in the same place. If I can help you, don't hesitate to contact us. Until then, 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.
Welcome to the Kim Monson Show podcast. Kim Monson is your host. President Donald Trump is not messing around. Gen. Joe Arbuckle, co-founder of STARRS-Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services-discusses Trump’s Executive Order to end radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing and what that means for the military. My fellow Liberty Toastmasters share their perspectives regarding facts and opinions versus distortions and propaganda and how to tell the difference. RE/MAX realtor Karen Levine addresses property rights and home ownership. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Kim Monson Show airs on KLZ 560 AM every Monday thru Friday, 6-8 AM MST. You can listen to the live stream by going to www.klzradio.com
This episode also tackles the intricacies of the Social Security Fairness Act as Al discusses its implications for retirees and those still navigating their careers. Understand the benefits and hurdles of the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision and what its repeal might mean for public sector workers. Al provides a comprehensive look at future financial planning, ensuring your retirement strategy is as efficient as it is compassionate. Whether you're contemplating a Roth conversion or making sure your minimum distributions are handled correctly, this episode delivers valuable tips for your fiscal year-end.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to Retirement Unpacked with Al Smith, owner of Golden Eagle Financial. You want a retirement plan that alleviates your fears about the future so you know your money will last. As a chartered financial consultant, Al Smith will help you find a balance between the risk and reward of the market and the safety of your retirement income. And now, here's your host, Al Smith.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome to another program of Retirement Unpacked. I want to thank you for tuning in and I appreciate your listenership. I have some good information for you today and I'm going to start with talking a little bit about some things that are seasonal. We always talk about, and I know you and your family and friends and everyone else talks about New Year's resolutions and they are the brunt of jokes. Biggest jokes, of course, are the people who want to get in shape and the gyms and the health clubs are all really packed the first week in January. But by about the first week in March, if not sooner, they are back to normal participation rates. But what I thought makes more sense is rather than talk about what I want to do to improve myself for this coming year, how about what can I do to help other people improve? during this coming year. And there's a lot of things that we can do. And what I have found is if you have found a way to give back, to volunteer, to do something for the less fortunate, that not only do they benefit, but you benefit also. So I thought of some things that may or may not work for you, but I know I've done a few of them and they work for me. For example, It's not hard to find an assisted living or a nursing home nearby because there are millions of older people who reside in those places right now. And they can definitely use volunteers. And if you have nothing in particular in mind, talk to the director and so forth and ask if you could come by maybe Sunday evening or just some other time when nothing is going on and just get a little cart and serve tea to the residents. It certainly wouldn't cost much, some water and tea bags and so forth. But I have learned from some statistics, live-in nursing homes receive zeros in spite of daughters 30 meters distance than that. That may not confound that simple things that help out your neighbor, their entire drive or sidewalk. And if it's the time there is no snow, someone's or their driveway or you can rake their leaves. All ever used, but saber that or that help for someone who is a or an infirm often have to spend and really and a thing that that you can do because caregivers who spend long hours taking care of a family may their own and so does their mental health it can be rather depressing spent taking care of an elderly family can think about When I was married from my wife at the time, she was an extremely good tipper, and she wasn't well-to-do, and she also hadn't worked as a caregiver, not a caregiver, but a server or a waitress or anything like that. But the way she described it was, is it's an easy way of, let's say, if you have lunch or dinner or something like that, if you give a normal tip or a 20% tip, that's certainly appreciated by caregivers, not caregivers, why do I keep saying that? Servers, that's appreciated by waiters, waitresses, servers, as they call themselves. And if instead of a normal tip, you give a higher tip that's a very inexpensive way to help somebody have a really good day and and that really doesn't cost you that much more than a normal tip but it can you know kind of really make someone to feel quite a lot better Something that I learned from one of my clients who is in the health care field is that veterans, there is a lot of help for them to when they get at the VA hospital and one thing or another. But often when they have surgery, they have no way to get home. And normally following surgery, I'm sure you've all been to hospitals before when you've seen someone that you love dearly who's just had surgery or something. They always wheel them outside in a wheelchair or something like that. But often the time that they're released is extremely variable. And also, if someone's had surgery, normally they're not able to drive themselves home. And even if they were, they probably don't have a vehicle there. So think about offering assistance, taking someone home who's had surgery in a hospital. And the VA hospital is a good place to start. I'm going to get back in touch with this person with whom I worked who is retired from the health care field and he also worked for the va hospital about how how i might be helpful in that area because i know the city pretty well and i'd be able to to help in that area i certainly believe also hospitals in general do need volunteers and volunteers and in every capacity they need volunteers for helping people, volunteers for guiding people, helping people in all kinds of non-medical ways. You can learn that from getting in contact with each hospital. Also, if you know someone who's had surgery or something like that, offering to bring them meals is a way that you can really help. Meals on Wheels is a really good organization that helps provide nutritional meals for the elderly, some of whom are not too well off and not well equipped to provide themselves with really good meals. So these are some things that you can do in 2025 that are going to help you to give back. And not only giving back, but I have found for people who get plugged into one of these activities, these volunteer activities, they get just as much enjoyment and fulfillment as the people for whom they're providing the care, the service, or the help. Now, I'm not against doing some things that benefit yourself because there's certainly some things that can benefit others and benefit yourself. Maintaining your own good health permits you to be in a better condition to help someone else. in different areas to help shovel someone's snow. If you haven't maintained your own health good enough to be healthy enough to shovel your own snow, you're not going to be able to help your neighbor shovel his snow or rake his leave or sweep off his patio or anything like that. And what I recommend as far as exercise and that sort of thing is the first 60 days, if you have any equipment or anything where you can work out at home, do that at home for the first 60 days of the year. And then if you want to join a health club, that's a better time to do it because then all the enthusiastic people who are crowding the gyms and the health clubs, that will have diminished. I heard somewhere that there's a special day about the third Friday into January is when everyone has abandoned their New Year's resolutions, which I think is humorous. You can run one mile every morning and I do that. I recently adopted a husky and he's on a kind of a training regimen where he has his breakfast, runs and takes care of his business. And also running a mile is not very far. It takes about 15 minutes if you're very, very slow. If you're younger and more fit, it'll take you only 10 or 12 minutes. And if you're really fit, You may be doing it in about, you know, eight minutes or something like that. But the point is one mile isn't dent in your day in terms of the time it will consume. But if you do that every day and if you add distance to it, then you'll find your metabolism has accelerated a little bit and you'll be just a little bit healthier. And if you do that mile a day, once you're into it, two or three weeks, add some distance. Not enormous distance, but over time, you know, get up to two miles and you'll be amazed how good you'll feel. If you attend church, I highly recommend that rather than participating for an hour each week, find out how your talents and treasures and other things can be helpful to your church. Most churches have good programs for youth and infants and child care and families. Sunday school at all different ages and churches need volunteers. That way the same people aren't teaching Sunday school every week and missing the church service. So find out how you can be helpful to your church. I know some people who All they do is take out the garbage every week after the church service because our church has coffee and snacks and things of that nature. And there are people who, without asking, every Sunday they're sticking around just a little bit longer. to take out the trash while there's other people that take care of the kitchen and the coffee and the snacks and all kinds of things. So if you're looking for ways to give back and you attend church regularly, which I highly recommend, find out how you can be helpful and you'll get some joy from that. I guarantee it. Another thing, and this is something that kind of serves yourself, but if you're trying to eat more healthy and maybe you're like me and you don't have a large household, get one of those vacuum food savers so that If you have something like salmon or steak or something like that and it's more than you can eat, seal it up when you freeze it because it will last much longer and provide you a snack for the future. And a big thing, read more and watch less TV. I'll be around after the break with an entirely new topic. And think about your New Year's resolution as how can I help other folks.
SPEAKER 01 :
Al Smith of Golden Eagle Financial is your key to ending the year on track. You need to take your required minimum distributions from your IRA investments before the end of the year. And if you have more than one, Al will help you figure out the smartest way to do that. Also, if you plan to convert all or part to Roth, it must be done by December 31st. Al can work with you to determine the ideal amount to convert tax-wise. Al is very accessible, and he can help you handle your transactions in a few minutes on a phone call to your carrier. He can make sure minimum distributions are sent before January 1st to avoid penalties. The larger companies get incredibly busy during the holidays, and often they hire new staff with less experience. So you want someone in your corner who has extensive experience. You need Al Smith of Golden Eagle Financial. Book a free consultation with Al on the klzradio.com advertisers page. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. BCM and Golden Eagle Financial Limited are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome back to Retirement Unpacked. Thank you for tuning in and thank you for listening about some alternative ideas to the typical New Year's resolution. Eat more healthy, exercise more, that gets old, quit smoking or whatever it is. But I think doing something more positive can be helpful, especially if it involves other people. Join a club. Join a club. The club might be a reading club. Pick out a book, have everybody read it and gather and talk about the book. We live in one of the most beautiful parts of the United States, in my opinion. Join a hiking club. And you can do the hikes with people of similar levels of fitness and so forth. And there's an enormous number of hikes that are anywhere from an hour to three hours within a very short driving distance of Denver. The same holds true for biking. There's tons of biking trails. And if you're a Christian and a believer, then be part of a... group be part of a Bible study to dive into the word and so forth another thing that you can do that I've been doing for a few years hold up a sign on behalf of the unborn the unborn don't have anyone who can speak out on their behalf and even though Roe versus Wade was overturned the year after it was overturned. And since it was overturned, abortions have actually gone up. And I think holding up signs is something that you can do. And if you'd like to find more about that, we do it the third Saturday of every month at different locations between 12 and 1.30. It's the third Saturday of every month, and in the three years I've been doing it, we have never had bad weather. In December, it was almost 60 degrees when we held signs near First and Steel at Cherry Creek, and we had 28 believers there holding signs. So that's something that you can do going forward. to be of help and get some joy yourself. Now I'm going to change topics and we're going to talk a little bit about a senator from Louisiana named Senator Bill Cassidy. He is a physician. There are a few physicians in the Senate and the House of Representatives. He was elected in 2014 when he beat Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu And they hadn't had a Republican in that Senate seat since 1988. And he's been quite successful. Both he and his wife are physicians. He's on the Finance Committee, and he is on what they call HELP, which is Health, Education, Labor, and Pension. And the reason I'm talking about a senator from Louisiana is he's been an enormous proponent of something called the Social Security Fairness Act. And you're thinking, well, what's that all about? Well, going back to 1977, there was a law passed called the Government Pension Offset. And what that did, it reduced Social Security benefits to spouses and widows when their spouse, you know, either passed on or divorced or something like that. It reduced Social Security benefits. under certain circumstances when their spouse worked and had a pension much like para where they didn't at the same time contribute to Social Security. So the GPO or the government pension offset basically reduced Social Security benefits to spouses and widows. And shortly after that, in 1988, I'm sorry, 1983, what else was passed is called the Windfall Elimination Provision, which reduced benefits for the primary workers if those primary workers also had a period of time where they worked and did not participate in Social Security. Again, very much like PARA. And so essentially, there were teachers, policemen, firefighters, and different government workers who did not receive Social Security benefits because of either the government pension offset or the windfall elimination provision. But in any event, the reason I brought up Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is since July, he has been pushing for the Social Security Fairness Act that would repeal both the windfall elimination provision and the government offset provision. And rather than dive deeply into the details, I'll give you some idea. The government pension offset, for example, let's say if a woman's husband died and he contributed to Social Security and this woman worked maybe as a teacher. Well, if she wants to get her husband's Social Security benefit, she would have to sacrifice two-thirds of her pension. So in other words, let's say if she were a teacher and worked many years and let's say if her para pension were $3,000 a month in order for her to collect Social Security, she would have to lose $2,000 a month of her pension in order to collect Social Security under this previous highly unfair law. The windfall elimination provision, that essentially reduces the benefit to someone even though this person may have worked for 15, 20, 25 years paying into Social Security. But if this person also worked and was covered under a pension where he or she didn't contribute to Social Security, then his benefits would be reduced. to give you some idea. Let's say if a person worked 22 years putting into Social Security and then he maybe worked 10 or 15 years and participated in a para or some other pension plan through a governmental agency. These are our police officers, our teachers, our firefighters. Well, under this example, 50% of his Social Security. If he worked 25 years where he paid into Social Security, but also had this work where he participated in a pension as an alternative to Social Security, he would only get 65%. If he only worked 20 years and participating in Social Security, which is double the time that you need to be what they call fully insured. For that, you need 40 quarters. I don't know why they call it 40 quarters rather than 10 years, but that's the government Any event, if he were 20 years paying into Social Security and then for maybe 10 or 15 or 20 years into another program like Para or something like that, he or she would get only 40% of Social Security benefits. And I am a divorced person. My ex-wife worked both for the civil service federal government as a letter carrier and postal worker. She was also a postmaster. And even though she worked 22 years in the postal service, her pension only began at about $1,400 a month. So anyone saying federal workers from years past have these really high pensions, that might be the case now, but it wasn't the case back then. And she also worked as a teacher for about 13 years. So her participation in the labor market did not involve being covered under social security but the social security benefits for a divorce a divorced person is you should be able to collect 50 of whatever your spouse's social security is well because of her participation in these pensions and you add those up and she worked about 35 years And in spite of that, she's not eligible for any of my Social Security until the repeal of this act. Now, to give you an idea how popular this is, the Senate vote, well, first was passed through the House of Representatives, and then it went into the Senate, which is, as I mentioned, where Senator Bill Cassidy has been pushing for a vote since last July. the vote was very heavily in for it 76 votes to 20 no votes so it was bipartisan very heavily supported and so that people like my ex-wife and like other people who paid into social security but because they also paid into another pension offset they were reduced benefits so this is a big plus it's passed both the house of representatives and the senate and it's just waiting for president biden's signature once he returns from saint croix in the Virgin Islands. And I'm assuming because of the very high percentage of people who voted for this, it will automatically get President Biden's signature. And even if it didn't, 76 to 20 is way more than a two thirds vote in the Senate. So I'm certain this will become law. And once it becomes law, if you're listening to me right now and this is something that affects you personally because you or a spouse has participated in para and you give my office a call because it will certainly be worth the conversation to come in and see how this might affect you. My number is 303-744-1128. And there's no charge for an initial consultation. And if you come, I would suggest that you bring your statement from Social Security and whatever you have from a pension under which you were covered, because this is really important. This is a major change in Social Security. which is going to really help a lot of people. And the people it's helping, they are working people. They are our teachers, our firefighters, our police officers, people who work very hard. And the nature of their work is they have governmental pensions that often don't participate in Social Security. And again, so if this is something that specifically affects you, I highly recommend you give my office a call 303-744-1128. God bless you and thank you for listening. I hope you have an extremely happy 2025. I hope it's your best year yet. Let's continue to pray for the folks in Israel that the hostages will be released and there'll be peace in the Middle East. And let's all do what we can to make 2025 the best year our country has ever seen. Again, God bless you. Be here next Wednesday because I'll be here.
