On today's program: Dr. Roger Marshall, U.S. Senator from Kansas, shares the key takeaways from his meeting with President Trump on reconciliation, as well as his reaction to Elon Musk's criticism of the Big Beautiful Bill. Kevin Hern, U.S.
SPEAKER 20 :
From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation's leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 06 :
We had a very positive discussion about the path forward on the big, beautiful bill and the reconciliation bill. And I think it was a reminder that we are all in this together. This is a team effort and everybody is going to be rolling in the same direction to get this across the finish line.
SPEAKER 12 :
That was Republican Senate Leader John Thune moments after the Senate strategy session with President Donald Trump yesterday on the path forward for the reconciliation package. Welcome to this June 5th edition of Washington Watch. I'm Tony Perkins. Thanks for tuning in. Well, ahead on the program, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall was in that Oval Office huddle. He joins us in just a moment with a readout and his take on whether the one big, beautiful bill can clear the Senate. And the measure hit sudden turbulence when Elon Musk took to Axe to torch it, cooling what had been a warm rapport with President Trump.
SPEAKER 14 :
Very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people. He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we're going to have to cut the EV mandate because that's billions and billions of dollars, and it really is unfair.
SPEAKER 12 :
We'll break down the rift and its possible implications. The president yesterday announcing a new travel ban covering citizens from 12 countries.
SPEAKER 14 :
We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States. That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others.
SPEAKER 12 :
We'll get reaction from Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hearn, part of the House GOP leadership team. And a fresh poll from the Barna Group and the National Religious Broadcasters reveals encouraging trends for Christian broadcasting. NRB President and CEO Troy Miller joins me to unpack the numbers.
SPEAKER 07 :
For us, we can't relent on changing what we believe to be scriptural truth for the current place of where the culture is at. And for some reason, that then deems us as a hate group.
SPEAKER 12 :
That was Jim Daley, president of Focus on the Family, responding to the Southern Property Law Center's decision to add Focus to its hate list. Well, the SPLC slapped that label on FRC 15 years ago. We were probably the first. And just as we warned then, its blacklist has only grown. We'll analyze the left's ongoing effort to marginalize and silence biblical voices with FRC's Travis Weber and Washington Stand editor Jared Bridges. Hey, by the way, have you signed up for the FRC 21-Day Family Bible Challenge? Starting June the 11th, as a part of our Stand on the Word reading plan, we move into the New Testament, and you and your family can walk together through the life of Christ in the book of Matthew. Study guide, weekly discussion questions, kid-friendly activities, and much more. To join, text the word MATTHEW to 67742. Again, text MATTHEW to 67742. Well, Republican senators met with President Donald Trump yesterday in the Oval Office to work out a way forward on the reconciliation package, also known as the one big beautiful bill. Here to discuss this is Senator Roger Marshall from Kansas. Senator Marshall is a member of the Senate Budget Committee and the Finance Committee, which met yesterday with President Trump. SENATOR MARSHALL, WELCOME BACK TO WASHINGTON WATCH. THANKS FOR JOINING US.
SPEAKER 22 :
HEY, TONY, IT'S GREAT TO BE WITH YOU AND I COULDN'T HELP BUT THINK AS YOU WERE TALKING TO JIM DALEY EARLIER WHAT A GREAT INFLUENCE JAMES DOBSON WAS ON MY LIFE. AND I HAD TO SIT THERE AND THINK WHAT WOULD JAMES DOBSON THINK OF THIS BILL? And I think it's important to communicate with you and your listeners that we defund Planned Parenthood in this bill, that we cut funding for the Obamacare insurance policies if they do abortions, that we stop federal funding for any of the transgender surgeries. We increase the child tax credit. We try to make this a pro-family, pro-American value bill. And before we dive into all the economics of this, I just want you to know that there's a moral part of this that's important to you,
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. And these are provisions that you've been working on independently with other legislation. Now we're able to get a lot of this into the reconciliation package. For instance, you said two big issues, total defunding of government or taxpayer funding of abortion. entities or providers, that's not going to be in there anymore. So the almost $800 million that Planned Parenthood got from taxpayers, that goes away. And something you've been working on, very passionate about, is the issue of these transgender procedures on minors and others that the taxpayers have been paying for. That's gone under this bill.
SPEAKER 22 :
Yeah, Tony, very proud of the work. And this is all because of President Trump's leadership, his commitment to making America great again, making America healthy again. I'm especially grateful for this opportunity to stop the funding of mutilation of our children. Yeah, I just can't. I mean, this is child abuse. And I am just so honored that we can be part of stopping the federal process.
SPEAKER 12 :
And I should mention, I didn't mention this in the introduction, but you are a medical doctor, delivered some 5,000 babies before getting elected to Congress and then serving in the Senate. So you know a little bit about health care. Let's talk, let's, I want to talk about health care in just a moment because a lot of concerns that have been raised, false concerns, I think, having worked with the House on this bill. But first, I want to get a characterization of you of the meeting yesterday that took place in the Oval Office. A lot of people wondering. In fact, I was talking to some reporters saying, I wish I had been a fly on the wall of that meeting. So you weren't a fly, but you were in there. Tell us about the meeting.
SPEAKER 22 :
YEAH, I JUST WISH PEOPLE COULD GET TO KNOW THE PRESIDENT TRUMP THAT I KNOW, THAT JUST EVERY TIME I SEE HIM, HE'S UPBEAT, HE'S POSITIVE, YOU KNOW, AND HE ONLY USED THE TERM THAT, LOOK, AMERICA'S HOT RIGHT NOW. AMERICA IS HOT, OUR ECONOMY IS GROWING, HE'S SO PROUD. WE'RE HAVING A GDP GROWTH MAYBE YOU KNOW, THE OLD THUG SET THERE AND THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE A HALF A PERCENT, BUT IT'S PROBABLY 4.6%. THERE'S LOTS OF TARIFF MONEY COMING IN RIGHT NOW, WAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. SO MANY GOOD THINGS HAPPENING. $15 TRILLION IN PROMISED INVESTMENT. SO AS WE LOOK AT THIS ONE BIG PRESIDENT TRUMP IS TRYING TO SHARE WITH US WHAT HE THINKS IT WILL DO ECONOMICALLY, THAT IT'S GOING TO GROW THE ECONOMY 3 OR 4%. NOW, YOUR CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, AND IT'S SO BORING TO EVEN TALK ABOUT IT, BUT JUST THINK OF THEM AS YOUR BORING ACCOUNTANTS ARE SAYING THAT WE'LL ONLY HAVE 1.8% GROWTH. PRESIDENT TRUMP THINKS WE'RE GOING TO HAVE 3 OR 4% GROWTH. AND AT THE END OF THE DAY, THIS BILL IS GOING TO IMPACT TO THE GOOD $8 TRILLION TOWARDS OUR NATIONAL DEBT. THAT THIS BILL IS GOING TO LOWER OUR NATIONAL DEBT SOME $8 TRILLION OVER 10 YEARS.
SPEAKER 12 :
So let's talk about two issues that are drawing attention, one of them mostly in the House before it left. And that was and it's going to pop back up in the Senate. And that is the taking Medicaid and making sure that those who are in need have access to it so that those who are able bodied and could work have to work if they're going to stay on it.
SPEAKER 22 :
Yeah, Tony, our Christian duty is to take care of those who are the least amongst us. And I will guarantee you that I will do everything I can to protect Medicaid for those who need it the most. That would be our senior citizens in nursing homes. It would be people with disabilities. It would be children, especially. But we now have over 90 million people on Medicaid. We're spending a trillion dollars a year on Medicaid. It's grown 50% in the last five years. Meanwhile, we have 7 million healthy American men working age that aren't working right now. Let's do them a favor. Let's help them get a job. You know, the best safety net out there is a job. It's good for your mental health. It brings purpose to your life. So many great things. And every job is important to me. I don't care whether you're the hedge manager or you're trimming the hedge. All those jobs are important. They bring meaning to life. So we want to do our godly duty and get people a hand up, not a handout.
SPEAKER 12 :
And some of those that are being taken off of the Medicaid under this bill are those who are here in the country illegally.
SPEAKER 22 :
Yeah. So if whatever report you hear from the headlines, maybe let's just say, though, a number out of 10 million people could lose Medicaid. One and a half million of those are people that are here illegally. Another half are people that should never have been on Medicaid in the first place. They're on it fraudulently. And then the other half are working men for the most part, not people or women that don't have dependents, working age men or working age women that we want to help encourage to get back to work. And again, There's so many opportunities out there right now. There are plenty of jobs. If you can go through a two-year technical program or a community college program in my home state, you're going to walk away with an $80,000 a year job and no debt. And they're great jobs. They're fun jobs. They help provide energy to America. It helps all the great technical skills out there that we need in manufacturing. in the aerospace industry. So I'm just so upbeat, Tony. You can't tell. I'm just, for the first time in years, I'm excited about America, and I'm excited about the opportunities here.
SPEAKER 12 :
It is. We're at a turning point. Things are turning around. I want to talk about some of the other criticisms, Senator Marshall, that kind of surprise people. Elon Musk, who was heading Doge, was a part of this, in the White House all the time, working on it. Now, all of a sudden, he's soured on the bill. The president pointing to something in his comments yesterday when he was asked about the post that Elon had put up, that it comes down to the actual cuts that are in the reconciliation bill dealing with electric vehicles.
SPEAKER 22 :
Yeah, well, certainly, you know, a big difference between being a CEO, Elon's a CEO, but here the president has a board of 435 members on the House side, and here in the Senate, there's another 100 members that are on the board, and not everyone thinks like Elon. That's a big difference between me running a hospital or being a church board chairman versus being your senator, is that I have to work with other people, and I would love to cut more money from what the House did, and that's my goal. The House cut $1.6 trillion over 10 years. I've said all along I wanted to get north of $2 trillion of cuts so we could pay for some of the president's programs that he wants so badly. So I still think we've got more work to do. I still believe that the number one long-term challenge this country faces is our national debt. To face that problem, the first thing we do is grow the economy. And that's what this bill is going to do. By making the Trump tax cuts permanent, we need to continue to roll back regulations. We will see the Trump growth in this economy. The next thing we need to do is freeze spending. Would love to cut it. I'm going to try to cut it. But if you cut things too fast, this big ship we call America will turn, will flip over. We've been on a sugar high here for four, for five years, spending $2 trillion more than we're taking in. And then eventually we'll need to cut spending, but we'll need to do that through the appropriations process as well. Grow the economy, stabilize the spending, and then cut spending.
SPEAKER 12 :
So let's talk about the way forward here in the Senate. We just have two minutes left, Senator Marshall. But there are a number of your colleagues that want to see more reductions in this. Do you think... Now this is kind of odd because usually the Senate is not more conservative in the House, but do you think the Senate will serve up a more conservative reconciliation package?
SPEAKER 22 :
I absolutely do. And I've already seen some of the reports coming out of the committees that's going to have more spending cuts than the House does. I don't know if we're going to get to my $2 trillion magic number, but I expect us to be there. And I think, again, we're just trying to be frugal. Tony, one of the greatest joys of my life was being our board chairman, our church board chairman for four years. And I'm telling you, I took better care of other people's money than my own because you feel that obligation. And that's the way I feel up here. Whether it's the Medicare trust fund or Medicaid dollars or whatever, I feel very responsible for the money that hardworking Americans have given us. And I think there's an opportunity to make some more trimming here.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I wish more had that perspective of the money, because I think some people treat it less responsibly than their own funding. And it's a real honor, but also obligation to be in that role of stewarding what the people have entrusted to the government of this country. Senator Roger Marshall, always great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. Thank you, Tony. Thank you so much. Let's make America great again. Amen. Well, let's make it good again. We want to make America great, but the path is being good. And this is one of the reasons that we're doing this 21 day Bible reading plan, because the moral foundation of our nation is tremendously important to sustaining the building of a great nation. So join us in this 21-day Bible reading challenge. Text the word Matthew to 67742 and pray. Pray for senators like Roger Marshall and others who are doing the work up here in our nation's capital. All right, we're back with more Influence. Hello, I'm Tony Perkins and we're here in Jerusalem, the city of King David. And I'm excited to announce the launch of our Family Bible Challenge to read through the Gospel of Matthew. Now, this 21-day challenge begins on June the 11th, and it's a part of our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. It's in bite-sized readings. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes a day, and we provide a toolbox full of resources to help you along the journey, including a study guide titled, Matthew, the King and His Kingdom. We also provide downloadable resources such as age appropriate questions to engage children. And we have a variety of family friendly projects as well as this, listen, a coloring book, coloring pages about the life of Jesus for the younger kids and your grandkids. Think about it, what could be a better summer activity than to go on a journey through the life of Jesus as a family? Just think what God could do in the lives of your loved ones as they read Matthew, unforgettable stories about the greater son of David, Jesus the Messiah. I hope you'll join us for our Family Bible Challenge beginning June the 11th. Text the word Matthew to 67742. I hope you'll join us.
SPEAKER 18 :
In a time when Washington seems clouded by compromise, a bold group of lawmakers are standing firm in defense of the values which our nation was built upon. At FRC Actions 100% Awards, 171 members of Congress were honored for voting 100% in line with policies that promote faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 04 :
Faith and family made our country, it's the foundation that made our country not only great, but good.
SPEAKER 05 :
The values that make America, faith, family, hard work, personal responsibility. I mean, that to me is the heart of FRC and grateful for everything that they do.
SPEAKER 23 :
It's very important for us to have organizations such as FRC. First of all, I think it keeps us grounded. In addition to which, the issues that you champion are issues that we should all be championing.
SPEAKER 08 :
FRC is very, very good at honing in on those things that really affect Christians' lives. Also, working with members of Congress, too, to make sure that those values are instilled in the legislation that we create.
SPEAKER 15 :
Having the Family Research Council to guide us is critically important to being able to do the right thing consistently.
SPEAKER 18 :
These lawmakers have drawn the line, not just in policy, but in principle. This is more than politics. This is conviction in action. Visit frcaction.org for more information on how you too can make a difference.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Thursday. Well, yesterday, President Trump issued a new set of travel bans and restrictions primarily targeting nations that contribute to threats of national security and public safety. President Trump had issued a similar set of restrictions in his first term to address other pressing issues at the time, primarily countries involved in terrorism. This list, however, comes as anti-Semitism and terrorist attacks are on the rise. And many countries just don't have tight security in putting America and others at risk. Here to discuss this and more, Congressman Kevin Hearn, who is a member of the Border Security Caucus and chair of the Republican Policy Committee. He represents the 1st Congressional District of Oklahoma. Congressman Hearn, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 24 :
Tony, it's so great to be with you.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right. Before we get to the president's announcement on the travel restrictions, I want to address the Senate meetings yesterday with the president concerning the one big, beautiful bill. There's a lot of noise coming from the Senate side of the House. And I want to get your sense of where things stand.
SPEAKER 24 :
Well, we're sort of in the eye of the storm. We had these discussions at length for the first few months of the presidency, but even before that, anticipating back last year and then getting to the election November. So we had a running start. The Senate was behind because they had a change in leadership from McConnell to Thune. They also had to deal with YOU KNOW, THE CONFIRMATION OF THE CABINET. AND SO WE HAD QUITE A HEAD START ON IT. SO THEY'VE BEEN WATCHING US FROM AFAR ON THE OTHER END OF THE CAPITOL. AND HERE WE ARE TODAY SEEING THEM, YOU KNOW, EXPRESS SOME OF THEIR CONCERNS. BUT HERE'S THE FACT, TONY. IF YOU DON'T VOTE FOR THIS BILL, YOU'RE VOTING TO RAISE TAXES SOME 20% PLUS ON ALL AMERICANS. AND THAT'S JUST UNCONSCIOUS, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF 20% PLUS INFLATION UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION. SO WE CAN'T DO THAT TO THE The Senate wants to put their fingerprints on it. They can. They just can't put their whole fist on it or the whole weight of their body.
SPEAKER 12 :
So maybe two hands, but not two hands and two feet. It's got to be limited. What do you make of Elon Musk now kind of trying to blow this thing up, trying to kill it?
SPEAKER 24 :
Well, again, as I've shared with a lot of people, you know, as a business person, this place really is hard to comprehend. You have great ideas. You want a perfect bill. I'm a strong conservative, fiscal conservative. But I also know that, you know, the so-called phrase of Rome wasn't built in a day. Our deficits of $2 trillion and $36 trillion in debt wasn't done overnight. It wasn't done in the last four years. So we've got to start crawling so we can walk and run. What Speaker Johnson has done with such a slim majority is incredible. In fact, I had a very prominent Democrat, actually a couple Democrats standing together, they've been around a long time, very influential, say to me personally, TO DO WHAT YOU GUYS DID WITH ONLY A FOUR-VOTE MARGIN IS REALLY SPECTACULAR. WE APPLAUD YOU. WE WILL NOT DO IT ON THE PRESS. WE WON'T DO IT ON THE TONY PERKINS SHOW, BUT WE APPLAUD YOU BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD, AND WE HAD SPENDING BILLS. SO TO DO IT WITH A TAX BILL IS REALLY INCREDIBLE. SO KUDOS TO THE SPEAKER. KUDOS TO EVERYBODY THAT WORKED HARD ON THIS. AND NOW THE SENATE NEEDS TO DO THE SAME THING.
SPEAKER 12 :
YOU KNOW, I SHOULD JUST MENTION FOR CONTEXT FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR VIEWERS AND LISTENERS THAT MAY HAVE NOT SEEN YOU ON THE PROGRAM BEFORE. You're a business owner. You owned a couple of dozen McDonald's franchise. So, I mean, you know about business, making a payroll, and how to operate in the black. But matching that with an understanding of how government works, it's a balancing act.
SPEAKER 24 :
Well, you have to build an allegiance. And again, the speaker has done a phenomenal job at that, trying to find all the dissimilar interests and then putting those into a bucket. And we worked night and day at the White House. And we did our trips back and forth to the White House as members of Ways and Means, as members of the House leadership, as I am with the policy chair role. And then the speaker and others went to the White House. If you're part of the, you know, the staunch conservatives that didn't want didn't think it cut enough or you wanted to deal with salt differently, the state and local tax exemptions. So all of these things mattered. Again, it was about threading the needle, came down to the last minute and we passed it with one vote.
SPEAKER 12 :
OK, let's move to the travel restrictions that the president issued by executive order. And this is something he actually started in January. He just got the results of an analysis. Twelve countries he's identified as countries that have bans on citizens from those countries traveling here. Now, in 2017, there were lawsuits against this, and it got modified and changed. But the Supreme Court in 2018 upheld the president's authority to do this. Do you think this latest executive order and these limits will stand on solid ground and not be taken down in court?
SPEAKER 24 :
I do. One thing about the president, he cares about the safety of the American people. You've seen what he's done at the southern border. No laws were changed, as he said in the joint address back earlier this year, that you just need a new president. And now we've seen almost no crossings coming across, bringing fentanyl that are killing Americans. It was the number one killer for the last five, six years. He's lessened that problem in America. What he's doing around the world, trying to stop war, This president and President Trump cannot stand where these inhumane killings are going on. What happened in Colorado is just a travesty. I think what you're seeing also, even back in Oklahoma in the first district, you're not hearing people talk about deportations anymore. You're not hearing people talk about the border anymore. You've got Democrats in Colorado. You look at the governor. You look at the AG. You look at Congressman Neguse, which is his district. I talked to him on the floor yesterday. He was talking about how expeditiously FBI and law enforcement in general showed up for that. And he said it was truly amazing. So people understand safety. You don't have a nation if you don't have a safe nation. And this president, President Trump, is going to make sure that happens.
SPEAKER 12 :
And I think we are seeing, I mean, here in the District of Columbia, just down the street from the Capitol, just a few blocks from us at the Family Research Council, a shooting of two young Jewish staffers at the Israeli embassy. We've had the shooting, as you made reference to, in Colorado. So the threat is real. It's real.
SPEAKER 24 :
It is real. And, you know, by the time it gets to you mentioned the Jewish couple, which is just really sad, the whole of it all unfolded, you know, by the time it gets to that point and the people are here, you know, with anti-Semitic views, you know, the president pushing back on the universities. We saw what he did at Columbia. We've seen the battle with Harvard and things going on there. That has to stop in America because people are dying because of those kind of conversations. And by the time people are going to have a hard time living free, because by the time they get out on the streets, it's too late. So the president's trying to keep people out of the country and trying to keep people off the streets that are willing to harm others.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yep. And I think that's the way the American people see it. Congressman Kevin Hearn, always great to see you. And thanks so much for joining the program today.
SPEAKER 24 :
Thanks again, Tony.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, folks, there you have it. I think the president is taking the right steps to keep America safe. But we also need to be praying because we need God's hand of protection upon this nation as well. Coming up next, a new report from the National Religious Broadcasters and the Barna Group shows promise in Christian media. I'm going to talk with Troy Miller of NRB, so don't go away.
SPEAKER 10 :
The Center for Biblical Worldview's all-day workshops delves into the formation of a worldview, what it is, how it's formed, when it's formed, what that means to them personally and their churches and communities.
SPEAKER 19 :
My hope for people when they come to these worldview workshops is that they will come away better equipped to engage the people and the ideas that they're living with and around. And our goal is to give people more confidence in the gospel, in the fact that what God said to us actually is true, actually is the path to happiness and human flourishing for all of us, but also more confidence in their ability to have these conversations and help lead other people to the truth.
SPEAKER 13 :
for Bible-believing Christians to know what God's Word says on these issues and to learn how they can apply it to their lives. And we believe that the more Christians that we equip, that's how we'll change the nation.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hey, fam, listen, Pastor Sammy here at Lighthouse Church, and I cannot tell you how equipping, how empowering, how... incredibly educating this conference has been. And so I just want to encourage anybody that either has not been part of or is thinking about hosting this event, certainly to pastors, leaders, even CEOs for that matter. This conference is lights out. Stand behind it myself. I can't commend it enough. We're going to be talking about this for some time to come.
SPEAKER 02 :
The culture is kind of squeezing in on us as God's people, forcing those of us with biblical views to change those views or to suppress those views. It's forcing us to engage with issues that we've never had to engage with. And so what this teaches us is what those issues are, what the Bible says about those issues, and then how we can critically engage our culture on these things in a way that is committed to biblical principle.
SPEAKER 22 :
Visit frc.org slash worldview for more information.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in. And don't forget to take the FRC 21 Day Bible Challenge, the Family Bible Challenge, where as a family for 21 days, you can walk with us through the book of Matthew. to take the challenge simply text matthew to six seven seven four two that's matthew to six seven seven four two and when you do you'll get a link to all kinds of resources not only the reading guide but you'll have study guides you'll have activities for the family even ITEMS TO DO FOR THE KIDS. WE'VE GOT SOME COLORING PAGES FOR THE KIDS, ALL UNDER THE 21-DAY FAMILY CHALLENGE. SO TEXT MATTHEW TO 67742 AND JOIN THOUSANDS OF OTHERS. AND BEGINNING JUNE THE 11TH, WALKING THROUGH THE BOOK OF MATTHEW. A new landmark study from the Barna Group and the National Religious Broadcaster shows that Christian media is becoming a shaping force in the US. Christian media, according to the NRB, is not only surviving, it is thriving. This news seems surprising given the attempts to label Christians as hateful people. But with Americans' trust in media at the lowest point in over five decades, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that people are tuning to sources that believe in absolute truth. Here to discuss this is Troy Miller, the president and CEO of NRB. Troy, welcome back to Washington Watch. Tony, great to be with you again. So I guess, you know, the stereotyping of Christian media is kind of of the past, you know, big hair and bad makeup. That's a thing of the past.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, that stereotype of the televangelist is really gone. And people, as you said, are tuning in. Look, 60% of Americans, that's Americans, not just Christians, of Americans tune into Christian media in some form, whether it's traditional broadcast, radio, television, social media, or on just websites. So that's a huge number.
SPEAKER 12 :
So what's the driver? Why are people tuning in to Christian Broadcasting? Is it the fact that it's more accessible? Is it the fact that there's a trust factor there, as I made reference to? What are the main drivers?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I think there are two main things there I think that our people are tuning in. 66% of people said that they find Christian media both trustworthy and important, important to tune into. So that's a huge driver to the fact, as you said, started. that mainstream media's factor is down in the 14%, 15% range of people who trust mainstream media, and yet Christian media is in that really high 66 range. The other thing that was there is people are looking for hope and encouragement. That was the number one reason, number one response when asked, why are you tuning into Christian media? And hope and encouragement was at the top of the list.
SPEAKER 12 :
You know, I think that's important, Troy, because as Christians, and it's here at the Family Research Council, we speak the truth, we do so with hope, and we do so with courage and excellence. Those are our four guiding principles. And I think the truth... the truth is hopeful because as Jesus said, the truth is what will set you free. And when we talk about even here on this news program, Washington Watch, we challenge people to pray about the news because we don't wanna just frustrate people. We're not here to make people angry or upset. We want to give them, number one, a way to pray, and number two, a way to take action. And I think, you know, as Christians, we should be filled with hope, and that should be passing on to others through our messaging.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, Tony, I also think it really tells us that there's a rejection of the mainstream messaging out there. You know, so much of the mainstream media, whether it's news or entertainment, is just, you know, really full of hate. It's full of despair. It takes away purpose in life. And it's very depressing. And so I think people are what we see here with this, people reaching out in such big numbers, you know, 66 percent, two thirds of the country looking for to find that hope and to find that encouragement. That really is a rejection of what's going on in the rest of media.
SPEAKER 12 :
Troy, there's something else I found very interesting that I want you to talk about, and that's the the demographics, those that are tuning in. I mean, some people would think, oh, it's just the, you know, kind of the older demographic. That's not the case.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right. You know, we still had strong numbers for those older generations, baby boomers and ex-genners, right? But look, the Gen Z led the way with 64% of Gen Z tuning into Christian media in some form, mostly social media and web, but that's a huge number. And then followed up by the millennials at 58%. So young adults, young people are reaching out and look, they're the ones that have been targeted the most by the progressives. And again, Tony, I think that's a big repudiation of a rejection of that message.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I also think it goes back to your first point of the hope and the trust in a time where you can't really rely on anything they've been lied to for so long. And if you look around, there's a lot of reasons to be discouraged. unless you find the source of hope. And that's what I think Christian media offers, as you pointed out. Any other surprise? We've got about a minute left. Any other surprising facts that came out of this study?
SPEAKER 11 :
Just one more, just the impact that Christian media is having, 75% of the voters, we wanna know what the impact voters, Christian voters relied on Christian media to help guide their decisions in the elections and what's going on in the culture. So that was another big number, I think, for all of us out there that are in Christian media, I just want to say you're having an impact. You're reaching the culture. So don't think don't buy the message that, you know, mainstream media is the place where people are getting their news or getting their information. As you said, they're looking for absolute truth. They're looking for hope and they're looking for encouragement. And and by these results, Christian media is providing those things.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and Troy Miller, you're doing a great job at the National Religious Broadcasters helping lead the effort of Christian broadcasters all across the country. So thanks for what you do. And thanks for taking time to join us today. Thanks for having me, Tony. All right. All right, folks, more Washington Watch truth and hope coming your way right here on Washington Watch. Don't go away.
SPEAKER 03 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year's Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God's guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. Early bird discount ends May 31st. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That's PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 09 :
Jennifer, it's so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God's Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 21 :
There are so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God's design for their life.
SPEAKER 09 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we're seeing this.
SPEAKER 21 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
SPEAKER 02 :
Order today at embracethedesign.com.
SPEAKER 18 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app, and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. Hope you have the Stand Firm app. That way you can watch Washington Watch no matter where you're at. You also have access to The Washington Stand, our news and commentary from a biblical perspective. So go to the app store and get the Stand Firm app. Our Word for today is found in Nehemiah 10, which records a watershed moment. The returned exiles, from priests to gatekeepers, joined with their brothers and bound themselves with a curse and an oath to walk in God's law. After rebuilding the walls, they rebuilt resolve, pledging that every choice, public or private, would be measured by Scripture. Their example draws a clear boundary. We live among the people of the land, but we are not shaped by their patterns. Jesus echoed this same distinction. His followers are in the world, yet not of it. This isn't a call to isolation. It's a summons to allegiance. Values, ambitions, and habits must flow from God's Word rather than the cultural current. For the exiles, the oath carried weight, blessing if they obeyed, consequences if they drifted. The cross frees us from the curse of the law, yet the principle endures. Obedience still matters. Today, let's cross the same line of separation. Open the Bible, recalibrate your life, and publicly declare. I will walk in your truth. Loyalty to Christ begins and is sustained by loyalty to his word. For more on our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. Late last month, the Southern Poverty Law Center released the newest update to its flawed, bigoted, and anti-Christian hate map. You may recall the Southern Poverty Law Center slapped a hate label on the Family Research Council 15 years ago, placing us on their hate map, which... Inspired, now convicted terrorist Floyd Corkins to come into our building in 2012, intent on committing mass murder. Had 100 rounds of ammunition and 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches that he hoped to smear into the faces of his victims. Gratefully, the heroic actions of our building manager, Leo Johnson, prevented Corkins' plan from coming into fruition. But even a terror attack on our D.C. headquarters could not stop us. The next day, we were on the street, out in front of our building, saying we would not be silenced. We knew what the SPLC was up to, and we knew that they would not stop with organizations like ours and our nation's capital that advocate policy from a biblical perspective. We knew that the march would continue, that they would go after other groups, even into homes for anyone who would dare align with biblical truth. We gave that warning 15 years ago, and we're seeing it come into fruition. The Turning Point USA, now Focus on the Family, have also received the label. Should we be surprised? No, not at all. What we should do is we need to continue to speak truth. Here now in studio to unpack the implications of the labeling by the Southern Poverty Law Center is Travis Weber, FRC's Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs, and the Washington Stands Editor-in-Chief, Jared Bridges. Travis, Jared, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thank you, Tony. Glad to be here.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, Jared, let me start with you. Your initial reaction when you heard the news that Focus on the Family and Turning Point USA were now so-called hate groups, according to the SPLC.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, it's only a matter of time, right? The Southern Poverty Law Center is, you know, they started years ago with focusing on groups like the Ku Klux Klan. They're raising money on it continually. And when the money dries up from there, they have to move on to somewhere else. So early in the 2000s, they put Family Research Council and a few other Christian groups on the list. You know, to date, they've amassed $731 million. They have an endowment. They're sitting on that. They're still raising money. So they just keep adding to the list. Over the years, they've had... They added Alliance Defending Freedom to the list. They put Ben Carson on the list and then sort of took him off. They overstepped a little bit there. Now they've got focus on the family. PragerU is on there, makes conservative videos.
SPEAKER 16 :
Travis, there's no appeasing evil. There's no appeasing evil. Tony, in a situation like this, I think it makes sense to pause and ask what's under the surface, what's behind this. So we examine what are they really opposing? They're opposing God's design for marriage and the family laid out in Genesis 1 and 2. Anyone who stands on that, they're ultimately going to be in the crosshairs of the SPLC. And that becomes apparent when we examine the history here.
SPEAKER 12 :
And not just the SPLC. They happen to be the tip of the spear for the left, but it's really the intolerance toward biblical truth.
SPEAKER 16 :
Exactly. The SPLC is an indicator of where that intolerance will go when it's carried out.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah. And, you know, there were those—I mean, we were early on. I mean, we were kind of like at the vanguard of those being hit by the cancel culture, because we're right here in our nation's capital. We're shaping policy unapologetically from a biblical perspective. And they assumed that if they shut us down, that they would scare others away. And some did. You know, some folded when it came to biblical truth as a result, because they didn't want to be labeled. They didn't want to be taken off cable television and the different things that we've had to endure. But we're not going to surrender truth. And I think what people need to understand is that there is no appeasing evil. You can't say, okay, well, I won't say it out loud. I won't put anything on my social media. I'm just gonna be quiet about it. Well, our silence is acquiescing to the march of evil.
SPEAKER 16 :
And Tony, I think in these moments, we have to, anyone who believes the Bible, who would say my faith and my life are staked upon the word of God, those people who would agree with us, the Christians around America need to understand that's what this is about. It is not some other political thing, some random thing that they're not connected to. They're very connected to it by their agreement with God's word.
SPEAKER 12 :
Let me ask you this, Jared, because we refuse to be silent. Now, I mean, we took our knots, you know, we took our lumps, and we, you know, we had people trying to debank us. I mean, everything that's happened, we've experienced. We just haven't talked about it a lot. But because we didn't fold, because we didn't surrender, because we didn't wave a white flag, we're at a cultural turning point. I mean, look what's happened with the transgender procedures. You know, when we stake the flag on that issue over the SAFE Act in the states, I mean, it's turning now. They understand the power of those who refuse to be silent.
SPEAKER 17 :
Right. And you and I both were in the building that day in 2012 when the terrorist attack happened. And it's a testament to which way you're going to fold. Are you going to be— Which way are you going to be moved by this? Are you going to be moved toward truth, toward God's truth, or are you going to back down? We've stayed the course. And I think to these other groups that are coming on— I would say, where have you been? Yeah, and I think they've been there, and that's the point, is that if you are on the side of biblical truth, you're in this.
SPEAKER 12 :
You might as well just own up to it. If you're going to speak truth, and Jesus said this, look, they hated me before they hated you. So, look, you just have to deal with it. But here's something I think is really, really important. is that we have to put on the armor of God that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6, the breastplate of righteousness. And part of that is to guard our heart from wounds that would lead to bitterness. So, I mean, I'm not angry at the LGBTQ community. I feel compassion toward them because I want them to be free. That's why we continue to speak truth. So, I think it's very important as Christians as we engage in what we know is a spiritual battle that we have the armor on so that we don't become wounded, bitter, and angry.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. And if we are wounded, we don't need to look to... the aggressors, we look to Christ. And he's the only one who is going to be the source of healing.
SPEAKER 16 :
Tony, your comment on that makes me think of John Bevere's book, The Bait of Satan. That's a book about Satan's attempt to get us to be offended, right? But that's an opportunity we need to guard against with the love of Christ. We're standing fully for the truth in love. And then when we're doing that, we're aligning with the kingdom and the kingdom will advance as God works through us.
SPEAKER 12 :
It's like the book that was just, Jennifer Bowens just released. Embracing God's design. Embracing God's design. Thank you, Jared. It's a biblical approach to human sexuality. And there are those that wouldn't want that book out there, but it's going to bring freedom to those who are bound up in this illusion that they can define their own sexual identity.
SPEAKER 16 :
And Tony, this, you know, as you mentioned in that resource, this is so important for us to clarify that, you know, and Jennifer, while in the book layout, how do we understand, how do we think about this? That's a truth perspective. We have to have that. And we're doing it in the heart of love. How do we, how do people walk through it? How are they navigating it? How are they guided through it? And how do the Christians around them take their hand representing the love of Christ? We have to bring that message right now to the country.
SPEAKER 12 :
I want to move on, but first, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the government has actually been using them as a resource. I mean, for years, the FBI, using their designations for groups that are threats to the country, including their hate list. We have a petition that would call upon the administration, the FBI, to... Quit using the SPLC as a source. So, folks, I want to encourage you to sign that petition. Just text SPLC to 67742. That's SPLC to 67742. We've got about five minutes left. I want to shift gears on hate. I'm talking about real hate. The anti-Semitic Boulder, Colorado terrorist attack was partially an impetus for the president's updated travel ban that he put in place. But before we go to that travel ban, I want to today we had Travis, we had a group, actually a former hostage that was just released in February and family members of hostages that are being held in Gaza were here in our building to to meet with us, expressing appreciation for the fact that we're speaking out on their behalf. here in the United States.
SPEAKER 16 :
It was so powerful, Tony, as you were there, we were able to hear from this hostage who'd experienced the horror of what happened on October 7th. And we also heard from family members of hostages, those with family members still in captivity and siblings of those folks. And what was apparent, Tony, this is a community, it's a Jewish community that is grieving, that is being attacked and assaulted by Hamas. And right now the question for the world is who's standing with them and who's standing with their enemies.
SPEAKER 12 :
And I think it was very interesting because the hostage that was here—I was in the kibbutz back last year when I went right after the attack. The kibbutz are not conservative—I mean, they're very liberal from an ideological standpoint. They're not religious at all. And for—in fact, some of the religious Jews would call them almost Marxist in the way that their ideology is. but they're finding their greatest friends and allies as evangelical Bible-believing Christians. This is a unique moment, is it not, Jared?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, it is. And where the love of Christ can be shown to people who are suffering, and we have... People who are daily being, as this anti-Semitic hate is rising even in the U.S., this is a prime opportunity for Christians to reach out.
SPEAKER 12 :
Let's talk about that from a standpoint for just a moment. We've got about three, three and a half minutes left. As evangelical Christians, why should we address the issue of anti-Semitism, Travis?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, I mean, Tony, I think if we just, you know, we're talking about scriptures with the SPLC, right? If we open our scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate them and speak to us, we know Jesus left us the helper in the form of the Holy Spirit. And he says, I'm going to go, but I'm leaving you the helper. The helper, the counselor can illuminate the scriptures. And Tony, I believe when we do that, the Spirit of God will speak to us about his love for and his story and his oversight of the Jewish people. So we're partnering with God and we're aligning with God when we examine scriptures and say, Lord, we want to pray what's on your heart and cooperate with you for the Jewish people at this moment in history. We trust Jesus is the Messiah who has come, but we're aligning with what God is doing. And Tony, we look around, even if we go back to 1948, the establishment of the modern state, what's happening to the Jewish people, the way they're treated at the UN, the ridiculous irrationality of it, that alone should clue us in. Lord, what is happening?
SPEAKER 12 :
Exactly. I mean, when you see it, it's so inexplicable that you have to see the Spirit. You have to see into the spiritual to understand it. And Jared, we know God's ultimate plan. for the Jewish people to say that he's actually written it down for us so we don't have to guess. Now, we don't know the timeline, but we know the direction he's going. I think as a nation, I think as Christians, we should probably be moving in the same direction as God.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, yeah. And he's calling people to himself, right? So that's the way we need to be going and coming alongside people who are hurting.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right. Two minutes left. I want to go back to a policy issue real quick. Reconciliation bill came out of the House over in the Senate this week. Yesterday, we talked about this earlier, Senator Marshall, Senators meeting with the president. One aspect that was in this bill, I talked about this program on the program this week, which was not didn't really get a whole lot of attention. It is a, I think, very innovative bill. voucher system, privately funded through people making contributions to organizations that give out scholarships. Started in Arizona with former Congressman Trent Franks. But it's something new, and it applies to homeschoolers.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. And as a homeschool parent, I know that it's expensive, right? And if you're looking around and seeing all the tax dollars go into the public institutions that you may not want your children attending because of the values they're teaching your children. The opportunity to just be able to have some of that tax dollars is very helpful.
SPEAKER 12 :
But the thing about this is it's not direct tax dollars from a standpoint it's a someone that you you have tax credit they get a tax credit so there's no there's no direct link right the tax dollars to the educational institution therefore the government can't control it right it's going to be much harder which is a much better way to go than a direct voucher system right so it's i think it's pretty exciting And I think it's going to be revolutionary.
SPEAKER 17 :
Especially with the increase in homeschooling since COVID.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. And it's only growing. It's growing rapidly because I think parents understand—well, there's a growing understanding, and, of course, we want to help with that, that parents have been given by God both the authority and the responsibility to teach their children. And we can't outsource that. Jared, Travis, thanks so much for joining us today. Thank you. And folks, I want to thank you for joining us as well. Let me one more time remind you of the 21 Day Bible Challenge through the book of Matthew. It's for families, young and old. So text the word Matthew to 67742 and join us. That's all we have time for today. Thank you for being with us. And until next time, keep praying and keep standing.
SPEAKER 20 :
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.
In today's episode of Sekulow, we navigate a day filled with groundbreaking news—from Trump's investigative orders to a compelling Supreme Court decision supporting religious institutions. Special guests Jay Sekulow and Mike Pompeo weigh in on the ramifications of these significant legal and political shifts, while Rick Grinnell explores the newest travel bans and their implications. The discussion also touches upon the potential geopolitical impacts of new auto-pen controversies, reflecting on how these revelations could reshape America's political dynamics.
SPEAKER 08 :
We got double breaking news today. Donald Trump orders a major investigation into the previous administration and a huge win, a bipartisan win, if you will, out of the Supreme Court. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever.
SPEAKER 11 :
This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110.
SPEAKER 08 :
And now your host, Logan Secule. You cannot ask for a more packed show today. It is jam-packed. Lots of guests. Lots going on. Some breaking news out of Supreme Court. Breaking news out of the Trump administration. Breaking news out of the ACLJ world. And we got an all-star lineup coming up. Including Will Haines joining me right here. I like how you did the little nod. Yeah, I did a nod. They didn't cut to it. No, it wasn't quick enough. Gotta be quick. So... Will Haines is joining me. But then, next segment, my dad, Jay Sekulow, is going to be joining us. Then, former director of national intelligence. Ambassador to Germany. Special envoy currently for the Trump administration. That is Rick Grinnell. He's going to be joining us. Head of the Kennedy Center. And also... Mike Pompeo will be on later in the show. So it is going to be packed. You're not going to want to miss this. And of course, one of the things that came out after Will, we spent a good hour saying we think this may be a little bit of a waste of time. President Trump said, I don't listen to Logan and Will. I think this is worth our time. And look, I think some of our audience feels the same way. which is the sort of auto pin gate, as I said, as they look and start officially investigating President Biden's actions, auto pin use, who held the auto pin, if you will. And we're going to go through that. President Trump, again, put out a statement investigation. It is a little unclear, though. And Will and I, when we have this conversation, I said, well, who was doing this investigation? Who did he empower to do this? It's not clear.
SPEAKER 12 :
That's right. So in this memorandum that came out and it's on the White House website, it says today President Donald J. Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing an investigation into who ran the United States while President Biden was in office. Memorandum directs an investigation into whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden's mental state. and unconstitutionally exercised the authorities and responsibilities of the president, as well as mandating an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Biden's purported execution of numerous executive actions during his final years in the office, examining policy documents signed with an auto pen, who authorized its use, and the validity of the resulting presidential policy decisions. We got into a lot of this earlier in the week about the auto pen issue, whole situation, the investigation. And it does seem that the president is doubling down on this. It is going down this path to see what they can find out. I don't know how they will find a smoking gun of there was a giant conspiracy that Joe Biden had no idea about. And therefore they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt in some sort of court that
SPEAKER 08 :
that these uh issues like i just don't know if this is necessary is where we need to go but you know what the show is going to be packed we're going to keep going because the aclj work doesn't stop here president trump right now by the way is taking questions from reporters we are monitoring that to see if there's any good sound or video to play you uh we'll do that during the break make sure there's if there's anything about what we're talking about that will cover it he's currently he's meeting with what the head of germany I believe, who was there. Again, phone lines are open for you. I want to hear from you. Do you care about this? Do you care about, like I said, this auto-pin situation and who was really running the country? It's not about do you care about it. I understand caring and feeling like you were misled. I think a lot of people feel that way. Look, you have Karine Jean-Pierre now saying she's no longer a Democrat. I think a lot of people felt like they were pushed to do this. A lot of people felt like they were pushed to say they were not... They were not going to, President Biden is fine. He's fine. Look at him. He's doing all these great things.
SPEAKER 12 :
And this will be led, this investigation, so this is just a little bit more to that, by the White House counsel. So the internal White House attorneys, they'll consult with Attorney General and any other relevant executive department agency head, but it is emanating out of the White House counsel's office.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, good time then for my dad to be joining us in the next segment, Jay Sekulow. Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, formerly worked for President Trump last time around as private counsel. We'll talk about that. And we will talk about a huge win. Again, the Supreme Court, in more of a bipartisan way, finally has done, once again, the right thing. So we're going to talk about that coming up in the next segment. And phone lines are open for you. Look, we have so many guests. I'm going to take calls sporadically throughout the show if we get them. So it's not going to be waiting until the end. Give me a call. 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. Welcome back to Sekulow. My dad, Jay Sekulow, is joining us right now via phone. Again, Chief Counsel, American Center for Law and Justice. Now, we want to lead off, Dad, there was a big win. And, Will, you can kind of set this up out of the Supreme Court that happened just before we went on air. And then we'll discuss the other topics at hand. But we want to make sure we keep everyone up to date.
SPEAKER 12 :
That's right. This is a win that just came out of the Supreme Court. A unanimous decision written by Justice Sotomayor. And this is a case that the ACLJ engaged on where a Wisconsin-based Catholic charity was essentially not given some tax-exempt status situation in Wisconsin because the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that their work to feed and care for the poor was not inherently a Christian activity. This was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, and we want to get the Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow's thoughts on this. It was something the ACLJ filed on, and obviously we take very seriously here, but obviously this just came out, but kind of first glance, what are your thoughts on this?
SPEAKER 04 :
First of all, it's a huge win because it was unanimous. So anytime you have a religion case that's unanimous, that's a good thing. The other aspect of it that's significant is we've been litigating for several months, or for several years, really, this whole issue of treating religious institutions differently than other groups when it comes to getting various government benefits. Here it was a tax credit for religious institutions. Now, they were denied their credit simply because they were a Christian charity and that their view of how this work could be violated in the Establishment Clause. Well, the Supreme Court, in that opinion by Justice Sotomayor, unanimously concluded that when the government distinguishes among religions based on theological differences in their provision of services, it imposes denominational preference that must satisfy the highest level of judicial scrutiny, which this law did not. And so it was targeted. It's very much in the line of cases that we've argued going back to Lamb's Chapel in the 1990s, where religious institutions were treated differently for access to public schools than every other group. We won that unanimously. It's interesting here, Logan and Will, and to our audience, that a lot of these cases where there's denial of a specific benefit to a religious group, if you look at the history of that litigation, it's often been unanimous. or 8 to 1, where all of the justices think that that's an unlawful discrimination. So it's a major victory. It's a real advance for the First Amendment and for the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. Very good decision. We should be very happy and thank our donors for allowing us to participate in the case.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I want to clarify, though, for those you say, you know, it does seem to always be now unanimous or eight to one or very close. That wasn't the case back before you and the ACLJ started because you were arguing it a very different way. People were arguing religious cases based on the freedom of religion, not necessarily always the freedom of speech.
SPEAKER 04 :
Correct. And that was a sea change that we really implemented back in the late 80s. And it's taken, you know, 40 years. But now you look at these decisions coming out of the court on the religion clause. In other words, a couple of aberrations last week on a couple of cases. But for the most part, they've been very good. And this one goes a long way. Very positive. All right.
SPEAKER 08 :
We want to move on to some other topics, but that's great. Thank you for everyone who supports work at the ACLJ. That's how these kind of decisions get made. But one of the topics at hand right now is President Trump announced yet another travel ban. You were kind of involved a little bit. We were there. uh, last time around. Uh, so, uh, this now is a list of countries to seem like for a various different reasons have now had these travel restrictions placed.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. And, uh, of course there's, there's going to be, as you know, there'll be litigation on this, but there was a case called the United States versus Hawaii back in 20, I think it was 17, 18. We were involved in it. Um, I was representing Donald Trump, uh, the president then, and we were in involved in some aspects of it as from a legal standpoint, uh, And, of course, I think we filed a major brief in that case. And the conclusion was a 5-4 decision in favor of the administration, recognizing that they have the right to control access to the country from various other countries of origin where there's problems. So the court said 5-4. The president has that authority. So all this is doing, this new executive order, is updating the previous executive orders as it relates to countries that will not be allowed access to the United States.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and when you look at this order, it very much does look similar to what was then called the Travel Ban 2.0 as the first one needed to be reworked. And as you referenced, that was some of the work that you were involved in during that first Trump administration. And when you look at it, following very much that framework of the 2.0, I guess this would be 3.0 at this point, it seems like this should be relatively quick transition. to get through the courts knowing that there's already the precedent set based off the first administration.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, it was interesting.
SPEAKER 08 :
I remember when... Hey, Dan, we're going to call you right back. We're going to reconnect with you. We think we're having some sound difficulties and connection difficulties. We will redial you in just a moment. I do want to take a second, though, and say to give us a call because when he is done, we're going to have Rick Grinnell joining us, and then I'm going to take a lot of calls. 1-800-684-3110. Once again, that's 1-800-684-3110. Maybe while we wait for him to get connected, we can take this call real quick. Susan in Kentucky, can we do that? Let's go ahead. Susan, you're on the air.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hi. My concern is about the auto pen being used for the pardons that Biden did. And I'm especially concerned about some of the individuals that he pardoned, especially like Anthony Fauci and some of those ones.
SPEAKER 08 :
Susan, we discussed this the other day. The actual law that's in place for pardon doesn't say anything about having to sign a document.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, the Constitution, if you just go to the plain text, just says the president shall have the power to pardon. And therefore, it is a broad power. And kind of the concern that we expressed was that if you start putting limits on the presidential power outside the text of the Constitution, that could be detrimental to even this presidency and actions that the power of the presidency inherently has. And therefore, we...
SPEAKER 04 :
don't necessarily want to start putting more limits outside the text of the constitution all right our dad jay seculo uh he's back dad you're there yeah all right continue yeah let me finish something on what will just said about the you all talked about on the broadcast yesterday and you were 100 correct uh the pardon power is absolute i argued that for president trump it's absolute and there's no requirement that it be signed as you said there's no requirement that it theater, so to speak, but I don't think it's worth a lot of time because the president has the authority. As it goes back to the Hawaii, the United States versus Hawaii, which was the first case that dealt with the constitutionality of the travel prohibitions from various countries of origin for access, we were involved in that, in the second rewrite of that, because I remember where we were. We had a bunch of our lawyers were in and um i think logan and will you were all were there we were in a uh ruth chris steakhouse we were at dinner after yeah at dinner at a project project we were doing something in vanderbilt in their executive education program with a lot of our team and it came in that night the call came in and we went to work on it drafted it up that night got it out and then ultimately was we were successful at the supreme court so the president this is just reasserting the rights he already has.
SPEAKER 08 :
It just shows how deep the work of the ACLJ is at right now. And look, we're having a good month so far. We're kicking things off strong. I think people need to understand, our supporters need to understand that we've been involved in each one of these issues in many different ways and in ways that other organizations just simply can't.
SPEAKER 04 :
That's exactly right. I mean, every topic you've discussed this week, we are involved in at the ACLJ, whether it's over in Israel, whether it's here, whether it's a local school board or representing pro-life protesters or sidewalk counselors. All of that happens because of the support of the people that are supporting the work of the ACLJ. A special thank you to our ACLJ champions and also to our ACLJ members around the country, because it's really making a difference.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I want to encourage you all to take a minute and support the work. We usually do like a 30-second pitch here to tell you, go to the website. Look, we've got a big day right now, and we really appreciate if you help us take it over the line. Again, if you can become an ACLJ champion, that's someone that gives on a monthly basis, we really would appreciate it. But you don't have to do that. You can give $5 or you can give $5,000. Look, we're up against a pretty good day today. We're going to have some great results if you guys all get behind it. And when you have a win out of the Supreme Court, You have all of the action we're taking, whether that is for life in Massachusetts, whether that's what we're doing in Israel right now and preparing for the ICC, whether that's the Supreme Court, as we said, doing so much and whether we are talking about those who are preaching the gospel on the streets and protecting their rights. And of course, everything has happened internationally. And we always have to remember that the ACLJ work goes well beyond the borders of the United States of America. And that's very, very important. That's very important. I know that it could sound that way. But even today, the Supreme Court, we are arguing whether feeding the hungry, housing the poor, housing the homeless is a Christian thing to do. Whether the government says that's really within a respect of a Christian doctrine. We all know the truth of that. That the church has always been the bastion of hope for those communities. We got to continue to do that. We got to fight for people so they don't get things taken away from them. You can be a part of that right now at ACLJ.org. I encourage you to do it. I'm going to be monitoring all the donations that come in over the next 30 minutes or so. And I really want you to be a part of it. Let's see today be a big success. What more could you want? Big wins are happening all around the country and all around the world because of you. You did it. You helped us have the best of the best. So be a part of that team right now. Go to ACLJ.org. I encourage you to become a champion if you can. That's something that gives on a monthly basis. And if you're brand new to the broadcast, you've never seen us before, maybe you're on YouTube, you've never seen me or Will, hit that subscribe button. It's absolutely free. It helps us out a lot. Welcome back to Secular. We are going to take your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. Rick Minnell is going to be joining us a little bit later in the broadcast. Now something's come up. You know what? He's a busy guy and we're going to have him on later. Mike Pompeo as well. This is the last segment of the first half hour. And I usually tell you at the end to make sure you find us online because if you don't get us on your local radio station, we do broadcast each and every day on Rumble, on YouTube, on ACLJ.org, where they're broadcasting live every day from 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern. I'm going to tell you that early. The ACLJ app as well. I'll tell you that early so you can be prepared. Some people say, Logan, you give me no time. So I'm giving you time to make sure you're ready for this second half hour because it's going to be jam-packed. President Trump also is addressing right now, as we speak, he's taking questions from reporters. And the topic that we're at hand is now President Trump has opened an investigation through the White House counsel into President Biden's cognitive state, whether he was able to actually do the things he said he could do, whether he was actually the one controlling the auto pin, if you will. Now, we have discussed this. My dad, Jay Sekulow, just discussed this. He said... You know, he thinks this is sort of a bit of a waste of time. I think this a little bit of a waste of time as well, because what is the conclusion you're looking for? If you just want to know the information, I think that's fine. You want to be Jake Tapper? You want to write the book about it? Fine. I don't think I have an issue with that. But what are you going to do about it legally? That is going to be the question. If you can find some sort of smoking gun. President Biden, former President Biden, has made a statement already saying, I was the one controlling all of this. I don't know what they're talking about. Of course, what do you expect from President Joe Biden? But let's hear specifically from President Trump moments ago about this.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, look, the auto pen, I think, is the big scandal here. Outside of the rigged election of 2020, I think the biggest scandal of the last many years is the auto pen. And who's using it? I happen to think I know, okay, because I'm here. And I'm not a big auto pen person, fortunately. I'm glad. I'm very glad. It's an easy way out. But it's a very bad thing, very dangerous. You know, I sign important documents. Usually when they put documents in front of you, they're important. Even if you're signing ambassadorships, I consider that important. I think it's inappropriate. You have somebody that's devoting four years of their life or more to being an ambassador. I think you really deserve, that person deserves to get a real signature, not an Autopen signature. And I can tell Autopen easily. I can look at it like two little pinholes from pulling the paper, right? You always see the pinholes. It's real easy to tell about Autopen.
SPEAKER 12 :
well you know i i hear that and honestly that's what you're saying during that you're like i hear that man i hear it uh there i don't disagree with a lot of what he's saying is that president trump does take the signings very seriously he has the signing ceremonies for almost everything he signs but the the one caveat i have with that is that Currently, as it stands, and as the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel has a memo that dates back to 2005, auto-pin having someone affix your signature to legislation, which is the only document that, at least from the text of the Constitution, is required to be signed by the Constitution. They It is of the opinion through study and through court cases and legal tradition going back through British common law and everything that makes up legal theory that having someone affix your signature to legislation does not violate the text of the constitution saying signed by the president. So therefore, using an auto pen, if the president is making the decision that this shall be signed and says, subordinate, put my signature on the document that is constitutional as american jurisprudence views the the nature of signing something so while he may take that uh privilege of being the president and signing things much more seriously than more ceremonially every other president at this point I don't disagree. I love that he does that. I love that about President Trump that he does take it seriously and shows everyone I am signing it. But where the caveat is, is that... The huge Sharpie. It is a very... Where do you get those?
SPEAKER 03 :
I may have one in my office. Well, I know you do, but you don't just go to Staples and get that size Sharpie.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, they got his name on them, so... But all that to say is that that's where I have the struggle with this entire thing is that I agree with the philosophy of President Trump about signing things. And I think that is a wonderful thing that America can see the president in action and working. But it also doesn't take away that... So what's the point? You can just make this statement. He can be like, I only am going to do it this way. And that's great. But it's the investigation, especially when you have Joe Biden saying, I did all this. That's kind of the end of the investigation because you need to also for President Trump's sake in the future. If the next president is a Democrat and wanting to go and undo everything he did, even beyond the scope of what they should be allowed to do, then you don't want him being the one to say, I don't believe you.
SPEAKER 08 :
You have to think into the future and the future consequences. I don't get when some of the presidents... I feel like maybe it's their... people around them or maybe it's the ego whatever it is it's like they don't they care about what's happening right now they don't care necessarily about how this is going to be when there is a democrat president it's going to happen likely look at our lifetime the last 40 years it's pretty much been a swinging pendulum where there has been a republican a democrat republican a democrat almost entirely in our lifetime So likely will this happen again? Sure. And what are the consequences of that action? Let's also talk a little about the travel ban. How long is that bite? Is that bite something we can play? Because President Trump did discuss it. I don't have it here in front of me because I would like to hear what he's talking about. My son, big fan of Equatorial Guinea, was not thrilled to hear. that they were on the list. I'll be honest. He studies a lot of world history. He may fly the flag of Equatorial Guinea in his room. Not going to lie. I don't think he knows much other than, I mean, he does know a lot about it. He knows a lot about the topical, the history. Do we have that bite? Here we go. Let's hear from President Trump talking about that travel ban that went into place last night.
SPEAKER 10 :
your new travel ban, why now? And if the Boulder attack was part of your reasoning, why not include Egypt on that list where the suspect was from?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, because Egypt has been a country that we deal with very closely. They have things under control. The countries that we have don't have things under control. And why now? I can say that it can't come soon enough, frankly. We want to keep bad people out of our country. The Biden administration allowed some horrendous people and we're getting them out one by one. And we're not stopping until we get them out. We have thousands of murderers. I hate to I even hate to say this in front of the chancellor. Of course, you have a little problem, too, with some of the people that were allowed into your country. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It shouldn't have happened. I told her it shouldn't have happened, what she did. But you have your own difficulty with that. And we do. And we're moving them out. And we're moving them out very strongly. But it can't come fast enough. We want to get them out. We want to get them out now. We don't want to have other bad people coming into our country. By using the word bad, I'm being nice.
SPEAKER 08 :
That's kind of par for the course, Donald Trump language. Bad people coming into the country. Not necessarily very specific on why. For some of them, we go through the list. You've had Afghanistan. You have Iran. You have Myanmar. Myanmar? Myanmar. I knew I said it wrong when I said it. Yemen, Haiti, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Afghanistan. Republic of Congo, Chad, and Equatorial Guinea. I may have missed one there, but yes. So that is where the travel bans are coming from. We're going to talk about why that's important, the good and the bad of it, to be honest, and sort of the sad state of affairs occasionally we get to in this country where we have to start looking at that. Right now, though, you can join us in the fight, become an ACLJ champion. I encourage you to do that as we head into the break. I already told you how to get the second half hour. If you didn't hear that, find us online, ACLJ.org, wherever you get your podcasts, wherever you get your broadcasts. We're there, YouTube Live from noon to 1 p.m., Facebook. We're always broadcasting. We're available to you. And we have a second half hour of the show coming up. Rick Grinnell and Mike Pompeo will be joining us back to back. So it's going to be a packed second half of Sekulow. Join us right now and give us a call. 1-800-684-3110.
SPEAKER 11 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to Sekulow. This second half hour, let's reset what we're talking about. We're talking a little more auto pen. We're talking about the travel bans. We're talking about a big win for the ACLJ out of the Supreme Court that just happened. Maybe we could start with that, Will, because maybe that's not going to get the number one story. You may have gotten a push alert from Fox News or something talking about it. But even us, we were finding out we had a win today. out of the Supreme Court of the United States.
SPEAKER 12 :
That's right. This was a case which was out of Wisconsin and it went all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court where there was a tax exemption issue with religious charities. And it had to do with certain religious organizations weren't getting this benefit that other nonprofit organizations were. And the relevant statute exempts nonprofit organizations operated primarily for religious purposes and operated, supervised, controlled and principally supported by a church or convention or association of churches. And what the Supreme Court of Wisconsin held. was that they were within their right to not give this exemption to a Catholic charity within Wisconsin that was primarily dealing with feeding, clothing, housing the poor. And what the Wisconsin Supreme Court found was that the petitioners, that was the charity, was not operating primarily for religious purposes because they neither engaged in proselytization nor limited their charitable services to Catholics. which is a very odd decision by a court. Basically, they're saying you feeding the poor and generically poor, not just Catholic hungry, means you are not a religious organization.
SPEAKER 08 :
No matter in the Bible does Jesus talk about feeding the poor. Right. nowhere in the bible does it command us to care for the least of these those are just uh you know that's just things people say the government's saying you know we don't really want to do this what's going on with you wisconsin you know better but it went all the way to the supreme court after the petitioners the charity in wisconsin lost and surprisingly today
SPEAKER 12 :
We were not expecting necessarily this to be a big opinion day this Thursday in early June, but a opinion came out of the Supreme Court that was authored by none other than Justice Sonia Sotomayor. And here's the conclusion of her opinion. There's also a concurrence from... Justice Thomas, as well as Justice Jackson. But she wrote, it is fundamental to our constitutional order that the government maintain, quote, neutrality between religion and religion. There may be hard calls to make in policing that rule, but this one is not. When the government distinguishes among religions based on theological differences in their provision of services, it imposes a denominational preference that must satisfy the highest level of judicial scrutiny. Because Wisconsin has transgressed that principle without tailoring necessary to survive each scrutiny, The judgment of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. Therefore, Supreme Court of Wisconsin got it wrong and they were violating the U.S. Constitution in their discrimination of a charity because of their religious beliefs.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, and I think we got to always be there and fight for those who are fighting for religious beliefs that also are involved in the basis of Christian values. making sure that we are, like I said, feeding the poor, housing those that need housing, taking care of people. Look, you may not want the government to get involved in some of these things, and I understand that. You may want to say, hey, I don't want government funding. But you know what? It's our responsibility also as the church to do it. Step up. Be there for people. Be there as least of these. And when the government says, we're not going to allow you to do this, and says, hey, we don't think this is very Christian of you, maybe number one, we need to start educating people and re-educating people of what Christian values really are. They may see the pomp and circumstance coming out of Washington, D.C., and look, I understand that. Let's not forget who we are to begin with. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. We got Mike Pompeo joining next. Is that right? One more segment than Secretary Pompeo.
SPEAKER 03 :
One more segment.
SPEAKER 08 :
And then we got Secretary Pompeo. I don't think that's right.
SPEAKER 03 :
I'm wrong. You're correct. I am right. You are correct.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, it is what it is. I want you to support the work of the ACLJ. Just do it right now. Okay. Just do it while we're, we got a one minute break here. You can do it real quick. Be right back. Welcome back to Secular. Secretary Mike Pompeo is joining us right now via Zoom. You're there live. There you are, Secretary Pompeo. Just popped up on my screen. I was making sure that you were there. We've got a lot to cover with you today. We've hit so many topics. And one that we have not addressed right now is sort of these pathogens that were being brought in, agro-terrorism, if you will, that was coming in. There are... Well, maybe you can set this up because there was a lot of national security concerns because... Essentially, Chinese nationals were coming in, sneaking these bioweapons in, and we're now just finding out about it. That's right.
SPEAKER 12 :
This was a fungus that was brought in by a couple that has extreme potential for both negative effects on humans, livestock, potentially crops, and all of this. And they were... Headed towards the University of Michigan, but you've talked about the threat of the Chinese nationals, whether coming through the southern border, here on student visas in many cases, in the consulates. What is your take on this story that just broke this week?
SPEAKER 07 :
So this is precisely what I and many others have been worried about. The free transit of Chinese Communist Party affiliated folks or officials inside our country, and they bring in stuff, right? So in this case, attacking America's food supply chain was clearly, according to them and their text messages, as alleged in the indictment, their mission set. Make no mistake about it, these were not rogue people. These were folks directed by the Chinese Communist Party. And we've seen this time and time again, whether it's the spy balloons or we shouldn't forget the connectivity between bioterror and what was taking place in the Wuhan lab that killed nine or 10 million people across the world. Different in kind, but the nature of the regime, their efforts to infiltrate the West and the United States, and in this case, bring in, uh, bioterror weapons that could have caused enormous damage to the American food supply chain and put millions and tens of millions of American lives at risk is very real. And I am so pleased that the Trump administration, the FBI found these folks, pulled them, uh, got at least one of them arrested and now can go to trial. But how many others are out there? What other vectors are being used? This is something we need to be completely on alert for and devote the necessary resources to make sure and take this risk down.
SPEAKER 12 :
And Secretary Pompeo, you've been talking about this threat on this broadcast for years, that there are nefarious actors that are directed by the leadership within China, the Chinese Communist Party, that are here to Do nefarious things. They're not here for for these lofty moral purposes of just getting the education at our great institutions and making the world a better place. And when you look at the contrast of I mean, in one way, it's the most terrifying thing to hear this headline. but also extremely refreshing that the administration is clear eyed about what this threat is. It is not concerned that back in 2020, when the virus came from China and you saw Nancy Pelosi saying that you cannot say that this virus came from China and because you will be xenophobic. But in reality, if you are concerned about a foreign government that is doing this, it's not xenophobic to call out the threat of the Chinese Communist Party. And I think it's important that the administration continue to push back so that they can hold them in check.
SPEAKER 07 :
Amen. You couldn't say it any better. Remember, we had a program that the Department of Justice and the FBI had built out in Trump's first term. The Biden administration basically took that took that off the table. They were unprepared to do the kind of work that probably led to pulling these this particular incident off the street. This requires enormous vigilance. This requires thoughtfulness and it requires a preparedness to do precisely what you say, to call the risk what it is. This is the Chinese Communist Party engaged in preparing bioterror weapons that they can use and activate on a timing that is their own. We saw what happened in Ukraine, right? They drove trucks in and launched drones. We saw what happened with a bunch of pagers in the Middle East. The risk of these kind of tactical efforts leading to real strategic risk inside of our country from a nation that is as capable and as determined as that being led by Xi Jinping today in China is so real and so serious. And it heartens me to see that the Trump administration's FBI and Justice Department are pursuing this vigorously. I hope they are at this in many dimensions that we don't even know about today.
SPEAKER 08 :
Secretary Pompeo, a lot of conversations happening right now. I'm also looking at the chat because I know you were recently in Ukraine and a lot of people are asking, well, what was going on there? Why were you there? Why is it important to be there? Because, look, I think I was watching Putin make a statement to a couple of Republicans. hostages from israel during that that were uh you know that were set free and he's out there making statements saying you know we gotta thank we gotta make sure we thank the uh political arm of hamas and you're sitting there going okay you know this is where where maybe we we live in two very different worlds but let's talk about your trip to ukraine i know you're there for a very specific reason
SPEAKER 07 :
I was. I had a long planned trip to travel to Odessa, Ukraine, where they were holding a defense security conference. I wanted to go there to be with a group of people from around the world, not just Ukrainians, who are as concerned about what Vladimir Putin is doing today in Europe as I am. I know this is not shared by everyone, but I think there are deep American interests there. If Vladimir Putin is perceived to prevail, if he rolls through Kiev and begins to confront NATO nations, the risk to the United States, to Americans here at home is so real. And I hate war. No reasonable person wants there to be a war. We don't want Vladimir Putin to escalate. But it's pretty darn clear by now. And I think In spite of President Trump's best efforts, we can see plainly Putin has no interest in peace at this point. He has no intention of slowing down. His vision of greater Russia remains. And so he has to, in the end, be perceived to have lost this. And that just means the United States needs to continue to do the things we've been doing, providing the tools to the Ukrainians so they can fight for their own country. They didn't ask us to send the 82nd Airborne or the 101st. They've simply said, give us the resources and the intelligence so that we can defend our own sovereignty. And they've done a pretty good job of doing that so far. And I wanted to go to Odessa to be around and with a group of people to share ideas about how we might bring peace to that region on a set of terms that isn't surrender to Vladimir Putin and his partner, Xi Jinping and the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran. The three of them are working together and we can't let them win here.
SPEAKER 12 :
And we obviously diverted a little bit from where we started talking about the pathogen that was brought in by the Chinese nationals. But I did have a follow-up question as you talked about Ukraine handling things pretty well on their own. And that is that remarkable... drone attack that the Ukrainians were able to pull off deep with inside Russian territory that wiped out a large portion of the active fleet. Uh, the air fleet of Russia was strategic bombers, fighters, um, One, just your take on it strategically. I mean, obviously a huge intel operation that was pulled off and with your entire background, both Secretary of State and CIA, just wanted your take on that operation and what it means for the war going forward.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, goodness, just as an Intel operation, kudos to them. This was clearly long planned and well executed. I've seen reports that they didn't do as much damage as might have been initially reported. But nonetheless, their demonstrated ability to do this, it's not It's not quite the same level of what the Israelis pulled off with the pagers in Lebanon, but that model is very much the same. By the way, that's the kind of risk from this Chinese bioterror, right? It's that something inside, something small can do escalatory damage inside of your country. So I give the Ukrainians credit for a good operation, but this conflict is going to require a lot more than that. We're going to have to impose real costs on Vladimir Putin so that he sees the benefits of bringing peace. And we all know that it may be in the end that all the real estate does not immediately get returned to the Ukrainians. I'll accept that realistic possibility. But that shouldn't mean that we don't do the necessary to make sure that Putin doesn't continue to roll and create real risk to whether it's Moldova or Estonia or Finland. And as a result of that impacts NATO and the United States of America even more deeply than we're impacted by what he's done already.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I think people are seeing that even out of the Trump administration. You're seeing sort of a change of tone and a change of presentation and how we're talking about the war in Ukraine. And I believe it's always good to hear from you, Secretary Pompeo. Some people agree with you. Some people disagree with you. But you were there. You've been there multiple times. You've actually seen it. So you're spreading information, at least, that you feel is correct. And I always think that's important. We hear from you and hear from other people, even with differing opinions, because it is something that I understand the American people understand. are stressed out about. They look at what's going on financially and they get concerned. But it's important for us to at least hear out the reasons why America is involved. So I appreciate you joining us today, as I always do here on this broadcast. Look, we're going to take some calls coming up in the next segment at 1-800-684-3110. We'll also be joined by another guest, 1-800-684-3110. 3-1-1-0. If you're on hold right now, I'm going to try to take your calls right off the top. So stay on hold, and we will get to you very shortly. Let's make sure we clear those calls. Let's clear Fred, and if Anna's got a good call, we'll try to get Anna, and Candy. So we'll do that right now again at 1-800-684-3110. If you want to call in now, we'll do our best to get to you in just a moment. Look, this is a very important day for the ACLJ. We have taken you literally around the world today, and I think that's very important, and this week even more so. Big victories are happening. You are the ones who cause those victories to happen. None of it happens without you. Help us beat our goal today. Go to ACLJ.org. Become one of the thousands of ACLJ champions that sets an incredible baseline for us. Do it right now. We'll be right back with your calls and comments. Welcome back to Sekulow. Rick Grinnell is joining us. We are going to get to your calls, though, coming up before the show is over. So Fred and Candy, stay on hold. I'll get to you after we wrap up with Rick. Rick, there is a lot going on. We've covered so much ground today, but... There is some big deals also happening with the United States and our dealings with Iran, as well as the travel bans that have come into play. And, Will, our audience certainly has a lot of different opinions on this. And, of course, now President Trump's saying that they're going to start investigating President Biden on the use of Autopen. Again, we may even have a different point of view than Rick does, and that's okay. We like to have different voices on here.
SPEAKER 12 :
That's right. But Rick, we wanted to get your take on this because the Ayatollah has put out a statement. He has rejected the proposal from the United States that it was arrogant. And he put this on X. You Americans possess atomic bombs and have the massive destruction of the world at your disposal. What business is it of yours whether the Iranian nation should or shouldn't have uranium enrichment or whether it should or shouldn't have a nuclear industry? How would you respond to the should or shouldn't question here from the Ayatollah, Rick?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, here's the thing about nuclear weapons is they're extremely dangerous. And you are going to have to demonstrate that you're one responsible country, that you seek peace. And and not war and and three, that there's some sort of checks and balances on those. So the idea that countries should be able to decide their own fate on energy, of course, that's true. But but here's the deal with the Iranian regime. They don't miss a moment to not talk about the destruction of Israel and the destruction of the United States. They look for ways constantly to start wars. Remember, the Biden administration gave hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions relief, cash and credit to the Iranian regime. And When you total everything up in terms of their oil sales and what they've been allowed to do, it's an enormous amount that they have been able to use to foment violence and support terrorism, whether it's through the Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon. It's an endless support for terrorism. So, and then you just take the, the, the leader's words of how, you know, the U S should, uh, be attacked or, or the destruction of, of America and its allies. Um, I just constantly see this as red flashing warning signs that this is a regime that's not responsible and is so closed off, you know, remember they don't allow their people freedoms. that we can't take their word and we certainly can't let them have a nuclear weapon.
SPEAKER 12 :
Rick, the president was just in the Oval Office with the Chancellor of Germany, a country you know very well from your time as an ambassador there, and was asked about the new travel ban, among other things. But this week we saw horrific attack on Jews that were just trying to demonstrate and ask for the hostages to be returned. And that individual was here. under the Biden administration, overstayed a visa. And the left immediately is saying, back to the old talking points of this is a racist ban, this is xenophobic ban, when in reality, we've already seen how quickly that the border can be cleaned up when there is enforcement. And we know that the vetting under the previous administration was non-existent. So just when you look at this, what is your take on this new travel ban on a very tailored list of countries, especially knowing what we know about the previous administration's vetting standards?
SPEAKER 09 :
Look, I've run a visa operation through the embassy in Berlin and to our consulates. in other places in Germany. And we have frontline State Department workers who review information and decide very tough decisions about people and their motives and what's going on. But we don't always get it right. I think we try with limited information. And so what I love about President Trump is that he's seeking more information, demanding that we get more information so that we can make better decisions, and When we can't get that information, when there are certain breakdowns, whether it's in countries or our embassies or the processes, he says, look, we're going to have a pause. We're going to stop doing this. We need extreme vetting because for two reasons. We need extreme vetting for two reasons. One, we have a long list of people who want to come into the United States. We are very generous with our visas and immigration policies. But we need to be able to have an orderly line. Nobody should cut the line. And two, we've seen abuses of the system, whether it's our border, people just rushing through the border or the breakdown of being able to vet properly. We've got to get it right. And what President Trump feels every single day is that his responsibility is safety of American citizens. And so I have no problem with extreme vetting, with making sure we get the right people in. And when the system breaks down, having to freeze until we can get it right.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you, Rick, for joining us today. I'm going to cut you off a little bit early today because we've got a couple calls about to hold for a very long time. We always appreciate hearing your expert advice. We've had a packed show of expert advice. Really a great one. So if you want to support the work of the ACLJ, I know we can't have people like Rick, like Mike, like even our team. My dad, Will here. We can't have this great media team without your support. So let's go ahead and take some phone calls, though. A couple people are calling in. Let's first go to Candy in Georgia on line three who is watching on YouTube. Candy, go ahead.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay, if the auto pen is legal, why bother investigating it unless they can prove he didn't have...
SPEAKER 12 :
somebody signed for him but they did it on their own without him even and i think katie that's the question that they're trying to solve the answer trying to solve this can be very as will said it's gonna be a very hard one to solve because president biden is not going to admit this well and even president biden's latest statement that he has issued is let me be clear i did it all executive orders pardons legislation proclamations they came from me
SPEAKER 08 :
So at the end of the day, different things from Mike Johnson and those statements that are made. But again, it becomes hearsay. And what actually is provable? I don't know. And I don't know if this is worthwhile. Thank you, though, for candy. And we agree with you. Thanks for calling in, Fred. Last call of the day. Watching on the Salem News Channel. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, I was just curious. You know, I heard some things that the rift between Elon and Trump is know it may not be as serious as everybody's playing it out to be like like elon's not turning his back on him that there's maybe a a deeper root here yeah like an agenda you know uh maybe so president trump actually just made a statement on it we don't have time to play it today but he specifically said in it uh you know i i we've had a great relationship i don't know if we will anymore
SPEAKER 08 :
President Trump's obviously out there making big proclamations about the big beautiful bill, which goes against a lot of what Elon was there for. So understandably.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, exactly. And at the end of the day, the media is liking to say if there's any time a conservative disagrees with another conservative. They've turned. on they've turned on him the relationship's over there's a split but in reality can't we have different of opinion especially when the doge guy who was trying to get rid of all the spending may not like a giant spending bill there's a lot of conservatives that probably feel that way too maybe this is just giving the opportunity for the liberals to go we don't have to sell our teslas if he turns on trump then go back to you figured it out logan you figured it out
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. That's going to do it for today's show. We appreciate it. You've been joining us all week. We've been around the world. We couldn't do it without you. I want you to become an ACLJ champion right now as we speak. Again, I told you I'd be monitoring all donations that came in over that last half hour. This is the time to do it. Make it matter. It's a big day for us here at the ACLJ. Show up. Stand up. Scan that QR code if you can or just go to ACLJ.org. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
In this episode of the Kim Munson Show, explore the intricate balance between government power and personal freedom. As Kim and her guests dissect recent legislative developments, the conversation shifts toward the impact on small businesses, epitomized by the struggles of local Hooters franchisees in Colorado. Engage with a nuanced dialogue about the essence of property rights and entrepreneurship, underscored by stories of resilience and innovation. Don't miss this enlightening hour filled with thought leadership, real-world applications, and the timeless debate over freedom versus force.