SPEAKER 02 :
But are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.
In this episode of Rush to Reason, host John Rush welcomes back A.J. Rice, a familiar voice to the show, to discuss the ever-evolving landscape of American politics. Rice shares insights into how Donald Trump, referred to as the 'great disruptor,' is redefining the political playbook with his unorthodox approach and powerhouse team of disruptors. The conversation delves into the unprecedented strategies Trump has employed and the implications these hold for the current political environment and beyond. A.J. Rice emphasizes the critical role of media and influence in shaping public perception and policy, illustrating how the involvement of diverse media voices, including podcasts, is challenging traditional news outlets. The discussion includes the potential shifts in media dynamics as new voices are allowed access alongside mainstream journalists, creating a competitive and informative landscape for audiences. Additionally, John and A.J. examine the pressing challenges faced by Gen Z in the workforce. As employers express concerns over recent hires, this episode explores the impact of educational institutions in preparing youth for real-world demands and how these dynamics may influence future hiring trends and workplace environments.
SPEAKER 03 :
This is Rush to Reason. You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you're scared. And you're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 17 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job first. You haven't made everybody equal. You've made them the same, and there's a big difference.
SPEAKER 14 :
Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 18 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind? It's Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, and Electric, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right, Hour 3, Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. A.J. Rice joining us now, author of the White Privilege album, Bringing Racial Harmony to Very Fine People on Both Sides. We've interviewed A.J. plenty in the past, and somebody that most of you don't know, but I talk to on almost, or communicate with, I should say, A.J., on almost a weekly basis, if not a weekly basis.
SPEAKER 07 :
Great to be back. Johnny Boy, big shout-out to the Very Fine People podcast. They delivered in November, and they're going to deliver here with these cabinet picks.
SPEAKER 16 :
Amen. So let's talk about a few of those. First off, Pete, we got him confirmed. I say we. I mean, I didn't have anything to do with that, but maybe we did. I hope we might have had a little bit of influence there. AJ, that one, by the way, I was really worried about because I wasn't sure whether he was going to make it through or not, but he did.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's a game of inches, right? Most of the game takes place between the 40-yard line, but if you're going to score, sometimes you've got to be like the Philadelphia Eagles and do the push-push.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER 07 :
Just push right into the end zone over those commanders.
SPEAKER 16 :
And, A.J., some of the stupid – and I really – I mean the stupid questions that came his way, like have you ever performed an audit on this large of an organization and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And my first thought was had any of the other prior defense secretaries done that? No.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, not at all. And, I mean, let's be honest. I mean, you and I have talked about this, and my books weigh in on some of this. If Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator – and Ronald Reagan was the great communicator. Donald Trump is the great disruptor. And he's not alone this time around. No, he's not. He's not rolling in here with Reince Priebus and Kellyanne like he was in 2016. So he has come in with an entire team of disruptors. Because you can't just, you know, the fish rot from the head, yes, but the rest of the fish is rotten as well. And you can't just take the tops off of these departments. You have to send disruptors in, like Scott Besson, like Tulsi Gabbard, like Cash, like RFK Jr., like Pete, like Pam Bondi, and you have to drop a bunker buster on these departments. Ten levels down. You've got to go ten levels down.
SPEAKER 16 :
Really quick, we've talked about some of this in the past. I think that's the biggest difference this time around with Trump than prior is, A, he learned a lot the last time around and was coming in this time literally, A.J., guns a-blazing, knowing exactly what needed to happen. I mean, I don't know in my time, You know, looking back and remembering first, you know, first president voted for was Ronald Reagan. I can't think of any other presidents that did what Donald Trump did inauguration night, signing executive orders the way he did.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's never been done like that. It's never been where we're operating on Trump time now. OK, so 10 years take place in 10 minutes. Right. Yeah. And look, I can tell you, I'm talking to them. I'm talking to the White House on a daily basis. I was talking to the transition team. And, you know, I don't know whether you've connected all the dots, but, I mean, half of the Cabinet are former Publius PR clients.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 07 :
Not just the big names I just rattled off.
SPEAKER 16 :
Right.
SPEAKER 07 :
But, I mean, we're talking undersecretaries of the Air Force and all kinds of people. And they are all stone-cold anti-wokism warriors. So, you know, we're going to have to go, you know, from department to department and like bloodhounds in the backyard, Johnny boy, and dig this stuff up to get it out of here.
SPEAKER 16 :
You're right. You know, AJ, you are spot on, and I believe, I do, I believe fully, and I know a lot of people maybe are a little bit skeptical, although when you say what you just said and you look at the people that he's bringing in around him, and literally these are people that mean business. They're not going to take no for an answer. You know, he is setting all sorts of precedents, if you would, in regards to Things like, hey, we are not going to hire any more federal employees. There's a freeze on that. Oh, by the way, all you DEI guys, yeah, you're gone as well. And oh, by the way, don't be trying to disguise your DEI department as something else because we're going to still root that out, find you, and still make sure you don't have a job at the end of the day. These are things, AJ, no one else has ever done.
SPEAKER 07 :
That's right. And look, the Democrats are still the gang that can't shoot straight. They can't figure out, you know, how to... stop what is coming.
SPEAKER 16 :
Let's stop there for a moment, because what you just said a moment ago, you know, Trump's the great disruptor, which, by the way, I believe that wholeheartedly. These guys that you're talking about, these hardcore Marxist lefties, have never had anybody come along and disrupt them to this level. Now, I do believe that they thought Trump, by the way, would would do some of these things, although not to this degree. And they literally, A.J., have never had anybody come along and push back against them like he is.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, let me just tell you. Here's the thing. There is an institute in Washington that was started after the 2020 election called America First Policy Institute. It was an America First version of a Heritage Foundation type place. And there were plans in place. for after the 2020 election to systematically move, you know, like shooting 100 Tomahawk missiles into Syria at the speed of light, at the speed of Trump time. And this stuff was ready. And the Democrats, I guess, didn't realize it was ready. They were too busy following the Project 2025 around to not realize that over at the other American... policy institute right that the roadmap of the blueprint for what was coming was was ready to go this is why he was able to he's able to move as fast as he can great point and look you know that's the thing is there they don't know which which you know car to chase no no they don't know yeah you're you're right they're they're that dog chasing cars and don't know which tire to bite correct correct so and that and that's the main thing here with trump and look um let me just say this too The American people sent him there to disrupt.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 07 :
They sent him there for this. And he's, you know, he's basically he doesn't have to run for reelection again. So he's just going to be Trumpzilla. He just, I mean, really?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
You know? You're right. And he's not going to play games. Look, he tried to play nice with the establishment, the swamp, the uniparty in 2016 with the Mattises and the John Boltons with the mustache and the H.R. McMasters and the Rex Killersons and so on. That got him nowhere. It got him basically impeached twice, indicted four times, went with two assassins on the field. So this is who you're dealing with. And he didn't start out this way. You created this. So now you're going to have to take your medicine.
SPEAKER 16 :
Good point. No, A.J., spot on. It's been an exciting week. I'm looking forward to the future. I predicted yesterday that you're going to see him run this end of things like this, executive orders, different things that he's doing. He'll let all of his folks get confirmed. He'll then start to hand some things over to them, and then he'll start working on some of the next big projects and tasks that are out there. He'll start working with Congress and the Senate on, hey, we need to run these bills, get these things changed, get some of these things set in stone so the next guy coming in, whoever that might be and whenever that might be, can't change these things. And by the way, to your point, A.J., that's what the American people sent him there to do.
SPEAKER 07 :
Correct. And for all this talk and all this outrage and the crying Selena Gomez, I just want to remind your audience about one thing. There were two blue walls that came down in November. Yes, the one up in the Rust Belt, but the second blue wall came down, and it runs from basically Brownsville, Texas, to El Paso, Texas. These counties along the Mexican border are not exactly filled with Scandinavians.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay?
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 07 :
And they all voted for him. So this idea that we're all crying because the lettuce pickers of America are being vacuumed up, oh, no. They are on the front lines down there, Hispanic Catholics being killed, trafficking, drug trafficking, human trafficking. These are Democrat districts, and they all voted for Trump. So they are on the front lines, and they certainly know more than some Hollywood elite in their mansion in West Hollywood.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yep, yep. And I talked last hour, too, and I think this is a huge game changer. Somebody just asked me, hey, what were you talking about last hour that you think is going to be a huge game changer when it comes to the White House? And that is now, AJ, the allowance of a lot of other news organizations, podcasters and so on, that are now going to be allowed a seat at the table to be able to sit in these press conferences. is going to be very detrimental to the regular mainstream news media because it's going to give credibility to a lot of folks by the way that firmly deserve it aj but that is in my opinion a huge game changer one that between that and if rfk jr gets confirmed and then can end all pharma ads which by the way we need to end in america because us and new zealand are the only two countries that allow it if that happens uh let's just say this aj that's a death nail for the big networks.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. And look, I've been here in the swamp for 20 years, and the mainstream media, the legacy media, they have this, we need to break the stranglehold, especially in the White House. You know, the audience, I'm sure, realizes this, but let me just state that, you know, there's this organization here, the White House Correspondents Organization, where every year they throw this party to themselves and pat themselves on the back for being little, good little digital Marxists. That needs to be broken. And, you know, you can break it by bringing podcasters in, influencers in. And I think Caroline Leavitt, who's a star, who's a total freaking rock star, she's going to help break that because, you know, How many people does NBC News speak for? Do they speak for more people than Theo Vaughn does? I don't know. I'm not sure anymore.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, I can tell you right now, when you compare their numbers to a Joe Rogan, for example, with about millions upon millions of followers and folks that listen to his podcast, A.J., that one's pretty easy to determine who's got more followers.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, that's just right. And these people—and I'm here, man— I came up like a puppy here, okay? So I didn't just parachute in here. I built the Publius PR Mountain right in the middle of the Potomac River. And I'm telling you, these people all watch each other. They all congratulate each other. They all date each other. And it's one big circle, Jay, with each other. And they don't really have an audience outside of, you know, New York and L.A. and D.C. They don't. So, you know, the idea that – I thought they wanted the equal distribution of wealth. Well, how about the equal distribution of a chance and a question?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yep, absolutely. It is a game changer, A.J. A lot of things are going to change moving forward. I don't think the left honestly has any idea what's coming their way because, to your point, their head has been – well, let's just say this, A.J., They have been more worried about trying to figure out whether they're male or female and teaching kids that same thing. They're more worried about transgender bathrooms and things along those lines. At the end of the day, AJ, they have literally gotten so off track that this has got to be catching them by surprise.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, it shouldn't. And, you know, as someone that loves watching them lose, I say keep it up. Keep planting your flag with the trans mafia. AOC is getting into a fight with Nancy Mace on Capitol Hill about letting dudes in the women's bathroom. I say keep it up. Don't talk anymore to the UAW. Don't talk to the Plumbers Union in Pennsylvania. Don't talk to the Coal Miners Union in West Virginia. And just keep talking to the 0.8% of people that think they were born in the wrong body.
SPEAKER 16 :
Good point. Good point. AJ, always great. I always enjoy not only you, but the folks that you send our way. I'm very appreciative of that. And those of you listening, AJ is very instrumental in a lot of the top dogs you get to hear here on our program on a routine basis. And yeah, AJ, I'm very thankful for that.
SPEAKER 07 :
I appreciate you, brother. You keep fighting out there. And to all you Broncos fans, have no fear. Ben Franklin and the Philadelphia Eagles are going to take it to these Chiefs.
SPEAKER 16 :
Right. I hope so. I hope so because we hate the Chiefs, as you know, AJ. That's why I said it. All right, man. Appreciate you. Have a good night. All right, man. And those of you out there that are listening to AJ, you can follow him. He's on social media. He does all sorts of things in that world. All you have to do is look him up, A.J. Rice, and you'll find him on all sorts of the – How should I say this? Social media channels that are out there. He is all over. And yes, very instrumental in sending us a lot of the top folks you hear here on a routine basis. He is great. And I will say this about him. And I don't want to say this and embarrass him by any means. But he is one of those guys where if there is somebody that we want. or I want, I should say, and they're a big name. And I just put in a little, hey, I've got a couple of different slots this week in these particular openings. He is so gracious to put us really at the top of the list when it comes to that, and I am very thankful for that. So he does a great job for us on that end of things, and I appreciate A.J. greatly. Flesh Law is next. Criminal, civil, whatever it is that you need help with, give Kevin a call today, 303-806-8886.