SPEAKER 11 :
It's the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 18 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 11 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 18 :
With what is happening down at the Statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it's not.
SPEAKER 11 :
Today's current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 18 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
SPEAKER 11 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let's have a conversation.
SPEAKER 18 :
Indeed, let's have a conversation, and welcome to the Kim Munson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You each are treasured, you're valued, you have purpose. Today's drive for excellence, take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. And thank you to the team. That's Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, Amanda, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Thursday, Producer Joe. Happy Thursday, Kim. And it's a good day because we have in studio with me my friend, Co-founder of Liberty Toastmasters, and that is Brad Beck. Brad, welcome.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, thank you, Kim, and hello, Colorado. You've been out of Colorado for a little while. Yeah, I've been back in Georgia for meetings and getting ready for trade shows and things of that nature. So it's been great. Good to be back home.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, it's good to have you back, and we've got a great show planned for you. I did want to say thank you to Laramie Energy for their gold sponsorship of the show, because it's reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy from oil, natural gas, and coal that powers our lives, fuels our hopes and dreams, and empowers us to change our own personal climate. And so greatly appreciate them. And Hooters Restaurants has been a great sponsor of the show for many, many years. How I got to know them, it's an important story about freedom and free markets and capitalism and those pesky PBIs, politicians, bureaucrats, and interested parties that are trying to control our lives. They're continuing to do that. Hooters Restaurants is in the news. Many of the corporate Hooters restaurants have closed. I need to talk to our franchise owners. I think that reading the article from USA Today, I think that the franchise owners will be continuing on. And but they really are a great sponsor of the show. And it's a tough environment out there in this business environment right now, particularly here in Colorado.
SPEAKER 12 :
Brad Beck. It really is. And, you know, the regulations that are in place to make it harder for a mom and pop just to survive these days is amazing. You know, a big corporation has an HR department. A mom and pop doesn't. A big corporation has lawyers on their staff. A mom and pop doesn't. And it's really difficult because they're trying to do some things that are for their best interest. And when you have all these PBIs, as you say, trying to create new laws and new regulations and pressure them, it's like a pimple. It's eventually going to pop if you keep pushing on it. And a bad analogy, I know, early in the morning. Right. It's amazing how many businesses do survive, and it takes a lot of effort and energy and time and just the perseverance. And if you can shop at a local mom and pop, do it because they're really working hard. Not saying the big corporation isn't, but they have a bigger staff and bigger opportunities with the people that they're able to hire. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and the franchisees that own these Hooters restaurants in Colorado, they really are businessmen, entrepreneurs, care about our country immensely. And they have five locations, Loveland, Aurora, Lone Tree, Westminster, and Colorado Springs. And it's good. Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER 12 :
They're tasty.
SPEAKER 18 :
It is. And on Wednesdays, they have their Wings Day special. Buy 20 wings. Get an additional 10 for free. And so, again, give them some business. They have great specials Monday through Friday for lunch and for happy hour. Our word of the day, Brad, is a good word, I think, and it is infinite. I guess it could be good and bad. It seems like we have infinite regulations and rules right now, which is not good. And it means unlimited, incalculable, boundless, unconfined, countless, measureless, having no limit and no end. And so the word is infinite, I-N-F-I-N-I-T-E. and your challenge is to use the word infinite in this sentence today.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, we have infinite problems, but we need to attract and attack each one of them individually. And the only way you do that is you prioritize and you go after the ones that really need to be attacked today and not get in a situation where your hair's on fire. You know, you've got to be calm, look at the situation, and go after it. Yeah. There are infinite problems, but you can handle them if you prioritize them and are persistent at taking them out one by one.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and that's why we do the show, is to shed light on all of the things that's going on out there. And we look at these issues searching for truth and clarity through this lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. And force comes in a lot of different packages. It can certainly be a weapon, but policy and unpredictable and excessive taxation, fear, coercion, government-induced inflation, this agenda by the World Economic Forum and globalist elites. And we can see all these land use codes and zoning regulations. All of these things are an attack upon property rights. And Brad, you know that property rights are inherent in the American idea.
SPEAKER 12 :
If we don't have property rights, we don't have freedom. Ultimately, that is why the United States of America has been so successful. And I'm not just talking physical property. It's intellectual property as well, whether it's something you write, something you create. You created it with your mind. So production precedes consumption. You can't just consume and consume and consume. And when you create something, there's infinite possibilities of your success. But the only way you can do that is if you own that, whatever it is, whether it's a business, an idea, or if it's something like property.
SPEAKER 18 :
Question. Thinking of that, regarding property rights and copyrights, copyrights and patents were some of the first things that the Americans did with our new country. Do you know, is there copyrights in other countries?
SPEAKER 12 :
I do not. That's an interesting question. I know that it was put in there to spur creativity through innovation. And when copyrights were first put together, you had to have a model, you had to have a drawing. It was a way to protect that innovation for a period of time. I think over time it's been, of course, when the lawyers got involved, it got a little bit more extended. An example would be something like cartoon characters, you know, Disney or Warner Brothers. They have those in perpetuity, it seems. But, you know, it's something that somebody created and they should benefit from for a So, you know, it's something that I think more people have to think about. I don't think we really consider it all the time. And when you bring creativity into the marketplace with production, you get this spark of ingenuity that doesn't happen elsewhere in the world.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and I just tried to do a quick search on copyright protection in different countries, and I think that it does exist. That would be an interesting show for us to do, is that on property rights. But entrepreneurs, people owning their own businesses, is something that is foundational to our country, and I'm so pleased to have on the line with us Karen Gorday. She is the owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting, and she is truly an entrepreneur. Karen, welcome to the show. Good morning, Kim. Thank you for letting me be on. Well, absolutely. And it's been a little rainy right now here in Colorado, which probably is affecting outdoor painting right now. Yes. Absolutely. It sure is. And so what do you have to do? Just kind of hang on and wait till the temperature gets right?
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. So we don't want anything to be wet when we paint or stain. And so we're just waiting for the weather to clear, and then we'll be right back at it.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and Karen, I was thinking last week you said something that I thought was important. You said you're not the least expensive and you're not the most expensive, but you're committed to excellence and to be fairly priced. And that's really, I think, the key to capitalism is... People coming to an agreement, value for value. And I've learned a long time ago that sometimes the least expensive price is not the least expensive price, Karen.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. And a lot of times when you go for that least expensive, you end up spending more money in the long run because you have to bring someone back in to fix whatever they did.
SPEAKER 18 :
So and so do you have a backlog right now? If people would like to talk with you about getting their outdoor painting done, you know, how long?
SPEAKER 06 :
We have got a two-week backlog depending on the weather. So I don't like having a long backlog. The longest backlog I really feel comfortable with is four weeks because people want things when they want things. Right now, we're at a good pace, about two weeks out.
SPEAKER 18 :
Okay. And then also, if people need some repairs, say boards repaired, you know, just to get things back up to snuff, you've got a team that can help with that as well, yes? Yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. We come out, we power wash. Once everything dries, then we, usually it's the next day or the start of the week, we replace the boards and then start the prepping and painting.
SPEAKER 18 :
So another question, what about fences and decks? Is that something that you guys do?
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely, yes. We handle it all.
SPEAKER 18 :
Okay. How can people get more information, Karen Gorday, about radiant painting and lighting?
SPEAKER 06 :
They can go out to our website, which is www.paintwithradiant.com, or give us a call at 720-940-3887.
SPEAKER 18 :
And Karen, you truly are an entrepreneur. And that is the basis of what makes America great, is people getting up every day and doing their jobs and striving for excellence. We are so honored to have you as a sponsor of the show. Well, thank you so much, Kim. I really love being a sponsor. And so thank you, Karen. We'll talk with you next week. Sounds great. Have a great day. And another great sponsor of the show is the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance Team, and they know that life can be challenging, and it's their mission to maximize your financial security as you manage the risks of everyday life. So call Roger Mangan at 303-795-8855 for more information. Like a good neighbor, Roger Mangan's team is there.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
Focused and wise marketing is essential for your success, especially during tough economic times. If you love The Kim Munson Show, strive for excellence and understand the importance of engaging in the battle of ideas that is raging in America. Then talk with Kim about partnership, sponsorship opportunities. Email Kim at KimMunson.com. Kim focuses on creating relationships with individuals and businesses that are tops in their fields. So they are the trusted experts listeners turn to when looking for products or services. Kim personally endorses each of her sponsors. Again, reach out to Kim at KimMunson.com.
SPEAKER 18 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That's kimmunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at kim at kimmunson.com as well. Very pleased to have Mint Financial Strategies as a new sponsor of the show because financial freedom starts with the right guide. And Mint Financial Strategies is here to help. As an independent firm with over 25 years of experience and their credentials of an accredited investment fiduciary, they offer advice that's focused on you, not a sales quota. Their strategy-first approach is all about helping you live life on your terms with clarity, confidence, and control. Call Mint Financial Strategies today at 303-285-3080, your path to independent financial confidence. Again, that's Mint Financial Strategies, 303-285-3080. And Brad Beck is in studio, co-founder of Liberty Toastmasters, also a great sponsor of the show. And it's always a lot of fun when we have our table topics discussed.
SPEAKER 12 :
fellow members on the show because I always learn a lot. They're a great group of people and they're all volunteers to come on the show and speak their mind. And we have, in fact, a meeting this Saturday at Liberty Toastmasters in Denver. And we invite you all to come and visit and join us when the fun. And that's 10 o'clock at the Independence Institute, right? Yep, north entrance, downstairs. And we invite guests to come listen and learn and just listen to what we do and get comfortable with public speaking, whether it's for your work or for an organization that you belong to. We need to communicate face to face. And when you can do it confidently and clearly, we all benefit.
SPEAKER 18 :
We do all benefit. And so we would love to have people join us. All right, let's get over here to our quote of the day, Brad Beck. And I chose this because your piece that we're going to be rolling out, Music Strikes a Chord and Our Quest for Freedom. And initially I was looking for Frank Sinatra quotes. But a lot of the quotes were from his songs. And so I went to Martin Luther. And he was born in 1483, died in 1546. He was a German priest, theologian, author, hymn writer, professor, and former Augustinian friar. And he was a seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs formed the basis of Lutheranism. And he's regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history. And so he was a hymn writer, and some beautiful hymns. But he said, this beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul. It is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents that God has given us. I thought that was really a great quote.
SPEAKER 12 :
And beautiful music can be whatever you like, whether it's popular or, you know, religious. But I love music. I just love music all the time. And classical music I've become really a big fan of. My wife and I will go to the symphony. And just closing your eyes and listening to the music, to me, sometimes it's more radical than rock and roll. And it's really fun to... I've grown into it. I've grown... I guess I've matured. And there's infinite possibilities that your mind just wanders and thinks. And I just appreciate music of all types.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and I think music, I think one of the things that sets humans apart from all the other species is the fact that we can create music. Now, granted, birds sing, but the fact that we can put notes together is, I think, unique to the human race.
SPEAKER 12 :
Ever since mankind has been around and sat by a campfire, you know, singing, chanting, trying to get to a higher place, whether it was communicating. Music has always been part of the human psyche. And I think it's just, you know, I listen, especially I love bluegrass. I love to go out on the porch and listen to just the string instruments. I love rock and roll, all the time rock and roll. It makes you get up and want to dance. I love soul music. I love earth, wind, and fire, and lakeside, and just all kinds of music, and it just makes me happy. And, of course, when you're not feeling so great and it's raining outside, the blues. The blues. The Almond Brothers. I love all sorts of music, depending on how I feel. And music can help you get out of a negative mood. It can make you more positive.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and we'll talk more about that in segments three and four. But I thought that was a great quote by Martin Luther. But let's talk about something, well, very serious. This thing up in Boulder, and you live in Boulder County.
SPEAKER 12 :
I do. And when it's that close to home, I'm amazed at how many people called me. are you okay? Everything all right? Do you know anybody? And fortunately, I don't. I don't think I know anybody. I haven't heard all the names of people there. I know people who were peacefully standing there and supporting the rights of the hostages that are in Israel to be freed. It's amazing to me that people who are just out there making people aware of the situation going on two years of what's been going on. It's... It's mind boggling.
SPEAKER 18 :
I mean, will it be two years this October?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah. Yeah. October 7th. And, you know, it's unconscionable that it's happened that long. You know, I don't want to get into all the pro and con of it, but we live in the United States of America when Jews cannot freely be out in the public square without worrying about somebody attacking them. Or shooting them coming out of a Jewish museum or having your house firebombed as Josh Shapiro, who's a Democrat governor of Pennsylvania. I mean, there's something mentally wrong with a lot of people who are blaming others who had nothing to do with anything that's going on halfway around the world other than they're the same religion.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and as you and I were talking in between break, it's my friend, you're Jewish, and I hadn't even really thought about the fact that here's my friend that might have to be concerned to go out just because of the fact that you're Jewish. I'm just flabbergasted.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, fortunately, we have support with our Christian community that is very supportive of the Jewish community for the most part. And, you know, that's been a long time coming. Historically, it hasn't always been that way. But I appreciate people saying, you know, it's an attack on the Jewish people's attack on Christians. When I see what's going on in Africa with Christians being attacked in various countries, and I'm always concerned. You know, the Western ideology is being attacked. And I think that's something that we all have to be aware of. And we should all stand up and say, no, you know, not in this place, not in our country. You know, intolerance has no place. When you have elected officials saying, you know, we're going to stand unified, well, that's great. I appreciate that support. But I think we have to be a little more proactive and go after some of these people that are here illegally. There's millions of people that have come over that are unvetted. And what was amazing is how fast they found out who this individual was. And they knew a lot about him. And so I'm hearing now that the family, the judge who has been asked to look into the family and not deport them, I'm like, why do they have equal rights when they're not citizens here in this country? I mean, we're all equally human, but they're not Americans. And if they overstay their visas, they don't have the same rights anymore. that American citizens do. And if it was on the other foot, if it was an American citizen in another country, what would that be looking like? Right, right.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and this is the other thing that I, okay, the guy's here illegally. I guess he came here on a visa. He overstayed his visa. But then we find out he has a wife and five kids here.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right.
SPEAKER 18 :
I don't understand how that's happening.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, how can he take an action like that? He knows he has a family. I mean, what kind of individual is that, especially when something is happening around the world and his own native land, Egypt, won't let the Palestinians into Egypt? There's a bigger wall on that border, what they call the Rafah Crossing, than there is anywhere around Israel. and where Gaza meet. So, you know, you have to question the mindset of people like this who come here and bring their problems and issues to our country. We talk about things, we discuss things, we debate things, we may disagree or agree, but we do it civilly. We don't do what he did up in Boulder.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and that is, America was founded on this idea that we do, well, first of all, we have, everybody has these rights as Americans, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. that we are created equal, and that we would settle our differences not by violence. And that was, again, I think that's somewhat unique within the American idea.
SPEAKER 12 :
It is. And, you know, when a Jewish student at UCLA or Columbia cannot walk across campus without being accosted, there's something wrong with that institution. And we need to stand up for those students. I belong to a Jewish men's group in Boulder because Jewish kids were being hassled many years ago. And that's the original reason. start of this group no longer exists but it was way for young students to come up and say hey you know i i don't know anybody i'm here on campus i'm from another you know state going to school and i feel like i'm isolated that's how we started this group and uh you know we all have different backgrounds and and ideas and there's a group of jewish men that were more liberal than Others were more conservative. But we all agreed that Israel had a right to exist just as America has a right to exist, just as every country peacefully has a right to exist. And what's going on around there is a response to many years of frustration where the Palestinians have been given everything they've asked for. And now they want the death of every Jew in the world. And I'm sorry, Israel has the right to exist and defend itself and do whatever is necessary because there's not another Jewish state in the world. There's 22 Muslim countries in the world. And, you know, Israel has more Arabs living in it freely than any other Muslim country. And most people don't know that.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, most people don't know that. And this is taking the veil off of this whole immigration thing here in America as well. And it's daunting how we've gotten to this point. in our country. And Colorado is at the tip of the spear, so changing subjects a bit. You and I talked about this on the way in. And this is from Axios Denver, which typically leans more to the left. And it says, effort to transform Colorado politics by 2030 takes shape. And it says, the question sounds innocuous. When you think about having more courageous and representative politics in Colorado, what does that mean to you? And it says, yes, but it's the precursor to much more. The organizers who asked the question just finished a statewide listening tour called Courageous Colorado, the start to an overhaul of the state's elections and campaigns to make them less, I have this in air quotes, partisan. And it says the goal is to implement policy changes at the local or state level by 2030. And it says the effort is an outgrowth of that Prop 131, which was the failed 2024 campaign, to institute basically jungle primaries and ranked choice voting. And Kent Theory and company, Unite for America, which I think is Catherine Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's daughter-in-law, a lot of money that they're putting into here in Colorado voting. to change the fabric of our elections. And they're using something called the Delphi technique with this listening tour to do so, Brad. So what's your thoughts?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I've had the Delphi technique used against me when they wanted to bring broadband into my little community. And at the end of the meeting, you know, they structure to where there's controlled questions and there are people who are in the audience set there to kind of corral the direction of the way the conversation goes. And, you know, they really want to implement policy changes, and most people aren't even aware of those policy changes. So at the end of this meeting for broadband that it was a public-private entity, they asked, you know, and mostly intimidated people to ask questions. But they said at the end, is there anybody here who would be against this as a business owner? And I raised my hand. And everybody turned their head and looked at the back of the room and said, you know, why are you against it? I said, well, you said public-private, which means more taxes, and then I have to pay for the service. And with all the technology changing so quickly, why do we have to tear up neighborhoods and put in this fiber in the streets when we have potential technology that we don't have to do that? And the meeting was quickly adjourned. People come up to me afterwards and are like, why were you really against it? And it's like, just as I said, why are we as taxpayers paying for this and then having a private company come in and do it? And then we have to pay for the service. Let's just pay for the service if we want it.
SPEAKER 18 :
Exactly. And public-private partnerships, what I learned, and again, there's something out of the World Economic Forum, globalist elites, and many times what happens is we, the public, are on the hook to pay for it. And so we take all the risk. And then the cronyists... The public-private over here, they're the ones that are benefiting from it. And so I, too, had the Delphi technique used on me, and it is. So what happens is, and let's see, it was an issue. I think it was on taxation, maybe on Tabor. And unfortunately, there were people from our side of the aisle that was supporting this as well because there's a lot of money involved. these people pushing these agendas. And well, you know what? Let's go to break and then let's come back and talk about the Delphi technique. And gosh, I can't believe we're already at the break time. And there's a lot happening in real estate right now. And you want to make sure if you're buying or selling a home that you have a professional on your side of the table. That professional should be Karen Levine.
SPEAKER 01 :
Award-winning realtor Karen Levine with RE-MAX Alliance understands the importance of home ownership. Karen Levine works diligently at the local, county, state, and national levels to protect your private property rights. With over 30 years experience as a Colorado realtor, Karen Levine will help you navigate the complicated metro real estate market, whether you are buying your home, selling your home, considering a new build, or exploring investment properties. Kim Monson highly recommends Karen Levine. Call Karen Levine at 877-7516. That's 877-7516 for answers to all your real estate needs.
SPEAKER 13 :
The Second Amendment was established to ensure that all individuals have the right to resist oppression, stand firm against government overreach, and protect our ability to defend ourselves, our families, and our freedoms. Today, that right is under relentless attack in Colorado. Colorado's premier grassroots Second Amendment organization, the Second Syndicate, is on the front lines fighting to preserve and protect your constitutional rights. We expose the most pressing threats to the Second Amendment and provide the education, resources, and tools to stay informed, empowered and prepared join the movement protect your rights visit thesecondsyndicate.com that's thesecondsyndicate.com where the second is first
SPEAKER 16 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
You'd like to get in touch with one of the sponsors of The Kim Monson Show, but you can't remember their phone contact or website information. Find a full list of advertising partners on Kim's website, kimmonson.com. That's Kim, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 18 :
And welcome back to the Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That's Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter, and you'll get that on Sundays. I did want to mention the USMC Memorial Foundation. They are raising money for the Marine Memorial remodel out at 6th and Colfax. And right now, Father's Day, I can't believe it, is right around the corner. But a great gift would be to buy a brick that will be on one of their pathways of service to honor your father or your husband's military service. And you can get more information on that by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. That is usmcmemorialfoundation.org. Going back to what had happened in Boulder, this came in from Mary. She said, And he said that we are all here to help each other get through this life to get to our heavenly home. She said, I would go to Boulder and march with the Jewish people. Our boss is a Jewish carpenter. I love that. And let's see. Oh, another listener said that these people that are here illegally, particularly this guy that attacked these Jews in Boulder, says they had more rights than many of the J6 people who were incarcerated without due process. That's an important point as well. We've got so much happening in our country, but I wanna get to your piece. But this whole listening tour, regarding our elections and you saw this article as well is and this delphi technique how it works is the organizers really have a predetermined outcome that they want to get to but they want to have people think that they have given their input. And the way I have seen it used is the organizers on this particular question had invited people in, and it might have been electeds or people ahead of nonprofits or people that were influential in the community. So the first thing they did was kind of stroke them a bit and said, you all have been selected to be here because you are an influencer. Did you have that happen?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes. It appeals to people's ego and they do show up and they feel part of the process. The problem I see with it is it's all about control and you look around the room and who's in there and oftentimes it's people that are of like mind that usually are not the same like mind that you have. And they also, you know, they're influential in that they're financially well off. And, you know, they've got money to spend on these issues because if you start looking at where they're directing us, and it is directed, you've got to answer the question to yourself, well, follow the money. Where's it coming from? Who's going to gain from the experience? And There's never really any follow-up. Or if there is, it's we've listened to everybody, and this is what they said. Really, they didn't say anything. It's agenda-driven already. So they're going to spin it to the public was invited or influential people in the community were here, and this is what the results were. And it's not always what they say it is.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, it isn't. And that's why we want to shed light on this. It's called Courageous Colorado and said they had over 20 town halls across the state through late May to spur the conversation and generate a 2030 agenda. So these people do not give up. And what I have seen with the Delphi technique is you come in and you have a signed agenda.
SPEAKER 12 :
uh tables to sit at and there is an in somebody that's going to control the conversation at each of those tables brad yeah and what they like to do is make sure that you're going along because they ask the questions in a way that they get a positive response so when you get to the end of it you question yourself whether or not you want to be that lone voice and it takes fortitude to say no that's not what i said or that's not what i agree with or when they do that they will shun you you know in a way By saying, well, you know, we're going to put that on the parking lot. We're going to come back to that later. And they never do. And what you do have is a lot of people persuading, but they persuade in a way that is almost corrupt, is what I've experienced.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and so I'm very concerned about this courageous Colorado.
SPEAKER 12 :
Did you hear any of those meetings being held? I never saw anything about them.
SPEAKER 18 :
I did not see anything about it. And so, again, now we're going to see this narrative that we've talked to people across Colorado, and this is what we want. And the bottom line is... is these jungle primaries and this ranked choice voting really takes away the one person, one vote. And the question is why? Why do you think they want to do this, Bradbeck?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, it takes me back to the old Norman Rockwell painting of the man standing up in a town hall meeting. And he's got the newspaper stuck in his pocket. And it's a classic picture that one man, one vote. You have the right to stand up and have your voice heard. And usually there's not enough people who have the courage to do that. They want to see. They want to observe. They may have their opinion. But it takes a lot to stand up and be an opposing voice and get people to talk and debate. And do we really want this? And what happens is it's about somebody's agenda. And you've always got to scratch the surface, go a little deeper. Who's in charge? Where are they taking it? And what's the end game? What's the outcome, as you mentioned?
SPEAKER 18 :
And you and I both noticed that the players in this, they call this nonpartisan because people like the idea of nonpartisan. But when you look at the players, not so much, right?
SPEAKER 12 :
The League of Women Voters. I've never known them. They go under the guise of being nonpartisan, but... You ask the party affiliation of most of those people who are involved in that group, and I find they're usually uniform of one party. There's other groups, and they all say they're civic engagement groups, but they're never of the center to the right. They always seem to be left-leaning. And so if you really wanted to open it up, are there other organizations that could be part of this that give some balance to what's being discussed?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and League of Women Voters, as many of our listeners stepped forward and helped with Holly Kaysen and Sean Smith and Ash Epp regarding USEIP, which after the 2020 election, it was just a group of volunteers, no volunteers. no 501c3, none of that, just volunteers going around to different neighborhoods here in Colorado and canvassing saying, it says Joe Smith voted here, does Joe Smith live here, blah, blah, blah. Seems like that's okay. Well, they were accused of voter intimidation. And the plaintiffs in the case, one of them was the League of Women Voters. And it surely seems, connecting a dot, It surely seems that if they were really interested in free, fair, honest, and transparent elections, that they, A, would not have sued Holly, Ash, and Sean. But, B, then I'm very suspect that they're involved in this courageous Colorado.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, it's like every time I go to the airport, I'm intimidated because I have to show my ID. Every time I go somewhere that I want to buy a drug that's prescribed, I have to show an ID. And yet these people are asking, hey, do you live here? Just verifying. It's not intimidation. It reminds me of what's happening now with ICE and the officers that are out there doing their job. And now you have a group of people saying, well, they need to identify themselves, need to show their faces, not wear masks. Well, where were they when the Summer of Love was happening and all these protesters were wearing masks and were almost fully covered or you only could see their eyes? They weren't identified. So, you know, it's a double standard. There's a lot of hypocrisy out there. And I think what we need to do in a case like this is to really question what's the purpose of this organization, what's their agenda, and expose it and let them come forward and really have some balance in this conversation.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and they've got their – and this is the thing. Those that want to control the people, they're playing long ball.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right.
SPEAKER 1 :
2030?
SPEAKER 12 :
2030. And –
SPEAKER 18 :
And it seems a bit overwhelming because on our freedom side, just to promote freedom, there's not a political agenda. If you are free... There's not a lot of money in it, I would say, to stand up for freedom where those that will benefit from, you know, this courageous Colorado, they're certainly focused on pushing that agenda. And so I think that's why we'll talk about your piece that is so important. And that is it's got to be really grassroots people's. stepping forward to everyday individuals to stand for freedom. But this stuff is so sinister. It's so sneaky, and they're using all these good words, courageous Colorado, and I'm concerned. I'm concerned.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, when you have working moms and dads out there, you know, and they want to provide for their family, provide for their future, do the right thing, they don't have a lot of extra time after taking the kids to school or, you know, practice or whatever they're doing. And it takes some energy. It takes commitment. When people have, especially young families, they don't have the time for it. And what I find is courageous is there's so many people I know, especially up in Boulder County, who do something every day. They do something that's going to move the ball forward for liberty and freedom by getting involved, by finding one activity. You can't do it all, but find one thing. If you're interested in education, you're interested in public policy, then find a group and associate with them and find out what you can do. And it could be just as simple as joining a Rotary or Kiwanis or Optimist Club in your local community and influencing those folks. There's lots of opportunities for everybody to get involved, but so many people just say, well, somebody else will handle it, and that's wrong.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, to understand the issues is why we do the show, because words matter so much. And I did find this, and it was 2016. And it was called Building a Better Colorado. And one of the things was to get rid of Tabor. And so they've done that before. And I think that that was defeated as well. But it takes a lot of work to push back on this. And now this courageous Colorado, we've got to be shedding light on this, Brad Beck.
SPEAKER 12 :
They have nice-sounding names with sinister agendas. And every time you go a little further into what they're all about, it's usually the usual suspects trying to break up the status quo. And I'm all for change. I'm just not the type of change that most of these folks who have agendas at the end of the day are after our taxpayer dollars, are after our children, are after our way of life. And, you know, it seems like the cronies keep getting cronier and cronier, if that's a word.
SPEAKER 18 :
They do. They do. And it says the top ideas from this tour were campaign finance reform. Already it's very difficult here in Colorado for somebody other than rich people to be able to run for office. Better civic education. You and I both like that. Open political primaries, we already have that. Ranked choice voting and term limits for local leaders. And term limits, we're supposed to be doing that at the ballot box. But having term limits for electeds without having term limits for bureaucrats I think is a real problem.
SPEAKER 12 :
I would agree. And, you know, anytime you have bureaucrats, you have unelected officials controlling you. And I want to have the people who are in office accountable. And they always abdicate, well, that was, you know, the bureaucrats. It was staff. It was whoever they're working with. And they hide behind it. Well, you know, one of the things Elon Musk, I think, recently talked about and, you know, Several other folks in the business community is like if the cost of living goes up more than 3% during a period of time when, like in this session, this next four years, everybody in Congress loses their job. Maybe they pay attention to a balanced budget. I'm reading March to the Majority by Newt Gingrich and talking about the contract with America and how it took a long time, a lot of effort, a lot of debate, a lot of going back and forth with the representatives that we have in Congress. to agree to 10 things, only 10 things, to make America better and stronger. And they did it with fortitude. They did it with persistence. And they did it by talking to each other. And with a Democrat at the top, with Bill Clinton, and a Senate and a House that were Republican, they worked together to make it better for the American people. At the end of the day, that's what their job is, and to leave people alone and let them pursue their happiness, not to control their lives. And we need more people to do that in Congress.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and so let's go to break. When we come back, we'll talk about your piece that we will roll out, Music Strikes a Chord in Our Quest for Freedom. And these are important discussions. They happen because of our sponsors. For everything mortgages, reach out to Lorne Levy.
SPEAKER 08 :
Bye. Bye. Bye. If you'd like to explore what a reverse mortgage can do for you, call Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881. That's 303-880-8881.
SPEAKER 15 :
Call now. All of Kim's sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That's kimmunson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
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SPEAKER 18 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. Something's a good idea. Shouldn't have to force people to do it. And do check out the Center for American Values, which is located in Pueblo. We need the Center for American Values now more than ever. It's non-political, non-partisan, just focusing on these foundational principles of honor, integrity, and patriotism. And Brad Beck is in studio, co-founder of Liberty Toastmasters. And we were talking about this courageous Colorado affecting our elections by 2030. And Mark texted and said, doesn't the World Economic Forum also have a 2030 agenda, and they do.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, many of these groups that want to control our lives have a 2030 agenda. And it goes back to Rio when they did the whole dealing with the environment and so forth and trying to control our lives that way. And that's one of the reasons why I wrote my essays, because I don't know anybody who doesn't like music. I mean, it's kind of the universal, makes everybody happy. It doesn't matter the kind of music they listen to. But, you know, whether they hum along or sing out loud in their car by themselves in their crackly, lousy voices like I do, music is something that's universal. And I collect 45, 78s, LPs, cassettes, CDs, streaming music. You know, I have it all. And I enjoy it when I have the opportunity to relax. And it makes me feel good. And I started thinking, so many people are connected by music. And with all the issues that are happening out there, you know, people like their genre. They'll go to a concert. You know, if you like a song on the Internet, it may get you to download an album. And if you download an album, you may buy a concert ticket. And if you might buy a concert ticket, you may tell your friends about it. And they'll tell their friends if they go. And, you know, all of a sudden this artist is popular. And that's how word of mouth happens. Well, I started thinking we need to do that more often with the idea of freedom. And our friend Ben Martin always talks about freedom, liberty being the responsible exercise of freedom. We don't talk about it enough. And young people especially, they take it for granted. They haven't been in a situation, and we haven't had it in this country, fortunately, since major wars. And so it's something that I think needs to be discussed. And yet people, as we mentioned with these other issues earlier, are overwhelmed. They don't know where to start. They don't know groups, affinity groups. And there are a lot of people out there, a lot of organizations that somebody can, like music, get involved with and start. Just start. Go to a meeting and find out what they do and how they do it and the people. And if that group doesn't meet your needs, find another group. But there are a lot of groups out there, and I know a lot of retired people that are looking for something to do. I always ask them, what's your passion? What do you want to have a legacy for? And when you start talking to some people about it, they'll say whatever the subject or the topic. And like music, you can connect them with others. And I think we need to be doing more and more and more of that in our Center to Write community on freedom. It's so important. And passing out a declaration or constitution is great, you know, and having a conversation with it. But I think people have to get involved in some aspect of their community or an issue that they find is important. Freedom is too important to be lost. You'll never get it back. And that's the big takeaway, the big message. You know, Greg, excuse me, Dwayne Allman from the Allman Brothers said there's a lot of different forms of communication, but music is absolutely the purest form. And freedom allows for that. And you think about music being a business, you know, and how that's changed over the years where people had to go to a record store to get music or to listen to the radio until their favorite song came up. And, you know, there was a channel distribution. Well, that's all changed now. And so how does an artist make money? They're capitalists at the base of it, even though they talk about, no, they may talk about, I'm not into the money. Well, without the money, you can't be a successful band. Without money, you can't have a Colorado orchestra that we have, and they do beautiful music. You need money in every endeavor, and the way you do that is provide a service that people are willing to pay for. And sales, the sales made emotionally and justified rationally. And music's the same way. It's an emotional activity. So how do we tie that in with freedom?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I think that's the key question. And my heart has been heavy as I've watched Colorado. Colorado really is, I think, at the tip of the spear, although some of the headlines of California, we're giving them a run for their money.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes, we are.
SPEAKER 18 :
And I'm thinking about these next generations. And there has been this narrative that has made people feel, tried to make people feel guilty about being free. And it's been pretty insidious with our kids. And so... And we talk about this all the time on the show, but I'm watching what's happening and I feel like we're losing ground on freedoms.
SPEAKER 12 :
If we don't discuss it more, share it, tell our own personal stories about how freedom has allowed us to live the lives we wanted to live. You know, if you don't have the ability to have property rights, the ability to make decisions, to have your own choices and fail or succeed and plan and have equal protection under the law. If you don't understand that production precedes consumption, if you don't understand that money is not free, you have to work for it, that a job gives you dignity. You know, we have to instill these things in our children and our grandchildren. And the virtues are so important. There's places that talk about the virtues and virtues. There's places that talk about things of gender, which is going to serve the young people of the future. It's the virtues. It's the morals. It's knowing about right and wrong. It's knowing that you have a future. And if you don't feel like you have a future and the Wuhan experience. showed a lot of young people that they didn't have a future because they were sequestered in their house. They couldn't see their friends. They couldn't interact with people. I think that's why in Toastmasters we have such success because people want to interact with one another. They want to see people's eyes. They don't want to see a screen in between it. They want to listen. They want to learn. They want to pursue things that make them happy, but not at the expense of somebody else. And we have to teach that. Freedom is a part of this whole conversation.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, it is. And I think inherently people, human beings want freedom. It's in our DNA. But there's also the human nature component that those that want to take away freedom know how to play. into the human nature component. So this is an ideological battle.
SPEAKER 12 :
It really is.
SPEAKER 18 :
We are in right now. And tomorrow is the anniversary of D-Day. And we are in our ideological D-Day, I think, at this particular point in time. Brad Beck, always great to have you in studio. And we'll be rolling out Music Strikes a Chord in our Quest for Freedom this weekend. What's your final thoughts?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I just would challenge everybody to find an opportunity and get active, participate. And if you don't have the time for that, talk to your kids or grandkids about what freedom has meant to them in their lives and connect maybe on a musical chord with them and talk about music and how music has been provided to us because we have freedom. And there's so many choices out there. And let's take advantage of them.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and let's do take advantage of them. And I'd gone to Martin Luther for our quote of the day. And so for the end of the show, this is what Martin Luther said. He said, God created the world out of nothing. And so long as we are nothing, he can make something out of us. I love that. And so, my friends, today be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 03 :
Talking about.
SPEAKER 10 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
SPEAKER 11 :
It's the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 18 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 11 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 18 :
With what is happening down at the statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it's not.
SPEAKER 11 :
Today's current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 18 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
SPEAKER 11 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let's have a conversation.
SPEAKER 18 :
Indeed, let's have a conversation. And welcome to our number two of the Kim Munson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You each are treasured, you're valued, you have purpose. Today, strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. And thank you to the team. That's Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, Amanda, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Thursday, Producer Joe. Happy Thursday, Kim. And that was a riveting hour number one, Brad Beck.
SPEAKER 12 :
It's always a pleasure and amazing how time goes so quickly.
SPEAKER 18 :
It does go very, very quickly. And we'll be talking with our friend Susan Kochevar here in the second hour. But let's get to our word of the day, which is infinite. And it's spelled I-N-F-I-N-I-T-E. And it's unlimited, incalculable, boundless, unconfined, countless, measureless, having no limit or end. So infinite. And the possibilities with freedom are infinite. That's why we need to protect freedom.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, one of the beautiful things about using different words and practicing using words as we do in Toastmasters is it expands your vocabulary and it doesn't have to be a fancy word, but it gets you to think about the words you use. And it's important, the words that we use and how we communicate.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and so the challenge is to use the word infinite in a sentence today. And quote of the day, I went to Martin Luther. He was born in 1483, died in 1546. And he was a German priest, theologian, author, hymn writer, professor, and former Augustinian friar. And he was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation. And I chose this because he was a beautiful hymn writer. And he said this, Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul. It is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents that God has given us. And I chose that because of your piece that will roll out this weekend, and that is Music Strikes a Chord in Our Quest for Freedom.
SPEAKER 12 :
You know, one of the key words there is agitations of the soul. I love that because we're all fidgety. We all are thinking different ways and interacting. And music brings us together. And so that's a beautiful quote.
SPEAKER 18 :
It really is. And a good conversation about freedom and music. And this had come in here yesterday.
SPEAKER 12 :
eric said um great show for the first hour so thank you on that and that music therapy is actually a profession as well it is and i've heard that i don't know anybody who does it but i've heard about it and it probably will help those individuals that can't communicate in different ways and music helps us communicate more effectively i think
SPEAKER 18 :
I think so, too. And all different kinds of music. What about, and I think I know the answer to this question, because you like all genres. But I particularly like country music. But you do as well, yes?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I was in a country band. I was with a group called the Rick Tucker and the Good Time Band. And our claim to fame, our leader at the time, Rick Tucker, who's since passed away, had a number one hit regionally called Patty Baby, which I have the 45, and he recorded it with the great Norman Petty. And Norman Petty, if that name sounds familiar, he's the one who published and recorded the early Buddy Holly songs. So I get to spend a week with Norman Petty, and it was an experience I'll never forget. Yeah. The only one regret I have in my life is that Norman said, Brad, I want to record you. And I said, Norman, I can't sing because I was known as the kosher cowboy. That was my handle back in the days of when you had, you know, the Seabees and so forth. And he heard about that. And I said, Norman, I can't sing. He said, you think Kinky Friedman, the original Texas Jew boy, can sing? Yeah. So I should have taken him up on it and never did. But, you know, it was a fabulous experience. And I got to hang around musicians for a week in the studio. And we went to the original studio, which now is a museum in Clovis, New Mexico. So it was a great experience.
SPEAKER 18 :
That's so neat. That is so neat. So let's get into just a couple of other things. This is... My heart has been heavy as we have seen the veil coming off on all of the spending that is going on in our country. And this is another headline. It says DIA could lose $267 million in federal grants over their immigration and DEI policies. And, Brad, I think what I'm so troubled about is I knew this, but we have gotten so out of control from our American society. model of limited government, a limited federal government where states, municipalities, entities would be responsible for their own decisions. And $267 million for DIA, and I guess they probably make the case that there's people from all over the country and the world that fly through there, but $267 million is a lot of money.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and the place is not functional. I mean, I just flew in out of there a couple times these last two weeks. You go to the men's room, none of the faucets or half the faucets aren't working. The paper dispensers are ridiculously slow and give you a little sliver of paper. You know, I want things that have value that I'm willing to pay for as a citizen, but when they don't work and you look at what they've built out there or have continued to try to build and it's taken them forever... You know, one, it irritates me every time I have to go through TSA. Why are the American people being hassled every time they go through an airport? I mean, if we had secure borders all the time, we wouldn't have to do this. If I was running for president, my number one thing would be to get rid of Homeland Security at every airport and protect the borders. End of story. because I don't think they do anything other than hassle innocent people, just like the Second Amendment. You shouldn't have to go and get a permit to protect yourself from the government.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and I think a whole bunch of it is to be compliant. And I had lunch with a friend yesterday, and I recently flew as well. And I remember I used to be so excited. What's on the other end? What's the adventure? And now it is a hassle to fly. But I will step aside and say that I do not want to have my picture taken. I do not like – now, I think they got me one time when I flew back from Richmond. I didn't understand what was going on. But I will normally just step to the side and say I prefer not to have my picture taken. But we dutifully step up, compliant. But yet with the illegal immigration under the Biden administration, they were flying illegals all over the country without ID, without any vaccine records, anything like that. And so what has to ask, you know, what is this whole TSA thing all about? Is it a works program? Is it creating jobs or what is it?
SPEAKER 12 :
government creating jobs, yes, which they don't do. They scond our tax dollars to create this false sense of security. But every time I go through, even though I have clear and I have TSA pre, somehow I get either tagged for additional searches or if you have to go through and the thing goes off because they do quote a random check, And then somebody puts their hand all over your body and says, I have to look here and look there. And I'm incredulous by it because we as a citizen should not have to have a legal search and seizure by our government, period. And border crossings, when you go from... Nevada into California, and you have to go through the, quote, search there if you have any fruits or vegetables. Again, it's another way to comply with people. They talk about, you know, they want to keep bugs out of California. I think it's the other way around. The bugs seem to start in California and permeate around the country. You know, it just irritates me that in our country we have to be search and seizure. every place we go, in an airport. And now, you know, other forms of transportation. I understand security. What I disagree with, if we pay for border security and have a safe country and a legal way to come here, we want immigrants to come to our country. We're all immigrants to start with. But, you know, when you hassle all your citizens anytime they want to egress or just visit family somewhere, It's brutal. I mean, it really is. It makes it uncomfortable. Transportation has just become, you know, I want to drive my car more. I have more freedom. And, yes, it takes longer, but you know what? At the end of the day, I have more control over me.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and we'll try to get to this headline that there are eight states that are aiming to ban gas car sales, which is crazy. And one of those is where you grew up was California. Yeah. I can't believe Colorado was not on that list, but I'm sure that they may want to try. So we're going to go to break. And I did want to mention the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance team. And Roger's been in business for 48 years, taking care of his clients and his family and giving back to the community. And give them a call, 303-795-8855, and make a complimentary appointment. That way you will know what your insurance coverage is, you'll have what you need, and you might be able to save some money if you bundle everything together. Give them a call at 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there.
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SPEAKER 08 :
We'll be right back. Knowledge is power and preparation leads to success. Call Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881 so that you are prepared for the opportunities in the mortgage market. That's Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881.
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You'd like to get in touch with one of the sponsors of The Kim Munson Show, but you can't remember their phone contact or website information. Find a full list of advertising partners on Kim's website, kimmunson.com. That's Kim, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 18 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. Something's a good idea. You should not have to force people to do it. In studio with me is my friend Brad Beck, co-founder of Liberty Toastmasters. And Liberty Toastmasters Denver is meeting this Saturday.
SPEAKER 12 :
It is, and we welcome all that want to come and get better at public speaking and learn how to communicate effectively with your friends, family, organizations, or just want to be a better speaker.
SPEAKER 18 :
And we really need to be able to communicate ideas because these foundational ideas of America are really under attack. And that's why we need to really get our brains around the idea and then how to communicate it. And another sponsor of the show is on the line with me, and that is Susan Kochevar, owner of the 88 Drive-In Theater. Susan, welcome to the show. Good morning, Kim and Brad. And the 88 Drive-In Theater, you've gotten a lot of press in a lot of different places I've seen. Congratulations on that, Susan.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you. When we made our first post this year, a Denver influencer picked it up, and it went viral on Instagram and on TikTok. So we had over 200,000 views. I wanted a soft opening, but we worked hard those first few weekends. I got a really great staff this year.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, that's amazing. And so the 88 Drive-In Theater is open, and give us the details.
SPEAKER 19 :
So, yeah, we're open every night of the week now. We're into the immediate season. We have this week Sinners. The first picture is Sinners. Final destination, Bloodlines, and the second picture is called Sinners. And we'll have that through the 12th. And then we'll see what's next. I'm not sure yet. But it's going to be a good summer. There's a lot of great movies coming out.
SPEAKER 18 :
And what about some of the independent movie producers? What's your thoughts on what's coming from them?
SPEAKER 19 :
It's very exciting because there are a lot of new studios coming up, such as Angel Studios. And it's really exciting. Also, Amazon is producing. a lot of new stuff. All of that choice and competition really helps the industry. And I think you're starting to see that in some of the pictures, newer ideas and genres. So that works really well. Not so many of these repeats, which haven't been doing very well. And then, of course, you have some of the studios who kind of The one big one we'll go unmentioned, who sort of went woke and has really damaged their brand greatly and has been laying people off. So this choice and competition and change, I think, is a good thing for the industry. I think it's much needed.
SPEAKER 18 :
Okay. And you said you're open every day or every night. And what time does the box office open at 88 Drive-In Theater?
SPEAKER 19 :
Yep. The box office opens at 7 p.m. You can get your tickets there. And we only sell tickets at the box office. You can find more information at 88drivein.net or on Facebook.
SPEAKER 18 :
Okay. So let's get over here. Not only are you an entrepreneur and a businesswoman, but you also are a commentator. You really watch what's going on out there. And so the first thing, you and I had texted back and forth a week or so ago, concerns about Pam Bondi. and her dragging her feet, particularly regarding the release of the Epstein files. So what's your update on that, Susan Cotrar?
SPEAKER 19 :
Still not a lot has come out about that. I see Dan Bongino has come out and said that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself, and boy, that's really a stretch for me, even though I really like Dan Bongino. And I trust him, but I think that's a really strange thing for the FBI to come out and say, you know, those cameras went dark in the prison for several hours. So I find that really hard to believe that he killed himself. And I don't understand why more of the information hasn't been released. I know Pam Bondi was attorney general in Florida where a lot of that information Epstein case started and it didn't seem like a lot got done there. I just can't imagine what is behind all of that. I think that a lot of our politicians could potentially have been and may be being blackmailed because we're sure seeing some odd behavior out of those folks. So I don't know what's going on there, but I'm very disappointed in that information not being released and getting to the bottom of what happened there.
SPEAKER 18 :
Okay. And we are into the Trump administration now. And Brad, you and I were talking that it seems like there's a lot of really good things happening. There's so much detraction. And of course, Elon Musk is out there now saying that he's very disappointed about this big, beautiful bill. And yesterday when Trent Luce was on, and he's not a real fan of Trump either, he It's somewhat disconcerting what's happening out there. So I called Wade Miller with the Center for Renewing America, who has been working on Capitol Hill regarding this big, beautiful bill. And he said that there are...
SPEAKER 12 :
spending cuts in this bill and that we need to understand that and so i'm going to have him on next week uh to to talk about it but there's so many detractors out there i don't know who to trust these days well you know i have a question actually for susan because she's involved in this and studied it more than i have but one of the reasons i think susan that we don't trust our institutions we don't trust where we get our news we don't trust our elected representatives really coalesced around the time that Wuhan happened and all the misinformation that our government provided us and the so-called experts. And I think you bring up a good point, whether it's Dan Bongino or Pam Bondi or any of the folks that we tend to like, there's a trust gap there. And how do we address that, Susan?
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, you're right. There's a huge gap there. And I think it did. I think that's when a lot of things that politicians were doing was really exposed front and center with COVID. You know, we had Bill Barr and all of his weird things. And then we went into the Biden administration lying about his dementia, which most of us knew. So getting that trust back, I don't know, it's... Our politicians, our representatives are, a lot of them, in very powerful positions. And one of the things I think would help is to change sort of the structure of Congress in terms of when these people go into Congress and they come back out, they should not get lifetime pay. They should not be able to opt out of any laws that the rest of us are subject to. They were never supposed to. Thomas Massey keeps putting out there that a lot of the politicians have a group, I can't remember what they're called, but they have like handlers, and he says they're from Israel who follow them around, and they have to consult with these people. to figure out how they should vote so that they can get campaign funds. And also the other thing that happens is to be on a big, powerful committee, you have to raise a lot of money and kind of buy your way onto the committee. These are structural things that really need to be fixed because I think it allows people to go into Congress for the wrong reasons, or maybe they go in for the right reasons and they get stuck in this muck. And those are some of the things I think need to be restructured so that that stuff doesn't happen anymore our founders never intended for that to happen so that we can you know so these people are actually working for the best interest of the country
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and as I'm sitting here, thinking about these issues that we're facing, and Trump, I think, has done a good job regarding immigration. And again, yesterday, Trent and I had a discussion about it. He had said that he had asked the question, you know, what about people that are here legally that might get caught up and be deported? And one of our listeners had sent an email that I saw. and said that that may happen, but that we also have judges that would probably step in at that time. But we've got to get immigration figured out. We've got to get the spending figured out. We've got to make sure that we have reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy sources. We've got to get that figured out. We've got to protect our children. And I think as we're working through this, I'm getting clarity on the things that we need to really be focused on, Brad.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, one of the things Susan brought up was what Thomas Massey had mentioned about having handlers that were from the Israeli government. And I'm always cautious when I hear those things because I don't know where it's coming from. You know, all the various interests, whether they're a foreign entity or agriculture in this country, have lobbyists. And they all have influence. And I don't doubt that AIPAC or any of the other organizations, Jewish organizations, have some influence or try to influence our elected representatives. But then again, I look and see all the other entities out there like CARE. and various Muslim organizations. And I ask myself, which organizations should we be aligned with and listen to, those that are more freedom-oriented or those that are more control, force-oriented? And that's a question I think we need to ask. It's a good discussion to have. But I'm always a little bit cautious when somebody starts pushing that it's the Israelis or the Jews that the American electorate is following our representatives. And, you know, it gives fuel to the fire of anti-Semitism. And I'm not saying Massey's doing that, but, you know, I see the same things on the Internet, and it always concerns me.
SPEAKER 19 :
No, I totally agree, Brad. He just keeps saying that, and I don't understand that. I like Thomas Massey. He seems to be more libertarian than the others. I don't know why he's saying that, but I agree with you. There are all kinds of factions that seem to have more access and influence over our politicians than the people. So I think that's really more what I'm after there really than blaming one group or the other because you're right, care has an awful lot of influence as well, and that is not such a good thing either. Right. So I agree. I just think the structures and the way that that influence seems to be – Nancy claims that the handlers are influencing the votes, and she thinks it's not always in a good way. I don't know. I'm not in Congress. I can't see what's going on. But something is wrong, especially when you look at the way – The body votes.
SPEAKER 12 :
We agree. Yeah.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah. And so that's why we've got to continue to have discussions about this. We're talking with Susan Kochavar, who is an entrepreneur and owner of 88 Drive-In Theater, and Brad Beck, who's a co-founder of Liberty Toastmasters. And very pleased to have the Second Syndicate as a sponsor of the show because the Second Amendment is in place to protect the first, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press. And so very pleased to have the Second Syndicate as our sponsor.
SPEAKER 13 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
is essential for your success, especially during tough economic times. If you love The Kim Munson Show, strive for excellence and understand the importance of engaging in the battle of ideas that is raging in America. Then talk with Kim about partnership, sponsorship opportunities. Email Kim at kimmunson.com. Kim focuses on creating relationships with individuals and businesses that are tops in their fields. So they are the trusted experts listeners turn to when looking for products or services. Kim personally endorses each of her sponsors. Again, reach out to Kim at KimMunson.com.
SPEAKER 18 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And do you want more freedom and confidence with your money? Well, Mint Financial Strategies can help. They're an independent firm with over 25 years of experience. And as an accredited investment fiduciary, they can put your best interest first always. With a strategy-first approach, they'll help you build a plan that fits your life. So call Mint Financial Strategies today at 303-285-3080. That's 303-285-3080. In studio with me is Brad Beck, co-founder of Liberty Toastmasters. And Liberty Toastmasters Denver meets the first and third Saturdays of each month. And so we'll be meeting this Saturday, 10 o'clock at Independence Institute.
SPEAKER 12 :
We are, and I get to be an evaluator for a speech, and I'm looking forward to it. I haven't done that in a while.
SPEAKER 18 :
The evaluation component is really an important thing to learn. And in many ways, I've maybe used that more than just actually public speaking, and that is how to interact with people. And even if there's a really difficult situation, the evaluation component that you learn those strategies can be very helpful.
SPEAKER 12 :
It teaches you active listening, and then you have to recite and give a two- to three-minute response to what the speaker said and what they did well and how they can improve. And I really enjoy it because it challenges me every time. And we have some great speakers, and people have different ideas, and you have to come up and try to give them valuable feedback that is positive. And there's another technique which, you know, I like, which I call the manure technique, which is dump on me and tell me everything I did wrong because I'm not watching myself. But with a newer speaker, you want to be encouraging. And so we do a sandwich technique. We offer praise. Then we offer the meat of the critique and then we offer praise. So we encourage people to come and learn and listen and participate with us.
SPEAKER 18 :
And just to note, Liberty North meets the second and fourth Saturdays of each month up in Longmont. And that's a really vibrant group.
SPEAKER 12 :
That is. And we keep growing up there. And I'm amazed at the diversity of opinion, even though we talk about freedom and the ideas of individual rights and the proper role of government. You know, we don't all agree, Laz. We don't all agree here in Denver. Freedom is the only tent big enough for everybody.
SPEAKER 18 :
It is, and we need to continue to make the case for that. On the line is Susan Kochevar. She is an entrepreneur and owner of 88 Drive-In Theater, which is open seven days a week. And, Susan, that means that you have pretty late nights, right?
SPEAKER 19 :
Yes. Yes, it does, especially some of the length of the pictures these days. Some of them are two and a half hours long.
SPEAKER 18 :
And you have to wait until the sun goes down to start the theater, so it can be a late evening. That's right. And kids are free, right, under the age of 12? Is that right?
SPEAKER 19 :
They are.
SPEAKER 18 :
$10 per person. Children under 12 are free. Okay. And how can people find you? What's your website?
SPEAKER 19 :
Go to 88drivein.net or you can go to Facebook. We're there. We're also on Instagram and sometimes on TikTok.
SPEAKER 18 :
Okay, so Susan, let's jump in here because we are at a very dangerous time in our country. And if Harris would have won and the Biden administration had another four years, we know that we were headed to disaster. I'm concerned, though, that there are that I'm concerned with some of these things. And I'm going to say the AI thing. I'm getting very, very concerned about that. And I saw a headline yesterday that Trump has got this company Palantir, I think it is, that will be managing a lot of this AI. And I'm really uncomfortable about that, Susan.
SPEAKER 19 :
That's what bothers me about this big, beautiful bill. There is a provision in it that says that states can't pass regulations on AI for the first 10 years. Who put that in there? That just isn't right. I don't know how to feel exactly about the AI at this point. It looks to me like the AI really isn't that good. It makes mistakes. They are claiming that it has been acting in ways that preserve itself, and they have tried to preserve itself, and in some cases not being truthful. So, you know, I asked my daughter about this because she's 30 and very into technology. She doesn't seem to be so worried about it. She says, you know, Mom, you can always just unplug it. And the technology is not where they say it is. So I don't know. It's hard for me to tell exactly. There are definitely some extremely concerning aspects.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and this was from Newsweek, and it says that President Donald Trump allegedly plans on developing a database on Americans' private information. And that was according to the New York Times. Now, I look at that, Brad, and I'm thinking, well, is the New York Times trying to put sand in the gears to slow down the good things that Trump is trying to do? So I don't like not being trusting the way this is going. But it goes on to say that the White House had contracted Colorado-based data analytics and technology firm, Palantir, co-founded by longtime Trump backer Peter Thiel for assistance in compiling a database of personal information on American citizens, which seems like that goes against the Fourth Amendment.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, this whole discussion of AI, which AI for me is actual intelligence as opposed to artificial, and it takes actual intelligence to build these systems. I try not to be a Luddite. You know, the idea of let's stop everything that's modern because it will preclude us from doing what we've always been doing. I look forward to this new technology simply from the fact, one, from a security aspect. If we don't develop it to its fullest potential, our adversaries will. And we don't want China or Russia or Iran or North Korea to get ahead of us on this. That's number one. Number two... You know, any technology could be used for ill. And so we've got to figure out a way when I say we are elected representatives and not for profits and citizens need to figure out a way to protect the individual rights of all of us. That would be paramount. And then third, there needs to be somebody with some form of oversight. And I don't mean a bureaucracy, a third independent party to see everything that is as far as intelligence. I mean, they already have everything they need on us if you go through an airport or credit card. So the question is, how invasive is that going to be? And I have concerns, as Susan does as well. But in the long run, if we don't develop it here and have some control over it, The world's a small place, and we saw the technology usurp us just recently in Ukraine, with Ukraine going into Russia and bombing the Russian airplanes. We saw it in Lebanon, where the Israelis went in and had pagers, and they blew up with Hezbollah. Technology's always going to be there. The question is, can we get ahead of it and make sure that it's not used for ill purposes? Well, that's the key, isn't it, Susan?
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, I completely agree with what Brad said, 100%. The other thing that gets discounted is the human mind. I just have a really hard time believing that AI could ever encompass the power of the human mind. You know, people look at things differently, every single one of us, and have all kinds of different insights into things, and I just don't think AI is going to have that kind of capacity So, you know, I don't think I'm more afraid of some of the people that misuse some of that stuff than I am the actual technology. And I agree, you're not going to stop progress anyway. So you want your best and brightest people, you know, entrepreneurs working on that kind of stuff. And to Brad's point, Edward Snowden, you know, was branded a traitor, but that's what he was trying to tell us. Gosh, what, 27 years ago now that the NSA has all this information on you, this database, and it's searchable, friends. They already know all this stuff. That, to me, is what needs to be shut down.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and so let's go over to spending, Susan. What's your thoughts about spending? And it looks like we're going to get some cuts in this and tax cuts and cuts in spending in this big, beautiful bill. What's your thoughts about spending here in America?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, spinning is the way we get control of our government. We have got to severely whack back all of the money that they waste and that they collect. This bill has tax cuts in it. And if the Trump tax cuts do not get extended, the middle and lower class will be wiped out. I can tell you it was it was when Trump passed those tax cuts the first time. It really helped my business. And I'm just a tiny guy. So that stuff needs to come through. But we're also going to need massive tax cuts. And, you know, with all these people influencing our politicians, it's going to be very tough. Everybody's got their pet program, and, you know, they probably get campaign contributions based on their promises to extend or build whatever – lobbyists want. So it's going to be a really tough fight. But as Elon Musk points out, we've got to make these cuts because our debt is through the roof and we will collapse if we do not get that under control. The interest is so high now, most of the money that's being collected is going to pay interest. And you can look at that in the same way that you look at your personal finances. If all your money is going to interest, You're never going to get out of that hole. You've got to make cuts and pay down that interest. I don't know. I don't know what it's going to take to get Congress to actually pass cuts.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, hopefully that's going to occur and also to make these tax cuts permanent. And I did want to mention a couple of nonprofits that I really love here at the Kim Munson Show, and that's the USMC Memorial Foundation. And they are raising money for the remodel of the Marine Memorial, which is out at 6th and Colfax. And a great gift for Father's Day would be a certificate that will be on one of the pathways of service to honor your loved one's military service. You can get more information by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And then the Center for American Values is nonpartisan, nonpolitical. It's located in Pueblo on the beautiful Riverwalk. looking at these foundational principles of honor integrity and patriotism and their portraits of valor of over 160 of our medal honor recipients is something that can really be inspiring and give you hope and so be sure and check that out that website is americanvaluecenter.org and we did talk with him earlier this week that's john bosun with bosun law if you've been injured you want to make sure that you talk with them and have a complimentary appointment
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SPEAKER 15 :
All of Kim's sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of the Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That's Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
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SPEAKER 18 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That's Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something's a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And thank you to Laramie Energy for their gold sponsorship of the show because it's reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy from oil, natural gas, and coal that powers our lives, fuels our hopes and dreams, and empowers us to change our own personal climate. Brad Beck, co-founder of Liberty Toastmasters, is in studio. And good conversations.
SPEAKER 12 :
It is. And it's always good to hear my friend Susan and her perspectives. And I love the fact that she is the last remaining drive-in in Colorado and brings back so many great memories.
SPEAKER 18 :
and there is a whole group across the nation, right? Susan Kochevar of Drive-In Theater Owners?
SPEAKER 19 :
There are, yeah. And I'd like to be the last one in Colorado, Brad, but there's about seven of us, but I'm the last one remaining in the Denver metropolitan area. And if you want to find a drive-in, go to driveinsnearme.com. Driveinsnearme.com is launching the sixth – of June is National Drive-In Day, and we are launching a Drive-Ins Near Me website. You can find drive-ins all over the country, you know, They make a good road trip.
SPEAKER 18 :
And that absolutely. And that is one of the you mentioned road trip, freedom of mobility. That has been something that has been under attack as well. All these little things that have been under attack. So let's get to the text line, though. And this is from Todd. And he says, change Congress, says complain about it or go to Convention of States, which is the article article five of the Constitution. And I think it I think we may be at a point we may need to use that. What do you think? Have you given a lot of thought to that statement?
SPEAKER 12 :
I would love to see that happen because it would say to our elected representatives, you don't have all the power. The founders put that in there as a stopgap measure for citizens to have a voice. And, you know, Congress hates anybody who takes their power away from them unless it's convenient. And one of the things I would love to see is a doge set up in all 50 states and the U.S. government, because if you have somebody looking over it, they're less likely to do what they're not supposed to be doing. So I think we need to Elon needs to franchise that out to all 50 of our states in the country.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, I think that that does make a lot of sense. And Susan, have you given much thought to Convention of the States?
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, there's a lot of people that worry that it could go the wrong way, but I'm not sure we could go much more the wrong way. If we don't pull this spending in and take control of Congress, the people, we're in big trouble, like really big trouble. Yeah, I've thought about that. That might be the way to go.
SPEAKER 18 :
Okay. And just some of the subjects that we had talked about. I had mentioned this regarding the Trump administration said that DIA could lose potentially $267 million in federal grants over immigration and DEI policies. Jenny said this, that the airport is dirty. Yeah, it is. And that they have gargoyles at Ground Transportation 504. I didn't know that. And I don't know what that means exactly.
SPEAKER 12 :
I think there's one that they've had there from the very beginning that they replaced. It's up there. Historically, gargoyles are there to ward off evil. If you look at all the medieval churches in Europe, I have two gargoyles in front of my house, and we call them Boo and Who for Halloween. So I have nothing against gargoyles, but the public art there is less than appealing. Yeah.
SPEAKER 18 :
And the crazy horse when you're coming around there, the blue horse.
SPEAKER 12 :
Lucifer. Yeah.
SPEAKER 18 :
There are things I just feel uncomfortable when I go out to the DIA anymore. And maybe it's because of those particular policies. So, Susan, I know that you and I both in our text back and forth are very pleased with some of the things that's occurring with the Trump administration. And there's so many roadblocks that are being put up. in front of him. But I want to make sure that we stay within the Constitution and that we have these honest conversations about what's going on out there, Susan.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, I agree. You know, he's fighting a gigantic battle, and sometimes it's very hard to tell. Sometimes it's hard to tell which way it's going, you know, kind of back and forth because of that gigantic, deep state, which is just all the bureaucrats, which, you know, you've mentioned many times, are in, you know, all levels of government. We have way too much bureaucracy. And these folks oftentimes are making decisions and telling the people that we elect to represent us how things are done. And that's something I think we need to cut back. But I do think that Trump, there are a lot of things. One of the most important things, I think, was shutting the border and working to get these illegals out. I know that Tom Holman and Alex Jones and quite a few others are very concerned after what we saw happen in Russia with Ukraine bombing their planes containing those nuclear warheads. because it's such a surprise attack. And they're saying, listen, the Biden administration imported a lot of these people. And, you know, they completely bypassed the Border Patrol, you know, just sign your name and never show up to court. They didn't want fingerprints. They didn't want pictures. They didn't want anything. They just blew these people in. And so they're very concerned, Tom Holman and Alex Jones, some others are very concerned we could be attacked in our own country. And I see Trump is considering implementing emergency powers to root these people out and get them out of the country. And a good deal of them were military-aged men. So there may be some fights going on that we're not completely aware of. And I think it's important to head on a swivel no matter where you go, especially after that horrendous attack in Boulder.
SPEAKER 18 :
And so what do you think in these conversations with people regarding Trump? What do you say, Susan?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, I point out all of the stuff that I see that is positive. And the other thing I talk about, too, is the stuff that we saw happen in his last term, and there was a huge list of things that helped, I think, people generally and helped my business personally, which is the same things that helped all the other small businesses, hire people. And, you know, the country was on a really good track in 2019, and I think – And the Biden administration has done so much damage that it's going to take a lot to – Trump said this is going to be – before we get to the golden age, this is going to be bumpy getting these people out and getting things sorted around. So I kind of talk about some of those things. And the other thing I say is, well, you know, did you – do you want to continue under Biden-era policies with Kamala Harris? And it looks like the Democrats – are imploding with a lot of stuff that's happening. I see Corrine Jean-Pierre the other day just said she's leaving the Democrat Party and writing a book about it. The Bidenites are furious at her. So I might actually read that book. I want to, that seems... I'm quite curious to see what she has to say there, considering I think that she was the, rather than being the press secretary, she was the secretary of lies.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, and I'm, again, cynical, and I'm wondering if this might be a move by Democrats to try to go to get more support from the unaffiliated voter brand.
SPEAKER 12 :
Could be. You know, I'm always curious, because Susan's in the storytelling business. He shows movies, and good movies are about storytelling. And I'm curious, what stories should the Trump administration be telling us that are true, that are factual, but that will get people behind them? Because if you can persuade positively, you can get people to rally around you. So what's the good story to be telling?
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah. I don't know. I think it's tough right now because there's... There's so many different narratives that are flooding, you know, X and all the other social media. It's hard to get a handle on that. And I think you're right. I'm even struggling to put a finger on that. I can see some of the good things, but I do think that that's probably exactly what the Trump administration needs to do, start telling the positive stories.
SPEAKER 18 :
Absolutely. So Susan Kochavar, it's always great to have you on the show. And again, what's the website for 88 Drive-In Theater?
SPEAKER 19 :
88drivein.net.
SPEAKER 18 :
Okay. And Brad Beck, it's always great to have you in studio as well.
SPEAKER 12 :
Always a pleasure. Thank you for the honor.
SPEAKER 18 :
And Liberty Toastmasters, how can people get more information?
SPEAKER 12 :
They can go online at libertytoastmasters.org and or go to toastmasters.org and look us up and see our smiling faces and come join us.
SPEAKER 18 :
And again, thank you to both of you for being here. Really appreciate it. And my heart is heavy. I feel that the job in front of us right now, we need the good Lord's help with this because it's bigger than any one of us. Brad Beckett.
SPEAKER 12 :
Anything that's worth doing is hard. And we've got to be persistent and determined. And with good people like you and Susan, we'll get it done.
SPEAKER 18 :
We will get it done. And our quote for the end of the show is from Martin Luther. He said this. He said, God created the world out of nothing. And so long as we are nothing, he can make something out of us. And I love that. And so my friends, today be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 03 :
Talking about.
SPEAKER 10 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
In this engaging episode of Rush to Reason, host John Rush delves into the intricacies of planning for retirement with guest Al Smith. They discuss the importance of financial planning, the impact of relocation on retirement savings, and the demographic shifts in retirement destinations across the United States. Al sheds light on questions retirees should consider, such as where to live and how much money is enough for the lifestyle they envision. Dive deep into these practical insights to better prepare for the future without financial stress. Beyond finances, John addresses health concerns, specifically focusing on Alzheimer's disease. Learn about the latest findings on potential connections between hearing loss and dementia, and what it means for future preventive care. This episode underscores the importance of understanding the complexities of Alzheimer's and shares personal reflections on health, stress reduction, and long-term wellness. Join John for an informative session that blends retirement wisdom with important health discussions, ensuring you're well-prepared for both current and future challenges.
SPEAKER 09 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 07 :
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 09 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 01 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did.
SPEAKER 06 :
Get a job, turd. 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 06 :
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 Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 18 :
I am Hans. And I am Franz. And we just want to pop your loss.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome to Health and Wellness Wednesdays on Rush to Reason. Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, sir.
SPEAKER 08 :
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 :
Exorcist gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands.
SPEAKER 01 :
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 16 :
I'm sorry that I'm fat. All right, happy Wednesday, Health and Wellness Wednesday. I'm your host, John Rush, of course, and I appreciate all of you that join us during this particular hour. Al Smith agreed to hang around with us today after being on air from 2 to 2.30 with his own program. So, Al, welcome.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, thank you for having me, John.
SPEAKER 16 :
Always a joy. I know last time we were on, we talked a little bit about not just retirement, but some of the things that people may either get off on. They don't handle correctly or don't think through the entire process correctly. And one of the things that I asked you today before coming on air that I thought we could talk about is how many – People, do you find, or should people be thinking along these lines? You know, the majority of your clients are going to be from Colorado, and especially in this front-range area, we live in a more-than-average expense area for the country. In fact, there's a lot of places, Al, that you could literally cut maybe not – in half, but darn near depending upon what part of the country you're, you know, you're willing to move to and live in. So you could literally cut your expenses back considerably. So my question to you was, is is that or should that be a part of what people think about in our area when it comes to retirement? Or should they just factor in, you know, making sure they've got enough socked away to where you can still live in Colorado if you want to?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, that's a big question because last time we talked about ways of making your money go farther and so forth once you're in retirement and possibly one of the best ways or easiest ways to do that is also a bit burdensome and that's moving. Moving is no fun. I moved my office a couple of months ago and I had been there about six years, and when you're somewhere six years, you accumulate a lot of stuff. But as far as relocating, there's a lot of reasons. Some people relocate to be closer to their grandchildren, whether that's a good idea or not. Kind of depends on your relationship with the grandchildren and what else you had going on in between. But I did a little bit of research, and in 2022, they said 235,000 people moved right at retirement. In 2023, it was 338,000. It was up about 44%. So the trend is kind of going that direction, it looks. It really is. And the cities where the most people are moving in relation to the size of the community, Mesa, Arizona had 4,453 people move there who are retirement age. Okay. And rather, Arizona in general had 23,000. And I don't think it's any surprise that Florida had an increase of people over age 60 of 77,000. Wow.
SPEAKER 16 :
That's a pretty sizable amount of people. And granted, I know Florida's big. Arizona's a fairly good-sized state as well, and you could spread those around. Although typically, as you know, Al, that's not usually the way it works. They kind of concentrate in particular areas where there's other like-minded people. I've been to Mesa, Arizona. I have family there, actually, so I can understand that. And your stats are showing they're not moving where it's cold.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, here's the most surprising statistic when I looked this up a few minutes ago. Which state would you think has the highest percentage of people over age 60?
SPEAKER 16 :
The highest percentage of people over age 60.
SPEAKER 15 :
Not moved there, but just the highest percentage of people over age 60. Florida.
SPEAKER 16 :
Florida.
SPEAKER 15 :
Maine.
SPEAKER 16 :
Really? I wouldn't have guessed that.
SPEAKER 15 :
Neither would I have. The next ones to that, that's 30%. The next one to that were Vermont and Delaware at 29%. Those are both cold states also.
SPEAKER 16 :
I would not have guessed that one at all. Delaware being a little better than the other two, but still, yeah, I wouldn't have guessed that. So, Al, point being, and this is something that I even say this when you're not with me, that the thing that you do that's a little differently than most financial planners, and I know because I've known some of these individuals, is one of the things that you do, sit down and ask people are these very questions. What are you going to do once you get to that point in your life? In other words, what are your plans? Are you going to continue to work? Do you want to work? Are you going to volunteer? Where do you want to live in the country? Because all these things come into play when it comes to making sure that you've got enough resources when you get to that point in life.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, exactly. And I ask my clients or prospective clients, what do you want your retirement to look like? Not just how much money do you want to have, but what do you want your retirement to look like? And then we can sort of convert that to retirement. a financial thing some activities in retirement cost very little some are rather expensive and and that's why what you want your retirement to look like is important and if where you live isn't terribly important then i don't think relocating is a bad idea at all
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, especially when, in some cases, Al, you'll have individuals, couples that will do very well with the home that they've got now as far as getting it paid off. It may be free and clear and so on. And, again, that can come into play when it comes to retirement and all of that because your expenses, of course, are less because there's no mortgage payments to make on the same token. If you're in a place like Colorado and you can go – live in a similar or maybe even downsize a little bit in house size from where you are here versus other places you may very well be able to do that still live without a mortgage but put some money in the bank at the same time and that's where i'm going with this is you know is that or should that be a part of somebody's you know retirement you know formula and i get it there's a lot of other questions that have to be answered as to you know where do you want to live and so on but i think One of the things that I would caution people, I'm not a financial advisor, but one of the things I would caution on is you have to think through these things because if you think that, well, I'm just going to stay here in Colorado until I die, well, maybe that all depends on how well you've done financially to be able to handle our continual raising of costs here in Colorado, not just property taxes, Al, but all of the other ancillary things that go along with it. Again, we don't live in a cheap area as far as the country goes.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, we really don't. And to say I want to stay here until I die, if someone is that attached to a particular place, whether it's Colorado or Los Angeles or Chicago, whatever it is, if you have adequate resources and if you're that adamant about not leaving, then we have to plan with that in mind. But on the other hand, if you want your money to go farther, consider some other locations. Tennessee we were talking about. Arkansas has some beautiful areas.
SPEAKER 16 :
Even you mentioned, believe it or not, folks, Mesa, Arizona is cheaper than most of the front range of Colorado. Not a lot, but it is cheaper. And a lot of the other areas that you're talking about, Al, even though there's no snow and it's warmer, and granted, there's always trade-offs. Arizona, awfully hot in the summer. Florida, more bugs and snakes and things. So I get it. There's always these trade-offs that you have to look at, but... We again, as we know here, we do not live in a inexpensive area. And you can typically find other areas that are very climate friendly, I guess you could say, that are less costly to live in than what we have right here.
SPEAKER 15 :
And there are parts of Colorado who, not who, but that are less expensive. True. The western slope and the Pueblo area are both growing areas that have a lot of things to do that are substantially less expensive than the metro area.