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Here's why you need personal injury attorney Kevin Flesch on your side. He understands the way the jury thinks. In the context of a personal injury case, you've been hurt by someone else's negligence. The idea is that you're going to try to recover so that you can get back to where you were just prior to that incident occurring. What that really means from a jurist's perspective is that you're going to be asking them to award you money. So when we talk about fairness, we're talking about six people that you don't know. Those six people view the evidence and make a unanimous decision that will decide what the fair value is. When you're the one who's hurt, you have a good idea of what you think it's worth. The question is, can you persuade those other individuals whom you don't know and were witnesses to believe that's what the case is worth? Kevin Flesch understands the way the jury thinks. Call now for a free consultation. 303-806-8886
SPEAKER 16 :
All right. And as we talk through the RFK Jr. confirmation, remember, Dr. Scott feels exactly the same way that we do. And RFK does, by the way, RFK Jr. does, by the way, on a lot of the things that he's even being literally railed on right now by a lot of his fellow Democrats right now in the Senate. The reality is Dr. Scott is a great doctor. He is not beholden to big pharma or big insurance. He wants to do what's best for you and your health. His phone number, 303-663-6990.
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SPEAKER 16 :
This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560. All right. I'm going to slip this in because it's an article that just came up in Apple News. It's from Fortune. Bosses are firing Gen Z graduates just months after hiring them. And here's what they say needs to change. So after complaining for the better part of two years that Gen Z grads are difficult to work with, bosses are no longer all talk no more. action now they're rapidly firing young workers who aren't up to scratch just months after hiring them according to a report six in ten employers say they have already sacked think about that six out of ten have already sacked some of the gen z workers they hired fresh out of college in recent months intelligent.com a platform dedicated to helping young professionals navigate the future of work surveyed nearly 1 000 u.s leaders and found that the class of 2024 shortcomings will impact future grads. After experiencing a raft of problems with young new hires, one in six bosses say they're hesitant to hire recent college graduates again. Meanwhile, one in seven bosses have admitted that they may avoid hiring them altogether Next year, three quarters of the company surveyed said some or all of their recent graduate hires were unsatisfactory in some way. By the way, showing that the Marxist movement among colleges and universities is not working because these people are not these kids. and their kids to me, are not being taught a solid work ethic, what to do to actually perform in their job. And I'm afraid to say they're probably being taught more how to be political activists than how to be great workers. And that's not boding very well for them because at the end of the day, they have no job. Employers gripe with these young people today is their lack of motivation or initiative. 50% of the leaders survey cited that as one of the reasons why they didn't work out with a new hire. Bosses also pointed to Gen Z being unprofessional, unorganized, having poor communication skills as their top reasons for having to sack graduates. By the way, for all of you listening that might have young kids, might even have high school age kids floating around your house, Please, for the love of God, teach them how to communicate beyond their phone. In other words, not texting. Teach them how to pick up the phone and have a conversation. Teach them how to have a one-on-one conversation with people that are older than them or that are the same age. And unfortunately, there's a lot of folks out there listening that have kids that, by the way, don't know how to do anything that I just said. And how do I know that? Because I watch it, I see it, and I'm an observer of. I cannot tell you how many young people today cannot have a normal conversation without texting. And it's proven here because once they go through college, that is not changing. They get out of college, they go to the workplace, and they get fired. Why? Because they don't know basic communication principles and skills. Folks, this isn't that hard. Unfortunately, it starts at home, it continues on in the classrooms, it goes on into the college and university level, and when they're done, they're done. Because they can't hold down a job. Please, parents, grandparents even, teach your young people how to communicate by putting the phone down. And or talking on it if they have to, because most of them won't even do that. There are so many of that age group, by the way, that don't even know how to leave a proper voicemail message. Yes, I just said that. They don't know how to leave a proper voicemail and or even set their own voicemail box up correctly. Probably don't even know they have it. They're so used to texting that they have no idea on how to communicate with one another. And by the way, leaders in the workforce are sacking them because of that. They also talk about how they've struggled with the latest generation's tangible challenges, including being late to work and meetings, often not wearing office-appropriate clothing and using language that is appropriate for the workplace. In other words, they're duds. They're losers. They come out with this great degree. but have no ability to apply that and or hold down a job. How sad, by the way, is that? And these numbers, by the way, are far, far, far too high. So we'll talk to Scott Garlis here in just one moment. Don't go anywhere. Hi-Fi Plumbing and Electrical is next. And if you've got an electrical need or a plumbing need, upgrades you want to do, any problems in your home, give them a call today, 877-WE-HI-5.
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SPEAKER 16 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Scott Garlis joining us now. Scott, it has been an interesting and eventful, I should say, past week.
SPEAKER 06 :
Totally. For a lot of the different reasons than we thought it would be.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah. And one of the things I wanted to bring up today, which I haven't talked much about, in fact, I was waiting for you today to really get into the whole hoopla earlier in the week about, you know, the whole AI end of things and what happened with Japan or sorry, with China's deep seek and all of that. And I wanted to talk to you about this because when I first saw it, I'm like, OK, wait a minute. And I read through, and by the way, Scott, did a little bit of research and read through the explanation as to how they were supposedly able to do what they did. And while all of it sounded good, I'm thinking to myself, okay, wait a minute, time out. It's all open source, which I get, basically meaning they've probably already used something else as a base and then built on top of that. And I guess in the back of my mind, Scott, the entire time I'm thinking, hey, wait a minute, this is a Chinese company. who, by the way, China's never known to be super truthful about things. They work off of the backs of everybody else. They've never really invented anything, per se, and I mean that sincerely. So how can they do what they claim to be doing, and who's going to fact-check that and make sure that they can back it up?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, well, so that's the real question. So there are a couple of interesting things here, too. So maybe we should back it up a little bit, too. So Deep Seek, this story has been out there for a while. There have been a number of people that reported on this. I know like Deirdre Bosa over at CNBC did a story in early December. But so what I found interesting as from an investor and a fund manager positioning standpoint is this story came out on Sunday and this week, we're seeing all the major technology companies in the U S report earnings.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
And the big thing around that is people have questioned, or the guys are, have been shorting these stocks. There's, there's also, there is a record amount of stocks short in big cap technology companies right now.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
And the, the big thing that these guys complained about is all these companies are spending too much money and they're never going to recoup their, their investment. Well, Deep Seek is able, according to this article or Deep Seek's claim, they can train these models for $6 million versus the American companies are doing it for anywhere between $100 million and $1 billion. So that's, you know, that would be good.
SPEAKER 16 :
That's a significant savings when it's all said and done. And again, like I told you, Scott, my first thought was, says who?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, well, that's it. So I got skeptical as soon as I saw that as well for a myriad of reasons, some of which you're talking about and then the other stuff, the positioning stuff. So I did some digging as well. And so what's interesting is the guy who backs DeepSeek, I believe his name is Liang Wenfang, he is a hedge fund manager in China. Imagine that. Yeah. Yeah. He may not have any stake in any stocks going into this either. He is a big investor in technology, though. It's a quant hedge fund, and apparently it's done well. He foresaw, he's a big believer in AI, and he realized way back, I think it was like 2020, 2021, that he figured the U.S. was going to start putting curbs on GPUs being sold to China. He started aggressively buying these NVIDIA GPUs, the H800 in particular. Now, from the research I've done, it's tough to nail down a number, but they range between $41,500 and $65,000 per chip. Yeah, $40,000 to $60,000 roughly is what I've understood. And so this guy supposedly acquired 50,000 of these GPUs before... these curves went into place. And so, you know, if we start doing the math on that, let's say they were even, let's just discount it, say that he spent $30,000 per chip because he bought some somehow in the black market in China. They were cheap, and that's $1.5 billion of expense right there.
SPEAKER 16 :
Okay. That's a little bit higher than what they were publicizing on Monday.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. So to me, when you start doing a bunch of the back-end math and digging in, It's like, wait a second, it costs $1.5 billion just to get the chips.
SPEAKER 16 :
That doesn't count any of the other technology going into building, quote-unquote, their AI model.
SPEAKER 06 :
And the people and the hours, and this is like the fifth or sixth version of this AI model. So, you know, they spent multiple years, like you said at the start, getting to this point.
SPEAKER 16 :
Right. Meaning, and this is how I looked at it, Scott, and I was really skeptical to begin with. And I'm like, OK, well, maybe they did this. And I watched some of the explanations that came out. And there's some folks out there that kind of broke it down and talked about how. You know, they have strung some things together and they're not being quite as, quote unquote, accurate as maybe ours is. But it's accurate enough. And I know I'm kind of paraphrasing here, Scott, but I read a lot of different things on this. And I'm like, OK, well, even with all of that. And even if they think it's good enough, and by the way, for some things it might be, but for others it may not be, even with what they said. But on top of that, I'm looking at what you did. I'm like, okay, wait a minute, time out. There's just no way they came along and strung together a bunch of gamer GPUs and made all of this happen at the level that they're claiming. I'm just like, wait a minute, I'm calling BS on this. There's just no way that happened. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't seem believable.
SPEAKER 06 :
And so the tough part, too, again, back to what you said at the beginning, is sort of the track record with a bunch of the companies coming out of China. Remember back in 2022, some of their biggest companies in the country, like I want to say it was like China Life Insurance, a few others. There were five major companies in China that pulled off of the New York Stock Exchange. They delisted because they did not want to comply with U.S. accounting regulations. Right, right. They didn't want to open up their books to show people what's going on.
SPEAKER 16 :
Bottom line, most likely because it wouldn't have matched what they're saying.
SPEAKER 06 :
So when I moved back from New York in like 2007 to Baltimore— I went to work for this small broker-dealer, and we got invited to do a bunch of SPACs. Those are single-purpose acquisition companies for anyone unfamiliar. What they do is they raise a bunch of funds, then they go buy another company. It's basically an IPO with a shell company, and then they buy another company. We got invited to do a bunch, but what these guys were doing was they intended to buy these Chinese companies that were out there. We were a fledgling broker-dealer. We wanted to make money, but We started turning down these deals, and I asked the sales guys and the head of the firm, I'm like, well, just out of curiosity, why are we turning these things down? And they said, well, we looked at the books of these companies they want to buy, and we don't really have a lot of faith in what they're telling us. And so sure enough, you know, within no time, a bunch of these SPACs went under because their books were shady. Hmm. And they were not straight up. And so then I did some more research, too. And there's a Columbia Law School review blog that looked at 17,037 SPACs between 2003 and 2022. And what they found was the ones that performed really badly and didn't do well at all were all SPACs that bought Chinese companies. Hmm. So there is a – unfortunately, like, again, so I know all these things and remember them and – You know, I remember the bad moments, too, with the good moments, unfortunately. But I saw this, and it immediately sets my radar off, knowing that kind of stuff. Oh, okay, so there's a question.
SPEAKER 16 :
I mean, you're a smart guy. You did the same thing that I did and really probably were thinking the exact same. I should have emailed you and texted you because you're probably thinking the same exact thing I was at that exact same time. Why? I mean, we're just two schmucks, Scott. I mean, you're a lot smarter than I am. But at the end of the day, in comparison to a lot of these big hedge fund managers and folks on Wall Street and so on, we're just a couple of schmucks when it's all said and done. But if we could figure some of these things out, why couldn't all of them? Because they didn't. They sold off all kinds of stuff. Nvidia went way down. Other types of stocks revolving around AI went down. I'm thinking to myself, are you guys just that dumb?
SPEAKER 06 :
I think part of that, too, some of these people, some of this can be programs just reacting to headlines and stuff, which is ridiculous. But the other part is sometimes if this catches people off guard... The first question, the immediate response on Monday was, oh my God, what does this mean for all these models? Does it mean these tech companies are overpaying? Again, you start to sit through, you're like, well, wait a second, this company's been out there for years. Everybody in Silicon Valley knows about it. Clearly, these guys that are investing in big AI companies, models and programs or just an AI in general know about it, yet they're choosing not to invest in that company and the products they're rolling out. And there's a reason why. So there are probably some fund managers that aren't that deep in this, that are invested in like an NVIDIA, Microsoft, more importantly, NVIDIA and Broadcom, and they're worried. So what they do is they shoot first by selling stock and ask questions later. So that way, if the situation is worse, and it winds up being, they have cash to reinvest. Instead of just sitting on it and watching it go down and doing nothing, they'll be like, well, now the really bad news has come out and I'm screwed. So does that make sense?
SPEAKER 16 :
It does, and I think the other thing, and I'm pretty sure of this one, and it's one of the criticisms I've got of a lot of folks that are in Washington making laws and so on, the majority of people, including the traders and folks that you're talking about, And I'm not boasting here, Scott, but have far less understanding of how technology, computers, hardware, all of that works than I do. And yet these are the guys making decisions that literally affect the future of a lot of Americans day to day. And I just shake my head at that. I'm thinking to myself, you guys really aren't this dumb when it comes to technology. But, Scott, unfortunately, they keep proving over and over again to me that they are.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, this is true. I like to listen to guys. There's this great podcast that I like to listen to, BG2, Boy George 2. It's Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley. They're two big venture capitalists, two private equity funds. Brad Gerstner started with $3 million in 2008. His fund now manages $17 billion. And those guys, I guarantee you, they loved seeing this pullback and started buying everything.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, because they know it's going to come back.