SPEAKER 16 :
That's a very good point. And, again, I'm just saying, folks, think about all these things. These are things that you'll sit down and have a conversation with Al on. And, again, it's Health and Wellness Wednesday, so we not only want you to be healthy now, but also as you get to and closer to retirement. And then that health, Al, isn't just our physical health, but the financial health, which, as we know, less stress, financially speaking, means overall better health, because I've talked about this numerous times before. during this hour and have many, many interviews, one of the first things that a lot of doctors and nutritionists and so on will tell you is if you want to live a more healthy life, reduce your stress.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, exactly. And I think it sounds like it doesn't even bother to be stated. But, you know, go where you're happy. And if having more money is going to make you happier and doesn't matter where you live, then think about relocating. If you're firmly ingrained to staying in Colorado, make sure you have enough in your nest egg. that you can continue to live here. If you'd like to have a conversation with me about that, I can be reached at 303-744-1128. Thank you, John, for having me on.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thank you, Al, as well. And again, you can also find Al at klzradio.com, rushtoreason.com, on my other sites, on the weekends, drive-radio.com, you name it, you can find Al. If you find me, you're going to find Al, and I would encourage you to sit down and have a conversation. Again, Al, thank you very much. Veteran Windows and Doors coming up next. And again, always a great deal at Veteran Windows and Doors. And right now, buy three windows, enjoy 35% off by four or more, and it's 40% off with free installation. Find Dave by going to klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 16 :
All right, and speaking of retirement, as you work your way down that path and you start talking to Al, don't forget you may have a collection of items that you might contribute to this end of things and figure out, okay, am I doing well sitting on this? Am I better off turning this into cash, getting with Al, doing something else with that cash? And what I mean is have those items appraised, all of those heirlooms, coins, stamps, jewelry, watches even. Get with David Gonzalez at Mile High Coin and find out what it's worth, and then you and Al can sit down and figure out what's your best bet moving forward. 720-370-3400.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thank you so much for having me. At Mile High Coin, we understand the various situations which may have brought you to the place of needing or wanting to sell your collection. I appreciate the importance of right timing, so I will never pressure you to sell. People sell when they're ready to sell. Oftentimes, there are estate planning issues that involve multiple family members and attorneys, and we can provide information needed to assist in that process. A coin or jewelry collection can be a burden, and we are here to simplify something that can be quite complicated. We offer a no-charge, complimentary evaluation and appraisal for all of our klz listeners even if you're not quite ready to liquidate call us today at 720-370-3400 or visit our website milehighcoin.com to get more information we look forward to meeting you and seeing your collection listen online klzradio.com back to rush to reason
SPEAKER 16 :
And we are back, Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560, Health and Wellness Wednesday. I do have a special guest joining us at 3.30. Adam Gunton's going to join us, and we're going to be talking about, believe it or not, influence upon drinking and things along those lines. And this may not necessarily affect those of you listening, but you may have other folk you could pass this along to, coworkers, family, kids, things like that. So we'll talk about that here in just a little bit. In the meantime, I had a great article. I was going to talk about this last week, just didn't have a chance to. And that is and it's something that is, I think, on a lot of people's minds. And that's Alzheimer's, mainly because like cancer, the majority of us will have someone either in our own family, somebody immediate, somebody that we know, a good friend that develops Alzheimer's. And by the way, it's not just something that people in their late stages of life, what I mean by late stages is there can be people literally in their 50s. that can develop Alzheimer's. It's not something that is only for those that are 80 years of age and above. I've known some folks that have had it and know somebody right now that's in that 50 range, late 50s, early 60s that has it. I know some folks in their 70s. As you guys all know, my dad, who's in his mid-80s, is suffering from it. So it's something that will affect a lot of individuals. And I also will say this. It's not always the same. And we've talked to brain experts, Alzheimer's experts when it comes to that. Not every single Alzheimer's patient will do the same things, for example. Some have greater memory loss than others. Some it comes on really hard. Some it's a gradual thing that happens. They're trying to do more and more testing, of course, to determine is there things that can be done through either lifestyle changes or medicines and things like that. And right now, no, there is no direct cure for Alzheimer's. That's the one bad thing about it. There really isn't. In some cases, there's some treatments and things that they can do to help manage and or slow things down. And a lot of it. We've talked to experts that have come on this program, and I've got an article in front of me where there are other things you can do to try to stave it off and or slow it down. And the one thing that we still do not know is where does it come from? Is it hereditary? Is it not? Is it ingrained into your DNA from the very get-go and just eventually it comes on? Honestly, folks, no matter what experts will tell you, no one really knows. It can go from generation to generation. It can also skip. it can not affect every single sibling uh this all sorts of things that no one knows at this point and the reality is it's just something that we're learning more and more of and my own personal opinion is it's been around for quite some time people just didn't know exactly how to label it and as we've gotten further down the line there's more technology to actually do brain scans and things like that i think they're learning more and more on on the diagnosis end of things But unfortunately, it affects a lot of individuals. I'll just say it that way. Now, can we prevent it? My wife and I were talking about this earlier this week, and there are all sorts of studies, and you'll read all sorts of things on, you know, eat this, take this medicine, do this. You know, they've determined that exercise is one of the great ways to stave off Alzheimer's. Although, no matter what anybody tells you and what you read, Is there any foolproof cure and or staving off Alzheimer's at this point? I can't answer that, to be honest with you. I think, personally speaking, and I'm talking because my dad has it, so is it going to be something that's passed down from him to me? I have no idea. Honestly, I do not know. Are there things that even somebody like I can do to not – How should I say this? Because it's not a contractual disease, so I'm not saying that right. But is it something that if it is inside of me, can I push it off farther and farther? That's probably the best way for me to say that. And the reality is I don't know. I don't know. It's interesting though when somebody is affected by something directly, you'll typically do more studying on that particular item than when you're not affected by it. So for example, somebody that has had a very close relative that's had some form of cancer, you'll learn more about that particular form of cancer, know more about it than what you would otherwise. This is similar in my particular case, very similar, because I do all sorts of reading and studying and so on on this particular disease. A, because it's affecting my father as we speak. It actually affected my grandmother and his mother. And would it affect me? Again, folks, I don't know. But I will tell you this. I want to do everything I possibly can to try to stave these things off if, in fact, they may be in my future. So here's some things for some of you listening where you may even be affected by this or you have some family members that are affected by this. This was interesting as I was reading through this a couple of weeks ago. There is a new study that's been published in JAMA that suggests as many as 32% of dementia cases can be attributed to hearing loss. In other words, staving off or reversing hearing loss might be a way of staving off Alzheimer's. So we had this conversation among several of us not that long ago talking about hearing aids. And there is a real aversion in some people's minds to not getting a hearing aid. It's almost like Charlie. That's sort of that last hurdle where, OK, I've got a hearing aid. Now I'm old. Well, folks, there are young people. I've got a good friend of mine. They've got a grandchild that will have to have a hearing aid because of loss in one particular ear and not a very old young lady and will have a hearing aid most of her life. And they are going to do some surgery and things like that. But point being, you could be extremely young or extremely old or in between and have a hearing aid. It shouldn't be associated with, oh, man, I'm old. I need a hearing aid. But for some people, I think it is. And here's my point with that. Don't let that be you because what this particular study is learning is as you lose your hearing, that plays a larger role, a much larger role than what people figured initially when it comes to dementia and Alzheimer's. So if getting hearing aids allows you to hear better and is a way for you to help stave off that other sides of things, Alzheimer's and dementia, then why not? And I don't think any of us, myself included, probably do enough when it comes to hearing checks and going to an audiologist and actually going through that process. I'll be straight up honest. I haven't done that since I was a kid, Charlie. Now... Depending upon who you talk to, they may even tell you that, are you hearing as well as you used to? Now, I think a lot of men have selective hearing, so I'm not sure that that really is a good indication, depending upon who you're talking to and what they're saying. But I do think it's important to have those things checked, and I'm one of those that will have to do that here in the not-too-distant future and figure out, okay, where am I at on that spectrum? I don't need hearing aids. I can tell you that right now. I hear well enough to where I don't need aids, but I want to know where I'm at. On a scale of 1 to 10, for example, where are you? Have you had your hearing checked of late, Charlie? He hasn't either. So both of us probably should go and get that done, although I've – Charlie just said, what did I say? Duh. Anyways, this is one of those things in this study that came out talking about how you should have this particular done. It also says in 2019, the CDC estimated that 13 percent of Americans – Get this, 13%. So that's over 1 in 10 of Americans age 18 and above. Age 18 and above experience difficult hearing at some point. That's not old, folks. 18 is extremely young. So to be 18 all the way up to your 90s, 1 out of 10, actually it's over that, 1.3 out of 10, have some sort of a difficulty hearing. Now, here's another prediction I've got, and this will be interesting to see whether I'm right, wrong, or otherwise. I talked about this the other day in the fact that as I travel and I notice that there is a lot of people, young and old, with white earbuds in their ears. Now, I will tell you that even being here on air, the one thing that I – and I wear earbuds. I don't wear earmuffs. I wear buds – It long story, but for me doing what I do and some of the things I have to do and even talking to some people when they're in the studio and you guys don't know this, but sometimes people come and go and so on. And there's things going on that you don't always hear that I need to hear. And for me, it's much easier to slip an earbud in and out on one ear so I can still hear what's going on in the background through the other ear. So my right ear, I've almost got an earbud in three plus hours a day. My left ear, it varies. It comes in and out. Depends on what I'm doing. And I do that, A, so I can hear better outside of what's going on on air. But I also understand that those earbuds in my ear, and I keep the volume down pretty low. I also know that that's not the best thing for your hearing. You'll hear that people in this industry, Charlie knows this as well, people in this industry that have some sort of a ear, hearing muffs, whatever, on a good portion of their job, it can affect their hearing negatively. So I'm very aware of that, and I do my very best to make sure I don't wear these things any longer than I have to. All that being said, I have to wonder, the younger generation, especially, that have earbuds in constantly, and I mean that sincerely. There are some cases I'm wondering, are they made into their ear? Because I look at some of these kids at times, I'm not sure they ever come out. And how good is that for their hearing or how hard on their hearing is that down the road? And I guess time will tell. My own personal feeling is it's going to be a lot worse down the road than we think. And folks, I think, down the road 25, 30 years from now are going to look back and say, man alive, I shouldn't have worn those things as much as I did. So food for thought. That is nothing that I've ever had any kind of experts come on and talk about when it comes to earbuds, pods, things like that. But I do think it's something that you need to be careful of. And I think this particular study shows that. Bottom line, this entire article is talking about how that is one thing, losing your hearing. Getting more sleep is a big deal. Taking a multivitamin, also a big deal when it comes to staving off Alzheimer's. And then believe it or not, drinking coffee and tea regularly actually helps reduce your chances of Alzheimer's. So with that, I know we've got a guest joining us in a moment. I'll continue on. Ridgeline Auto Brokers coming up next. If you're looking for a great used car, they've got you covered. If you're looking to sell your car, they're there to help you with that as well. RidgelineAutoBrokers.com.
SPEAKER 05 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 09 :
This isn't rage radio. This is real, relatable radio. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 16 :
And we are back. Thanks for listening. Health and Wellness Wednesday, Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Our next guest, Adam Gunton, joining us now. Adam, welcome. How are you? Doing so good. How are you doing? I'm doing great. I appreciate you joining us, former star athlete. You've turned into a recovery advocate, and you bring some great insight into friendships and things along those lines when it comes to the red flags at this time of the year especially. These things can be here. all the time i know adam as well but we're kind of in that season to where a lot of things going on a lot of you know you can tailgate and parties and different things and reality is sometimes those folks that were around may not be the best influence upon us right yeah absolutely i heard it from jim rohn first that the five people you spend most time with are the five people you become yeah you know when i was raising my kids and i think i still try to you know throw this into even my grandkids you are who you hang out with is what i used to tell them
SPEAKER 18 :
A hundred percent. And it's true.
SPEAKER 16 :
It is.
SPEAKER 18 :
I think it doesn't necessarily mean that people need to look around them and, and judge the people around them, but you should look at yourself and what you want with your life and just see if the people around you are going to take you there.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah. No, I appreciate you saying that because it's, you know, are these people helping you get where you want to go or are they either a holding you back or dragging you down? A hundred percent. Yep. Yep. I agree. Okay. So what are some of the red flags that we may not be hanging around with some of the best people?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I notice it with mental health. Like if you're noticing a lot of negative thought patterns or if you're noticing negative emotions in yourself, obviously you need to regulate it with your morning routine, with your exercise and your reading and things like that. But what I discovered this, that first time that I read that and listened to that from Jim Rohn, Um, he said the five people you spend most time with you're the sum average of them. So I sat down and actually wrote out the five people that I've been spending most time with, and then wrote the three emotions that I associated to each of them. Like, what do I think they're feeling the most? And then the three thoughts that I think that they're thinking about the most, like, what do we talk about? And then I took their income that I think they make each month. And then I circled the three emotions that showed up the most out of those 15, the three thoughts that showed up the most out of those 15. And then I took those five incomes and divided them by five. And that was me, those three emotions, those three thoughts, and that income was exactly where I was at. So I started getting more intentional with it. And I think, Red flags are, are you doing things that are misaligned with your values? Are you doing things that you wouldn't normally do? Are you feeling ways you wouldn't normally feel?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well said on all counts. I coach small businesses as well outside of what I do here, Adam, and some of what you're talking about I'll have those same conversations with. some of my owners, because it's not any different there. If you want to be a really good, successful business owner, are you hanging around others that are, or are you hanging around guys that continually are in bankruptcy and can't seem to get their head above water? Because in relation to what you're saying, it's the same way on the business side. It's no different.
SPEAKER 1 :
100%.
SPEAKER 18 :
I'm actually going out to Vegas on Sunday to be in a mastermind with Scott. So I'm only going to be about 60 to 70 of us in the room, but we're all a seven figure business owners, you know, and then the people are teaching us how to scale beyond that. Yeah. And then I'm sponsoring an event, uh, here in Denver. on June 20th that's for Christian small businesses. Nice, nice. We should get together outside the radio.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, I would appreciate that. We very much speak the same language. No, let's do that. When I let you go, I will just put you on hold, and we'll get some direct contact. That way I'll have Charlie get some things from you so that we can do that. No, I would very much appreciate that. We very much think alike, because I, like you, I firmly believe that, A, you are who you are, hang out with. And if people aren't lifting you up and aren't helping you and encouraging you, then I hate to be this blunt, Adam, find new friends. Yeah.
SPEAKER 18 :
And I also found that, you know, a lot of us have the heart to help the people around us. You know, a lot of people have that. So we want to bring the people with us. And what we don't recognize is that people that don't want to be brought with you aren't going to come with you. And we're much more it's much easier to be pulled down than it is to pull somebody up that's dead weight. So we want to be conscious of that also.
SPEAKER 16 :
Okay, so here's a question, and these are things, again, that I have either been through or helped others through, and that is sometimes those that we're even close to, family members, for example, Adam, can very much be those people that are also dragging us down. How do you deal with those particular individuals?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, it's a tough question because it's so personal and dependent on the person's situation. Because I come in the recovery field. I've heard the worst of the worst family situations where absolutely you should just cut yourself off from there. And our family has known us since we were born. Right. So they know the things, the buttons to push. That's right. The things that can really hit us hard.
SPEAKER 16 :
And sometimes they do, by the way.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, yeah. And sometimes they don't even intentionally do it.
SPEAKER 16 :
No, it just happens.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, we just grew up together. That's right. And I think it takes us being consciously aware to create those boundaries where we cut it off immediately. And if you do it enough, it doesn't matter how long you've known somebody. If you say, I'm not going to talk like that anymore. um this is my boundary and i'm walking away from this and if you say that enough times you actually stand firm with that and you walk away what you'll notice is that they will stop that behavior true that's a boundary i'm not letting that happen anymore and then there's also you know you don't have to hang out with them every week true you know i i love my family and my family is amazing to me like They treat me well. I've been really, really blessed growing up. But I've had to coach a lot of people that the family is the one that's bringing them down, and you've got to be careful with it.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well said, because I think for a lot of folks that are out there listening, they are probably nodding and agreeing with us right through the speaker or whatever device they're listening to us on, Adam, because they're saying, yep, I hear you. I've been through the exact same thing. And I will tell you, Adam, and you know this as well as anyone, The farther up, I hate to use the term ladder, but the farther along in life we go and the more accomplishments we kind of get underneath our belt, and maybe I'm wrong in saying this, Adam, and maybe this is just me, but the fewer and fewer people you find around you that are actually helping you along that journey. Am I right or wrong?
SPEAKER 1 :
100%.
SPEAKER 18 :
100%. And actually, it's really interesting because two weeks ago, two or three weeks ago, someone called me. A guy called me that I've been friends with for a while and he asked me how I'm doing. You know, I go into the small talk and then I'm like sitting there waiting for him to ask what he needs from me. And then there was this big pause and I was like, did you come to check on me? He was like, yeah. I was like, oh my gosh, thank you, dude. It's been so long since someone has just called to check on me. Wow. You know, and that's, that's the kind of relationship that's really, really powerful when people don't want something from you. And they really genuinely care about how you're doing. And those are the people that you spend more time with them because you're able to grow with them, because you genuinely care about each other's well-being and also how you're doing in life.
SPEAKER 16 :
Amen. I cannot agree with you more on that one. And for a lot of you listening where you're moving along and you think, man, I don't have the friends today that I had even a decade ago. Okay, well... I would do the same exercise, Adam, that you just talked about earlier. Okay, what friends did you have a decade ago? What do you have now? Where are you at versus where are they at? And there's probably a reason why you don't have as many as you had a decade ago.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah. And that's okay. What are you doing with your time? What's the most valuable thing? Our time. Yes. And if we actually have a vision for our life, a lot of times we want to be around people to almost excuse our behavior because we can get comforted by the people around us to not pursue our dreams because maybe some of the people around us aren't. But if you have a legitimate desire in your heart that you want to go after, you have to work on that. And if the people around you aren't allowing you to work on that, then what are you doing with them? Oh, that's a great point. There's a lot of them.
SPEAKER 16 :
And that's one of the things that is in my notes. I was going to ask you this anyways, though, because when you get to that level where you feel like, and again, I don't know how many of my listeners have been here, but I have, to where you just feel like, you know, I love you and I love being around you and the relationship we've had and so on. And I'm saying this to myself internally. I'm not saying this out loud, of course, but You're not helping me get where I need to go. So, Adam, how do we exit those relationships and do it in a way to where we're not offending them?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, there's a few different ways. I mean, in a lot of situations, you just kind of say no. Like, yeah, I really don't want to go play volleyball and drink this weekend. Yeah, I'm really actually making a turn in my life. How about we go exercise? invite them to some different things than you're used to doing with them because you're usually doing those drinking communities and stuff like that. And then they'll kind of just either fizzle out or they're the kind of people that, hey, I actually want to do that too. And then you actually start growing together. And I've noticed that when you start doing things that those people don't really want to do, they stop calling.
SPEAKER 16 :
You don't even ever have to have the breakup conversation. That's right. I agree. I've had situations, too, and for a lot of you listening, you may find yourself here. And, again, just sort of by, I don't know, Adam, time, I guess you could say, sort of takes care of some of these things. But I've had relationships in the past where, you know, even other couples where, man, you know, they're fun to be with and I enjoy it. But, man, they're just so negative. I mean, it's always the sky is falling. This is always happening. That's always happening. And it's like, man – At the end of the day, I want to help them. And to your point earlier, I want to reach out. I want to be that person that even they can maybe look up to. But at the same token, I can't hear all that negativity continually because if I do, it's going to drag me down. So eventually they do go off on their own and you do no longer do the things that you once did because of that. And for me personally, it's like I just I can't do that. I got to get away from that. I can't be in that negative environment constantly.
SPEAKER 18 :
A hundred percent. And they actually did a study on this and they found that if you're in a room in a closed off room with five people that have a negative mindset, you are more likely. And one of them has a negative mindset. It's more likely that that person's negative mindset will pass off to the other five people than if that person had a cold. So you're more likely to catch negativity than a contagious cold in a closed-off room.
SPEAKER 16 :
I can believe that. No, I can't. I can't believe that, because it spreads like wildfire. You know, there's Scripture that talks about this as well, Adam. I mean, the reality is... You just can't hang out with those particular individuals because they will eventually drive you down, just like the party animal will do the exact same thing. You have to know, at least for me, you have to know where you're going, how are you going to get there, and what people are going to help me along the way. And if they're not going to help me, then I can still associate, I can still have, you know, some affiliation at times, but I can't do it on a heavy basis.
SPEAKER 1 :
100%.
SPEAKER 18 :
And another red flag that's really, really obvious to me that, you know, at It doesn't show up very much in my life anymore, but it's gossip. And this is another scripture. Gossip is like a choice morsel going down to the inner depths of our soul. So if you have people around you that are talking about people that aren't there negatively, it's like we're eating it. It's like it's an addictive... candy that we eat if we're listening to gossip. So we start thinking about other people negatively, we start thinking about, you know, other people's lives, and we should be focusing on what we're here to do, what God has us here to do.
SPEAKER 16 :
Right, I agree. And while it's okay to understand situations and what's going on, you have to be careful, because there's a fine line, it's where, you know, it's a story and it's a situation, yes, you need to know about it versus gossip. Am I right in that? Yes, 100%.
SPEAKER 18 :
There's a point when it's the same as complaining. There's a difference between complaining and talking about something going on to find a solution. If you're talking about somebody just to talk negatively about them, that's gossip. If you're talking about somebody about a situation like, hey, we need to help this person, this is what's going on, that's a different situation.
SPEAKER 16 :
I think one of the things that, again, this is one of the first things I try to help new clients with when I bring them on, Adam, is a lot of people struggle with time management in general. And a lot of what we're talking about right now is, as you said, time is the most precious thing we have, whether we're working for somebody else. or we work for ourselves as owners, the reality is time is very precious. And what I've noticed, especially with new owners, is they struggle with that balance of where do I spend my time and what should I be working on that most benefits me. And while to me it's not that difficult, I've done it now for decades, so it's second nature, but when you're new into it, you may not understand fully how to – How should I say this? How to categorize and break out time so that it best benefits you. What are recommendations you have to people on how they categorize that correctly?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I have two things for this. So there's the 80-20 rule for owners. There's 20% of tasks and things are actually going to give you 80% of the value that you need for your business. And then 80% of the tasks that have to be done are only 20% of the value for your business. So delegate the 80% that are 20% of the business, and then do the 20% that's 80% of the value. If that's calling clients, if that's cold calling prospects, or... Just doing those things that are actually going to grow your network, those are the most important tasks. And then also, when we're talking about relationships, I actually wrote an article I called The Law of 33% of Knowledge. And this is specifically for relationships. And when we're talking about the people that we're surrounding ourselves with, the way that I look at it, is that 33% of the time that I'm spending with people, I should be the one helping them. I'm the one that is helping them with something that they're going through. I'm coaching them. I'm helping them recover from addiction, that kind of stuff. And then 33% of my time is with peers, people that are at the same level. We're working on different things. We're talking about things that we're doing. We're growing together. And then 33% of my relationships, I shut up and I listen and I learn. I have nothing to give to this person because they are feeding me. And what I found is that that actually not only helps us to learn what we are learning from that 33%, but we're able to teach that to the other 66% of our time so we retain it and we consistently learn and retain and teach.
SPEAKER 16 :
I'm very blessed because I'll be the first to say this, and I said this openly many times, that last 33% you just mentioned, that's what I get out of doing this program on a daily basis. I get to interview folks like you and a lot of others that are in your world, by the way, that I get to glean from. So I'm very fortunate, Adam. I get to sit behind this microphone five days a week, three hours a day, and get to speak with people along the the lines of you that actually help feed me and I get to just sit and yes, there's some interaction, but in a lot of cases I'm taking notes and I'm listening and I'm able to then apply that and or share that with others that I'm coaching and helping along the lines with. And I'm very blessed because I get to do that here openly, but yet get to glean from you guys on a daily basis. Yeah, I love it.
SPEAKER 18 :
And I, I'm the same way I'm, you know, in my business, I have a nonprofit helping people recover. I work a 12 step program and I'm constantly getting to do, uh, this extreme blessing of life, being able to help people where I was at. And then I also, like I consult in open treatment centers and do marketing and stuff. And I'm constantly talking to like the top doctors in the field telling me like their new things that they're thinking about and these new medicines and these new therapies and talking to the top of the top marketers, learning about AI in a different way. I could never learn on my own. It's incredible.
SPEAKER 16 :
No, it really is. Well, again, I, I, uh, I appreciate you taking time out of your day for us. I mean that sincerely. I would love to get together even outside of the program and share and talk about different things. I would really, really enjoy that, and I would feel honored to do so. I'm going to let you go. I'm going to put you on hold. I'm going to have Charlie get some info from you so we can actually do that, if that's okay with you.
SPEAKER 18 :
Absolutely. I actually have a ticket for you at this event on the 20th if you want to come too.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right. Sounds awesome. Adam, I'm going to put you on hold. I appreciate it very much. And again, that is Adam Gunton. And I'll put notes up where you can actually find him in our notes. There's a YouTube talk or a TED Talk, by the way, that's on YouTube that I'll share as well. And you can actually find him on Instagram. And his name, it's Adam, A-D-A-M. And it's Gunton, G-U-N-T-O-N. T-O-N. And his middle name is Vibe. And that's what he goes with on Instagram, his IG handle. It's Adam Vibe Gunton. You can find him on Instagram that way as well. Dr. Scott Faulkner is up next. And again, a great doctor who thinks the way we do here, not only for health and wellness, but when we talk to Dr. Kelly Victory on Thursdays as well. And if you want a great doctor that thinks the way we do, talk to Dr. Scott today. 303-663-6990.
SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 09 :
Suck it up, buttercup. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 16 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Question of the day yesterday. Over the long term, too much of this hormone can create stress in your body, leading to more inflammation and increasing your blood pressure. What is that hormone? It is cortisol. Cortisol. Now, it's another thing where Dr. Scott can actually run blood work and find out exactly where you're at and what you need to do to adjust those things and so on. Again, one of the things that he does, not saying other medical doctors won't, But again, he's doing things way different than what your average MD that you're going to have on your regular insurance plan that you maybe get to see 10 minutes at a time. He's doing things way different than that. And yes, this is a little bit of a commercial for Dr. Scott. If there's something you want done differently than what you're getting done in the medical community, he's your guy because he will look at these sorts of things and figure out exactly what's best for you, even on the hormone therapy end of things. as well. So by all means, give Scott a call and he'll get you all dialed in. Today's impossible question of the day. If a person walked one complete circuit around the entire equatorial circumference of the Earth at a steady and uninterrupted pace of three miles an hour, how many days would it take them to complete the walk? So in other words, if you're going to walk around the entire circumference, the equator of the Earth... At three miles an hour, how long would it take you to complete that walk? Great question, by the way. I've never really thought about that one, but it's a lot longer probably than most anybody would realize. There's your hint. And this is continual, never stopping, all the way around the globe. So answer that on our Rush to Reason Facebook page if you would. If you don't, I will have the answer for you tomorrow, by the way. And Back to our last guest, too, by the way, Adam. I will reach out, find out exactly other ways to reach him. Have him back in the future, by the way. I really enjoyed his conversation. And for those of you that may have family members that struggle with alcohol addiction, you heard him talk about his own 12-step program and things that he's got going on. in that realm to actually help individuals along those lines. If that is somebody that either you are affected by directly or you know somebody that is, or maybe you yourself struggle with that particular area of your life, by all means, reach out to Adam, and he'll do his best to help you out. Again, Adam Gunton, G-U-N-T-O-N. You can find him on Instagram at Adam Vibe Gunton. It's just that, Adam. Adam Vibe-Gunton. You know how the handles work on IG. That's how it works. Just put that in. You'll find him that way as well. All right, that's it for Hour 1. We appreciate y'all listening. Health and Wellness Wednesday. We'll be back in a moment. This is Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
I'm a rich guy.
Tune in as Bill Gunderson, accompanied by Barry Kite, delves into the nuances of the stock market on a seemingly slow trading day. The discussion highlights the importance of rare earth materials, touches on China's leverage in the market, and analyzes the effects of current tariffs on small businesses. The conversation extends to the global stage, exploring the Ukraine-Russia conflict's potential repercussions on the world economy, while also offering a sneak peek into upcoming workshops and happenings at Gunderson Capital Management.
SPEAKER 01 :
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 03 :
And welcome to the Thursday. It is Thursday, June the 5th. Back in the bunker again here at HQ in South Carolina. We've got a squishy day going on so far here in the market. This is Bill Gunderson, professional money manager, and I'm here with Barry Kite. Our Dow is down 104 today. No big deal. $42,323. The NASDAQ is down 17 right now at 19,441. The NASDAQ down 9 points, but creeping up on 6,000. We were down at 4,800, don't forget. The day I wrote my article, we were down at 4,800. Now we're almost back to 6,000. We're at 5,961. Gold has seen some interest here so far, been one of the leading asset classes here in 2025. Gold is up a little bit here today, 17 basis points to 3,404. Silver's also been red hot here recently. I think maybe there's a little disparity there. I think maybe silver would be a good play. right now. It seems to be the best tariff hedge. And over at the bond market, you've got the 10-year down to 4.34% today. So welcome to today's Best Stocks Now show with professional money manager Bill Gunderson, president of Gunderson Capital Management. I'm here with Barry Kite, our chartered financial analyst. I thank my crew for filling in on the monday and wednesday while i made the the cross-country coast-to-coast flight uh over the great land of america and uh man i saw some beautiful country i've been to uh you know i was in california for 60 years and uh i i love that central valley area the bay area I love the rolling hills and the rocks and rills and the oak trees and the vineyards and the plum trees and the peach trees. And it's just gorgeous, drop dead gorgeous this time of year. And man, I saw some beautiful, a lot of rice being grown there in the Sacramento area. A lot of ducks, a lot of wildlife. We saw some pheasants last night driving through the backcountry. We saw a lot of wild turkeys in the backcountry last night. Not the kind you drink, but the kind that you shoot and eat for Thanksgiving dinner. The Golden State, I mean, it is golden right now. Really, really, really pretty. Had a good fishing trip. I saw some baseball and worked. It's always a working vacation for me. Barry, I can't leave the charts behind.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, they can follow you nowadays. It's not like when you used to throw them on your porch on Saturdays.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I had my charts all the way across country at 30,000 feet. And, you know, the Internet's pretty good now in the airlines. It used to be a little bit on the dicey side. But it was good. Now we've kind of had a slow week here so far. There's not a lot of catalysts. We're kind of in that in-between earning season period of time. That's number one. Number two, we're in graduation vacation time also right now, which kind of takes a little bit of the excitement out of the market. There's still exciting things happening underneath the surface, however. And we're still working on those trade deals. I mean the only one that has been announced that's in the books is the one with the UK and that was really low hanging fruit there. Apparently progress is being made in Europe.
SPEAKER 04 :
uh progress uh china is not i you know i i see a standoff there it was interesting i think before we came on the show i think i was hearing word that uh i guess trump and uh and z spoke don't know anything about the uh conversation that's good apparently they did at least speak so
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, he's holding firm over in China on the rare earth. That seems to be the biggest bit of leverage that they have with us. The automobile parts makers are crying right now as they're desperate for those components that they make. They need the rare earth to do it. So that ought to speed things up anyways. The model railroad guys are crying with a 30% tariff right now. All of that stuff is made overseas in China and in Vietnam. And in fact, I looked up one of the major producers and sellers of the, especially the N gauge, the little locomotives. And they're saying that, you know, we're subject to a 30% tariff right now, and we're moving a lot. Vietnam is only 10%. But it takes time. I mean, most of their production is still in China. They're moving more and more to Vietnam. But in the meantime, something that they're importing for $100 is costing $130 right now, and they've got to pass that on to the customer, and they eat some of it, the seller. That's got to give because there's a lot of small businesses that are being really hurt hard by the uncertainty. and this 30% tariff right now on goods coming from China. There's got to be a lot of things carved out, or they need to come to a tariff that both sides can stomach. And that's where that stands right now. We've had yields slide. Man, I'll tell you what, it was down 10 basis points yesterday. This has been a good year for the bond market. Our little bond fund's got to be doing pretty good. I haven't checked on it lately. I'll have to check and see where our... Slow and steady, yeah. Slow and steady. You're getting a good rate at about 5% or so, and you're getting capital appreciation. as rates have headed down into the 4.34. A lot of discussion over the BBB, the big, beautiful bill that Elon Musk says is an abomination. And, you know, it just doesn't cut enough, in his opinion. It's hard. You've got so many things that are mandatory that are not discretionary. They're non-discretionary. It takes Congress to attack some of those things. The problem in Russia is bigger than most people realize, Barry. What Ukraine did to Russia... from my understanding they took out some estimates are thirty percent of russia's bombers at their air force bases i've heard others say a more likely number is ten percent of the bombers ukraine's gonna have hell to pay i mean there's going to be a huge huge uh... retribution uh... anybody that was involved on that attack that they've been planning for a year and a half i don't know if you know that But they had smuggled those drones in, and probably the drone operators along with them. You know, that's putting us on the edge of World War III. I hope people realize that. And don't forget that Russia is in cahoots with Iran. And, of course, other countries around that region, China for another one. And that's something to keep your eye on. That has Armageddon-like possibilities there that we have to be very, very mindful of. EU sees progress in trade talks with the U.S., Despite the heavy levy on metals, the 50% tariff on steel, which Trump put on all importers, including Canada, Mexico, anybody who produces steel, Canada says they're not going to retaliate yet. They're trying to come to some kind of agreement. You know, these countries are hurting. Don't forget, they're hurting more than we are, I would say. Because they depend on sales. The biggest customer in the world is the U.S. Canada needs us. Mexico needs us as a customer. China acts like they don't need us as a customer. But I've got to believe, who else are they going to sell those N-scale model trains to? I don't know. I think they need us pretty badly. We've had some weak jobs reports this week. Which points, Powell is behind the curve. I'm sorry. Europe cut again today. I don't know how many cuts in a row for Europe that is. And Powell has not done one cut. He is well behind the curve. He's being stubborn. There's no sign hardly at all of inflation. He does not like Trump. It's almost like he's trying to keep the economy kind of down a little bit while Trump is in office. But we deserve a rate cut. We really do. And you've got the CEO at Cleveland Cliffs says it's killing him. It's killing them. He says the steel industry has come to a standstill because one of the reasons he gives is the high interest rates right now that we have. The housing industry, the lending industry, the banking industry. Powell is behind the curve as the ECB delivers yet another rate cut. While Powell sits on his you-know-what. We'll be right back. And welcome back here to the second quarter of the Best Docs Now show. Well, next on our road trip this year is Lakewood Ranch, Florida. We will be there in two weeks from Tuesday. Get your sunscreen ready. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Tuesday night is a class, workshop, meet and greet, whatever you want to call it, all of the above at the Evan Hotel there in Lakewood Ranch. The whole team will be there. I'll be teaching. I'll be giving you the hot spots in the market right now. And where those best stocks now are lurking, okay, down underneath the surface of those indexes is where they're lurking. And there's some good ones right now. To reserve a spot for the workshop, give us a call at 855-611-BEST. 855-611-BEST. You can also go online and send us a message. Please reserve me a couple seats. Go to GundersenCapital.com. And also, we're there Tuesday and Wednesday. to meet with folks. You know, you can book a one-hour slot with us, with the team, including myself, on Tuesday and Wednesday beginning at 7 a.m., clear up to 7 p.m. Any time in that time frame works for us. We'll make it work for you, whatever works best for you. We'll be at Lakewood Ranch with our meetings at that Evan Hotel. And you can call us to book an appointment. We have a lot of follow-up appointments with folks we met with last time. Looking forward to seeing some folks again. Yes, 855-611-BEST or GundersenCapital.com. And then we're headed to the Bloomfield Hills area in Michigan. in about six to seven weeks, somewhere in there. I'll have to look at that. And then we're going out to California. Here we come. Open up your Golden Gates. We'll be there in Santa Clara, right around that stadium. That's where the action is. I scouted it all out while I was there. Man, that's a beautiful country. Oh, gosh, that's a beautiful country. I miss California. I really do. And I like where I live now, but I also... Consider that one of the most beautiful states in the entire world, entire country, some of the most beautiful land between the mountains and the grapes and the almonds and the orchards and the vineyards. It is really beautiful. And then after that, it's going to be Minnesota, I would say, and then Houston, Pittsburgh. So anyways, we're ready. The bus is ready to go. It's ready to roll. The Grateful Dead, the Gunderson, the Gunderhead bus, ready to roll. Get the T-shirts printed. Yeah, we should give out T-shirts and play a little dead music. Auto industry braces for supply chain disruptions from China's rare earth curbs. I was standing behind a guy in the TSA line, which is the worst part of traveling. It's just the worst part. It's just a drag standing in that TSA line and having to strip down and go through the metal detector, whatever they're detecting for. It's really humiliating. And this guy behind me, he was a professor at a college in California. I want to say UC, not Davis. No, he was Fresno State. I think that's where Aaron Judge is from. He said these tariffs are just ridiculous. He was a Trump fan, which is pretty unusual for a professor from California. But he says, this is just totally unnecessary. It's just a losing game that he's playing. Well, okay, that's one person's opinion. It's disrupting the entire supply chain. I just read this. This little company called Broadway Limited Imports, very high-level model trains, DCC with all the sounds and everything. They say a tariff is a tax collected by the U.S. government from U.S. companies when we import a product. Trains from China now have a 30% tariff, meaning a model that costs Broadway Limited $100 would have a tax of $30, making our total cost $130. Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and hobby stores can absorb some of this. but the retail price will still rise. Since the tariffs have changed so quickly and unpredictably, that's the big part, unpredictably, our plan is to continue announcing product prices that do not include a tariff. We will adjust the price shortly before the product arrives and give customers a chance to cut cancel orders if needed. So you see what kind of limbo this throws everybody into. They say that they started manufacturing in Vietnam. Products from Vietnam only have a 10% tariff. But progress has been slow. They now import one half of their product from Vietnam. They would like to manufacture in the U.S., but here's the key. But the tool makers and component suppliers are not available here. The tool makers and component suppliers are not available here. And since the tariffs were implemented at such a high rate with almost no warning, we would be bankrupt before we could start production in the U.S. To prevent this, we are shipping more products from Vietnam and increasing prices on products from China and Vietnam. We're also trying to get quotes from U.S. toolmakers that are at least looking into it for some future products. And BLI is also participating in the Hobby Industry Coalition, a group of companies in the hobby industry. I mean, I've got to believe Hobby Lobby, all of these little hobby shops and stores, they are trying to get the Trump administration to listen to them and help them out. And, of course, the auto industry is now bracing for supply chains disruptions from China's rare earth curbs. Now, Japan is stepping up to the plate. And they're trying to help us out with the supply chain cooperation with the U.S. Now, I don't think Japan has rare earth. I don't know how they're going to do that. But the Japanese government is set to propose cooperation with the U.S. on rare earth supply chains, a move prompted by recent Chinese export restrictions on these critical minerals. That seems to be the biggest leverage.
SPEAKER 04 :
berry that China has over us right yeah and number one they have a you know deposit wise I think they have I don't know 70% or more of the of the rare earths and then most importantly they refine 90% of the world's rare earth minerals so it's not just about going and digging and getting them it's about refining them and you know it's a dirty nasty process and that's one reason we'd you know don't do it over here and yes and they've done it for you know i think they started cornering this market and i was reading something about you know kind of like the mid 90s uh essentially and you know some of the items aren't rare there may be more abundant than gold the problem is there's not large deposits of them in one place and they're very minute and so you'd have to dig you know Go through a bunch of rock just to get one little bit of it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, and Japan is working. They're in the fifth round of trade talks with the U.S. In the meantime, Suzuki Motor has halted production of a car they were making, a Swift car, due to China's rare earth curves because it's also affecting them, this whole thing with China and the rare earths. Okay, when we come back... Man, there's a lot of companies in the news, and we've got to take a look at gold. Gold is flying right now, and dragging silver along with it. That's a good hedge. 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. And welcome back here to the second half of today's Best Stocks Now show. The market just slightly below the line here today with the NASDAQ down 19, the Dow down 78. The S&P down nine. I think we need some breakthroughs in the trade negotiations. I think the world is watching that Ukraine-Russia situation. What is Russia going to do as payback against Ukraine? And who was behind? I mean, apparently the U.S. was behind planning a lot of this, many years. about 18 months ago, you know, Jake Sullivan and the Biden crew. So I don't know if there will be retribution for the U.S., but it did some major damage to Russian bombers. They're not happy, and they're going to strike back, I think, heavily. Always something to worry about. Always.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, now I saw something in terms of internally, from an internal defense standpoint. We're looking at how to thwart those types of attacks if someone attacks.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, well. We've tried to do it in the U.S. The Golden Dome is years away. But we do have, I'm sure, we have some pretty good deterrents. Okay, we've got gold as your best hedge again, as I've said many times. That's been one of the best performers here. It's up almost 30% in 2025. I know we love tech. I love tech. I love NVIDIA. I love CoreWeave. I love Palantir. But you have to hedge. You have to be spread out a little bit. There's not a lot of tech stocks that are up 25%, 30% this year like gold is. Gold is just a very good hedge in this pea soup of mix of conditions we have in the world right now. Yields have been sliding here. We're clear down to 4.34, which is bullish for stocks. I mean, that increases that multiple that we pay for the Palantirs and the Corweaves of the world. Speaking of Corweave, It's been on a roll, but, man, is it nosebleed expensive right now. I got an email from somebody at CoreWeave wanting me to connect with one of their people to talk about the stock. And I said, well, I'll do you one better. Why don't you come on the Best Stocks Now show? I have not heard back from them. I don't know if they need us to promote their company. That's one of the hottest stocks. But they just did their largest ever NVIDIA Grace Blackwell clusters, okay? They cluster these things.