SPEAKER 06 :
And they know this is just part of the process. We're going to spend a lot of money up front to build the primary infrastructure that gets this going, which is what we've seen. But as this technology improves and gets better, the costs are just going to keep going to the floor. It's sort of like I'm sure the first car that was built cost a boatload just going through everything and getting the conveyor belts operating the right way and knowing what to put on which and how to produce it.
SPEAKER 16 :
Always, Scott. I mean, I guarantee you when you look back at even the Model T with Henry Ford, what he produced first versus last, huge difference in cost.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, so I think what we're going to see down the road is, you know, as things like this, you know, maybe DeepSeat pushes more people in the U.S. that are working on AI to do it better, faster.
SPEAKER 16 :
Could be, and I appreciate what Donald Trump said, you know, along those lines, because, yes, we have to be better, faster, stronger than everybody else, and if there's ways we can do that. Although, Scott, one of the first things I was thinking of when I read all these things that supposedly – you know, Chinese company had done, I'm thinking, okay, I get where you're saying, and I get that you've cut some corners literally in how you're making the language part of it work and how they're doing their computations and what have you. And I'm like, okay, and there's probably some things that that's probably fine with, although there's probably other things that we need to get AI involved into where, no, that computation needs to be much harder, much longer, much deeper. And at the end of the day, what you're building in China won't do that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes. Yeah, I think that's right. And again, I think to what you're saying early on, a lot of this could have used open source stuff that companies like ChatGPT or what is it?
SPEAKER 16 :
All the open source stuff, basically.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, OpenAI. These guys already spent the money and built it, and then these guys were grabbing it. Correct. And so, yeah, if you're doing that and you're not using all those costs, sure, it's going to be cheaper.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, you're building off of what somebody else already built.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, that's exactly right. So my guess would be, yeah, we saw a panic that we probably shouldn't have, and what we're ultimately going to see is this is going to push the conversation. It's a wake-up call for a bunch of people, but we're going to wind up seeing this technology get better and get cheaper, and that's going to push innovation, and it's going to create margin.
SPEAKER 16 :
Agreed. Agreed. Can't argue that. All right. How do folks find you, Scott?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, sure. Go to LinkedIn, Twitter, or Substack. C. Scott Garlis.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right. In closing, looking to the future, and I know no one has a crystal ball, but what are things folks should be looking at if they're thinking, yeah, I should probably invest in X? What would that be?
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, NVIDIA, it was an incredible buying opportunity the other day. Look at SMH, which is a semiconductor holders index, and owns a basket of semiconductors. This conversation is only going to keep growing.
SPEAKER 16 :
Agreed. Scott, appreciate you very much. Talk next week.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thanks so much for having me.
SPEAKER 16 :
I appreciate you very much. And, yeah, Scott thinks a lot like I do. I don't appreciate it just because he does, but I think it's validation that, yeah, Scott's a common sense guy and really understands what's going on and does things correctly, which I appreciate. Affordable interest mortgages next. If you've got a question when it comes to mortgages, Kurt's always there to help you, including, hey, how do I get my credit score up? He can help you with that as well. 720-895-0500.
SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 16 :
All right, if you want direct advice when it comes to investing, talk to Al Smith today at Golden Eagle Financial. Find him at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 16 :
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SPEAKER 16 :
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SPEAKER 13 :
Reading is fundamental to understanding the world, and that's why author Mike Goldstein wrote American Stonehenge. This breathtakingly beautiful book was written in order to bring parents and grandparents together with their children to enjoy stories while they learn to read. The book follows a boy and his immortal telepathic dog, with whom he communicates as they travel through time to learn about the dog's experiences through history. The book is historically accurate, including the illustrations, so you and your little one will learn something about the history of God's beloved Earth. The time that you spend with your children laughing and enjoying this beautifully written book will be something you treasure for a lifetime. Learn more about American Stonehenge and the adventures of Jimmy and Andrew by going to klzradio.com slash read and flip through a free preview of the beautiful prose and illustrations. That's klzradio.com slash read to learn more.
SPEAKER 16 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
It's time to leave your safe space. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right, a couple of minutes left of today's program is all, and Mexico, I guess, has decided also to go ahead and let some of their folks that should be there in the first place come back. A thousand or so, that number will continue to increase. And this is a question you have to ask yourself when it comes to Mexico and their leadership. Of all countries... Mexico should be behind what Donald Trump wants to do and the closing of the border, because all the open border has done under Joe Biden and his regime is make the cartel stronger. It has literally poured, and I'm not exaggerating, billions upon billions of dollars into the cartels in Mexico. And you would think the Mexican government, the head of, Would love nothing more than to have that money now not flowing to the cartels, making them that much richer and more powerful and so on. So you got to ask the question, is that really what Mexico wants or are they so corrupt that And so overrun by the cartels that they just don't care. In fact, they're on the side of the cartel and they're mad because there's now no open borders and that money itself won't be flowing in. I know they've taken these particular individuals back. But because they really don't have much choice at the end of the day, given what Donald Trump has said he will do if they don't. So, again, you got to ask yourself the question, what's really going on with leadership in Mexico? And are they really against all of the crime and things that happen inside the cartels? Or are they just so overrun by them that they don't have any choice at the end of the day but to be on their side? And that's probably a topic for another day, and I'll maybe get some experts on that can talk more about that that know more about it than I. Have a great night, though, folks. This is Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
Join John Rush as he explores America's health crisis alongside guest Sonny Kutcher from Young Americans Against Socialism. The episode critically examines the state of healthcare and its substantial cost to the nation, casting light on RFK Jr.'s health agenda which aims to reverse the rising trend of chronic illnesses. In an engaging narrative, the session also covers RFK Jr.'s potential role in reshaping healthcare policies, emphasizing the need for real change and accountability.
SPEAKER 16 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 03 :
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you're scared. And you're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes.
SPEAKER 16 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 06 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job first.
SPEAKER 16 :
You haven't made everybody equal. You've made them the same, and there's a big difference.
SPEAKER 11 :
Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 18 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind? It's Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, and Electric, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 17 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560, hour number two. Richard Battle joining us now. Welcome, Richard. How are you today?
SPEAKER 10 :
Good afternoon, John. We're doing fantastic. Thanks for having us back.
SPEAKER 17 :
Not just an insurance company. That's our topic today.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, and some people know the John Hancock Insurance Company, and others don't. And some people know sign your John Hancock to a piece of paper, and others don't. But we all should.
SPEAKER 17 :
All right. So where did that come from? Where did that saying, put your John Hancock on this, come from?
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, if you look at the Declaration of Independence, the first and biggest signature on the document says, was John Hancocks, and he was presiding over the Continental Congress. And of course, the British knew that plans were being made because they had spies and each of the colonies were preparing to have governments in their colonies. So they knew things were going on, but they didn't know who and which people were the ones that were causing all this problem. They knew some of them. And Hancock was a leader as a presiding officer. And matter of fact, when Lexington and Concord, he and John Adams were the ones the British were trying to arrest a year earlier. So when they did the Declaration of Independence and voted on it, they realized that when you signed your name to that document, you were basically having a death warrant put on your head. And they were hesitating a little bit. So Hancock signed it first and largest and said, there, I guess King George will be able to see Read this without his spectacles. So he stepped up with great courage and led.
SPEAKER 17 :
And to your point, really what these guys knew was in England's eyes, we're now committing treason, I should say, Richard. And at the end of the day, if this all goes bad, let's just say that we're not going to be in a good place.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yes, and I wanted to talk about Hancock because his birthday was the other day, but all of the people that signed, they pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. Most of them suffered during the war that lasted seven years after the Declaration, but not one of them broke their trust with the other signers. They all held true to their word, and that to me is so fascinating because It's very difficult to have a group that size in any kind of an endeavor and have everyone follow through on what they say they will do.
SPEAKER 17 :
Good point. And, again, these were individuals that – and we've talked about this many times in the past, Richard. I've talked about it even with you not being here on this particular program. I've talked about it to other individuals. I mean, there were a lot of those founding fathers that literally knew, okay, I'm going to do this. This could go really bad. I could end up dead penniless. Some of them did, by the way. At the end of the day, Richard, they all knew that were the possibilities. Those were the risks, and yet they still decided to move forward.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yes, and part of the other reason I like talking about Hancock is we think about the Revolutionary War, and it's easy to think about the soldiers with the muskets fighting British forces. But there were a lot of other people who contributed in various ways, and Hancock was one of them. He was fortunate that he had a small inheritance, and that enabled him to go into public service, which is what it was at that time. And he provided a great deal of financing for the Army. So he didn't fight physically himself, but he helped the way he could help best. And that's what's so important for our country today. We all can't be the same type person, but all of the things we do positively all contribute to the betterment of our country.
SPEAKER 17 :
I know this is a little off topic, but maybe not, Richard. Where do you feel like we've lost some of this? In other words, I don't think I'm wrong in saying this. I think there's a lion's share of individuals in this country, including politicians, politicians, where if they had to make some of the same bold statements our founding fathers did and lose everything overtaking that stand, in fact, losing, in some cases, their own life, they'd be the first to back away and not do it.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, yes. And as I talk about a lot of times, when the fur flies, the weak leaders head for the tall grass. And we see that over and over and over again. And that was one of the great things about all the founders. They put aside their personal ambitions and goals and interests for the team, so to speak, for the country. And that was one of the greatest examples, and I would love it. And I think we've got a great opportunity now to have the greatest, I'll use the word revival, since at least the Civil War, in having the country come back together and have us be successful and celebrate success, celebrate our heroes. celebrate and merit everyone go out and pursue and chase their dreams and be the best we can be.
SPEAKER 17 :
And I know there's a lot of folks out there listening right now that are really big fans of Donald Trump. They love him. I also know I've got listeners that are probably sort of in the middle of the road, and I've got others listening that can't stand the man, maybe even voted for him, but definitely don't like him. I will tell you this, though, Richard, like him or not, What I said a moment ago about people around the country and especially politicians, I will say that is one thing you cannot fault Donald Trump for. He realizes what's at risk. He's willing to give it all. He's lost great loads of money doing the things that he's been doing along these lines. And if there's anybody that is very close to the founding fathers in regards to knowing what it takes to make this happen and willing to give it all, it's him.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, that's exactly true, and at least going back to Woodrow Wilson's time, the development of personal or professional politicians and the elevation of salaries so they could live and be professional politicians versus public servants who came and served and sacrificed and then went home has come to fruition, and the professional politicians tell us, hey, we know all this detail, and they try to make it complicated, trying to discourage people from learning and understanding and participating so that we have to look to them. And Donald Trump shows that you do not have to be a professional politician to succeed and to help the country. And it should be the same for all of us citizens where we can go serve in different capacities for different types.
SPEAKER 17 :
Actually, it's better if you're not. And I'll share this with you because you probably weren't listening to me the last couple of days. But I've really rallied hard these last couple of days or railed hard, I guess I should say, Richard, against most politicians because there's a few good ones and there's a few really intelligent, smart politicians. But I, for one, feel that, number one, most politicians aren't very sharp individuals. They're just not the brightest of the bright. And I think, Richard... And I want you to bear with me here, but I think it's by design because the large special interest groups, and you can see it even happening right now with Big Pharma and RFK Jr.' 's confirmation. Reality, Richard, is a lot of the quote-unquote powers that be. don't want super smart people there because if they're super smart, they'll catch on to what's really going on, by the way, like Donald Trump has. And the reality is they won't get what they want if there's really smart people in office. So they back and choose, in my opinion, a lot of people that, yes, they know they can get them elected, but they're also not the sharpest tack in the box.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I agree 100%. And they don't want people who can think independently, right? because those people will stand up and say, this doesn't make sense, we shouldn't do that. And William F. Buckley was so brilliant, and I loved him when he said, I would rather be governed by the first 535 people in the New York City phone book than Congress, because he felt the exact same way.
SPEAKER 17 :
And it hasn't changed. It's gotten worse, actually, Richard. It's worse now.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yes, it's gotten worse, and my hope is this administration – will break the mold of the professional politician as well as some of the media elites. And whether Democrats or Republicans are elected in the future, I hope there's more public servants and statesmen and less professional politicians.
SPEAKER 17 :
Amen. I cannot agree with you any more than that, Richard. Spot on. All right, talk about the website. Folks can find you. I know it sounds like a long way away, but it's not. We'll have spring break, and before you know it, Richard, graduations will be rolling around. You've got some great resources for folks looking for special gifts for those individuals. How do they find those?
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, in any gifts for any occasions, including Valentine's Day, But my website is richardbattle.com. All books are signed there. We have them all there. If you'd like something inscribed and personalized, we're happy to do it if you'll email me, richard, at richardbattle.com. We also have everything at Amazon under Richard V. Battle, including Kindle and audio versions.
SPEAKER 17 :
Awesome. Richard, as always, I appreciate it. Have a great rest of your day, sir. Always my pleasure. God bless America. God bless you, Richard. And up next, Roof Savers of Colorado, Dave Hart, where, yes, even in between snowstorms, we get these nice days like today. We're actually very beautiful out today. And he can do lots of things when it comes to your roof, fixing, replacing, extending the life of, commercial, residential. He can do it all. 303-710-6916.