SPEAKER 04 :
Sounds like some Baskin-Robbins ice cream.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. CoreWeave said 2,496 Blackwell graphics processing units, or GPUs, were running on CoreWeave's AI-optimized cloud platform. So you wonder what CoreWeave does. That's what they do. And this has got to be one of the hottest stocks. Not only did we say Palantir was our number one choice this year in the overall market, but we jumped on CoreWeave shortly after they went public. And we've got some big gains there. But we have to be careful because that thing is just nosebleed expensive. NVIDIA in focus as B of A maintains buy after meeting. We are working on an article for NVIDIA. But if you want to know how I feel about NVIDIA, go to SeekingAlpha.com. where I'm one of their top riders by performance. I'm in the top 2% or 3%. I wrote up where we're at in the market right now, a follow-up to my 4800 S&P 500, where I said, hey, it's going to turn out okay. Here we are at 6,000. And at the end of this follow-up article, I threw in a paragraph or two on NVIDIA. and so you can go there and see what we like and video's been trading very very well here recently cleveland cliffs crying the ceo said the u.s federal reserve is holding down demand for steel used in construction and manufacturing by not cutting interest rates and that's true i mean uh... steve uh... construction and manufacturing depends on borrowing borrowing money to build projects and uh...
SPEAKER 04 :
The lower your cost of capital is, right, then the more these projects make sense, right? The old finance question where it's, you know, do I expand the factory or not, right? Well, a lot of that has to do with what's your interest rate and cost of capital.
SPEAKER 1 :
100%.
SPEAKER 03 :
And the CEO of Cleveland Cliffs says the Fed is ridiculously late in acting. For the steel industry, it's killing steel consumption. AI infrastructure continues to mount as Amazon announces a $10 billion data center project in North Carolina. Data center is still a very hot industry. And I'm going to talk about in the last segment of the show a little-known data infrastructure company that we picked up recently. I've owned it before. They had a very solid earnings report today, and it's breaking out. I mean, there's a whole chain that is linked to data center. And I read an article that in the Silicon Valley, they're running out of juice for their data centers. They've almost reached max capacity. And I've got to tell you, they're not going to get new energy anywhere soon. You know, they're years away from having any new energy supply. So I see a crunch coming in that silicon. You might have to ration microwave lights, you know, your TV time, your computer time, so those data centers can hum. I don't know. But that's a critical, critical issue. a problem right now is the shortage of energy to run data centers and of course anybody involved in the cloud amazon microsoft google of course coreweave these are all big players in data center along with nvidia and let's not forget super micro computer which is still big in data center UBS maintains its bullish stance on Netflix with a fat price target hike. And I couldn't agree more. We featured Netflix as one of our top stocks when we were in Cleveland. And we continue to own Netflix of the fabulous seven. I don't know if Netflix is one of the fabulous seven. It changes from time to time. I don't think it is. But when you get into the big tech.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, we went through them yesterday. Yeah, it's actually not. Not on the list. You could certainly probably switch one of them out at least.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. I'd go the Fabulous 8 and include it. Maybe the Fabulous 9 and include Palantir. But anyways, UBS is – and I still have GoToTheApp.com. Go to the Best Stocks Now app. Now, I just spent the last weekend and a few days with my friend out there in the Bay Area who helped him and I before there were any financial apps. I had the spreadsheet. I said, let's take this. Let's build an Apple app. And I made several trips driving from Southern California up to that Bay Area, eight-hour trips straight through. And Douglas and I worked on that thing together. We were one of the first pioneers, pioneers in the stock app business. market which there wasn't one when we started are totally fresh and now it's updated it's purring like a kitten and that thing man i would be lost without uh without the app look up and look up netflix on the app NFLX. Look up the performance over the last 1, 3, 5, 10 years, which is a big part of the app formula. And look up the valuation. We're the only app out there that I know of that is not just based on momentum and performance like most quant systems are. No, we're half valuation. Valuation, you've got to have 80% or more upside over the next five years. And the other half is performance slash momentum, or as it's called in the industry, alpha, alpha. Labor markets crack. A bit. Needed for Fed to embrace. Well, they're saying that if the labor markets start to crack, that's when the Fed will act, which is kind of stupid, really. Why don't you do it before the labor markets start to crack would be my advice. But who am I? I'm just a guy out here managing money and watching how the rest of the world. Procter & Gamble is cutting 7,000 non-manufacturing jobs over the next two years amid tariff uncertainty. I would say it's more of a Procter & Gamble problem, but it's easy to blame your issues on terror of uncertainty. Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
I mean, no different than during COVID, obviously. That was a cover, especially for your fledgling companies, right? And so you get this, we call it part of the earnings game and part of the narrative of any individual stock. And they're going to take that chance if they need to.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. And those initial jobless claims did come in a little hot today, 247,000. That's the most elevated number we've seen in a while. And Alphabet CEO Pete Jai saying, you know, engineers don't have to worry. AI is not going to replace them anytime soon. But down the road, he sees AI taking a lot of jobs. So that's over at Alphabet. Okay, oh, look who's going to report tonight. We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 1 :
We'll be right back.
SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome back here to the final segment of today's Best Docs Now show with professional money manager Bill Gunderson. We've got Broadcom reporting tonight. That's a big one. AI will be in focus, as analysts expect, and earnings beat from Broadcom. Broadcom has been breaking out. I've said many times that NVIDIA is best in class by far in the chip sector. You know what? From time to time, Broadcom looks pretty good, too. I would say them and Marvell Technologies would probably be my second and third. And AMD is starting to look pretty good on the charts once again. They need to get the issues resolved with China and the ban on the really high-speed chips. I'm sure that's part of the negotiations. There's a lot of negotiations going on while we're working every day.
SPEAKER 04 :
So many different facets of trade. I mean, we can get into steel. You can get into solar panels. I mean, of the stuff that's been dumped onto the world markets everywhere. I mean, each one of those seems like a pretty big negotiation in itself.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I did see the Broadcom building there in Palo Alto. And, of course, Broadcom also has a lot of exposure in Singapore. Originally, it was Avago Technologies who bought Broadcom. and then kept the name Broadcom, so now it's more of a U.S. company, but they do have a lot of exposure there in Singapore. We'll see how they come in tonight. I like Broadcom right now. Centris Energy powers the 52-week high as B of A starts with a buy rating. That's LEU, by the way, and that's part of that energy crunch for data centers. They're the world's only publicly traded enriched nuclear fuel company at a time when the industry is poised for growth. Bank of America initiates coverage with the buy rating and $160 target price. Well, it's $143 now. That is a beautiful chart on Centris Energy. I've had my ups and downs with the stock, but consider that it was $1 a share in 2019, and today it's $143 per share out of Bethesda, Maryland. That's where they're headquartered. But they are the world's only publicly traded enriched nuclear fuel company. So they're sitting in a pretty good, in the catbird seat right now.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, probably attracting some capital there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and I'll tell you what, it's a 2.4, it's just a small cap company, $2.4 billion. Supplies low-enriched uranium for commercial nuclear power plants, which there will be more and more of those coming online. Their sales are growing pretty rapidly. Their earnings are not that great, but definitely a player in the nuclear renaissance. And I'm sure if you had one of those nuclear ETFs, you would have that stock in there. The symbol LEU. Retail investors are shifting away from the MAG-7 and towards promising beat-up names, says Robinhood. I totally agree, and I'm seeing it. And we've picked up several. That little value fund is doing well. We're up to maybe half full. I want 40 stocks in that thing, and I'm picking them off here one at a time. I've added a few beaten up tech stocks recently. which fit that exact profile, promising, beat-up names. And they come from all walks of life. This is a very good time to invest in a strategy like that. And, yes, we can put you in the go-go ultra growth and the premier growth, but we can also throw in as a hedge, which is good, less volatility there. and more of a value, relative value tilt. That's another area. I've never really seen a relative value. Well, growth at a reasonable price, I guess, if you had an ETF or mutual fund with that strategy. But relative value is a real thing, just like relative strength. I don't think relative value gets enough airplay out there and enough value. Credit, you're buying stocks that have traded at really rich multiples for years and years and years that are suddenly trading at lower multiples than normal. Let's see here. Launch day for the Nintendo Switch 2. Now, I was going to ask you, Barry, about this. Are your boys Nintendo guys or not?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, we're not on the waiting list, but yeah, we did see where there's, you know, in terms of the, I think they're planning on selling about, I don't know, I think 13 million in the states this year, so, you know, of course, tariffs kind of put a little bit of a damper on their sales strategy, and then also what they had the new I think the new park down in Universal in Orlando opened up, which has a Mario kind of Nintendo world to it. So who knows? It might be Santa might bring one under the shelf.
SPEAKER 03 :
Maybe. You never know. If they're not naughty and they're nice instead. Rivian.
SPEAKER 04 :
Those are the games that I remember, by the way, as a kid.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, Nintendo.
SPEAKER 04 :
My first games were Nintendo. Mario Brothers. Yep.
SPEAKER 03 :
Would you loan Rivian money? I did see some Rivians in California. Not nearly. There's 100 Teslas to one Rivian would be my guess. That's just an unofficial observation. They're going to price some green notes. I don't know what a green note is, but they're 10%, okay? They're due in 2031, so you can lock in 10% for six years. If Rivian's able to pay him back, I think I'll pass.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think, yeah, I mean, it's one thing if Jeff Bezos lends them some money. He's got plenty, right? Yes, this is for the public. For an investment for the public, probably not the best use of capital.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, here's our stock of the day, and we'll end it with this. We own this in our emerging growth portfolio. This is an AI infrastructure play, Argan, which is A-G-X. Argan is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. They provide engineering, construction, and telecommunications infrastructure services. Very good growth. Listen to their quarter. Sales were up 23%. Earnings were up 176%, breaking out to a new all-time high. That's my cup of tea right there. But a very aggressive stock, Argan AGX, which is in our emerging growth portfolio. Okay, all right, Lakewood Ranch, we're coming to you in less than two weeks. Workshop Tuesday night, one-hour appointments Tuesday and Wednesday, limited supply, limited quantity, 855-611-BEST, 855-611-BEST, or GundersenCapital.com. Get that four-week trial that we offer to the whole enchilada of everything Gundersen has to offer here. Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER 02 :
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 host John Rush and a panel of insightful guests as they dive into the heart of America’s political scene. This engaging episode opens with a powerful statement by Ted Cruz regarding nationwide injunctions and the influence of radical judges, setting the stage for a robust discussion. Special guest Tony Delgado, CEO of Latino Wall Street, shares compelling reasons behind the growing support for Donald Trump among Latino voters, touching on themes of peace, prosperity, and family values. The conversation expands to address broader issues faced by the Hispanic community in the United States. Tune in as Tony details the parallels between America's current political climate and historical lessons from Latin America. This episode not only exposes the cultural and political dynamics at play but also explores immigration challenges and the potential for a significant political shift akin to those seen in previous decades. As the discussion concludes, the hosts urge the current administration to rethink immigration policies, offering a pathway for hardworking individuals seeking the American dream. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in understanding the nuanced perspectives shaping today’s political landscape.
SPEAKER 11 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 04 :
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you're scared. And you're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes.
SPEAKER 11 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 04 :
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 10 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 06 :
It's Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Myself, Andy Pate, Charlie Grimes, trying to get our next guest joining us. But Charlie's working on that, and as we always say, hey, things happen. People get on other interviews, go along, things like that happen, and we are fully understanding of that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Other interviews? Are there other shows? Yeah, there are, actually. I didn't know other shows existed. There are a few. I'm hurt, John.
SPEAKER 19 :
There are a few, actually. We're the best, but there's, no, I'm just kidding. There's a few out there, yes.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, I don't know if we'll have time. If he comes on, we'll jump to him. Go for it. Well, as you know, political activism, the courts have been basically governing our country with Donald Trump. And it's insane. And they had a hearing in Washington on this. Ted Cruz had a brilliant statement. I'd like to play it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Ready?
SPEAKER 07 :
Go for it. We're ready. Yes, go for it. Here we go.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is interesting, as our Democrat colleagues defend these nationwide injunctions, that neither of them made any reference to the fact that the number of nationwide injunctions issued in the first four months is greater than the entire 20th century and is greater than all of the nationwide injunctions issued against Bush, Obama, and Biden combined, nor did they address the disturbing fact that of the 40 universal injunctions that have been issued in the last four months, 35 of them came from the same five judicial districts. There is a reason for this. Blue state attorneys general and radical leftist groups are seeking out affirmatively radical judges who they know will impose their own policy preferences. If it were simply, as our Democrat colleagues said, judges following the law, then you wouldn't have to keep going to the same radical judges over and over and over again because judges across the board should do that. But the litigants know exactly who the zealots are that are on the bench, and that's who they are seeking out. I will also point out that the discussion about the urgency of protecting the safety of judges Listen, I agree. We should protect the safety of every federal judge. But it is interesting because my Democrat colleagues were utterly silent during four years of the Biden administration when you had violent mobs outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, unhappy with the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs, and the Biden Justice Department refused to enforce federal law and protect the justices.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, and I'm going to stop it there because we now have Tony.
SPEAKER 19 :
Okay, yeah, we can go to Tony. Tony, welcome. How are you, sir?
SPEAKER 10 :
Hey, guys. Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 19 :
Very welcome. Glad you're here. We were talking before you came on, kind of promoing last hour into this hour that Trump's approval rating among Hispanics is exploding, and you are a Latino Wall Street CEO, so talk to us about that if you would.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, so, I mean, President Trump came into office with a very clear message of peace and prosperity, right? Right. Peace through strength, law and order, and fixing our economy. And, you know, Latinos, there's 55 million Latino Americans in the United States who came here legally, who pay their taxes, who go to work every day, and they came here for the American dream, right? Not the San Francisco nightmare.
SPEAKER 19 :
Right.
SPEAKER 10 :
And that's why Hispanics are... overwhelmingly supporting president Trump in this last election cycle. And we're happy. We're happy that the adults are back in charge. We're happy to see these violent gang members and cartels being removed from the country. And we're happy for a restoration of common sense.
SPEAKER 07 :
Tony, when you have a country like America with people who have come from all over the world, you're naturally going to have subcultures. You're going to have various racial communities. That's not bad. That's good. It's fun. And I think it makes us better. One thing I've really noticed about two racial subcultures, communities, the Hispanic and the Asian communities, is this. They love capitalism. And because of that, when somebody comes along and unapologetically preaches it and says, oh, man, don't settle for what you're given. Don't just sit back and wait for a government check. You can rise as high as you want. Someone like Donald Trump, I think it sells.
SPEAKER 19 :
I want to add one more thing, Tony, to what Andy just said, because I know some of these people individually on both sides of that demographic that Andy just talked about. Tony, a really good friend of mine. In fact, I coach him on the business side of things. And the other thing that they really appreciate is Trump's stance on family, family values as well.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. I mean, listen, 75% of Hispanic Americans are Christian. Over 50% are Catholic, right? We have these Christian conservative values. that are rooted deeply in our culture. And you know what? We've seen the writing on the walls with communism. We've seen this play out in our home countries. I have a lot of friends who are very wealthy, were very wealthy in places like Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina, and then they saw socialist and communist policies come and take over and tank their economy and take their freedoms and seize their property and all sorts of very dystopian things that happen when you allow communism to run your country. So when you have people like AOC getting on their soapbox, it's really easy to preach socialism when you live in a capitalist utopia. Right. But real Latinos, first generation Latinos know firsthand the dangers of communism and socialism.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, and they're also, like you said, the social issues very much skew toward the Republican. I would just sum it up with two things. Hispanic Americans largely want to own their own business and not have men in their daughter's locker room.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. And not have men from the government come in and seize their property, right? And that's what happens, right? The Bacardi family is a very famous family, very big company in Puerto Rico, and people think that Bacardi is actually a Puerto Rican company. when in fact it was a Cuban company, and the Bacardi family had to move and migrate and go from Cuba to Puerto Rico to escape communism in Cuba when Castro took over, right? So we've seen this play out all throughout Latin America. We don't want men wearing dresses in the women's locker room. We do not believe in wealth distribution and all these crazy concepts that the radical left is pushing. We want peace, we want prosperity, and we want conservative values in our nation.
SPEAKER 19 :
One question I have for you, because when you look at Mexico not being communist, and I even question on the socialist sides of things, Tony, because really, and you probably know as much about this as anybody, it's really more the cartel movement and what's going on there. The reality is the cartel runs Mexico in many, many ways. I don't want to get off track and get into all the details as to why, but the question I have for you is those folks that do come from Mexico, and I, again, know some of them, they come here, they look at all the things that you just said, how do they, see if I use my words right here, how do they, you know, compare that to what's been going on? It's not socialism they've come out of, but it's a very corrupt system they've come out of in Mexico. Am I saying that right?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, absolutely. It's extreme corruption. There's no law and order. There's no justice. Right. You can be murdered in the street by the cartel and the police are scared to investigate it because they're either being threatened themselves or on the dole or they're on the tape. That's right. That's right. Yeah, absolutely. And recently, some of the family members of El Chapo have been in the United States. And it is rumored that they may be cutting a deal with the Trump administration currently to rat out government officials, high-level government officials who have allowed this to go on for decades.
SPEAKER 19 :
I hadn't heard that. That's interesting. That would be fun. Yeah, that's really interesting, Tony. I had not heard that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Tony, can I... Yeah, because... Oh, go ahead. To have corruption, you need people at the top... That's right. ...that enable it. Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER 1 :
100%.
SPEAKER 10 :
And the criminal justice system in Mexico has been completely neutered... Yep, absolutely. ...by this corrupt cartel money.
SPEAKER 19 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
Tony, another issue, I think, is the gender issue. And I'm not just talking about men and women's locker rooms. Let's look beyond that. There are three groups, and I would say Hispanic Americans... Well, and I'll throw in Asian Americans, but also black Americans and more rural white Americans all have something in common. They want men to be men. They like watching MMA, mixed martial arts. They love watching these kinds of things. They listen to Joe Rogan. These people, they like a guy to be a guy. And Donald Trump just appeals to that. And I think the Democrat Party has completely abandoned that. In fact, the Democrat Party has been saying that toxic masculinity, real men are the problem in America. And Trump comes along and says, no one's the problem in America. Men are fine. Women are fine. Be yourself and enjoy it. I think that that is selling in the Hispanic population.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, the Trump campaign said it best when they said that the Democrats are for they them and President Donald Trump is for you.
SPEAKER 19 :
Good point.
SPEAKER 10 :
I love that. He's fighting for normal, everyday Americans. You know, these fringe topics. These transgender and LGBT, LMNOP, that is a very small minority of people in this country. Most Americans, whether they're Hispanic, black, Latino, white, Asian, Chinese, they want the same things. They want a strong family. They want their kids to do a little bit better than them. And all these radical issues, I don't think any consenting adult is going to want their children in kindergarten to have a drag queen reading to them. These are absurd. I don't know what percentage of the population... Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican or independent, I don't know what percentage of the population thinks that this is okay, right? We had a word for those people, right? Cross-dressers that would want to go into a school. They were called pedophiles. And you would go to jail and you would end up on a list. That's right. And so the fact that these things are being normalized is completely, completely ridiculous. And, you know, another thing just on, you know, masculinity, right? Hispanic Americans, they work really, really hard. Like you said, they watch sports, a lot of them work in construction, they work in the trade, and they don't agree with this radical left agenda.
SPEAKER 19 :
That's where, Tony, and I think you're solidifying some things I've been saying for a while, and I've actually been kind of called down on this. I've even had some fellow folks in my world that say, no, John, you're completely wrong. And let me explain. Give me a minute here. The movement by the left to open the borders and allow as much illegal immigration to happen, they think in the end is really – benefiting them tony and i have come out and i've said this now for years because i know a lot of these individuals to your point whereby yeah they may be here illegally they may have come because they're looking for a better life and by the way i've said this myself if i were them i wouldn't look at any differently because i'd want to come and better my life as well but i think in the end tony and you tell me if i'm wrong a lot of what the democrats think they're doing to win over voters down the road as these people actually come here legally or illegally They think they're all going to be Democrat voters when it's all said and done. And I'm saying, Tony, that it's the opposite of that. I think a lot of this is going to backfire on the Democrat Party.
SPEAKER 10 :
You're absolutely right. And just look at a market like Miami that just flipped for Trump in the last election cycle. Right. All of these markets where you have heavy Cuban influence, heavy Venezuelan, a lot of immigration. Right. A lot of people here on asylum and kind of questionable legal statuses into this country. They don't like the woke nonsense. Immigration issues are one issue. And, you know, anywhere else in Latin America, you can't go and overstay a visa. That's right. You get deported.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, so I want to ask you one more thing along those lines, because this is another thing that I think would bode well for us. And I don't hear anybody talking about it. And I think folks like you who have some influence might be able to help push some of this through. And here's my thought. I feel like this administration right now needs to fast-track those that are here, even illegally. And there's going to be some folks out there listening to me that are probably going to disagree with me, but I'm going to say this anyways. I think it would bode well for this administration, Tony, that those people that have come here that are hardworking. that want to make a better life for themselves, that love America. By the way, they came here because of that. They're not here to disrupt. They're not here on behalf of the cartel. They're not here as a part of the sex trade and all of that, but they really have come here to better themselves and their family. We, as an administration, need to figure out a way to fast-track their citizenship, and in doing so, we will end up with more voters than the other side.
SPEAKER 10 :
absolutely and you know democrats have completely uh... lost their messaging i don't know who the messaging to uh... and i think they're finally finally are waking up to this you have you have the democrats looking to invest $20 million into speaking, connecting back with young men. And honestly, what they need to be doing.
SPEAKER 19 :
And by the way, their poster child for that's not real. I don't think it's going to be. How should I say this, Tony? It's not a great poster child that they chose to actually reach out to young men. Let's just say that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, that's definitely an understatement. And yes, I mean, I do think to your earlier point, like immigration in the United States. We do need to take a look at who's here, right? If people are paying their taxes, they have a job, they're productive members of society, then yeah, 100% there should be a pathway.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, it shouldn't take, Tony, I know people, I'm helping some folks along these lines as we speak. It shouldn't take thousands upon thousands of dollars and attorneys in 10 years to become a citizen of this great United States of America. That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, yeah, and we need some form of immigration. I mean, we've had this. Oh, sure.
SPEAKER 19 :
We don't have enough births of babies right now, Tony. We have no choice.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, no, absolutely. And I mean, look at the Italians and the Irish in the early 1900s. where they came, they built the Lincoln Tunnel, and they built a lot of the big buildings in New York City. That was immigration. It was immigration from Europe. But it was also, you know, a lot of Christian conservative men, heavily Catholic, heavily Christian, believe in Jesus, want a better life for their family. And they helped make America great again 100 years ago. So we do need immigration in this country. And it's just about bringing the best and the brightest and making sure that there's a process.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, yeah. And the bottom line is this. With all the deals Donald Trump is cutting right now, we're going to need the workforce. He is creating so many jobs and we're just going to need more people to do those jobs. One last question, Tony. Do you see the reverse of what happened in the 60s and 70s with the black population? And what I mean is this. The black population was actually Republican leading into the 60s. And by the late 70s, they had switched and they had shifted and gone all Democrat. I'm seeing with the Hispanic population, largely due to Trump and MAGA, a switch happening right now that is very similar. Are you seeing this?
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. I mean, uh, Morgan Friedman said it best. He said, America has yet to have their first black president, right? Obama was raised by a white woman and we, uh, have not had our first Latino president either. And I think that the Democrats have pandered to black and Latino voters for way too long. I think that the Latino community is waking up and we saw that in the last election cycle. And, uh, And I believe that Latinos have a very big seat at the table at this new MAGA movement that's being built.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, again, I know you've got influence. Some of the people that you know have influence. I don't have the same influence, Tony, that you do. And I would love to see this administration figure out a way to, again, for those individuals that are here that want to better themselves, that want to better this country, by the way, that are here for the long haul. I want to figure out a way where we can fast track citizenship in a way that it doesn't take tens of thousands of dollars and and 10 years plus to do that, because, Tony, we need to do it quicker than that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 19 :
I'm going to throw that back at you. So, Tony, I appreciate it. You can tell you're in good company. You're welcome here anytime, sir.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you again for having me on, gentlemen.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you, Tony. Appreciate it very much. That's Tony Delgado, and he is a big guy on Wall Street, by the way. A lot of folks maybe that are in that world know his name. A lot of folks here may not, but he is a Puerto Rican-American. He has done very well as a software developer, investor, and so on. He actually co-founded Latino Wall Street as well. So you're not talking to any kind of a schmuck there. That guy knows what's going on. Let's just say it that way. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So anyways, we'll talk more when we come back. Don't go anywhere. Jim, hang tight. Veteran Windows and Doors is next. And again, there are some things potentially changing in the Energy Star end of things when it comes to Windows and Doors. Talk to Veteran Windows today. Find out exactly how that would affect you. Find him at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 19 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Great interview, by the way, and I do think there's a lot of things there that were discussed that, again, some of those things that we discussed, there are some of you out there listening, and some of that we talked about in the first hour, whereby you probably wouldn't agree 100% with some of the statements that I made, but I'm here to tell you that those would be huge wins for our side if some of those things would get taken care of, Andy.
SPEAKER 07 :
What do you mean, like fast-tracking? Yes.
SPEAKER 19 :
Oh, well. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, absolutely. I've been saying that for quite a while now, that I believe we need to fast-track and streamline and merit-base our immigration system. Let's get people in here more easily but fully vetted. That's right. Absolutely. And we can do that.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, we can.
SPEAKER 07 :
And by the way, if we can't fully vet you, you can't come in.
SPEAKER 19 :
Boy, that's easy. And we shouldn't just let some guy stay that was here on a tourist visa and just automatically give him a green card like the knucklehead in Boulder. Yeah. Which is what happened there. That was the Biden administration.
SPEAKER 07 :
You know, and one other thing, John, I get so sick and tired of people saying, well, there are citizens who commit these kinds of crimes, too. There are citizens who do. And, you know, illegals commit crimes at a lower pace than, you know, than legal citizens and so forth. First of all, the stats on that are very, very untrustworthy to begin with. But we have to remember. Every crime committed by an illegal alien is an added crime that didn't have to be here. OK, we already have all the crimes that are committed by citizens. We already have cops who we pay who have to deal with those criminals who are already citizens. Right. But the people who aren't here legally, we shouldn't have to deal with. Every time one of them rapes a woman, kills a kid, runs over somebody, or firebombs innocent Jews in Boulder, every time that happens, that didn't even have to happen. Our cops shouldn't be having to deal with that. Our cops shouldn't be dispensed to have to go to deal with those. They should be gone.
SPEAKER 19 :
I agree. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's added. And that's why I always use that word, added. These are all added crimes. We got enough crimes without them.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, and again, I don't have all the stats in front of me, folks. I would have to look these things up. And this is one thing, too, that you have to look at when it comes to people talking about stats is you can pretty much make stats say whatever you want to without delving into the actual real data that's being fed into that stat. What I mean by this, Andy, is what is the percentage of crimes like this heinous one that happened in Boulder on Sunday? I can't think of the last time I ever heard of anyone outside of this guy making a bug sprayer into a flamethrower.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. And one other thing that always slants those stats, we have to keep in mind most crimes are committed within a community. True. And most crimes by black people are committed within the black community and so forth.
SPEAKER 08 :
True.
SPEAKER 07 :
Most crimes by illegal aliens are going to be committed within a community that is heavy in illegal aliens, which means you're going to have virtually no reporting.
SPEAKER 19 :
True. That's a good point on that. John and Cheyenne, go ahead.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hey, so I didn't hear the first hour I was in a meeting. Did you guys talk about the fact that they picked up the Boulder terrorist's whole family and are holding them for deport?
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, and I just read a moment ago during the break, they should be on a flight back home tonight.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. How did this whole family get here on a tourist visa?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, they overstayed their tourist visa. Anybody can come on a tourist visa as long as you pass some of the basic checks of getting here in the first place. They overstayed the tourist visa. I don't know if the rest of the family ended up having a work visa like this particular gentleman did, but he had one.
SPEAKER 07 :
Through the Biden administration. John and Cheyenne, quick question. What do you think the odds are that this guy, he had, what was it, 20, 25 or whatever of these bombs that he had made? Right. Okay. What do you think the odds are, John, that no one in his family had any idea that he had put this together?
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, they had no idea whatsoever, Andy, because they all lived in the dark.
SPEAKER 08 :
Sorry.
SPEAKER 09 :
So I'm a little disappointed at the Boulder cop. He drew the wrong weapon. He could have saved the city of Boulder, the state of Colorado, and the U.S. federal government a whole lot of money if he drew his other weapon.
SPEAKER 19 :
You mean one to the head, you mean?
SPEAKER 09 :
I was thinking three to the chest. Well, that too.
SPEAKER 19 :
Either one works.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, center mass, John. Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER 09 :
Center mass. That's the way. You know, you hit somebody three times center mass, they're probably not getting back up.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, but the problem is, to do that, you have to... Well, I guess you could say the guy was presenting a mortal threat. I mean, he was to those he was trying to attack.
SPEAKER 09 :
He went people on...
SPEAKER 07 :
You're right.
SPEAKER 09 :
How is it not a mortal threat to light people on fire?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, no, I mean, but I don't know if at the moment if he had any more in his hands or what, or if he was just standing there or what was going on. But you're right. You're right. It would have been great if the cop had just dropped him.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, can we... After we give this guy a first-class trial, can we give him a proper hanging? I don't think that's legal anymore, but... No, I wish we did that, but we don't. What I'd like to do, what would be true justice, is send him to that prison in El Salvador. Pay them to house him.
SPEAKER 19 :
Oh, there you go. Be the surrogate prison.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, the one that nobody gets out of, I guess.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right.
SPEAKER 09 :
But...
SPEAKER 07 :
Why don't we put him unarmed on the streets of Jerusalem?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, or have fun. To stay on our good side, we'd take care of sentencing him.
SPEAKER 19 :
I'm with you, though, on the whole. I'm with you on the whole, the Boulder cop, and I appreciate our police force and so on, but yeah, we could have saved a lot of money in that one.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, because, you know, the thing is, I mentioned that to my wife when I was on the phone with her. And she said, well, the liberals in Boulder might want to bring him up on charges if he took him out.
SPEAKER 19 :
You could be right.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, first of all, that's very true, John. They very well would. Look, the cops in places like Boulder or any other liberal jurisdiction are terrified to enforce the law to the fullest extent. They're terrified to do it.
SPEAKER 09 :
And I feel, growing up in a cop family, my dad a cop, my nephew's a cop now. I know what it was like in the 50s and 60s as opposed to now. My nephew tells me, you know, unless it's life or limb, they're afraid because, you know, and then everything's on video. Well, remember those videos get and those videos get released and they're. properly edited to make the cop look really bad.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, remember in the aftermath of George Floyd, you were looking in jurisdictions like Baltimore, and the cops flat out were not enforcing the law against any black person, period. Okay? They were just driving away. They were driving by. They were avoiding it at all costs. And that's what you got in Boulder. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, and what happened? The small percentage of the riffraff took over the cities and the good people that wanted the cops couldn't get the help they needed so i don't know it's just getting crazier and crazier but i i called out a couple of different people yesterday when they said oh the guy i said the guy is evil he follows an evil cult and he believes in death is a proper thing and i got some dirty looks and i don't know i'm According to the scripture I read, that's evil.
SPEAKER 19 :
I would call him that. You can give me the dirty looks you want all day long. I'm still going to call it what it is.
SPEAKER 07 :
I think we should be applauded for, you know, acquainting him with his 72 virgins.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah. I wonder how that's going to work out for him.
SPEAKER 07 :
Not too well, John. Just saying. You know what they don't tell you is they're all guys. I'm kidding.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, did you ever see that old poster that It said, here are your 72 purges, and it showed these mean old-looking nuns. That's good. Oh, John, by the way, that was a great guest you had before the last break. Oh, yeah. He was really interesting.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, very good.
SPEAKER 09 :
You guys have a great rest of your day.
SPEAKER 19 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
Now, back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. We'll get roof savers here next time we're up. Never fear. And, yeah, as I said earlier, don't put off getting that roof inspected. Have Dave get out and get that done as soon as possible. So you want to finish up with your Ted Cruz audio from earlier?
SPEAKER 07 :
Let me just replay the first 30, 40 seconds. I just want you to hear these numbers again, okay? You ready? Okay. This is Ted Cruz, and he's talking about the judicial activism that has come against Donald Trump and all these injunctions. Here we go.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is interesting as our Democrat colleagues defend these nationwide injunctions that neither of them made any reference to the fact that the number of nationwide injunctions issued in the first four months is greater than the entire 20th century. and is greater than all of the nationwide injunctions issued against Bush, Obama, and Biden combined, nor did they address the disturbing fact that of the 40 universal injunctions that have been issued in the last four months, 35 of them came from the same five judicial districts.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, in other words, they're judge shopping, and they can do it in those districts. John, something has to be done. Okay, I mean, our president right now is having to run to the legal system. Look, these judges, our elected president is having to run to these elected judges and bow before them and beg them for the right to govern. Have you ever seen anything like this?
SPEAKER 19 :
No, because they don't deal with anybody else.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, I mean, even in his first term and his first term was bad. OK, they did a lot of it then. But now this is crazy. This is absolutely crazy. And this is why I'm so this is why I get so angry at the supposed conservatives on the Supreme Court who let us down now and then. Amy Coney Barrett, she's a joke. Obviously, John Roberts is a leftist. He's just a liberal. And then you've got the other two that Trump put on there, and they're weak. And I look at these judges, and I just want to look at them, John, and say, guys, don't you understand? All of the liberal judges are one mob against us. And you're not united. You guys all want to be, well, I want to play it perfectly by the letter and all this kind of stuff. I never want to be an activist. Well, you know what? I'm glad about that. I don't want activist judges. But Donald Trump is not violating the Constitution of the United States. He is following it. He is trying to protect America from a full invasion that we just had over the last four years. And our Supreme Court is looking at Donald Trump and saying, oh, even though they totally ignored due process coming in, over 10 million, 10 to 15 million people ignored due process coming in, and we want you to give them all due process going out. Do you realize how much time? And immigration judges, what I'm saying is this. Even the supposed conservatives on the court, except we have two good ones, even they want to make life so much harder on Donald Trump just to do his job. It makes no sense. Can't they look at what the left is doing and everything that Ted Cruz just said? More injunctions than we had in the 20th century in four months against Donald Trump. Can't they just look at that and realize, look, we have to act now. We have to say no longer can these lower courts issue any kind of a verdict that is applicable to the whole country. What do you think?
SPEAKER 19 :
I agree with you. I agree. And we always want to make sure that... You know, a president that, you know, even our President Trump isn't, you know, violating or overstepping his executive order power and so on. Because if one can do it, the next one can, the next one can. Although, Andy, I can back up and look at the things Obama did. I can look at the things that... done that biden did and so on so the reality is you know yes i want to make sure that things are being done correctly albeit some of these things that these judges have come after trump on i just look at and shake my head and say um really they're ludicrous really and they tie up the system they tie up the system yeah good point you know i mean look we have a five to four advantage on the supreme court we're supposed to but acb i don't know if we do maybe it's four and a half to four and a half now
SPEAKER 07 :
Because Roberts leads the left.
SPEAKER 19 :
He does.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. And, you know, basically we've got two good ones leading the right, Scalia and Thomas. And God help us. And I mean God help us when they step down. They need to do it quick so we can get in new replacements. But my worry is we can't have replacements like the ones that Trump has already put in. They're not strong enough. You know who needs to be in the next one? He was just talking.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, I agree with you on that one. I've said that many times. Absolutely. We would have to figure out his Senate seat, but that's doable. We can get that dialed in.
SPEAKER 07 :
It's Texas. We'll win.
SPEAKER 19 :
Put him on the bench.
SPEAKER 07 :
Put him on the Supreme Court. Ted Cruz.
SPEAKER 19 :
I'm with you on that one. All right. We've got an interview coming up with Al Smith, Golden Eagle Financial. Stay tuned. We'll be back right after that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Al Smith from Golden Eagle Financial and the show you love, Retirement Unpacked, is here with me. How are you today, Al? I'm doing great. How are you, TJ? I'm doing great as well. I have a couple questions for you. As a financial advisor, do you also do taxes?
SPEAKER 16 :
No, I don't prepare my clients' taxes. I do, however, spend a lot of time talking to them about taxes. To use a sports analogy, tax preparation is like doing a recap of the game. What I do is more like creating a game plan and then following up over time to see how it's working.
SPEAKER 05 :
And how much are taxes a part of that game plan that you create?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, with so many different taxes we're faced with, it becomes an important thing to take into consideration. It's not how much income you have, but how much you get to keep. In addition to federal and state income taxes, there's property taxes, state and local sales tax, and fees. And they all play a part in shrinking our income.
SPEAKER 05 :
What about people who already have really healthy balances in 401ks, IRAs? Won't they be facing significant taxes as they draw income from those accounts?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, it depends. Everybody's situation's a little bit different. There's no one size that fits all when it comes to tax planning. But often when I work with people, we'll create a strategy where we will convert traditional IRAs to Roth over time. And that not only reduces taxes in the future, but it will also lower the tax they'll be paying on their Social Security.
SPEAKER 05 :
Is that kind of strategy really only for the wealthy?
SPEAKER 16 :
Not at all. Many of my clients who have modest IRAs have chosen to convert to Roth over time. They enjoy the freedom of having a tax-free nest egg that they can access on their own timeline rather than an RMD schedule.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, that is excellent. And how can people reach you if they want to learn about their own taxation in retirement?
SPEAKER 16 :
You can reach me through KLZ or contact my office at 303-744-1128. And when you call, I'll provide you with a summary of all the tax changes for 2025.
SPEAKER 05 :
You heard it here, folks. Good things from Golden Eagle Financial and Al Smith. Again, you can reach them at 303-744-1128 or just find them on the advertisers page at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 20 :
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC. A registered investment advisor. Listen online. KLZradio.com. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, talking what Andy was referring to with the Supreme Court proving Andy's point, the Supreme Court refuses to take cases or a case over a law banning assault-style weapons. Now, I don't know what their theory behind this is. Mainly, they have said that these are still some cases that are being fought in the lower courts. Does that mean they'll take it on later? I don't know, but I really feel like this is another boondoggle on their part. You've got... Two of them that definitely said, yep, we should take this on. Of course, that has to be, I think they have to have, don't quote me on this, Andy. I believe they have to have majority to be able to take a case on. Am I right in thinking that?