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SPEAKER 15 :
putting reason into your afternoon drive this is John Rush
SPEAKER 17 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Some of you may have been following a little bit about what's going on in regards to our new White House press secretary. By the way, I think youngest ever. Am I saying that correctly, Charlie? Yeah, 27 years of age, youngest ever, Caroline, is it Levitt? Am I saying that right? Yeah, Caroline Levitt. And she, I watched this late last night. She made some announcements yesterday that I can guarantee you a lot of the left are cringing at, probably going one step further and saying, crap, now what? And I'm not exaggerating when I say that. And what I mean by that is I'm going to play this, let you listen, and I'll explain why I think some of them are saying that as soon as she's done. Let me make sure, Charlie, the sound is all the way up. Here we go.
SPEAKER 19 :
President Trump has held multiple news conferences, gaggled on Air Force One multiple times, and sat down for a two-part interview on Fox News, which aired last week. As Politico summed it up best, Trump is everywhere again. And that's because President Trump has a great story to tell about the legendary American revival that is well underway. And in keeping with this revolutionary media approach that President Trump deployed during the campaign, the Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media who are seated in this room. Because according to recent polling from Gallup, Americans' trust in mass media has fallen to a record low. Millions of Americans, especially young people, have turned from traditional television outlets and newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs, social media, and other independent outlets. It's essential to our team that we share President Trump's message everywhere and adapt this White House to the new media landscape in 2025. To do this, I am excited to announce the following changes will be made to this historic James S. Brady briefing room, where Mr. Brady's legacy will endure. This White House believes strongly in the First Amendment, so it's why our team will work diligently to restore the press passes of the 440 journalists whose passes were wrongly revoked by the previous administration. We're also opening up this briefing room to new media voices who produce news-related content and whose outlet is not already represented by one of the seats in this room. We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House. And you can apply now on our new website, whitehouse.gov slash newmedia. Starting today, this seat in the front of the room, which is usually occupied by the press secretary's staff, will be called the new media seat. My team will review the applications and give credentials to new media applicants who meet our criteria and pass United States Secret Service requirements to enter the White House complex. So in light of these announcements, our first questions for today's briefing will go to these new media members whose outlets, despite being some of the most viewed news websites in the country, have not been given seats in this room.
SPEAKER 17 :
There you go. awesome and i think with everything she said you probably know why i said earlier that there are some outlets out there and a lot on the left saying oh crap now what you mean a lot of these alternative news sources are going to have firsthand information as to what's going on in press briefings and have access to even be able to speak to Mr. Trump, our president, in some cases on a one-on-one basis, and, and, and, and, and? Yeah. Yeah, that's what it means. So all of you lefties... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, it's been ending for a while, and I've talked about this and even argued, by the way, with Bob Duco on the National Crawford Roundtable about this very subject, because I have felt like for quite some time that mass media is in a downward spiral and will not be relevant much longer. Bob tends to disagree with me. He thinks they've got a lot of power, and because of big money and so on, they'll be around for a considerable length of time. And frankly, I'm not so convinced. And partly because of what just happened in this particular briefing yesterday that I just played. The alternative media sources, which is where a lot, and by the way, it's not just young people. A lot of you listening to me, by the way, you're my age, and you're not gathering your information from mass media any longer either. You're not even getting it from the local news stations. You're doing the exact same thing I do. You're out there searching for, seeking out, and finding news in way more sources than what, frankly, your local news or national media sources. gives so this is a trend that's been going on in all the White House did yesterday all President Trump did because really a lot of this is coming from him and his team all they did yesterday is give a huge booster shot to it yesterday and I am positive that beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the mass media, the big moguls, CBS, ABC, NBC, and others, PBS and so on, I don't know if you'd throw them in the same category, but they're looking at this saying, oh, oh, man. And by the way, this includes even some of the larger websites where they will have individuals there that are representing that particular website, that outlet, Wall Street Journal and so on. They send folks to these briefings as well. And even they, even though they're not on television, they are considered mass media. A lot of these folks are going to now have to start competing with a lot of these other individuals that give out news on a regular basis. And I can tell you right now, they are not going to like it. This is a huge shakeup. Is it not, Charlie? Big time. And I say that, folks, because, again, remember what she said. Under the Biden administration, roughly 440 individuals had their press passes removed. And we know some of those people. We've interviewed them here on this program before. And they were denied access for whatever reason. Those are going to most likely be restored. On top of that, you're going to have other new news outlets coming in and actually having these briefings right in front of them and, again, have access that they didn't have prior. It's not Sleepy Joe anymore, by the way. It's not our last press secretary that had to have three different binders in front of her tab so she could actually answer a question. That's ending. And I guess what I could say is the good old boys when it comes to the press club at the White House, which let's face it, that's what it's been for years and years and years now. That's pretty much ending. Now, will those particular individuals still go and still observe and do the things that they've been doing and ask questions? Yeah, I'm guessing they will, although they are not going to be front and center like they've been all along. That will definitely change. And by the way, much, much, much needed change in that area. It has been far too stagnant and far too much of the good old boys club up to this point in time. This is a breath of fresh air. When I saw that late last night, I was scrolling through some of the feeds and different things that I get out there, and I actually saw a little excerpt of this come on, and I had to go look it up to get the longer chunk of it so I could listen to the whole two and a half minutes or so. I am just like, this is a game changer. It is a game changer. And I know to a lot of people, you may listen to that and think, OK, big deal. It is a big deal, folks. Trust me. Trust me. Trump and his team will now have access to not just three or four major outlets, maybe half a dozen major outlets, but now literally hundreds of outlets of individuals that are out there spreading the news, reporting on what's going on and sending that out to all of their different listeners and followers. And this is, in my opinion, it's a huge day for the First Amendment. So thank you. By the way, I know that the White House press secretary is not listening, but very, very sharp young lady. who will handle herself very well, already has. There's been lots of things that she's already had thrown at her that she's handled very, very well. So anyways, I thought that was great. I'm excited. I hope you guys are as well. Bruce Simmons, he is up next. He is our reverse mortgage professor. And if you've ever had a question when it comes to reverse mortgage, Bruce will have the answer. Give him a call today. Find him at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 14 :
Your parents still have a mortgage payment weighing on them every month, and our reverse mortgage expert, Bruce Simmons, might be able to help. In many cases, our parents keep paying their mortgage and waiting for the house to finally be paid off when Bruce could potentially get them set up with a reverse mortgage. That would eliminate their principal and interest payment. This is a great way to preserve your parents' independence and keep them in their own home while reducing the monthly financial burden on their budget and keeping everyone informed. Give your parents their freedom by contacting Bruce Simmons at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 17 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
We'll be right back. Starting to save even a few years earlier could mean the difference of hundreds of thousands by the time you enter retirement, even if the same amount is contributed annually. The longer you wait, the more you miss out on the compounding effect of time, making it much harder to catch up. Let Al Smith of Golden Eagle Financial help you today by contacting him on the klzradio.com advertisers page. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. BCM and Golden Eagle Financial Limited are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold to individually licensed and appointed agents.
SPEAKER 17 :
All right, and your estate planning, get that in order today. Michael Bailey can help you with that. He is mobile. He'll come to you. That's Michael Bailey, our mobile estate planner. Find him at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 08 :
Mobile estate planner Michael Bailey tells his clients that death is not a deadline. It's just an expiration date. We worry about tax day and we obsess over paperwork and deadlines. But if you die, your taxes don't matter anymore. Michael gets calls from people where their spouse waited too long past their expiration date and it was simply too late to put an estate plan together. Then that person's last will and testament, their hopes and dreams for after their life was over, never got heard or carried out. Michael Bailey doesn't want you or your loved ones to regret waiting too long. You know when tax day is, but you can't predict when it's going to be your last day on earth. And while we don't like to talk about it, you just have to get your estate plan done. Now, it's time to get to work to make sure that your wishes will be followed. Find out more about mobile estate planner Michael Bailey at klzradio.com slash estate.
SPEAKER 18 :
Back to Rush to Reason, presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, and Electric, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 17 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Sunny Kutcher joining us now from Young Americans Against Socialism. Sunny, welcome.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks for having me, as always.
SPEAKER 17 :
Always a joy. Lots going on in D.C., especially on Capitol Hill when it comes to confirmations.
SPEAKER 04 :
Rightfully so. We want to get these nominees in. I would say that is probably one of their number one priorities. And you know how they like to filibuster and prolong these hearings. So it's really nice to see things kind of just taking the next step.
SPEAKER 17 :
I talked about it during Hour 1 a little bit, and that's the confirmation of RFK Jr. and the fact, Sonny, that I'm not surprised. And maybe he will have a change of tune as to what letter is next to his name, although I'm not sure Kennedy could ever change that, although his own party is the ones really coming out in full force against him. And at some point, Sonny, that's got to be a wake-up call even to RFK Jr.,
SPEAKER 04 :
I think it absolutely is. And I would even go so far as to say that they that actually woke them up out of the haze to and them, meaning him and his wife, because, of course, she was, you know, an anti-Trumper and she's an actress in Hollywood. Of course, I'm sure she got serious pushback from her, you know, her community and her peers, colleagues, whatnot. But I think, you know, going through the process way back, you know, even even before he was working with Trump and it was official and all of that. I think that was actually probably one of the things that led to his impetus of joining forces with Trump just because his own party was slandering him, smearing him, doing all of the things. And that is clear up to this very day when they simply cannot put their emotions aside to look at facts. And one of the craziest things was them trying to, I think it was Senator Warnock was you know, was sharing a quotation that RFK Jr. had said, you know, claiming that RFK Jr. had compared the CDC to Nazi death camps. And he read the quotation, and nowhere in the quotation was that, you know, was that alluded to. I mean, I think, and then he goes, well, I was talking about the rate of injury in children is that of other incidents in history. And so I think Honestly, R.K. Jr. presented a master class on communication. He speaks so precisely. And I think that is where our I keep saying our nominees because I support them. But the nominees do really well and they're very successful because they are strictly fact based. And that is precisely why, you know, someone like Secretary Hegseth was confirmed because. Because the proof is in the pudding.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, absolutely. And for those of you listening, you can go and look at some of the testimony and what was going on in the hearing. But RFK Jr., to Sonny's point, started off with, today, Americans, which, by the way, he's correct in these statements I'm going to read to you, overall health is in grievous condition. Over 70% of adults... and a third of children are overweight or obese. Diabetes is 10 times more prevalent than it was during the 60s. Cancer among young people is rising by 1 or 2 percent a year. Autoimmune diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders. Alzheimer's, asthma, ADHD, depression, addiction, and a host of other physical and mental health conditions are all on the rise, some of them exponentially. The United States has worse health than any other developed nation, yet we spend more on health care, at least double and in some cases triple what other countries spend. Last year, we spent $4.8 trillion, not counting the indirect cost of missed work. works. A healthy person has a thousand dreams. A six person has only one. Today, over half of our countrymen and women are chronically ill. Sonny, there is not a single thing he said there that wasn't factual.
SPEAKER 04 :
Not a single thing. And this is a bipartisan effort. If we don't have healthy children, if we don't have healthy adults, for that matter, we have no future, period.
SPEAKER 05 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 04 :
This should not if anybody who is I mean, of course, there may be rightful things that you can disagree with him on certain issues and whatnot. But coming straight from his mouth, his goal is to make children healthy again, make America healthy again. Regardless of the pun of that statement, that is when he said, I have dedicated my life, 40 plus years, to holding children. people accountable that have direct impact on our children's health and adults' health in this country. If we don't do something about it, we will not have a future. And to that point, he said, you know, do you think that all that money, the $900 billion that we're sending to Medicaid every year has made Americans healthy? Do we think that that is working for anybody? And it begs the question, because I truly believe that You know, some, you know, I would say this is a socialist style of thinking, a socialist style ideology that throwing money at, you know, oh, yeah, we're going to make people healthy. Let's just throw money at this government program that that somehow equates to the level, the level and quality of that care and an increase in better health for the people who are sick. who are being supported by Medicaid. I mean, that correlation is not there.
SPEAKER 17 :
No, it isn't. You bring up some great points. The reality is we've got this system whereby we're just going to throw money at something. Big pharma, big insurance, by the way, they're huge on this. By the way, one of the things that that RFK Jr. talked about today is how much the average American hates Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act because it's not affordable. I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but essentially, Sonny, that's what he said. And the reality is he's correct. The majority of people hate it. Their expenses have gone way up. To your point, we are spending more dollars today than ever, and yet most Americans are less healthy today than they were. And by the way, Sonny, that includes, you know, we're a country where literally there are health clubs all on almost every corner. Maybe exaggerating a little bit, but let's face it, there are a ton of them out there. We have all sorts of diet programs. We have all sorts of things at our fingertips that we can use to, quote-unquote, get healthy. But at the end of the day, Sonny, as a country, we're less healthy today than ever.
SPEAKER 04 :
And some people continue to remain in denial about certain things that have happened in the very recent past that have been completely proven to have been false. And not to mention have had negative impacts on people's lives. Is that a blanket statement? What I'm referring to is the COVID pandemic, of course, the vaccine, and the Medicare and Medicaid. And he made a really good point when he said, I think it was, to Senator Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada, when he said, if we don't solve the problem of the chronic disease epidemic, all of the other disputes we have about who's paying, whether it's insurance companies, providers, HMOs, patients or families, all of those are just moving desk chairs around on the Titanic. Our ship is sinking. 60% increase in Medicaid over the past four years is the biggest budget line now, and it's growing faster than any other nation. No other nation in the world has what we have here. And then he said during COVID, we had 16% of the COVID deaths in a country where we only have 4.2% of the world's population. Why is that? Because the people who were getting COVID, it's not necessarily that they died from COVID, which was proven, even though they were saying, oh, everybody's dying from COVID. It was because they had other – it says the average American who died from COVID had 3.8 chronic diseases. This is an existential threat. And anybody who can truly argue with him on just simply the idea of what he wants to do on that alone, you are standing in the way of a better America. You are standing in the way of protecting a future of freedom in this country and not – allowing the future leaders of this country to flourish and pouring into our children, investing in the future of our children so that they can be alive to see the future.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely. No, and Sonny, everything you're saying, especially in regards to this being, and I believe it is, really being a ploy from the Marxist movement, the reality, Sonny, is they don't want you healthy. They don't want you mentally ill. healthy. They don't want you physically healthy. If they can somehow get in your brain and make you think for some odd reason you're the wrong gender, and on and on we go, Sonny. And I'm not exaggerating when I say these things, folks. The Marxist movement, as you know, Sonny, is designed to disrupt from within. If they can do that in any level possible, financially, health, mental health, believe me, they will do that. And Sonny, they have done a really good job of that.
SPEAKER 04 :
They have. This is by design. And let's not even get into the stream of thinking of, you know, a lot of these politicians are making money from insurance companies and providers and whatnot. And if you are so adamantly, you know, trying to protect insurance companies, there's got to be some ulterior motive there. You know, we have the question of why vaccine manufacturers cannot be held liable for They're experimental drugs, and that is because there are side effects. And these people don't want to have to be liable if they're a stakeholder of that company. I mean, follow the money. This is just as simple as could be. And it's just really, really sad and heartbreaking, honestly, that these politicians have the audacity. They should be ashamed of themselves for sitting there slandering him. Yep. to his faith, not even allowing him to answer their own questions that they're asking him, it's disgusting.
SPEAKER 17 :
It is. No, you are right, and you're fired up. I've been fired up. The reality is his own party has literally turned against him. Again, like I said earlier, he really needs to think about, number one, that... Mark, next to his name, and by the way, if he ends up getting confirmed, which I sure hope he does, Sonny, I really mean that. I think there's a lot of things that he could do to help us become a more healthy country. And by the way, turning some of those things around and making people more aware. of what's going on in that particular area saving money by the way at the end of the day remember to all of this sunny takes money out of people's pockets we get people healthy again not only do they think clear not only do they have a better life but at the end of the day by the way they've got more cash
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. And yeah, I mean, just to reiterate it, it's just disgusting that these people are not focusing on how to make people healthier, how to get people off of Medicaid, you know, how to be able to support themselves and be able to choose care that they prefer, that is priority for them in their lives and what aligns with their values and their families.
SPEAKER 16 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 04 :
So it's just, I really think that this particular nominee, RFK Jr., is just, his him being chosen is so symbolic of the populist movement that President Trump is leading because he's chosen RFK Jr. not because of the letter next to his name, not because of money is exchanged, not because he was, you know, the next person in line and, you know, seniority, we got to give, you know, Mitch McConnell the speakership because he's the next in line and, you know, that kind of, line of thinking. This is truly, you know, they came together, they aligned on their values, they aligned on the mission, which is to bring health back to the priority of our values as a nation. We are the most successful nation in the world, but our children are dying at an astronomic rate. Giving Ozempic to children as young as six years old, you cannot change my mind. You cannot say that that is to better the lives of of children, there isn't even enough data to support that. So anybody who would say that there is, is just flat out lying because the ulterior motive is the money that is made, you get sick, stay sick, and become a client, a customer of big pharma for the rest of your life. And that is how they have stayed in business. The healthcare industry is, I'm pretty sure it's the biggest industry that exists.
SPEAKER 17 :
They have done a really good job of capitalizing on those things. I've talked about it on other days of the program, outside of even on Wednesday Sunny, where I hope one of the first things RFK Jr. does, if confirmed, is get through Congress – This idea that we in New Zealand are the only two countries in the world that allow big pharma ads on network television, all of that needs to end. Reality is, by the way, too, Sonny, if you did that, it would take the wind and a lot of the money out of the sails of a lot of those big networks that, by the way, I think are already on their way down. You do this, it's just a nail in the coffin for some of them. which at the end of the day, by the way, is a good thing because the reality is they do not give you the news. They do not give you honest news. They are very tainted. They are literally controlled by the left. And if we eliminate that, our ability as conservatives down the road to communicate and have fair elections and so on, Sonny, changes immensely. That would be one huge black eye on the Marxist movement.
SPEAKER 04 :
Confirming RFK Jr.?
SPEAKER 17 :
Confirming him and getting rid of Big Pharma ads.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, absolutely. I mean, that is number one priority as far as this line of the agenda goes because it's crazy. And I think he makes a really good point. He has such a great stance because two things can be true at the same time. Can Can medication and drugs be effective and innovative and help so many people? Yeah. But are there many side effects? Why are we forcing kids to be put on SSRIs or even promoting it or encouraging it even? You know, they like to say, well, that should be discussed between the patient and their provider. Well, okay, it should be then. Why are we convincing children that they need to be put on antidepressants? So I think there was a really good moment there when the senator, you know, revealed personal story about herself, which, you know, that's very, that's helpful. You know, she said it helped her and he said, well, I'm really glad that the SSRI has helped you, but that doesn't mean that we need to be giving them to kids of all ages. And for what reason, you know, there is just not enough scientific data to, you know, to provide that, that shows, oh, look, this is really effective. In fact, it's almost, there is negative data saying, showing that it correlates to really bad incidents. Like, kids that have just anxiety and compiled with the COVID pandemic and the lack of school and just all of these social media and video games and technology and AI and all of these things, we need to be prioritizing our children in a way that actually helps them and speaks to their needs, not just getting them addicted to SSRIs and to say that these things are not addictive is just, I mean, it's just an absolutely denial of reality. And so, I mean, listen, that's the take. And I think I think getting those ads is very important because, again, he shows we need critical thinking. This isn't about blanket statement, blanket banning, you know, saying drugs are bad or banning all drugs. That's not what this is about. This is really getting back to the root of it, which, you know, I thought Democrats were all in support of, like I just mentioned. So there really shouldn't be pushback on this. But, of course, they're allowing their personal opinion. feelings to get in the way of the future health of America. And that is what rules for radicals, I mean, that's what radicals do. That is their rule. And that's why they're smearing him. That's why they have no evidence to back up their actual reasonings, just saying, oh, are you going to fire people? Are you going to cut funding? And instead of saying, okay, well, if you're going to cut funding, how are you going to better utilize the funding that you do have to make these systems better. He's saying, I'm not cutting just to cut them. I want to make the system better.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. Young Americans Against Socialism. Sunny, how do folks find you and support you guys?
SPEAKER 04 :
You can find us everywhere. Yas underscore America is our handle on Instagram. Yas.org. We're a 501c3. Definitely support our mission if you can. We create educational resources for kids and all Americans to learn about American values and the principles of the Constitution and share stories of survivors, of socialists and communists. countries. We also just created a TikTok. We're trying to get into that thing. I've been doing some videos over there. Honestly, the comments have been great. People are really fired up and really responding. It's a great conversation over there. If you're somebody who likes to scroll on the top and check us out, same handle, Yas underscore America. We're really grateful for your support and your community. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 17 :
Awesome, Sunny. Appreciate it very much. Have a great evening. We'll talk next week.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you so much. Have a great one.
SPEAKER 17 :
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SPEAKER 18 :
This is Real Relatable Radio. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, we are back. Joe, I've got a couple of minutes. Go ahead, sir. John, if you don't want to take a minute, it's a public service message for any of your listeners who may not be in the country illegally. This is a list from the Babylon Bee, 10 ways to avoid being picked up by ICE. Number one, go back home. Simple but effective. Yeah, there you go. Number two, obey immigration laws. Studies have shown that the best way to avoid being charged with a crime is not to break the law. Three, resist the urge to lead an armed gang to forcibly take over an apartment complex. It may be difficult to resist that urge, but your willpower will pay off. Next, don't rape anyone. This activity may draw too much attention to you. Next, learn English. Making a convincing case to the governing authorities is much easier when you can actually speak a language they understand. Number seven, cut back to less than one murder per week. ICE is targeting violent criminals first, so go easy on the murdering. Number eight, get your MS-13 face tattoos removed. Lazy removal may be pricey, but it will help you be less conspicuous. Number nine, ask Selena Gomez to hide you in one of her many mansions. Yeah, good one. All right. Number 10, I love this one. Find the perfect hiding place, like Venezuela. ICE will never look for you there.
SPEAKER 17 :
All good. Can't argue with any of those, actually.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right. And, John, just one more thing. Maybe in the next hour you can ask your question. In New York City last night, Police arrested 10 Chardin de Oroco members.
SPEAKER 17 :
Now the guy's like, we had an Aurora here.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep, and they seized 34 guns. Now, many of which were illegal in New York State, and some were legal under federal law, like fully automatic pistols. So my question is, how did these guys pass the background check law?
SPEAKER 17 :
Given the fact they're not even citizens? Great question, Joe.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, because a non-citizen cannot legally— With very, very few exceptions. They're like, if you come here for a hunting trip, blah, blah, blah. But you can't buy a gun in this country if you're not a citizen. So my question is, how did these 10 Trendier Rego guys acquire 34 guns, several of them illegal? illegal under state and federal law. How does that happen?
SPEAKER 17 :
Great question, Joe. That, by the way, is the million-dollar question.
SPEAKER 1 :
All right.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thank you, man. Appreciate you, Joe. Have a great rest of your night as well. We've got another full hour coming your way, as Joe just said, so don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 06 :
I'm a rich guy
Join us on Rush to Reason for an insightful episode as host John Rush delves deep into the heart of modern political dynamics, exploring critical topics like the World Health Organization's controversial role in global health and its significant influence on public policies. Discover the intricacies behind recent governmental actions, including funding freezes and their implications for health organizations nationwide. This episode also features an exclusive discussion about RFK Jr., his intriguing battle with a rare vocal condition, and how it impacts his public image.
SPEAKER 04 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 03 :
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you're scared. And you're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 13 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job first. You haven't made everybody equal. You've made them the same, and there's a big difference.
SPEAKER 08 :
Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 09 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 05 :
It's Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, and Electric, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 12 :
I am Hans. And I am Franz. And we just want to pop your ass.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome to Health and Wellness Wednesdays on Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 08 :
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, sir.
SPEAKER 04 :
I have what doctors call a little bit of a weight problem. I used to grab bear claws as a kid, two at a time, and I'd get them lodged right in this region here.
SPEAKER 02 :
Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands.
SPEAKER 10 :
Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.