SPEAKER 07 :
I think so. I'm not totally sure.
SPEAKER 19 :
I'm sorry, folks, I don't know that one.
SPEAKER 07 :
Who are the two? Thomas Scalia, as usual?
SPEAKER 19 :
Yes, of course, as you know. And so, again, that's another one of those where it's like, and again, I'm not an expert when it comes to Supreme Court and law and what they should or shouldn't take on as cases and so on. It takes four justices, by the way, to agree to hear a case. Three agreed. Gorsuch, Alito, and Thomas, they needed a fourth, and they don't have it.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, bottom line, getting back to how they... Came against Trump, though, on having to have due process to get rid of these people. What does it say when the Supreme Court of the United States allows Joe Biden, okay, to bring in, it wasn't 10, let's say 15 million people with no due process whatsoever. None of them raised a finger or said a word. It's not like nothing was brought before them. It was. They didn't care. Nothing. Absolutely nothing was done. But we're going to make it like pulling teeth to get these people out.
SPEAKER 19 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 07 :
How is this fair?
SPEAKER 19 :
It's not.
SPEAKER 07 :
How is this fair?
SPEAKER 19 :
And I think, again, I'm not an attorney. I don't live in that world. I mean, my expertise is in other areas. But when you say they have to have due process, well... I thought they were getting due process when they've entered illegally. They're now being told you can't stay. Right. That's due process. The process is now you're going to leave. Yes. Is that not due process? That is due process. Thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
That is due process. I don't understand at all. John, let's say you sneak into a place. I don't know. A movie theater. Right. I know, John Rush. John Rush pays to go to movies. Let's say you didn't.
SPEAKER 19 :
I snuck in the back door.
SPEAKER 07 :
You didn't. You snuck in. Right. Should they have to go through due process, a legal fight, to have you removed from the theater? No, they should not. I mean, this is ridiculous.
SPEAKER 19 :
No. Okay, let me give you another example.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER 19 :
You somehow walk into a hotel, and you figure out a way to kind of, if you would, steal a key card that allows you access to a room. where you haven't entered in, you haven't paid, you haven't done anything. Yeah, I do this on every vacation. Yeah, so you just sort of figure out a way to swipe a key card. You've maybe overheard somebody say what room they were staying in, and somehow you maybe see it laying on the pool chair, which, by the way, people do stupid things, and, yes, they get laid there at times. And so you kind of hear where somebody's staying, so you grab the key card. No, by the way, maybe they were checking out that morning. But you grab the key card anyways, and you quick run up before the 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock cutoff time where the key card no longer works. They've already checked out. You can tell by the fact the bags are all there. They're ready to leave and so on. So you happen to snag that card. You head up, and you hang out in the room. Yeah. And you kind of act like you're staying there. Take a shower. Yeah, and you just hang out, and you do your thing and so on. And before you know it, somebody comes along. It's like, who are you? Well, I'm staying in the room. Well, no, you're not. Well, yes, I am. Well, no, you're not. Well, yes, I am. Well, Andy is due process saying, no, you're not, and you're leaving?
SPEAKER 07 :
Due process is we have a name.
SPEAKER 19 :
You're not a welcome guest. You're leaving.
SPEAKER 07 :
We have a name that was applied to this room, and it isn't yours.
SPEAKER 19 :
Right. You're not a welcome. My point is you're not a welcome guest. Right. It's now time to leave. Right. Is that not what we're doing with some of these individuals? Isn't it the same situation? It is. You're not a welcome guest. It's time to leave.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, get out. Due process is you can't show. Look, I have to show ID everywhere I go. Okay? Okay. Prove I am an American citizen and able to do this thing, this thing, this thing. I have to show ID, John. Well, guess what? If I can't do that, I don't belong here, do I?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, and you can't overstay.
SPEAKER 07 :
Or if I lost it, go get a new one.
SPEAKER 19 :
As our guest said at 4 o'clock-ish, roughly, you can't go to other countries and overstay, so how is it any different?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. We're the only country in the world that says, you know, go ahead, invade us by the millions, and then we'll have to have a lengthy process, legal due process for you to leave.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, that one, again, I do not understand the ruling. I'm not in that world. It makes no sense to me. I just shake my head with some of these things because, to me, it's pretty cut-and-dried common sense. Here's what it says. Now let's do it.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. If you're not supposed to be here legally, buy it. Why do we have to go through any process?
SPEAKER 19 :
Especially those that have committed an additional crime besides being here illegally. That one's easy to me. Yeah. Especially those. You were caught shoplifting. You were caught doing this. You were caught doing that. We know you're a part of the cartel. We know you're here running sex slaves. You name it. I mean, to me, those are easy, Andy. You're out of here. You're done. See you. Bye. I know. I don't understand. I don't get it either. Cub Creek heating and air conditioning up next, folks. And again, when it comes to your AC unit or your furnace, which some of you are thinking, furnace, John? Geez, it's June. Yeah, well, for some of you, depending upon where you live, it's a whopping 56 degrees out right now. You might actually be turning that on. And for some of you who live in the foothills that still hear us, you might be even colder than that. If you need them even for your furnace, give them a call today. KLZradio.com is where you find them.
SPEAKER 18 :
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SPEAKER 19 :
All right, Roof Savers of Colorado coming up next.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wind and rain and hail.
SPEAKER 19 :
And don't delay getting them to come out and look at some of the damage you might have on your roof from some of the past storms. Again, I said this earlier, but make sure you call them today, 303-710-6916.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wind and rain and hail, oh my. There's no place like home, and you have to do what you can to keep a reliable roof over it. Summer hailstorms are here, bringing damage and door knockers. That's where we come in. At Roof Savers Colorado, we take pride in helping homeowners like you find the right solution for your situation. We strive to provide peace of mind and a quality roofing experience for every customer. From plant-based rejuvenation treatments that give new life to dry, old, or minorly damaged shingles to full roofing replacements, we want to provide the best service for you and your home. Hail Season brings many out-of-state roofing companies knocking at your door, but we're here to provide you with honest inspections, quality service, and customer care. Don't wait. Call us for a free assessment before filing your insurance claim. Call today at 303-710-6916 or go to RoofSaverCO.com. That's 303-710-6916 or go to RoofSaverCO.com to set up your free inspection.
SPEAKER 11 :
This isn't Rage Radio. This is Real Relatable Radio. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 5C. It's a couple minutes left of this particular hour. We've got another full hour coming your way. And, yeah, folks, I wish I had some better answers for you on the way we do some things legally speaking in this country. I don't. I'm talking to a texter that's talking about how even getting somebody here from out of country being married – uh trying to do it the legal way is one huge gigantic hassle and by the way it shouldn't be it shouldn't be that way if you're trying to do things on the legal up and up it shouldn't be that was my point earlier when we were talking to our last guest we should make things along those lines much easier than it is right now yeah john that's how i want to finish up the hour really quick here john what would happen politically for donald trump if he sped up streamline the system
SPEAKER 07 :
For legal immigration.
SPEAKER 19 :
It would be night and day difference. And it needs to be. I've talked about this for years. I've been talking about this for decades because I've known individuals that have spent, people that have come from other countries, including Canada, where it takes 10 years to actually become a citizen of the United States of America. It should not take that long. They shouldn't have to go through the legal expense, if you would, to actually make that happen. It should be a merit-based, easier system to make happen.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, and also he's got an easy way to sell it. He can say, oh, yeah, now that we don't have people cutting in front of you. Correct. We don't have millions and millions cutting in front of you in line. Guess what? We can get you in quicker. The line moves quicker.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, now that we've got the line under control, we'll make this a lot easier for those of you that actually want to come in here and do it the legal way. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 :
We would be creating Republican voters. So fast.
SPEAKER 19 :
And, folks, for those of you listening, I'm texting somebody now. It's not just from Mexico. We've got countries all around the world that we could do this with and bring the best and the brightest, the smartest here to help us build the country in a way that we haven't even looked at in the past 50 years even, Andy.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right.
SPEAKER 19 :
And I'm exaggerating when I say that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Or maybe just they don't even have to be, you know, an IT person. No, no, no. Maybe just somebody who wants to do a job, somebody who wants to build a business.
SPEAKER 19 :
And we could bring people here that could lay tile, for example. That's awesome. That have expertise at that. And if that's the case, and that's what they're bringing to the table, I'm in.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, right now, bosses who lay tile can't get workers.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you. We'll be back. Got another full hour coming your way. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
I'm a rich guy.
In this enlightening episode, Rick Hughes explores the profound significance of communion and God's protocol. Discover how rituals, when performed without genuine reality, can lead to divine discipline and suffering. Rick emphasizes self-examination and understanding the correct way to approach sacred rituals to avoid unnecessary hardship. From exploring imputation and justification to addressing the concept of sanctification, Rick provides a comprehensive guide to living a disciplined, spiritually fulfilling life.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you'll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
SPEAKER 02 :
Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I'm your host, Rick Hughes. And for the next few minutes, please stick around. It'll be a time of motivation, inspiration, education, all done without any type of manipulation because we're not trying to con anybody. We're certainly not asking for money. We're not trying to sell anything. We're just simply giving you information, information that may indeed help you verify as well as identify God's plan for your life. And if that's possible, you can orient and adjust to the plan if you wish to do so. But my job is to give you accurate information. Your job is to process information and hopefully use it. Remember, God gave you two ends, one of those ends you sit with and one of those ends you think with. And success in your life depends on which one of those you use. Obviously, it's heads you win because bad decisions limit future options. If you make enough bad decisions, you're not going to have any options left, that's for sure. So the information that I'm giving you is biblical-based information, and we talk about how you can have spiritual x-ray vision. Spiritual x-ray vision is just a play on words. It means this, that when you develop wisdom in your soul from the content of the Word of God, then you have tremendous discernment and insight. And when you have discernment and insight, then you're able to see the traps that the devil will lay for you. You're able to understand what's happening to you in the suffering world, suffering side of it. And you have tremendous spiritual insight, spiritual x-ray vision, I call that. And it comes from a spiritual IQ. Everybody has a human IQ, some good, some not so good. But spiritual IQ, the Holy Spirit takes that into consideration. And you may be normal on the IQ scale, but if you learn the Word of God, you can be a genius on the spiritual IQ scale and have that great discernment from wisdom where you have insight and understanding. So today we want to continue our study we started last Sunday, if you were with us. We started a study on divine discipline. That's a hard thing to study because sometimes we don't like to know that we're under divine discipline. But God does discipline us. We saw in the Bible where it says those whom he loves, he disciplines. Revelation 319, those whom I love, I reprove or correct. and I discipline, therefore be zealous and repent. And there's two ways that God can teach us. He can teach us from instruction without pain, or he can teach us from instruction with pain. Depends on how stubborn you are, how arrogant you are, but God is going to discipline those that he loves. remember hebrews 12 said have you forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as a son do not regard lightly the discipline of the lord nor faint when you're reproved by him verse 6 hebrews 12 those whom god loves he disciplined it's not a question of whether he loves you or not i mean if you ever get under divine discipline it's going to hurt It's designed to correct you, to reprove you. And why? So you don't self-destruct because you have the amazing ability to destroy yourself. There are people listening to me right now that have done things they wish they hadn't have done, and they've destroyed their future. They destroyed their lives. Many of them may perhaps even be incarcerated. And they said, you know, if I could go back, I sure wouldn't do that again. I was stupid. I was dumb. I got suckered into doing something I shouldn't have done. That's the devil's world. That's what he offers. He's a liar. He's always been a liar and he's a murderer. He's a thief. And so we have to learn how to look out for that, how to have some wisdom, some insights and discernment, spiritual x-ray vision so that we can avoid being duped by the devil. So let's talk about divine punishment a little bit. In 1 Corinthians 11.30, we're going to have something here that is very important. Paul talks about divine discipline as a result of communion. Divine discipline as a result of communion. And this is what I want to carry on with you today. Excuse me just a minute. My light collapsed right there. divine discipline as a result of communion. And we call this ritual without reality. Ritual without reality is absolutely meaningless. You can have all the ritual you want, but if you don't have any reality to it, it's not doing you any good. And so sometimes taking of communion is ritual without reality. When that happens, discipline is sure to follow. So listen to 1 Corinthians 11, 23 through 31. Here it is, Paul talking about the Lord's Supper and ritual without reality. He said, In other words, what he's teaching them, Jesus Christ himself taught it to him. that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. And then highlight these words. Let this one sink in. Do this in remembrance of me. This is the reason we take communion. Do this in remembrance of me. We will get around to what that means here in a minute. In the same way, he took the cup also supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. There it is again. For as often as you eat this bread and as often as you drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes, Paul told the church at Corinth. And then he went on to say in verse 27, Verse 28, But a man must examine himself. That means we have to take a look inside before we take communion. And in doing so, he is to eat of his bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly." For this reason, for this reason, because of this, many among you are weak, many among you are sick, and a number of you are dead. But if we would judge ourselves rightly, we won't be judged. What this is is a mandate to make sure that you do a right thing in a right way. Understand that God observes protocol. If you're going to follow the ritual plan of God, there's protocol involved, and that means that you cannot take communion with known sin in your life out of fellowship, quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit. if you're just going through the ritual and there's no reality to it you're going to get under divine discipline for not obeying what the lord said you're not remembering him remembering him is something different than just taking communion popping a piece of bread in your mouth and drinking a sip of wine it's much more than that and you know when you take communion out of fellowship here's what it means It means you have, as a believer, you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. Your sin nature is in control. Yes, you're in church. Yes, you're taking communion, but you're doing the right thing in the wrong way. And you're not honoring God because it's not coming through the filling of the Holy Spirit. It's coming through the good process from the sin nature. The sin nature can do good. People that are not even Christians can do good deeds, can give money to charity, and can help people out. And a Christian under the sin nature control can do good. But it's not divine good. It's not the good that God is looking for. And so taking communion with known sin in your life is you observing a ritual without any reality being to it. And that's what this verse is dealing with, the ritual of communion. Some churches that I know about do it weekly. Some do it monthly and some quarterly. But most all churches, most all denominations serve communion. And it's a common thing for believers to take it. although some don't even know what they're actually doing. So Paul issues a warning, a warning to the Corinthian church about just this sort of thing. The Lord said, quote again, do it in remembrance of me. Well, what exactly are we supposed to remember? And secondly, is there a proper way to approach the communion table? And the answer to both of those is absolutely yes, there is a right way and a wrong way. So God's plan for us is very important and we understand it. So here we are. We are never to take communion with known sin in our life, never. We're never to take communion out of fellowship. We're never to take communion when we're quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit. We only take communion when we're in fellowship because if you take communion with known sin in your life, you're going to get discipline as a result of it. And if you keep doing it, the discipline could be severe. Now let's make an illustration. Here you're getting ready to go to church on Sunday morning. And you and your spouse, your husband or your wife, you have a little fight over the kids. And the kids aren't getting ready and they're dragging around. And finally you get everybody in the car and the traffic is all backed up and somebody cuts you off. And by the time you finally get to church, your attitude is terrible. You've been mad and fussing at your wife. You've been mad and griping at the children. You've been mad and would have liked to punched out the guy that cut you off in the interstate. And you get to church and you haven't even thought about your mental attitude sins. It never even crosses your mind that I'm out of fellowship. I have not allowed the Holy Spirit to control my life. I've enjoyed these mental attitude sins of bitterness and anger and frustration and vindictiveness. Wow. And you're going to take communion and you're going to remember the Lord Jesus Christ like that? I don't think so. But that's what you're doing. That's exactly what happens. We could also have the illustration of two deacons in the church. And they hate each other because of a business deal that went sour and one of them owes the other one some money and he can't pay it. And the one that is owed the money hates him and can't stand him, won't even look at him. But he'll pass out the communion elements and he'll take the communion. Right thing, wrong way. The Holy Spirit is quenched and grieved in that person because of his anger and his bitterness, his vindictiveness, his hatred. He hasn't learned how to forgive as God has forgiven anybody else. He can't do it. And here he is. Yes, he's taking communion okay. He looks great. He looks spiritual. He's got his head bowed. Instead of remembering the work of Christ, he's remembering that idiot on the other side of the church that owes him that money. See what I'm talking about? So two, this is why we're told to examine ourselves. We must examine ourselves. No pastor should ever, ever offer communion to the congregation without telling them this verse. Examine yourself first. Why? What did Paul say a while ago? He said, it's because of this that many are weak, many are dead, many are sick, because they don't take communion properly, because they go through the ritual and there's no reality to it. That's all organized religion is, ritual without reality, and it's meaningless. There's got to be something behind the church and the communion and whatever's going on in that church. It must be to replicate the life of Christ. It must be to represent Christ to the community through the local body of believers in that local church. And so we are told to examine ourselves, make sure we do this right. And three, if you take communion, it's a right thing, but you can do it in a wrong way. Taking communion out of fellowship is a right thing being done in a wrong way. Four, God's plan demands we follow protocol and not ignore these divine mandates. This is a command from God through the Apostle Paul. If you ignore this mandate, if you don't judge yourself first, then God will judge you because you didn't do what the Apostle Paul told you to do. Anytime you have a mandate in Scripture and disobey the mandate, you are committing a sin because God's speaking through that apostle. And so here you are, you're in church on Sunday morning, you're ready to take communion, and there's unconfessed sin in your life which leads to the quenching of the Holy Spirit, the grieving of the Holy Spirit, You're in the right place, doing the right thing, but you're under the control of your sin nature. You're not filled with the Holy Spirit, as Ephesians 5.18 says, be filled with the Spirit. You're not. And you know you're not. You know you're just going through the ritual. You're trying to look good, trying to look the part. And you may even be thinking about when you're going to go for lunch and what time the preacher's going to shut up so you can get out of there and get there and beat the crowd. If that's what you're thinking, you're certainly in the wrong place in the wrong way. So violation of the protocol plan of God brings two things. First, the approval of the act. Let's see. That's what we want to say it this way. If you violate the protocol plan of God, you are not going to be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ. It's not going to happen. And it will bring swift and divine correction for the act of disobedience. What you want is you want to be awarded at the judgment seat of Christ. You want to hear the Lord say, well done, my good and my faithful servant. Instead of pulling up this record and saying, oh, huh, yeah, I see. You took communion 495 times in the 10 years you were down there in that church. Every time you took communion, you were out of fellowship. Remember he said, do it in remembrance of me. What are you remembering? Oh, I remember Jesus. Well, first of all, and forgive me for being so stern here, we're not on a first-name basis with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the anointed Son of God. So before we get too familiar with him, let's remember that he is the almighty. He is the creator of all things. Without him, nothing was even created. And he will judge the living, the quick and the dead. It is Christ that does all of that. And so let's remember it is the Lord Jesus Christ, our King, our Savior. So if we take this communion and we take it out of fellowship and it's just a ritual, you're not remembering anything. It's an insult to him. You're insulting him. And I hope that's not you. So what exactly are you supposed to remember? That's a great question. What exactly are you supposed to remember when you take communion? Well, the first thing that deacon or that elder is going to pass out to you is a little piece of bread, unleavened bread, a little square maybe. That little square represents several things. And when you put it in your mouth, you have to remember these things. You have to scroll them through your mind. This is where you recall the Word of God. And if the rate of forgetting has exceeded the rate of learning, you're not going to be able to recall anything. You're not going to see anything written up on the blackboard of your mind. It's just going to be blank, and you're just going to be sitting there twiddling your thumbs until the preacher's through, and you didn't recall anything. How can you pray, and how can you have a prayer of adoration and thanksgiving to God if you can't recall anything? So when that bread's being passed out and you get your little piece of bread, you're supposed to be praying. and remembering and thanking God for what that bread represents. First of all, that bread represents virgin birth. Virgin birth. He was not contaminated with the sin nature of Joseph. He was uncontaminated. He was virgin-born. Mary had never had any sort of sexual involvement with Joseph or anyone else. She was, in fact, a virgin. And her conception was the miracle of God the Holy Spirit. So he was born of a virgin. That's important because there was a curse on Keniah, who is the lineage of Joseph, And God had already said that none of Joseph's family would ever rule in Israel because of the curse of Keniah. And so here, if the Lord Jesus Christ had been born as a result of Joseph's impregnating Mary, well, then he could never be the king of kings and the Lord of lords. The father would have to take his word back, and he can't do that. Christ was born of a virgin. That's the first thing you need to remember. He was virgin born. And then we remember his celebrity ship. And you talk about Elvis, I mean you talk about some celebrities like a recent basketball star that died unfortunately in a horrible helicopter crash, Kobe Bryant, a celebrity. But Jesus Christ is the celebrity of the universe. He is God's anointed son. He is God's chosen redeemer. He is the one we worship and admire, and he's the one we will see coming back riding upon a white horse, and the whole world will see him. That's a celebrity. It won't be on television. It'll be right in front of their eyes. Celebrity ship. Jesus Christ is a celebrity. He is God's anointed son. You want to drop names? Hey, I know this guy. Hey, I know that guy. Hey, I had dinner with that celebrity. Hey, I met this celebrity, had my picture taken with him. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, you know the number one celebrity in the whole universe, Christ the King. He's impeccable. There's something else you need to remember when you take communion. He's impeccable. What does that mean? He cannot be accused of ever sinning because he never sinned. He never committed a sin. Not once in his life did he ever commit a sin. So number one, he did not have a sin nature because he was born of a virgin. He didn't receive Adam's original sin. And number two, he was impeccable because he never sinned. He was without sin. That's the impeccability of the Lord Jesus Christ. You should remember that because had he sinned, he would not have been worthy of going to the cross and paying for the sins of the world. He was the innocent lamb of God without spot and without blemish that took away your sin and my sin. Our sins were nailed to him on the cross and he was judged in our place. That's why it says, he that knew no sin was made sin for us so that we may be made the righteousness of God through him. He was impeccable. He was the king of kings. There you go, another principle. King of kings, Lord of lords. He is the king of the universe, God's virgin-born son, the only true celebrity, impeccable king of kings and lord of lords. And you might want to remember he's hypostatic union. Hypostatic union means that he's God, and man in one body forever, the God-man. Jesus Christ was God and Jesus Christ was man, the God-man in one body forever. And the body of Jesus Christ, the resurrection body of Jesus Christ, is in heaven now awaiting the exit resurrection of you and the local body of church, what we call the church, the rapture, the exit resurrection. He's the only person in heaven right now in a resurrected body. And then you will be there to join him at the exit resurrection. And 1 Thessalonians 4 talks about that. when the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we which remain alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds, and so shall we evermore be with the Lord. So, hypostatic union is amazing. The entropic union, God, man, in one body forever, forever. Those disciples didn't know they were talking to God, but they figured it out soon. Those disciples didn't have a clue what was about to happen to their life, but they learned. And God used them to spread the word of Jesus Christ, the anointed son, to the whole world through what we know as the Gospels, the Bible. And we have it today. So that's the bread. That piece of bread is virgin birth, celebrity ship, impeccability, king of kings, and hypostatic union. You should remember those when you put it in your mouth. Maybe you need to write to me and get a copy of that so you can remember it. So you can study it and you can look over it. I mean, I could teach you for a couple of hours on each one of those subjects. I just skimmed through it like a rock skimming across a smooth lake surface. I didn't get into depth here. What about the cup? What about that little plastic cup they pass around and you're supposed to hold it? And then the pastor says, we retain the cup till all have been served and this do in remembrance of me, and then down it goes. What does that cup supposed to represent? It represents the death of Christ on the cross, his spiritual death on the cross, not his physical death, A lot of people died on the cross, but a lot of people weren't the son of God. This is Jesus Christ, the anointed son of God being judged in our place and all of our sins poured out on him. There's a statement in the Bible where he said, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachonai, which was my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It was a horrible thing for the sins of the world to be dumped out on the anointed son who was impeccable. And it happened, his spiritual death on the cross. We know it as the blood of Christ being shed for the remission of sin. That's exactly what happened. So imputation means that our sins were imputed to him. This is what you remember. You take that cup. You thank God for the imputation of our sins being imputed to him and for the imputation of his righteousness being imputed to us. Remember the verse, he who knew no sin was made sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God through him. So he took our sins and we take his righteousness. God is absolutely righteous. The Bible says there are none that are righteous, no, not one. But when we receive Christ as our savior, then his righteousness is imputed to us and we are redeemed. We're part of the, we're redeemed from the slave market of sin and Jesus Christ buys us out of the slave market of sin. That cup representing his spiritual death on the cross is indicative of what he paid to buy you out of the slave market of sin. He paid for your sin. And now you're justified. Justified, something else you need to remember when you drink that cup. You're justified. Just as if you had never even sinned, you're justified before God. No, not because of what you do, not because of how you act, because of what Christ did for you. That's where the justification takes place. And then you're also sanctified, which means you're set apart. You're sanctified in time and you're sanctified in time by the filling of the Holy Spirit. And you're sanctified in eternity when you're set apart and you go to heaven and There you are. You're going to get your resurrection body. You're going to be face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ. And you certainly want to hear him say, well done, my good and faithful servant. You don't want to hear him say every time you took communion, you daydreamed your way through it, didn't you? You took communion out of fellowship. You took communion with sin in your life. No wonder you went through so much suffering. No wonder you had so much discipline. It never even occurred to you what's happening. That's why I'm giving you this message on discipline. God will discipline you when you do what I'm talking about, when you don't understand what you're taking, when you're going through the ritual without the reality. For this reason, many are weak. That's sick. Many are sick. Many are dead. Three stages of discipline, mourning discipline, intense discipline, and dying discipline, all because you didn't take communion and fellowship, all because you just went through some ritual and there was no reality to it. all because you ignored the mandates of God through the Apostle Paul. I hope you're listening. You don't need to suffer anymore. You don't need to go through any more discipline. You're probably tired of it by now. So my suggestion is you rebound, you confess your sin to God, and he will be faithful and just to forgive you. All of our messages are now transcribed. We have them available in transcription book form. If you'd like to get the transcription of this message, let me know. Get us on the website. Contact us. Until next week, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flotline.
SPEAKER 01 :
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.
Join Michael Bailey as he navigates through the complexities and personal nature of estate planning. From ensuring your wishes are honored through clear documentation to understanding the significance of personal preferences, this episode delves deep into how individuals can tailor their estate plans to match their unique family dynamics and life choices. Michael provides anecdotes about clients and personal experiences that highlight the importance of customization in estate planning, making this a must-listen for anyone looking to secure their legacy and peace of mind.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Mobile Estate Planning with your host, Michael Bailey. Over a decade ago, attorney Michael Bailey turned his attention to estate law after he recognized the unacceptable number of adults without proper end-of-life planning. Michael recognizes that many of his clients have difficulty finding the time for making a proper estate plan. That's why he became the Mobile Estate Planner. He will go to wherever you are to assist you with your estate planning, including writing wills, trusts, and giving you the information you need to avoid probate. Now, ATX, Ask the Experts, presents Mobile Estate Planning with your host, Michael Bailey.
SPEAKER 02 :
Good afternoon. Welcome to Mobile Estate Planning with Michael Bailey here on 560 KLZ AM so we can do something besides just leave your family alone. Also heard on 100.7 FM, the KLZ 560 radio app. And, you know, just if you happen to be sitting, I don't see anybody sitting in the studio with me. Fortunately, across the glass, we've got... our good friend Luke, who's making sure all of you can hear this. Because if Luke doesn't do his job, then I'm just talking into the air doing absolutely nothing. So Luke is really, he's the important linchpin of all of this. Otherwise, none of it works. So we appreciate Luke and always remember to appreciate Luke. So phone number to talk to us on the air is 303-477-5600. And again, that's 303-477-5600. If you want to talk to me on the air, you can call that number. If you want to just talk to Luke while I'm talking, you can also call that number. He'll answer it. And my direct line is 720-394-6887. Once again, that's 720-394-6887. I was just on Al Smith's show, who was on right before this, and we were talking about mistakes that people make in their estate planning and leaving a legacy and things like that. So it got me thinking about what are some of the mistakes that people make. And the biggest mistake people make is not having an estate plan. Depending on which study you believe, and there's lots of different studies out there and lots of different numbers, Somewhere between 60 and 80% of people in the United States do not have estate plans, don't have any sort of estate plan set up. And what that means is they have an estate plan, it's just in the form of the intestate statute of the state where the person lives. And an intestate statute is what happens to your assets after you die if you do not have a will or a trust or anything that describes what happens to your money when you go. So the Colorado Intestate Estate Plan, last time I printed it out, which I did for... illustrative purposes when I was giving a talk at a networking group. It was 87 pages long. So I printed it out and I started to go through all of the pages. I was kind of going through and reading through and people were like, what in the world? This is ridiculous. Why can't they just write it so we can all understand it? I'm like, because it is a statute. And statutes are written in such a way to be broad and generally applicable. And so they can be somewhat confusing. Now, you know, there are, you know, for those of us who do estate planning, we can take and kind of boil things down to what the distribution pattern and who's supposed to get what and who's the hierarchy of who will get everything. And, you know, usually it's to your spouse or to your children or to your closest family members. But you can get some weird formulas in there of... If you're, you know, for someone who's married to just their spouse and all of their kids are from that one marriage, like, okay, that can be pretty straightforward. It can go all to the spouse and then to the kids. Well, for people who are on their second marriage and not married to, and not all of the children came from the second marriage, or so you've got, if you have a couple of different spouses and you have children from different then there's a certain flat amount that goes to a spouse, and then a certain percentage that goes to kids from different marriages. And then if you have multiple spouses and multiple marriages, it can very easily get very confusing. And so some people are like, oh, well, we have to know what all the default rules are, and if they're okay, then we'll just use the default rules. And I usually say something along the lines of, Wouldn't it be a whole lot easier if you just had your own wishes and what you wanted laid out? I have a client who passed away earlier this week. And her husband, her surviving spouse, called me today. Asking to re-verify that he was supposed to get everything and he wanted 100% assurance that her children who were disinherited will not be able to challenge anything. I said, well, they can challenge things. we've set it up so that they're very very unlikely to win that challenge but if they want to spend their time and money you know on attorneys to challenge something that says yep we know you're there nope we're not leaving you anything that uh they're you know she can spend you know the children can spend their time and money doing that but in her case where she'd had a strained and kind of uh non-relationship with her children over the course of however many years they'd become estranged. That's why we set up the estate plan to say, no, your children aren't going to be able to come and claim something because we've got the estate plan set up that says, no, we don't want to give it to this person. We don't want to give it to the children. We want to give it to somebody else. Now, it sounds a little bit weird to be like, oh, how come you're not giving things to people in the context of children or a spouse? But if we think of it more broadly, if my parents die, they want to leave their money to their kids, to the four of us children. They don't want to leave money to Luke or to Al Smith from earlier or to John Rush, who will be on next. And it's not anything against Luke or Al Smith or John Rush. Luke, Al Smith, and John Rush are not children of my parents. So my parents, having a desire to take care of their children, want to give the money to us instead. To the exclusion of pretty much everybody else in the entire country and in the entire world. And, you know, I can see that. I can understand that. You know, somebody who wants to leave their money to the wild animal sanctuary up in Keensburg. They can do that to the exclusion of pretty much everybody else and every other organization in the world. And, you know, it's not a bad thing. It's just people are allowed to decide how they want to spend their money, and they're allowed to decide how they want their money to go when they pass away. You know, I have friends who every car they have is a leased car, so they never have a car that's more than three or four years old. They also never own their cars because they just lease them and then turn them back in. Well, and, you know, I also have friends who, I have a friend who he is, he likes Corvettes a lot. So he, when he got old enough, he bought himself a Corvette and he spends his time working on it and he'll make sure to maintain it and do all the cool things like that. And, you know, that's one of his hobbies and that's great. I do not own a Corvette. It's just not one of my hobbies. I've talked about on this show how I put up a lot of Christmas lights. So I have a lot of Christmas lights and I have to store the Christmas lights. You know, that's one of my hobbies is to have Christmas lights. Other people don't want to spend the time or the effort to put up Christmas lights or to take them down like I do, but I'm okay with it. It's something that I enjoy, so I do it. And my friend who has a Corvette, that's something he enjoys, so that's what he does. And, you know, we all are allowed to have our different preferences, and that makes perfect sense. So you are listening to Mobile Estate Planning with Michael Bailey here on 560 KLZ AM, also heard on 100.7 FM, or the KLZ 560 radio app. Phone number to talk to us on the air is 303-477-5600. And again, that's 303-477-5600. And my direct line is 720-394-6887. And once again, that's 720-394-6887. And, you know, people get hung up on people having preferences of where their money goes or who should get what in an estate planning sense. But it's one of those things that everybody has different preferences. And that's why there's so many different things in the world. Kind of like, you know, why do we have so many different restaurants in the world? You know, my kids, they, growing up, I never liked sushi. I never thought that sushi was something that I would have to, that I would enjoy or that I would eat or something that would be, anything that would be a taste that I would like at all. You know, like it's seaweed and rice and raw fish. Why would I want any of that? Well, my kids enjoy going to a sushi restaurant, especially if it has a hibachi grill attached to it, so that they can have their hibachi grilled steak with their seafood. And maybe it's, at least for my 12, almost 13-year-old, it's all about the steak. But he's now getting to the point where he's hungry enough that he'll eat anything. But, you know, you go to a sushi restaurant and, you know, order sushi and, you know, we tend to be more of the kind of California roll and temporary shrimp roll and not the eel and the octopus. You know, everybody's got their preferences. But growing up, Japanese restaurant, sushi, not my thing. I was more of a, hey, let's go get a hamburger, or possibly we could go to a Mexican restaurant and get a taco or a burrito or something like that. These were the kind of things, or my mom lived in India for a year, so when she was 16, her dad, my grandfather, was a plant pathologist and fought plant disease and Went to India for a year. I was teaching Indian farmers about how to plant in ways that they could avoid plant disease and things like that. So because of that, my mom learned how to cook Indian food. And so I grew up with lots of Indian food. And I've always liked Indian food. Well, I know there are people who don't like Indian food. They don't like the spice. They don't like the... texture. They don't like the offerings, you know, for my 19 year old who's a vegetarian. She's a big fan of Indian food because there's a lot of vegetarian options. And, you know, in other contexts, you know, my son was at a shopping center the other day. My daughter was getting some clothes and he went off to the Nike outlet and he found some basketball shoes. So now, because the basketball shoes he's worn for the last year and a half are kind of wearing out. So he found some new Nike basketball shoes. And so he wanted to... He wanted to buy them, and fortunately they were on clearance, so that's even better because they're less expensive. But the Nike basketball shoes fit his feet and feel better on his feet than, say, Reebok or Adidas or Converse or... Or Under Armour or any of the other clothing, you know, shoe manufacturers that are out there. And I can understand that. I had similar, you know, preferences for shoes, you know, when I was in high school and played basketball. The versions of basketball shoes that were available then in Nike tended to fit my feet better. And it's not that I disliked.
Explore the nuances of estate planning with Al Smith and attorney Michael Bailey in this informative discussion. Learn about the differences between wills and trusts, and why having a plan that adapts to life changes is crucial for ensuring a smooth transition of assets. The conversation sheds light on privacy issues during probate and emphasizes the value of leaving a legacy that reflects your life's values and achievements, rather than just dividing financial assets.
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. We have a very special guest today, Michael Bailey, mobile estate planning attorney. And what I do is I help people plan for retirement financially, but what Michael Bailey does is he helps people discern where they want their assets to go, and how that process can work smoothly. Michael, thank you so much for being my guest today. First question I would like to ask is, I imagine a lot of people you have met with already have an estate plan, but they may have a problem with it or a mistake with it. What would you say is the most common mistake you see in people's estate plan other than not having a plan?
SPEAKER 05 :
Not keeping it up to date. Not keeping it current for where they're at. Whether it's, well, we did a will when our kids were five and three years old, and now they're 35 and 33. Well... Anybody who has children understands that a three-year-old and a five-year-old have different needs than a 33-year-old and a 35-year-old. And, you know, just whether it's at three and five, you're worried about who's going to raise the kids. And now at 33 and 35, you can be worried about, huh, you know, do we want to leave all our assets to them outright or what do we want to do? So life circumstances change all the time. And lots of people, you know, they... There was an old Ronco commercial for like a rotisserie oven where the whole audience would repeat the phrase, you set it and forget it. So an estate plan is not necessarily a set and forget type of thing to do. It's something that you want to update over time and people forget that life changes or that things become different from time to time.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, yeah, it's clearly not a time capsule or something like that. And when you have minor children, the major concern, if you're a couple, assuming you're a couple, is who would raise your minor children? Because most couples with small children don't have monstrous financial estates, but they do have children. And if something were to happen to both of them, I know When I do life insurance and so forth and we get down to the beneficiary designation, someone will say, oh, I want my sister because, you know, she you know, she would take care of the kids and everything like that. And I strongly suggest against that because If the sister were to go through a divorce about the same time both of these parents died, then instead of that money going to their children, it can go to her sister's ex-spouse or something like that.
SPEAKER 05 :
You're very generous in how you see that, too. Because if you put your sister and everything goes to the sister, the sister is legally entitled to keep all of that money.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 05 :
By moral and familial obligation, no, they're not. But legally, they can just keep it. So, like, one of my younger brothers actually has me listed as his beneficiary. And I'm like, uh, that's not a great idea. I mean, I'll take care of your kids, I promise. But... If, you know, something happens, I mean, not that I'm planning on divorcing my wife or anything like that, but let's say that I'm driving along I-70 or I-25, and I'm determined to be at fault for a crash, and now suddenly there's a $500,000 judgment against me. Well, do you really want your life insurance that's supposed to be for your kids going to pay for my liability? That's not really what you want to do, so...
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, there's a very simple provision in life insurance beneficiary arrangements. You actually write the names of the children, and then you write something in there that indicates if they're a minor, there would be some separate arrangement to be arranged. At that time, there would be some kind of trustee or something, which is far better than naming a sister or something like that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, obviously, not updating can be a big mistake. And when you talk to people about their estate plan, one of the things I talked to people about with their financial plan is what they want their retirement to look like, but also what legacy, but not legacy in terms of leaving a bunch of money to people, but what do you want people to take away from the fact that you were here on this planet for 80 or 90 years? Do you ever have a conversation with people about things that go beyond who gets which stuff?