SPEAKER 15 :
I'm sorry that I'm fat. All right, welcome Health and Wellness Wednesday, this first hour on Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Again, thank you for joining us. I've got Troy Duell that will be joining us at 3.30. We're going to talk about how to avoid some of the cold and flu season that is definitely rolling around right now. I know several folk that have that as we speak, so we'll talk about that later. at the bottom of the hour. Yesterday's impossible question, what is the name of the theoretical particle that carries the force of gravity in quantum physics? That answer is graviton. And then today's impossible question, who wrote the 14th century allegorical poem Piers Plowman? That's the foggiest idea. Most of you probably could have already figured this out. personally am not never have been a big poem guy just not not my forte um you know when you're younger and in school you have to do some of those things and i did but couldn't wait till you know those things were done and over with because and i know some folks some folks just have a collection of and read and it's it's a very you know endearing thing to a lot of individuals I am not one of those, which I'm sure a lot of you are shocked that I'm not. I'm laughing, of course, because I'm joking, of course, because no, none of you are shocked that I'm not into poems. All right. Several things. And one thing that I want to. Talk about as we open up here. First things first. I was going to talk about this yesterday. I didn't get a chance to. And it does have to do with health and wellness. It is news and, you know, President Trump related. But the CDC has been ordered, ordered through an executive order to stop working with communicating with the WHO, World Health Organization, which I don't talk much about during this hour. You know, this health and wellness Wednesday hour. We've talked a lot about. about the World Health Organization and the CDC in the Thursday first hour where we have Dr. Kelly Victory and Steve House on on a routine basis. They'll be with us tomorrow and probably talk about this a little bit then as well. But frankly, and I know there's people out there that would argue with me on this, especially folks that are on the hard left. The WHO, the World Health Organization, yeah, I'm not a fan at all. Do they really do anything to help mankind around the world? Highly doubtful. It is, in my opinion, nothing more than a huge money laundering operation for the folks that are involved and also an operation whereby those that are rich and want to have control over the masses can use it in a way to make that happen. And if you don't believe me, just look at what happened through COVID. In fact, I will come right out and say it. Not all of their findings and or recommendations are this way, but a large majority of them are flat out wrong. They're incorrect. They're very politically motivated and based, and I'm fine with that. Frankly, we don't need them. They need us. And without us, these are the types of organizations where if it's not for us and our funding, they don't exist. And my feeling on that is, is if the rich and powerful, the Bill Gates of the world and so on, if they want to see the WHO continue on, fund it yourself. Fund it yourself. And we do not need to be dinking around with it. I'm also one, personally, and we've talked about this on Thursdays as well. We don't need all of the different health organizations that we have in this country. And a lot of them could be run under one roof. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that. We don't need all of them separated and all of the costs that are associated with it. And as a side note, and I know this is Health and Wellness Wednesday, but I still want to add this in because it does affect lots of things. Trump, the administration, put out a freeze yesterday, since been rescinded, but put out a freeze yesterday on a lot of government funding of all sorts of different things, local, nationwide, you name it. And there was a lot of confusion over that end of things. And personally, I think that was a move on his part where he knew exactly what was going to happen. He knew that it would do what it did. And he knew that he would rescind it most likely the day or two after. I think that was meant to be a shot across the bow, if you would, a wake-up call to a lot of things that are funded that frankly shouldn't be funded federally. And in my opinion, that was a wake-up call to a lot of organizations that receive federal funding that basically say, you're on notice. You're on notice. Your funding that you're now getting may not be in the future. You may be getting cut off. So you know what? Here's a wake-up call. Here's a wake up call. So you need to determine moving forward how you're going to fund yourself because we're liable to not be doing it any longer. And I know this is Health and Wellness Wednesday. But keep in mind, some of those federal dollars go into supposed and what I would call quasi health type things that at the end of the day aren't. But that money still gets, you know, still is flowing that way and it's still funded in that way. So I think that was a big thing that came out that Donald Trump did. I think that was more, again, of a shot across the bow, a wake up call to those particular entities. And basically to say your funding may not be here for good. All right. I will start with this. I'll go to break, come back and talk a little bit more. But RFK Jr., He is going through confirmation hearings as we speak. I've not watched any of these. I've only just got some little snippets and excerpts, I should say, of them. Keep in mind, he's a Democrat. Let's not forget that. He is a Democrat. And do I agree with RFK Jr. on all things? No, I do not. He is still a Democrat. What's ironic, though, is it's his side attacking him the most. Not surprised at that, of course, but his side attacking him the most. And at some point, you have to wonder, RFK Jr., you know, Bobby, when are you just going to change the D to an R and come over to our side because the loons on your side are literally that, loons? He went through some conversation today, even with our own Senator Michael Bennett, who, by the way, is nothing more than a wet noodle in most cases. You saw him even try to run for president at one time, yes, as a senator of Colorado. And unfortunately, because of the disaster that our own party is here in Colorado, we couldn't figure out a way to beat him. It has to be one of the most spineless, easily beatable senators in the country. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that. But he had the gall to actually grill RFK Jr. on all sorts of things, things that he has said, you know, supposedly has said on podcasts and other things along those lines and really came after. rfk jr in a very what and again i i know it's a confirmation hearing and the left is very petty in the things that they do and michael bennett by the way and and no i'm not proud to call him a senator from colorado because the guy is a total doofus in my opinion yes i just said that he is a total doofus he is one of those politicians i talked about yesterday that's not real bright He fits that description of what I was mentioning yesterday and yesterday's program to a tee. Not a real bright guy. Yeah, I know he got elected. I know he's a senator, but not a bright guy. Trust me when I say that. And again, today in this particular hearing, there was lots of protesters and, you know, they're coming down hard on RFK Jr. with his stance on certain. And he was very clear in this today with his response, certain vaccines and things along those lines. And again, we talk about those in depth on Thursdays between three and four o'clock with Dr. Kelly Victory. But Michael Bennett, you know, he had to get his his name in the book, if you would. And came after RFK Jr. on certain things. And it, again, what a moron. He accused RFK Jr. of peddling half-truths, peddling false statements, of course, none of which is true. And he's, again, Michael Bennett's just one of those loony lefties. that in this particular case had to make himself known, had to get his name out there in the quote-unquote papers. I know we don't do papers anymore, but you know what I'm saying there. And at the end of the day, where is this going to go? By the way, I mean... I will say of all of the confirmation hearings, I thought Pete would be the hardest. But I think RFK Jr., because his own party despises him so much, I think this one's actually going to be a little bit harder than actually Pete. Now, one real quick thing as well, because a lot of people ask the question, something we've never discussed, I don't think, even with Dr. Kelly Victory, when it comes to RFK Jr., His voice. And a lot of people wonder what's wrong with his voice. Does he just need to clear his throat? You know, what's going on there? It's actually a neurological condition that he has that he got when he was about 46 years of age. In fact, when it came on, it was pretty sudden. Before that, he had a very loud, booming voice. He talks about that publicly and the fact that all of a sudden it changed and he wasn't sure why. And people that would hear him talk actually would communicate to him and say, you have this particular syndrome. So he finally went, got diagnosed, and in fact, the people that were communicating with him, emailing and so on, were correct. He did, in fact, have that particular syndrome, this neurological problem, and it's something that he cannot control. In fact, he has even said, which I'll give the guy credit for this. He has even said, I feel sorry for the people that have to listen to me talk. I hate my voice that much that literally I feel sorry for people that have to hear me talk, but it is what it is, and I cannot change it. And I will say this, I have renewed respect for him, not that I didn't have any before, because I've got a lot of respect for the man, but I have more respect even now after hearing him say those things and realize that, yeah, I know people probably get annoyed at my voice, and I feel sorry for them having to listen to me, but it's my voice, and it's what I am, and I can't change it, and you'll just have to bear with me when you hear me speak. And that's the explanation of why RFK Jr. talks the way that he does. So... High Five is up next, High Five Plumbing and Electrical. And we've got another storm system moving through our area, different parts of the state tomorrow. And if you had any issues in the last few storms that we have had, whether that be drainage, fresh water coming in, you've got a garbage disposal issue, you name it. And they've got a special, by the way, right now on garbage disposals. That's why I said that. So whatever it is that you need, give High Five a call today, 877-WE-HIGH-FIVE.
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
Listen online. klzradio.com. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, here's a story that I thought would fit well into health and wellness on this Wednesday because you read the story and there's different aspects of it, and I'll explain. Americans, there's a movement going around social media as we speak. Americans pledging to buy less or even nothing in 2025 outside of their very bare necessities. So as I read through this story, I'm like, okay, I guess I could see some parts of this and understand why people are doing what they're doing. And for example, they gave some different individuals where they have vowed to use up all of their cosmetics before buying anything else. Or they're going to use up all of their hair care products before they add to the collection or buy anything else. And I could see where if you've got a plethora of those items, sure, why add to your quote-unquote inventory until you deplete what you already have? And I get that. I understand that. On the same token, I think, and this has been, by the way, this is being coined no buy 25. No buy 25. Now, I'm also one where, well, and Charlie knows this, I have Foro, fear of running out. And yes, I do. Ask my wife. And it drives her crazy sometimes because I'm one of those where it's like, okay, you know, we only have one of these left. And she'll be like, yeah, but it's full. I'm like, yeah, but that, yeah, we need another one because that one's almost out. And it does drive her crazy. And yes, I'm very weird. And I understand that. And yes, that's, it is, by the way, that is a very genuine fear of mine. I hate running out of things, especially stuff you use on a regular basis. So while a lot of these people in this trend, I think, is great for some, whereby they may be able to buy less, buy things that they, you know, stop buying things that they don't necessarily need. And at the end of the day, help pay off maybe some credit card debt or other things that they have, you know, other debt they've had to acquire over the past several years under the Biden administration, by the way, because that's what's really happened. So I understand that end of it, although I think people, and this is my advice, I think you also have to be really careful that if it's something that you're using on a very routine basis and all of a sudden you are out and it's needed and you're now scrambling to buy said item, product, whatever it is, in that case you may actually be paying more money for that particular product because you're buying it now kind of on an emergency basis. It's sort of like if you're on vacation and you forget something and you've got to run down to the local whatever to replace that item that you forgot or that maybe didn't show up in your luggage because your luggage might be lost. I mean, you get where I'm going with that. It never fails when you're in those predicaments, you spend more and may not even get the product that you want at the end of the day. So while I think it's very admirable to slow down on spending and try to pay off debt and other things, and I'm not opposed to that, I think you also have to be very calculated in what you're doing along those lines because there may be some items – where if you buy it in bulk or you buy at the right time, you may actually find yourself saving money doing it that way and still, at the end of the day, being able to pay debt and other things. And I get it. You can't go to Sam's or Costco and go overboard on the things that you're buying and expect to save at the end of the day. And that is a problem that happens at big box stores as you leave there with all sorts of things that you didn't intend on buying when you first got there. That's By the way, they're a model. That's how they make money. But I'm one where if it's an item that I'm using, for example, shaving cream, I'm one where when I get down to one can left, I buy a six-pack. And that six-pack, because I have a beard and I only shave certain parts of my face, I don't use as much as somebody else would probably use shaving cream-wise. So I can make it last longer than what it normally would last probably somebody else. So I can buy a six-pack and literally have that last a year. Now, I'm also not just going to go buy one can at a time because I can buy a six-pack cheaper per can than if I just went and bought one can. So I'm a little bit opposite of what this no-buy 25 is because I'm not going to change my habits and either A, run out of something or lose out on some of the deals that may be there from buying more than one if it's a particular item you know you're going to use over and over and over again. And some of us get into, and maybe it's wrong, and I've never talked about this on health and wellness, but when it comes to certain even grooming items, I think you get into your norm, you know what works for you. And whether you're a male or female, you buy that same thing over and over and over again because you know it works. It could be anything from shampoo to the certain soap that you like to whatever. It could be razors even. What kind of razor do you use? And some people have different skin types, and certain things work and certain things don't, and on and on we go. And so, again, I'm one where, A, make sure it is something that you need and you're using. Don't overbuy. But I would also say buy what you know you're going to use. And if you can find it at the right times and catch the sales and buy in bulk, then why would you? But that goes against this, you know, no buy 25. Now, that's on sort of the personal health care, you know, cosmetics and things along those lines. This goes on to talk about how some people are just not buying as many household items. They're not going to decorate the way they once would. They're going to cut back on certain things along those lines. And by the way, fine. Knock your socks off. Fully understand that part of it. If you can save money in those ways, then by all means, do so. I go back to some of your day-to-day things, though, and if you can save money by buying ahead or buying in bulk, then no offense, why wouldn't you? Now, they gave an example. There was a 35-year-old Alicia. She works in the beauty industry in New York. She's got a credit card and loan balance of almost $50,000 from feeling pressure to dress a certain way for work. So she has decided to focus on lowering her debt and not worrying so much about the type of clothes she's wearing and designer this and designer that. Yeah, that one, by the way, first of all, I can't imagine having that much debt from that particular end of things. So I do think that, yes, you can be a smart shopper. You can save money in a lot of areas. And in a lot of cases, that's done by pre-planning on what you're buying versus just buying on a whim. And this kind of goes back to what I talk about on Drive Radio all the time when it comes to buying cars. You only buy what you need when you need it. And I'm a big one on it, especially when it comes to buying cars. Don't buy a car when it's a crisis. don't buy a car because you drove your other one to the ground and now you've got to go out and look for one because your other one's dead. No, that's the worst time to buy a car. You're always going to get hurt and pay more when you do that than if you plan ahead and buy it when you don't need it or when you know you're getting to the point where you may need it. And again, that planning ahead, and I think in all aspects, and that's something that didn't get mentioned in this particular article from the Wall Street Journal, and again, this is a movement that's happening on social media, No Buy 25. I think some of these folks may be missing the point, though. What you need to do is not no buy, but be calculated in your buying. When are you buying? What are you buying? How much of it are you buying? And I think all of it needs to go under the premise of do I really need this or is this something that's more of a luxury item that I just like to have? And if you're somebody that's in a financial situation where you're trying to cut back expenses and pay some debt and do some things along those lines, then yes, be very calculated. Only buy what you need, but be a smart shopper or smart buyer at the same time. Legal Financial is coming up next. And Al, by the way, has ways to help you plan for the future. Save properly. One in four adults that are age 50 and older have no retirement at all. They have no idea what they're going to do when they hit that later number in their mid-60s and 70s maybe and wondering, okay, what am I going to do to slow down at that point? They never planned ahead. So a quarter, a quarter of people 50 and older have not planned ahead. Don't let that be you. Talk to Al today, 303-744-1128. That's Al's number.
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Back to Rush to Reason, presented by Hi-5 Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, and Electric, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560 on this Health and Wellness Wednesday. And Charlie had said through the break, and I thought of the same thing, that maybe this No Buy 25 is just a move to hurt Donald Trump and their thought of, you know, let's hurt the economy or let's not help him any more than we have to by doing this. What they don't understand is at the end of the day, even those moves will still help at the end of the day. So, you know, more power to them as far as that goes. Troy Duell joining us now. Troy, welcome back. How are you, sir?
SPEAKER 17 :
Good, John.
SPEAKER 15 :
How you been? Very good. Always a joy to talk to you. And for those of you listening, you know, Troy is a health educator, founder of Centurion Labs as well. And we have him on on a periodic basis, a really pretty routine basis anymore, Troy. So let's talk about the cold flu season. It's definitely upon us. I know folks right now that are suffering from that very thing. And what we all need to try to do, of course, is, you know, try to fend that off and guard as much as possible. How do we do that?
SPEAKER 17 :
It definitely is the season. And the number one thing is to do what we were always told growing up. Start washing your hands. Make sure that you're not touching your face, especially if you're out in public. So wash your hands. Keep your hands away from your face until you can wash them if you're out in public. And just be very, very aware of other people around you. So if you're sick or you're coughing, be sure to cover your cough. Be careful. considerate of those others who are out there. If you have a fever, stay home so you're not spreading these things. But the number one thing to do and what every study suggests is just good old-fashioned hygiene is the best way to really keep these germs at bay.