SPEAKER 05 :
Sometimes. I mean, you know, people who want to leave a legacy. And, I mean, the most common conversation I have is, okay, so what do you want the last thing to remember about you? You know, if you have an estate plan and you have a good estate plan and you have an estate plan that can make things smooth and easy, then they're going to remember, you know, they'll go to your funeral. They'll remember all the things that happened there. or if you don't have an estate plan or you have an estate plan that's incomplete or outdated or you don't, and it's, it's just a big mess. Then the last thing, the last memory they will have of you is that you left them a financial mess that they had to try to pick up and they had to figure out with all attorneys and maybe fighting with siblings and all those type of things. And is that the type of legacy you want to leave for someone that, you know, the lot, your last act was a failure to act and you had a, So you left a big mess for people? Or do you want your legacy to be, how can I be remembered? Do I pass on? So I'll use an example from our family. My wife grew up playing a grand piano. She learned how to play the piano on a grand piano. And her four younger brothers, none of them play the piano. Some of their wives do, but not them. So when my in-laws pass away, the grand piano comes to us because it'll be the remembrance of what she learned to play on and then Depending on when they pass away, if it comes to us and our kids play the piano or something like that. Suddenly, it's a piano. It's not going to be we're going to establish a foundation that will help end world hunger over the next 200 years. But it's something along that. How do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be remembered as... I had a client who, by the time she died, she was down to like $60,000. And she left $20,000 to each of her kids. And one of her kids, the house was going into foreclosure. And so the $20,000 was enough to save the house. The other one had just gotten divorced, and the $20,000 was enough to pay the legal bills. And the third child was in a much better financial situation, so the $20,000 got used on a vacation to Costa Rica and the Caribbean islands. So three different situations, but all of them remembered mom as giving them that final gift that helped them to accomplish what they needed to at that point in their lives.
SPEAKER 03 :
And the fact that the mother treated them equally in spite of their different financial needs because a lot of the people I sit down and work with and we talk about if they want to leave a financial legacy. And I've had people tell me, well, my daughter is a Ph.D. and she's with a company and has stock options. Uh-huh. and things of this nature. So in some cases, the children are doing far better even than the parents. But in all likelihood, there's still going to be money left over just because if people were frugal enough to build up a nest egg, they're probably not going to spend it all during their retirement either. And so I think thinking in terms of, because I've had a few that have sort of a lopsided estate distribution based on their children's ability or inability to go through life, so to speak.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. And sometimes that's the most fair way to do it. I had a client who had three children. One was a doctor and a multimillionaire. One was a financial planner and multimillionaire. And one was a third grade teacher. And you'll notice I didn't add their net worth on there. Because third grade teachers aren't exactly known for being the most highly compensated. It's a tough job. You didn't add and a lottery winner. No, no, no, I didn't. But this particular client, they recognized that. So they left 5% to each of the two sons and 90% to their daughter. Because the two sons didn't need the money and the daughter that was a third grade teacher did. And the sons were kind of like, hey, yeah, we're way on board with that. Because we have a whole lot more money than... Our sister does, and we don't need extra. If you give it to us, mom, all we're going to do is turn around and give it back to our sister. So we set up the estate plan, and that's how they wanted things to go. That was their preference, and it's perfectly fine and viable to do. You don't have to treat everybody equally all the time, but you want to treat them fairly and what would be best for your situation.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and those who are listing who are Christians, I think we know that when you go to meet St. Peter, he's not going to ask you how much was in your 401k or how much were your stock options worth for the company that you founded. You're going to ask, if you're asked anything, whom did you help while you were back on earth?
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. I mean, I don't know, St. Peter might digress into such things if he needed to, but, you know, they are the pearly gates, so we'll see.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, exactly. And I think that term legacy has interesting nuances to it because some people think in terms of a legacy only financial. I often think of a legacy as what did people learn from from you while you were there? Did you spend time with your grandkids or did you just send them a card and a check on their birthdays and was that about it? Or did they learn some things from you? Maybe how to build things, how to go fishing, how to build a campfire. If it's a daughter and a grandmother, you know, dress up things. What are they going to think about you when you leave this world aside from who gets which stuff?
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, and what do they remember of you and what did they learn? I have a little bit of an example of that just from recently. So it's been a little over a month since I picked up my oldest from her freshman year of college. So she went off to school at BYU. So we drove her over there in August and went to pick her up at the end of April. And so as we were traveling over to pick her up, I ended up helping to clean the apartment because she was one of the last in the apartment and everybody else who had left. And so when you're the last one to leave an apartment, there's always stuff to be cleaned. And that's what mom and dad are there for. And I can operate a mop and a vacuum just as well as anybody else and clean things. But as we were driving over... my daughter was following our progress on snapchat because my wife has snapchat and there's a fine location so she could see us going there and so we parked and we were walking in and she came down out of her dorm room and we were kind of walking up a little hill and there's there's a path that splits and goes around this grass hill she came out of her dorm room and she saw us and she ran as fast as she her as fast as she could to come give us a big hug since we hadn't seen her since christmas And she's like, oh, it's so good to see you. I've missed you so much. And I'm like, well, we still have a 16-year-old at home who doesn't quite grasp how we may not do everything right, and we probably don't. But suddenly my daughter, when she came home from school, she's like, it's so nice just to go do your laundry and not have to worry about is the machine going to be broken, and will somebody pull it out and throw it on the ground? and a big wet pile of clothes. So suddenly now our 19-year-old is beginning to see a legacy of my wife and I and what we've done in trying to raise her. And I hope that we can continue that past when we're here and things, whether you're taking care of your kids or raising them well or teaching them lessons of, you mentioned being Christian in St. Peter, Are we passing along our knowledge of faith in the Lord to our kids and things like that? Those are all part of the legacies and all part of what we do.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I think when you mentioned when your daughter saw you, she began running. All I could think of is she's running back to the apartment to get rid of the trash.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER 03 :
That's what came to my mind.
SPEAKER 05 :
She came to give us a hug. That's awesome. And then we went up and I said, hey, would you want me to carry this trash out to the dumpster? She said, yeah, that'd be great. So she knew dad would be willing to do that, so.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that is awesome. I have a strange memory of my first going from high school to college. It was the first time I ever got on an airplane flying from Chicago to Iowa City. That's a strange story in itself. But there's a whole lot more that our listeners need to know about creating their estate plan. And we'll talk a little more about that after the break.
SPEAKER 01 :
Golden Eagle Financial will help ensure that your nest egg will last. Advances in medical science have helped Americans live longer, which is wonderful. But where retirement advisors used to plan for about 15 years of income, today retirees live much longer. That means you're going to need more money for more years of living an amazing retirement. Sure, there are programs to bridge that gap, like Medicare and Social Security, but that's not the fulfilling retirement that you've always dreamed of. Al Smith and Golden Eagle Financial use financial strategies with guaranteed lifetime income to stretch your principal to last longer so you can do more of the things you want to do in retirement. like vacations with your kids, helping others, or giving to your favorite charities. People like you who are well-prepared will have a more fulfilling, stress-free retirement. It's easy to get started. Just go to klzradio.com and click on the advertiser's link to schedule a free consultation. 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. This is Al Smith, financial advisor. If you'd like a conversation with me about preparing for retirement or maybe saving a little on your taxes as you move through retirement or making sure you're saving enough money since people seem to be living a lot longer now than they did in years past, contact my office at 303-744-1128. This afternoon, we're having a great conversation with Michael Bailey, estate planning attorney who is also on KLZ. His show is on right after mine. And we talked about mistakes people made in their estate plan. And what are the biggest problems if someone has a simple will rather than a trust?
SPEAKER 05 :
So whether it's a problem or just a difference in approach is kind of in the eye of the beholder. So both wills and trusts will give away assets to your beneficiaries or your heirs when you pass away. So a will does so through the probate process. So if you were to... If when you die, your named personal representative who's in charge of the will would take the will to the probate court and apply for probate. And probate is the legal process of getting assets from the deceased individuals to the named beneficiaries or the heirs. And so there's just a process to go through. You apply for probate. They give you legal permission to... and transfer assets out of a person's name and act on behalf of the deceased person. And you just go through the process. Basically, you tell the court that the person died. They say, okay, here's your legal permission to transfer their assets. And then the court wants to know what they had. And, you know, do they have any debts? So you go and you pay off the debts out of what's left over from the person who's died. And then whatever's left over, you give a final accounting to the court that says, here's what we had. Here's what we paid. Here's what's left over. And then you can split it up. And it says, okay. Now a trust is an alternative to a will. A trust can also distribute assets, but a trust only controls property that's owned by the trust. So if you put assets inside of the trust and the trust doesn't die with you, the trust continues to exist. So you can have what's called a successor trustee. Trustee is a person who's in charge of a trust. So the successor trustee can take over that trust and they have access to those assets and they can take, and they still have to pay off debts and things like that, but they can distribute those assets out and they don't have to interface with the courts and go through the probate process.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, for lack of a different explanation, it's sort of like the difference between a sole proprietorship and a corporation. A corporation continues beyond the life of the corporate owner, but a sole proprietor ends when the owner of the business dies.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. And so there's just, I mean, many corporations will end when a person dies because it's a small corporation, but the corporation itself does not die with the owner. Whereas a sole proprietorship, by definition, it's owned by the proprietor, passes away.
SPEAKER 03 :
Exactly. Similar to a trust and a will. Now, I know one of the things, in small towns especially, I've seen local newspapers and they'll have um announcements uh if anyone has anything uh that they want to charge against the estate of george peterson they have to go to the elbert county court and present that claim against his estate right whereas that does not apply if someone has a trust so besides it not going to court it's a more private event when someone passes on and they have a trust is that accurate
SPEAKER 05 :
That is correct, because one of the steps of probate is to give notice to unknown creditors. So you give notice to unknown creditors that are possibly out there that might have a claim against the estate. With a trust, you don't necessarily have to give notice to unknown creditors. It's not part of the process. And a trust is a private document. Everything can be distributed according to the terms of the trust. And you don't have to check in with the government. You don't have to check in with the courts. Your will, when you take it to the court, becomes a public document. So it's a public record. So anybody can go look at it. Your will, not that most people would, but many of the wills that we studied in law school where things had gone wrong, they had been filed for probate, and so we could read their wills and learn about things. So like Elvis Presley's will or Mark Rothko's will. We never read John Lennon's will because John Lennon had a trust, and so nobody can know exactly what the terms and who got what. It's just not because it's a private document. And so... For people who value privacy and don't want their personal affairs paraded around, then a trust can be very useful and helpful there too.
SPEAKER 03 :
My daughter showed me, I don't know if it's a website or where it is, but incredibly famous people that had absolutely terrible estate plans. And I thought it was incredibly interesting because these people were multimillionaires, but their estate plan, I think Howard Hughes comes to mind.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
But these other people, their estate plan was either inadequate or too old or very poorly drawn. But I think the most interesting thing is when things are done properly, then things, I'm assuming, go smoothly. And the nice thing about a living trust, correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't pay taxes. The taxes flow through to the individuals. Am I right?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, you're alive, yes. So a revocable living trust is a flow-through entity.
SPEAKER 03 :
You're very much like my other analogy, like an S corporation. The profits of a corporation flow through to the shareholders of the S corporation. Now, years ago, I remember hearing a gentleman who was – very, very big life insurance producer that always recommended a trust. And he gave the example of his wife. And way back then, he was very much the leader of the household. He said his wife hadn't ever even written a check. That happens. Yeah. And so he was not about to leave her a certain amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars when she hadn't written a check to pay public service. Instead, he created a trust that created a stream of income so she wouldn't have to be concerned about any of that. And he would also ask these other life insurance producers who were in the room to whom he was speaking, You're going to give this money to your children. Well, have you given them a few hundred thousand dollars to practice with before you pass on?
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
And in spite of the fact they thought their children were doing okay, they never had that opportunity before. And with the trust, they would only be able to do foolish things with the money according to the terms of the trust.
SPEAKER 05 :
It depends on how you set the terms of the trust. You can give things to people outright. Or if you wanted to control assets through a trust, you could. I mean, my kids being 19, 16, and 13, if my wife and I die, there's about $3 million of life insurance that would pay out. So each kid would suddenly be a millionaire. Well, my almost 13-year-old, he'll be 13 in a week and a half here, he would spend that money on anything related to Minecraft or Roblox or video games. The 19-year-old is pretty, you know, financially, she's a saver. And the 16-year-old likes stuffed animals and, you know, kind of, she's getting into nice jewelry now. So, you know, we don't necessarily want to say, oh, here, have a million dollars, good luck, have fun, figure it out. You know, if your kids are in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and, you know, that you may not have given them the money to practice with, but they've earned their own money to show that they are financially responsible, then it might be, it could very well be perfectly okay to give them that money outright. But if you want terms and conditions or restrictions on things, then using a trust that will survive your death is a very helpful thing there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. I heard of a real interesting thing where it was recommended that a woman, she had a couple of children. One of the children had really, really not made much of himself, and it was suggested that he could receive money from the trust equal to whatever he earned that year because he hadn't worked in a while.
SPEAKER 05 :
I've done that for people where they don't want their kids to just have some sort of windfall, so... They bring in their W-2 or their Schedule C to show how much income they had, and they're like, okay, well, the trust will match that. If that's something that would be useful and helpful, then we can certainly do that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Michael, I want to thank you. How would people reach you if they had a need for estate planning?
SPEAKER 05 :
So they can call me at 720-394-6887, or they can find me online at mobileestateplanning.com.
SPEAKER 03 :
And for people who are in remote areas, you go to see them. Is that accurate?
SPEAKER 05 :
I do travel to go visit people where they are, yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
That is extremely helpful because as people get up in years, transportation and getting around and that sort of thing are not as easy as they used to be, especially with the traffic we're experiencing. Thank you for listening, everyone. If you'd like to have a conversation with me, call my office at 303-744-1128. God bless you. Thank you for listening. And let's keep our leaders and our prayers along with the folks in the Middle East. Bye now.
SPEAKER 02 :
But are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.
Join Dana Lash as she delves into contentious yet intriguing topics surrounding cultural and political shifts. This episode scrutinizes the decision-making processes behind renaming ships in the U.S. Navy and the larger social and political narratives these decisions reflect. Featuring a lively conversation with David Mamet, the episode broadens its lens to examine anti-Semitism's resurgence and the technological advances shaping our world. Mamet, with his profound grasp on both the arts and politics, provides an articulate and sometimes startling commentary on the state of modern ideologies, conservatism, and the need for a balanced understanding of both justice and mercy.
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SPEAKER 02 :
Dana Lash's Absurd Truth Podcast, sponsored by Kel-Tec.
SPEAKER 01 :
The Navy is mulling over new names for ships that replace stupid names for ships named after people with no association to the Navy. So the Navy is going to rename the Harvey Milk ship. And here's how Lefty cites, right? Hegseth orders the Navy to strip. He's not, they're renaming it. It is the, it was the office of the Secretary of the Navy, the official who holds the power to name the ships, showed that they had come up with rollout plans. They're renaming the oiler ship, the USNS Harvey Milk ship. And you guys, you guys know Harvey Milk. He was basically basically he's a pedophile. He dated a 16 year old boy. Harvey Milk also praised the Reverend Jim Jones. And in fact, in 1978, he wrote a letter to Jim Acotta where he was defending Jones and he was opposing Jim. This custody fight between this guy and his wife, Timothy Stone, he was trying to get his six-year-old son, John, who apparently was living there in Jonestown. And Harvey Milk wrote a letter to Jimmy Carter opposing that custody effort. He wanted to keep John at Jonestown. And John was amongst the 900 or so people who were killed in murder-suicide there a year later. And this is what Harvey Milk wrote at the time, quote, Reverend Jones is widely known in the minority communities here and elsewhere as a man of the highest character. And he's undertaken constructive remedies for social problems, which have been amazing in their scope and effectiveness. He's also highly regarded amongst the church, labor and civil civic leaders of a wide range of political persuasions. So he says that Timothy and Grace Stone, they're attempting to damage the reverend's reputation. So anyway, just to let you know. Yeah, Harvey Milk, he's got issues. I mean, he had issues. The 16-year-old was just amongst them. He preyed on Jack McKinley when Milk was 33 and McKinley was 16. I mean, there's a lot there. Nobody had any business naming a ship after this twink. Nobody did. And so they're stripping him. They're stripping the ship of that name, thankfully. Golly, I'm shocked that the ship didn't sink or something like that. How is that not bad luck? So that was good news to hear that. They said that they confirmed it was making preparations, that it was brought on by Hegseth, and that the timing of the announcement during Pride Month was intentional. Good. And? And they're also going to target other ships. Why are you naming ships after people that had nothing to do with the military? Or, like, ships, right? It doesn't make any sense. So they had like the USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Seriously? Come on. I don't know. So they they're renaming them. Maybe we can have like some, you know, better names than some of these. I don't get it. But I just why were we doing that in the first place? What was the point of that? The left is so performative. Yes, as Kane said, yes, the left wants to tear down all the statues. Well, this is just, you know, we're returning the favor. That's all we're doing. We're returning the favor and restoring some dignity to these vessels. So that was that's a good to see. I mean, yes, I know we could, you know, maybe I'd like to see the Pentagon, the DOD spend taxpayer dollars better. But, you know, we'll see how it goes. Caltech's Gen 3 Sub 2K, which they rolled out with just just a month ago. And it's another game changer from Kel-Tec, which always makes really cool stuff. Incredibly neat stuff. Great quality. I mean, it's American parts, American labor, and everything is made right here in the U.S. of A. And it is the Sub-2K. This is the one that folds in half. which is awesome because it's like gun origami. You can just take it and fold it in half. It's awesome. Folding available in all these different calibers. Now even more versatile with the 10-millimeter chambering. Single twist and fold motion to that rotating forend. That's what folds it in half, and it deploys just as quickly and easily, zeroed and ready to rock. simple and reliable blowback design so you have ease and maintenance and consistent performance internal buffer for softer recoil lighter five pound trigger pull you have an integrated m lock and you got rails up top for accessories ideal for everything and it's made right here in the us of a learn more about caltechweapons.com innovation performance caltech k-e-l-t-e-c weapons.com tell them dana sent you Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash with you. We're at the bottom of this second hour, and you can listen coast to coast terrestrially. You can also stream it, Channel 347, DirecTV. We're on Rumble. We're on X. We're on YouTube, Facebook, everywhere. One of the things that we've been talking about, and I always believe that, you know, obviously everything political stems from culture. And it's one of, I think, the best lessons that I learned from a very dear friend of mine, who is my one-time boss, the late Andrew Breitbart, who introduced me to the work, not the film work, but like the the political thought work of my next guest. And I mean, just like a brand new world opened up. David Mamet doesn't really need an introduction. I mean, he is an American icon. And it's crazy because I've it's very weird to actually talk to somebody who has such a great body of work and who I think redefined how movies talk And was such is such a great writer of dialogue and character development. And I mean, the scene, the Chicago way scene from The Untouchables is, I think, one of the standout scenes that really got me into that genre. And I've read almost everything that he's done. I think I've seen everything that he's done. And he's just a living legend. And he's also like minded. which is very weird. It's like finding a two-headed calf. He's like-minded. That doesn't happen very often. David Mamet now joins us via video. He's got a new book out, The Disenlightenment, Politics, Horror, and Entertainment, and also a new film that he did with Shia LaBeouf, Henry Johnson, which you can find on the website, henryjohnsonmovie.com, and he joins us now. David, it's such a pleasure to have you. I've always wanted to talk with you Thanks so much for giving us some of your time. Congrats on the new film. Congrats on the book. And thank you for setting all of these knuckleheads straight about everything. I've watched a number of your interviews. And I mean, I've been hearing about it, too, from other from other viewers and members of our audience who are watching you. And they're like, he gets it. And people feel so encouraged that someone who does what you do understands their perspective. So thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you so much. You know, I was thinking about you today, and I know you like beats, right? Yes, you know I do. Okay. And I wanted to say that what's missing when we say the Judeo-Christian civilization is no longer applicable, what's missing is shame. So you see a lot of things, people on the left, they're free to lie because they have no shame. And they have no shame before each other. They have no shame before God because they aren't grateful. So I wanted to tell you that the greatest aid to gratitude is beats. Do you know why? Why? Why? Okay, I love beets. I know you love beets. You so love super beets. So I was thinking, you know, you eat beets. I love them. Yum, yum, yum. You get up the next morning and you look, you're peeing. And oh my God, you see my urine is red. I'm pissing blood. So the first thing you think is, oh my God, so soon, so soon. Well, I guess that's the thing. Then you think, who's going to get my pocket knife collection? Right. And then you think, I hope my wife doesn't marry a lawyer if she does. Well, shame on her. And then you remember that you ate beets and you say, my God, thank you. I'm not actually dying today. I have another day. It's a gift. So I wanted to thank you for promoting the religiosity of the Gratitude of Beats.
SPEAKER 01 :
It is my pleasure. And I think it's more pleasurable than asparagus. So you're welcome. You're welcome on that. I wanted to, I wanted to ask you because you've, I think that you get the, I mean, obviously, cause you know, you're a man. I mean, I, you get the psyche of men and you, you get the psyche of male characters. And I think you better than anyone can kind of really see into that. And I bring this up because as you know, and you've talked about this a little bit, uh, Democrats are, you know, fellow Americans on the other side of the aisle. They actually spent 20 something million dollars to study men to try to figure out where they went wrong with men this last election. They're trying to understand what the disconnect is. What do you think the disconnect is with the left? I don't think they need to spend that on it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, you know, Schiller, not the philosopher, my oculist, he said, with stupidity, even the gods struggle in vain. That's the one thing I know that Schiller said. It's so true. If someone, you know, there's two phrases that everyone's using on the left now, double down and die on this hill. It's all about doubling down. So if you're stupid, if you've done something stupid, as I certainly have, I try to do it, you know, As little as possible, when I do it again every day, wisdom comes from being able to step back and say, you know what, that was stupid. The problem with the left is that they've plucked themselves into a corner. Because if they say of any of these absurd, blasphemous, horrendous, savage ideas that they've doubled down on, Their life is over, as far as they know it, because they're going to lose their spouse, they're going to lose their kids in their head, they're going to lose their job, they're going to lose their community. So they have to keep doubling down. And that's why, for example, as it becomes clearer and clearer that climate change is a hoax, they've doubled down on anti-Semitism. Because rather than saying, wait a second, let's stop, right, let's go down to the kitchen table and see what's actually happening, they have to reinforce their... their stupidity to make sure they're all on the same page, because that's what happens in a totalitarian regime.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes, yes, that's true. That's absolutely true. The phrase toxic masculinity, I think, had contributed a lot to that. This idea that men couldn't be men anymore and that men, especially like some of the characters that you've written, that those men are somehow anachronistic with our times today, that they're out of vogue, that these men don't, there's no place in society for manly men anymore. But I don't see that. I don't, I, I don't see that. And I feel like that's... Do you think that the pendulum is swinging the other way? Because it seems like for so long, men have been under attack. They've been, I think, discredited, disenfranchised, however you want to put it. And now I feel like Democrats and the left, they sort of realize that they have played the wrong hand. Are we... Is that pendulum going to swing back? Are we going to have like a reset where things feel a little bit more... I don't know the best way to say it. Normal? You do. Normal? Correct? How do you view that? Are we going to get back to the way that it was? Like the 80s and the 90s when things seemed saner?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, they were saner. We're in the midst of a huge... cultural upheaval, and I think that it's largely formed, it's caused by a huge shift in technology. Just as the culture started to fall apart in the late 18th and early 19th century because of the Industrial Revolution, everything changed. So things have changed yet again now because of the computer revolution. Everything has changed. So rather than saying, wait a second, wait a second, wait a second, what's changed? What can I do about it? Which Elon is saying, Trump is saying, the Republicans are saying, people are saying, no, no, no, no, no, no. Something is terribly wrong, but it's not that the culture has changed. It's very difficult to look at that. It's saying, you know what it is? Men are toxically masculine. People are born into the wrong sex. jews are the devil and the earth is burning and p.s any man who wants to compete in women's sports so it's it's chicken little whoever's screaming the loudest because who is capable of stepping back and understanding the time in which he or she lives the answer is nobody and that's why we have laws yeah right because if not we're going to resort to our feelings and our feeling absent laws and absent the idea that we can rely on the government is panic. Look, for the first time in many years, I'm not walking around, and a lot of people aren't walking around saying, oh my God, if I say the wrong thing, someone's going to throw me in jail. So for the first time, certainly in the last four years, I and everybody on the right is saying, I believe in government, which is not to say so much that I believe in Trump, although it may, but saying I believe in law, and I believe that the law is going to exist to protect the citizen.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, that's the nature of a republic, right? Everyone's equal before the law and underneath the law when they when they violate it. I mean, we're not it's not a rejection of government so much as it's an embrace embracing fair and equally apportioned government, I guess, for the lack of a better way to say it. that makes sense. I know that you're a fan of POTUS and you identify basically as, I think, a conservative is what I read, which you like to conserve the individual, which I think is the best way to put it. That's how I've always viewed it. How do you view conservatism in modern times now? I mean, it feels like it's the common sense place to be. It's like not the common sense party, but it's like the common sense ideology. And it seems like people who have never really maybe identified as that before, maybe they were classical liberals, maybe they thought they were kind of more moderate progressives. Now they now they think this is so much common sense due to so much of what you said. So now they are they're embracing the word conservative, conservative, conserving common sense, conserving individualism.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I think so. You know, it says in the Talmud, where there is no bread, there is no law, and where there is no law, there is no bread. So the question of conservatism, constitutional conservatives, is not what is the right thing to do. Because a lot of times we don't look good because we all have passions, right? We want to belong. We want to feel good about ourselves. And so this idea of classical liberalism, what is the right thing to do? The idea of social justice, which has to mean injustice, right? Because it's based on a feeling. The correct question is not what is the right thing to do, but the correct question is what is the law? Now, can the law be wrong? Sure. We have a law which enables us to change that. Additionally, that against my people the Jews say, the prophet Micah says, Micah says, what are you supposed to do? Do justice. Love mercy. And be humble before God. So that's the correct answer to me. And as conservatism, absolutely do justice. But you've got to love mercy, too. Right. But they're two different verbs, aren't they?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes. Yeah, exactly. And they're not entirely mutually exclusive either, I think. We're talking to David. Not at all. Yeah, exactly. Talking to David Mamet, legendary screenwriter, author. He's got a new film out as well. Henry Johnson with Shia LaBeouf. And you can see it at Henry Johnson movie dot com. You mentioned to anti-Semitism. This is this is an insane thing here. It's twenty twenty five. And I honestly I hear from my kids. I have a son in college and he says that he's noticed an increase in anti-Semitism with his generation. That talk to me a little bit about that, because, again, it's 2025. I don't know if we're just so far removed from the greatest generation that we're like forgetting the horror. I'm just trying to wrap my mind around why this is like we had a guy who tried to set people on fire in Boulder. And then there was I mean, there's like been at least like three, I think, attacks. There was a couple that was shot at in D.C. What are your thoughts on this? And why how are we in this? How is this happening in 2025?
SPEAKER 05 :
What's happening for a bunch of reasons. One is that my people, the Jews, have not had a state for 2,000 years. We've been at the best guests and at the worst slaves and always at the mercy of whatever country we were living in because we were never actually citizens. So we got into the habit of keeping our head down and saying, I can put up with it, I can put up with it. Eventually they're going to kill some of us, blah, blah, blah. Finally, the state of Israel comes along with some people said, you know, that's enough, we have to have our own state. As Theodor Herzl said, when he was looking at Dreyfus, who was being maligned as a traitor in France in 1895, he was a Jewish officer, and Herzl was a very famous and successful Austrian playwright and assimilated Jew, and he went to see Dreyfus being disgraced for a false accusation of treason, but the people weren't yelling death to the traitor, they were yelling death to the Jews. Herzl sat down, he said, oh, my God, they're going to kill us all. We need our own country, right? And by the grace of God, 50 years later, we have our own country. But a lot of the world still doesn't. Listen, it's the go-to thing. It's a guy loses his job, he comes home, he beats his wife, okay? She says, if you do that again, I'm going to leave. He comes back again. He beats her again. She goes to the cops. The cops say, wait a second, be a good wife. This doesn't happen anymore. But that's a traditional unfortunate outbreak of people who are defenseless. So. To say of the Jews, what are you doing? To bring it about, it's the same thing as saying of the wife, well, what was the expression on your face when your husband came home? Now, the reason anti-Semitism is breaking out, again, is for two reasons. One is that the society is reinventing itself because of this The computers upended everything. How we date, whom we marry, how we work, how we talk to each other, what we see, where we get our news. It upsets everything. So people are upset. So what are they going to do? Just like the guy who comes home when he kicks his wife, he is going to go to the most proximate permitted victim. which is for 2,000 years been to Jews. There's a second thing, and I think that we understand that when we look at Greta Thunberg, right? Here's a little girl, God bless her, you know, she's a professional truant. She says, the earth is burning, run for your life. The earth is burning, run for your life. Okay, give her the Nobel Peace Prize, you know, and pat her on the back and put her on the cover of Time magazine. Now, it turns out that the left gets tired of this fiction, right? And it turns out the Earth is not burning and the polar ice caps are increasing. So now what? What does Greta Thunberg do? She gets on a ship to go to Gaza. What in the hell does this little girl who's never gone to school in her life, God bless her, all of a sudden, in addition to knowing about the earth is burning, she knows about what's happening in Israel. She just ran out of steam, so she cross-decked herself. So that's what's happening. Those are the two things that lead to anti-Semitism. It's a proximate victim, and the left is always moving from one horror victim to the next. It's COVID. It's the Y2K thing. It's Islamophobia. It's the earth is burning. And now it's the Jews. Okay. What's new?
SPEAKER 01 :
I mean, I think that's it entirely. I wish that we had more time because I feel like it's like drinking from a fire hose. And I love the points that you make. And I think that you're such a great mind, especially And not just conservative ideology, but political ideology. The new book is The Disenlightenment. The Secret Knowledge was the first book of yours that I read. And then I went back out of order and read all your other ones. But Andrew Breitbart gave me that book. And that's how I was introduced to all of your conservative thought, was that The Secret Knowledge. David Mamet. And the new film, Henry Johnson, with Shia LaBeouf. HenryJohnsonMovie.com. You can go get it, watch it right on the site. David, it's such a pleasure. I would love to have you back. I'd love to talk with you for a longer period and do like a sit down. I think that you just have so much to say and I'm all here for it. So thank you so much for your time. You've been so generous today.
SPEAKER 05 :
So anytime at all. It's a real pleasure talking to you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you so much. Thanks so much. God bless David Mamet, everyone. And make sure you go see the new film, Henry Johnson and get the new book, which is fabulous. By the way, we have more in store as we wrap up this second hour. Stick with us. Third hour on the way. Gold Coat Precious Metals. This is a great hedge in uncertain times. I mean, this is like one of I love the gold standard all about gold and silver. And you can get your free 2025 gold and silver kit today. Qualify and get unlimited bonus silver from gold code that's real silver and it's instantly matched to your account tax and penalty free. Gold and silver, as you know, have stood the test of time. And these are hard assets that offer real security. Get educated before you invest, though. They tell you everything that you need to know. It breaks down how precious metals fit into your financial strategy. And again, you can unlock that exclusive bonus silver. If you qualify, GoldCo will match your investment with unlimited bonus silver. And I love no taxes or penalties. It's so great. Visit DanaLikesGold.com. Join thousands of people who have called GoldCo the number one rated gold company. And you can get that free copy of their 2025 gold and silver kit and qualify for and get unlimited bonus silver. It's DanaLikesGold.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 01 :
So apparently it's a killdozer day. Did you know that? Happy Killdozer Day. If you're unfamiliar with Killdozer Day, uh, Killdozer, this was, uh, a guy who was a repair shop owner. He, uh, had a modified bulldozer in Granbury, Colorado. This is in June 2004. And, uh, Marvin Hemare. And, uh, he was, uh, he didn't hurt. He, he, uh... Didn't hurt anybody during his rage except for himself, unfortunately. But he was upset because he was a disgruntled resident because of a zoning dispute. And so he destroyed his store and went on a rampage. He had this bulldozer completely kitted out. There's no way you could get into it. This thing was reinforced six ways to Sunday. But he was known for the killdozer rampage. It was falling down come to life. Yeah. It literally was. I mean, it absolutely was. Let's see. Also, I thought that was a very important to share because I almost it was June 4th. So Kildore's the day is the date. Unfortunately, his rampage ended and he he committed suicide, which is sad. But let's see here. A couple of other things while I wait for all of this to reload because it's so ridiculously slow. Yeah, I know. It's Safari. What are you going to do? I can't. U.S. is apparently going to offer Iran a nuclear deal, allowing temporary uranium enrichment. We'll follow up with more about that. And Emmanuel Macron wax work was stolen from a Paris museum by Greenpeace activists. I don't know what they're going to do with it, but I'm all for waiting to find out. They stole. It's going to melt like if it's warm over there. The thing is going to don't you have to keep those things in like a temperature controlled room? Scientists were stunned as heat caught on camera bounced like sun. It was the first time apparently that it was ever captured. And they said that researchers at MIT used a new mapping technique to observe heat moving as a wave and bouncing back and forth. It's a wave-like manner and a phenomenon that they call second sound. And it's the first time that they were able to actually capture it. Walt Disney is going to live again as a robot. His granddaughter said he never wanted this. It's the saddest headline ever. They're going to try to make him a robot and his granddaughter says it's freaky. And she said that she had no it. He does not want this. He was just grandpa and he does not want something like this. I would agree, actually. Oh, wait, I'm going to go all the way back here. Texas woman dies from brain eating amoeba after using tainted RV water. I am really weird about water sources. Really weird. And she was using nasal. This is why you only use distilled water if you're going to do this stuff. She used RV water that was tainted where she was, I guess, doing like a nutty pot. And, yeah, she had neurological symptoms days after. And it was branding an amoeba and it killed her. It's horrible. These Chinese nationals that were charged with smuggling agro-terrorism animals. agent into the U.S. They said it was a direct threat. They were studying at the University of Michigan labs. The FBI director, Kash Patel, said that these two nationals, they were charged with smuggling a dangerous biological pathogen. They wanted to study it at the University of Michigan, KMC. And I mean, obviously, that's a serious threat. They said that the CCP is continuing to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate institutions and target food supply. And then, I mean, it really could. I mean, that's there's a reason why customs is so crazy about, you know, food and animals and seeds and stuff. It was a fungus called Fusarium. Grammarium? I don't know. It's basically what's defined as a potential agro-terrorism weapon. And they said it causes head blight, a disease of weed, barley, maize, and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. And the toxins also cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock. And the criminal in the criminal complaint, one of the researchers, 33 years old, received Chinese government funding for her work on the pathogen in China and that they describe her membership. You have to be in good standing in the CCP to be able to go back and forth like that. The other individual lied about smuggling it in. He brought it into the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, you know, because if you were all up on the above, you know, in the up and up and you were going to bring in something like this and study it. Yeah, you definitely smuggle it in and try to avoid border border protection and customs. That's exactly what you do. You know, if you're on the up and up, that's the first thing you're going to do is sneak it into the country. Right. It's asinine. Nobody believes that. So, yeah, I think I think they should be put to death. You're you're I mean, you committed an egregious violation of U.S. law. I think that we coddle these. I think we coddle these people. This is, again, another example of the CCP presenting a grave national security concern to the United States. I mean, tell me I'm wrong. I think death penalty for these to send their remains to China. I mean, why not? So dumb with this. How long has China been doing this? Can you imagine if something like that were to get? Yeah, they brought it in to study it. That's why they snuck it through and lied about sneaking it in and took great precautions to conceal it from Customs and Border Patrol. Yeah, that's right. I mean, it's a very harmful biological material. And so they obviously are detained, and I guess we'll wait and see. I think they announced these charges yesterday. What did you say? We wonder why our bread is horrible here?
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, yeah. I mean, it's not only the stuff that they spray on for pesticides and things like that, but how do we know this hasn't happened before? How do we know that none of this stuff is already in the country, already affecting our food supply? How do we know that?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, they discovered, so in 2024 of last year, One of them was turned away at the Detroit airport and sent back to China because he kept changing his story when he was being interrogated about red plant material that they found in his backpack. And he was lying about it. And he apparently was exchanging some pretty damaging messages with the partner there on his phone. But they said they found a scientific article on his phone titled Plant Pathogen Warfare Under Changing Climate Conditions. And they both, neither of them could keep their story straight. And the other thing, too, is if you're going to claim that you are going to study a tightly controlled pathogen that's monitored by USDA and Homeland Defense and all this stuff because of the damage that it could do to crops, livestock, and humans, that you would lie about and claim that you are going to study it at a university that has the federal permit to handle it. Because apparently, in order to handle this type of pathogen, to study it, you have to have a specific, actually several specific federal permits to handle it. And apparently the University of Michigan does not. So not only did they hide it, but then they lied and said that they were going to go and study it at a university that doesn't have the heart, the actual physical capability to contain it and nor the permits granted to it to actually handle it. So, yeah, they're terrorists. This was an act, a hostile act by the CCP. They should be put to death. I mean, and immediately... And they were described as two aliens presenting the gravest national security concern, according to charging docs. But yeah, we don't have an extradition extradition treaty with China. So I think one of them did. There was another one apparently that did get away, but he's not going to get arrested unless he comes back to the United States. So that's probably never going to happen. But yeah, it makes all the sense in the world. They're really bad spies. Think about this for all the talk about the CCP being, you know, so, you know, I guess suave and so good at spying. This is really bad. This is like some JV stuff. Like you can't even you can't keep your story straight under interrogation. And then you can't even provide yourself with a good enough cover story and select a university that actually has the capability and the permittance to handle this stuff. I mean, that's just like their spies suck. How are we getting duped by China? I mean, they sent a giant goofy balloon over here and we're like, oh, really? Like, how are we getting duped by them? I mean, it's like a third. It's a third world nation. It is. Stop looking at the photos of the propaganda. Come on. This is I don't know. Am I? I'm just shocked that anyone was even remotely fooled. And the fact that they had them in like little baggies in their backpack. I don't know how this pathogen is set to be contained, but Kane, baggies are not, you know, the gold standard for sealing off things.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, no. Pathogens or anything. Yeah, you don't want to just put it in a Ziploc.
SPEAKER 01 :
No, that's what they did. Not even kidding. Not even. I mean, I think they were in like, I was looking at the photos, like a Ziploc, maybe in a Ziploc.
SPEAKER 04 :
They... You mean like an old school sandwich bag they used?
SPEAKER 01 :
Let me share. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like legit, like a snack bag or something. It looks like a little snack bag. Oh, yeah. Those are the little baggies. They had little bitty baggies. And they had those in their backpacks. Like, how is that not all over you?
SPEAKER 04 :
Dude, that's not... Nothing's contained in that.
SPEAKER 01 :
No. Walking through the airports with that in their backpacks, you know, derp derp, just another day. Another day in China, my gosh. Well, no wonder they eat bats. Just saying. The woo-flu.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks for tuning in to today's edition of Dana Lash's Absurd Truth Podcast. If you haven't already, make sure to hit that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.