SPEAKER 15 :
You make it sound really simple, and yet, in a lot of ways, it is. And I also have read this of late, Troy, to go along with what you're talking about. A lot of folks, I'm not one of them because I don't like the way it makes my hands feel, but a lot of folks are big on hand sanitizers and things like that. And what I've read of late is... There are certain things, for example, the latest virus that's running around, norovirus that's running around, making people really, really sick as far as sick to their stomach and so on. Hand sanitizer doesn't fight that off at all. So your point of washing your hands becomes even more important.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely. And norovirus is one of those that you have to be very, very aware of because people, It's something that can stay on countertops. It can actually be transmitted from food. So if you go to a restaurant and somebody is cooking and they have it and they have it on their hands, it can be transmitted from plates, from glasses, from everything. So it is the most highly contagious of all the viral infections going around right now. But thankfully, it's also probably the least dangerous of the viral infections that we can get.
SPEAKER 15 :
It's just miserable having it. I've known some folks of late that have gotten it, Troy. I have, knock on wood, been very fortunate and haven't. But the reality is it's just a miserable thing to go through.
SPEAKER 17 :
It absolutely is. And if you find yourself coming down with norovirus, probably the number one thing you need to do is make sure you're getting plenty of fluids. Because I've actually had a friend who ended up in the hospital because he was throwing up so much that he got dehydrated. actually got to the point where he had a seizure. So be sure you're getting plenty, plenty of fluids so you don't have it turn into something much worse than it already is.
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely. Okay, talk to us about some of the things we can do to boost our immunity. And I know, I get it. Troy, a lot of what we've talked about even in the past still comes down to your overall health. You still have to be eating well. There's no magic pill you can take that will just automatically keep your immune system up. It's a combination of things. Although, and this is where you guys come in at Centurion Labs, I also know that because of where we're at with our food supply and a lot of things that are out there, we're not getting the nutrition that we once did. So in a lot of cases, we do need a supplement.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely. And a supplement is just that. It's to supplement, like you said, your health. So obviously the biggest thing we can do is be in the best health possible. So anytime we get a viral infection, our body can handle it the best way possible. Now, that said, there are certain supplements that we recommend you taking in order to get your health to its optimal level and really help support the immune health. So We know that vitamin D levels, something we heard all through COVID and the pandemic, were super important, especially when it came to respiratory infections that came from viruses. So you need to be taking about 2,000 to 4,000 IUs a day, which is roughly about 50 to 100 micrograms a day. The other one that's really big, there are two others that I'll really touch on. We all hear about vitamin C, but zinc is one that you have to be really really mindful of get enough zinc in your diet and it will help fight off those viral infections along with quercetin so quercetin is one that works in tandem with both zinc and vitamin c it comes out of fruits and vegetables uh apples in particular so that old saying an apple a day keeps the doctor away probably had something to do with quercetin so uh that being said make sure you're getting those in your supplement regimen, especially this time of year, and your body will thank you for it because it'll be tuned up and really operating at the most immune efficient ability that it can.
SPEAKER 15 :
And you just said regiment a moment ago, meaning this is one of those things where we really need to get into a habit of doing X, Y, Z, whether it be, you know, you do that on a daily basis, which I think, Troy, you need to. I mean, I don't know that you can really I mean, yeah, I get it. Sometimes you may be in a situation where you skip, but I think it needs to be something where you're very regimented. You just know this is what I'm going to do on a daily basis and figure out what that best time of the day is for you to do so.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely. And if you're talking about exercising, eating right, but then adding the supplements in, the one thing a lot of people do is they're like, well, it's not really flu seasons. I'm not going to take the supplements now. The problem is we don't know when we're going to come into contact with that viral infection or bacterial infection. So it's always good just to keep your immune system as tuned up as possible. During the flu season, I always say make sure you're taking the max. Maybe when it's not flu season, you can cut it back to one or less a day in order to make sure that you're keeping those nutrients in your body.
SPEAKER 15 :
Same token, Troy. All of us, myself included, have always had that dreadful summer cold. So, you know, that stuff happens all year long.
SPEAKER 17 :
It does. Viruses do not go away, neither do bacteria. So there is less and less of it, mostly because we're outside. The sun kills a lot of infections. So... We have that opportunity during the summer, but it's still out there and you can still get sick.
SPEAKER 15 :
How important is, you know, what we're, you know, again, this time of the year, a little colder, typically you don't, you know, drink as much. And or if you're drinking, in a lot of cases, people are drinking something other than, you know, water there, you know, maybe tea, maybe coffee, maybe some other type of beverages, adult beverages and so on in the water consumption. I'm guessing, Troy, and I'm not I'm not you. I don't study this stuff, but I'm guessing this time of the year, unless you're purposeful, your water consumption probably drops, doesn't it?
SPEAKER 17 :
It certainly can because a lot of us are looking for something hot. And most of the time when we're looking for something hot, it's going to be coffee or tea, which have caffeine, and that can dehydrate us. But the beauty is coffee and tea both are mostly water. So keeping that in mind, you are getting some hydration with it, albeit you're getting some caffeine. But one way that you can battle against that is if you have tea and you're wanting something hot, just keep reusing that tea bag five, six times and eventually you're getting more water than you are caffeine. There are also a lot of caffeine-free alternatives that you can have when it comes to tea or even coffee and you're still getting fluids at that point that's going to help.
SPEAKER 15 :
And I know this is something that, again, has to become a habit, and you'll see a lot of people carry, I do, you carry around a thermos-type container that has, in my case, water, and you won't put ice in it or do whatever you want to do, fine. But for me, Troy, I just make myself do that because that makes me, or I guess I should say forces me to have the amount of liquid each day I should have.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely, because none of us, I guess we could drown and that would be too much water. But for the most part, very few of us could drink more water than we really need at this point because we're not in the habit of doing it. And water is so beneficial to us, whether that's our immune health, whether that's joint health, anything, water is going to help because it helps flush all those toxins out of our bodies.
SPEAKER 15 :
I know we've talked in the past as well, and I've interviewed other experts on this, where a lion's share of our population is A, low on vitamin D, and then also dehydrated.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely. And this time of year especially, because we're in the winter months, there's really nowhere in the northern hemisphere in the U.S. where we could get enough sun during the winter and still maintain our vitamin D levels. Maybe Hawaii, maybe parts of Florida. But for the most part, during the winter, you've got to be getting 15 minutes of sun a day in short sleeves and shorts in order to get the amount of vitamin D that our bodies need to keep our immune system as healthy as possible. So there's really no way for the majority of us in the U.S. to get that.
SPEAKER 15 :
Great point. Food-wise, different things even get eaten at different times of the year because depending upon the time of the year, Troy, some things become more expensive. They become less expensive. In turn, you may eat certain things at different times of the year, the different seasons that we have, especially here in Colorado, the different seasons. We have all four here. What types of food should we make sure that we're consistent in getting in no matter what?
SPEAKER 17 :
I mean, it's always what mom said is very, very true. We should always be getting our fruits and vegetables. Stay away from the processed foods because the more processed foods we have, the bigger issue you're going to have. Our body just doesn't do well with those processed foods. So anytime you can snack on fruits or vegetables, stay away from the sugar. And those are always great ways to get your body healthy. tuned up and in great condition so there are certain fruits and vegetables that may be in season or out of season and if it's in season do the normal thing of just rotating to a new vegetable or a new fruit that may be in season this time of year that you don't normally get and your body will thank you for it because it does like a little bit of diversity when it comes to that
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, let's say that, you know, either ourselves or a family member comes down with an illness, respiratory illness in this particular case. You know, what's their best remedy? And I get that that's hard to do just a flat-out, you know, blanket statement. And if somebody's really ill, yes, we need to be going to the doctor and finding out exactly, you know, much like your friend you were talking about. I mean, yeah, if we need that kind of care, we need to get that. I do think, Troy, that part of the problem we have with our health care system in this country is far too many people run right down to the urgent care or the ER or the doctor's office without trying to do some things on their own. And our bodies are wonderfully made and there's the ability for us to fight some of these things off naturally. So I guess the question is, when do we call it quits on our own remedies and or what should some of those be versus actually going to urgent care or the doctor?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I think the number one thing is we've got to listen to our bodies. If we have a headache and we have a mild fever, there really is no need to go to the doctor because all they're going to do is treat those symptoms the same way you would treat them if you're at the house. So if you've got a cough that's keeping you up at night, then find a cough suppressant that's going to help reduce that cough and make sure that you're getting the rest you need because The number one thing I think we need to do when we're not feeling well is be sure that we're getting sleep. Beyond sleep, you need to be well hydrated. And then treat those symptoms as they come up. Now, don't treat the symptoms to the point where you're masking everything and you have no idea if you're really getting worse or not. The body, like you said, is wonderfully made, and it sends warning signs for us. So if you've got a fever that's popping up to 104, 105, and it's maintaining that, that's probably a sign you need to be going down to the urgent care and getting some things done.
SPEAKER 15 :
Makes sense. And again, for most, I think you said, Troy, and you're accurate, we know our bodies. We know ourselves. We typically know what's going on. And I also know that some of us don't like going to any of those places. So you'll do almost everything you possibly can to avoid going to a place like that. That's me, by the way. I just – I don't know. I'm sorry. And it's nothing against, you know, that industry, Troy. But all of that to me just seems like such a waste of time because everything in the medical community moves at a snail's pace. So for me, it's just like, OK, I'm doing everything possible to not go there.
SPEAKER 17 :
I feel the same way because the truth is a lot of times we go to the urgent care and we don't have something that is necessarily going around in the community. But when you go to the urgent care, there's a pretty good chance.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 17 :
if you're not washing your hands and being very, very careful, that whatever you didn't have, you have on the way out. Fact.
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely. All right, Centurion Labs, talk about that for a moment. What can folks find there, and how do they find it?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, so you can go to centurionlabs.com, so that's C-E-N-T-U-R-I-O-N-L-A-B-S dot com, and we've got all kinds of supplements there. We actually have some cough suppressants as well to Help people if this time of the year you're coming down with a cough. Maybe a great opportunity to go on there and find something that may help you and benefit you.
SPEAKER 15 :
I was going to say really quick, and sign up because you guys send out daily newsletters and things along those lines as well.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely. We try to educate as much as we can and get the word out and just help people take a little bit more ownership of their health, especially after what we went through with COVID.
SPEAKER 15 :
And just to kind of dovetail into that, I talked about some of the RFK Jr. hearings right before, you know, you were coming on and just, you know, where is that going to go? I don't know. The reality is you're already, Troy, not to get super political here, but you're already starting to see pushback from his own party in regards to him himself, because the reality is there's a lot. I'm sorry. I don't know how to say this, Troy. There's a lot of these senators that are on the dole from Big Pharma that definitely don't want to see any kind of a disruptor come in and change things.
SPEAKER 17 :
Unfortunately, you are absolutely correct. And the pharmaceutical industry and the medical industry as a whole is no longer about preventing. It's really no longer about health, but it's about creating annuity streams. And I think we would do a much better job and be a much healthier nation if we just started working in that old adage that Benjamin Franklin said, which is, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, we would all be much better off when it comes to our health based on that.
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely. Troy, as always, it's a joy always having you. I learn something every time you're on, and I appreciate your time.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thanks, John. Always good to be here.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, man. Appreciate you. Have a great rest of your day. All right, let's do this. Dr. Scott, speaking of everything I mentioned a moment ago with Troy, Dr. Scott is one of those doctors that doesn't think the way that the rest of the industry does. In fact, through COVID-19, had to end up finding another job because of him wanting to prescribe ivermectin to a patient, which, by the way, was outside of the hospital chain he was actually working for at that time. So he, by the way, fully knows and is aware of what we talk about here and on Thursdays with Dr. Kelly, and he's in our camp. He knows exactly what's going on and wants to make sure you, like Troy said a moment ago, have the best health possible based upon what your needs are, and that prevention of versus what we were talking about with Troy and Big Pharma a moment ago. So call Scott today, 303-663-6990.
SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
Suck it up, buttercup. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, and as I have said numerous times and actually interviewed somebody last week when it comes to fad diets, be careful. Not saying that they all don't work and not saying there isn't something to probably all of them. But overdone can lead to some consequences you may not want. For example, a Florida man in his mid-40s on a meat, fat, and dairy-heavy diet, i.e. the carnivore diet... arrived at a Tampa hospital with ooze emanating from yellowish nodes on the palms of his hands, elbows, and the sides of his feet. The man told doctors that he had adopted a carnivore diet eight months prior, explaining that his daily intake was made up entirely of sticks of butter, six to nine pounds of cheese, and hamburger cheese. And this guy is now kind of becoming a case study for these things. And his cholesterol was literally through the roof, you can only imagine. And, yeah, not healthy at all. Would never recommend anybody do anything along those lines whatsoever. His cholesterol, by the way, exceeded 1,000, and it's supposed to be down around – it should be under 200. If you're at 200 or above, 240-ish or so, by the way, you're considered high at that point in time. And he was at 1,000. They called this man – they diagnosed him with – xanthelasma, however you say that, a condition caused by high cholesterol levels or other fats in the blood. In cases of this particular condition, excess lipids ooze from the blood vessels and from localized lipid deposits. And all I can say is, yuck. Yuck. So, yeah. Now, I don't think any of my listeners would be dumb enough to do what this particular gentleman did and eat this much of those particular items. And I guess, like we always say, balance is everything. And no matter what you're doing, including a diet, you can definitely overdo it. So, yeah. Anyways, thank you all for listening. Health and Wellness Wednesday. Try to bring as much things to you on this Wednesday edition as we can, because I believe wholeheartedly, and I know a lot of you do as well, we need to be a much healthier country than we are right now. And hopefully RFK Jr. and Donald Trump, hopefully he'll get confirmed and we can take some measures along those lines. So we'll be back. Hour number two is next. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you.
