Join Kim Munson for an insightful discussion on the complexities of modern legislation and its impact on everyday citizens. In today's episode, Kim is joined by Alan Thomas to unravel the challenges of navigating government policies and resolutions, emphasizing the balance between freedom and force. Hear compelling stories of inspiration, including a focus on the heroic deeds of Medal of Honor recipients, a true testament to courage and leadership.
SPEAKER 09 :
It's the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 20 :
An early childhood taxing district? What on earth is that?
SPEAKER 09 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 20 :
I don't think that we should be passing legislation that is so complicated that people kind of throw up their hands and say, I can't understand that.
SPEAKER 09 :
Today's current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 20 :
And it's not fair just because you're a big business that you get a break on this and the little guy doesn't.
SPEAKER 09 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let's have a conversation.
SPEAKER 20 :
Indeed. Let's have a conversation. And welcome to the Kim Munson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You are each 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. Thank you to the team. That's Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Friday, Producer Joe. Happy Friday, Kim. And we have prerecorded for next week for Christmas week. And amazing guests, amazing interviews. You will not want to miss it. But we have worked very hard. And Joe, I really appreciate your hard work. Thank you.
SPEAKER 18 :
It's my pleasure. It is actually just a lot of fun to do. It kind of feels like a hobby.
SPEAKER 20 :
That's the best thing is to have a hobby that you get paid for, right?
SPEAKER 18 :
Exactly. Isn't that the goal?
SPEAKER 20 :
That's the goal. I think so. I think that's true. Check out the website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You'll get first look at our upcoming guests as well as our most recent essays. You can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com. The text line is 720-605-0647. That's 720-605-0647. 605-0647. I thank all of you who support us. We are an independent voice, which what that means is I purchase my airtime, and that means we have freedom in choosing our guests and our subject selection. And so I really appreciate all of you. And the show broadcasts 6 to 8 a.m. Monday through Friday. The first hour is rebroadcast 1 to 2 in the afternoon. The second hour, 10 to 11 at night. And that's on all KLZ 560 platforms. KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM, the KLZ website, the KLZ app so you can listen anywhere in the world. And we do post the shows on my website the next day. Just go to the date and click on the image and that'll bring up a written summary as well as the podcast is embedded there. And then once that happens, those podcasts are on the streaming services such as iTunes and Spotify. On the show, our goal is to 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 it's not compassionate to take other people's stuff, whether or not it's their rights, property, freedom, livelihood, opportunities, or lives. Force can be a weapon, but it can be policy, unpredictable and excessive taxation, fear, coercion, government-induced inflation, the World Economic Forum. agenda, the globalist elites agenda. This is all connected to the United Nations, Colorado State Legislature, Colorado Governor, World Health Organization, land use codes, zoning regulations, force fees, conservation easements. The list goes on and on. So we've got to get government back in its proper role. And I am so thrilled to have in studio with me my friend, author here at the Kim Munson Show, and that's Alan Thomas.
SPEAKER 02 :
It's great to be here, Kim. Man, if that list truly was as long as it needs to be, we wouldn't even get to the show this morning, would we?
SPEAKER 20 :
I know. Government is way out of its lane right now. And, Alan, what I think is going to happen is, well, we'll talk about the continuing resolution here in a little bit, but I think that... Everyone, in a way, had a sigh of relief that Trump was elected versus the, oh, Biden, Harris, you know, headed towards socialism and communism. But this whole, well, let's talk about it. The continuing resolution, which was the spending bill, and apparently we're right up against the wire again. And if it wasn't passed, they'd shut the government down. And it looked like it was going to pass. You're a little more informed on that.
SPEAKER 02 :
A little bit. But, you know, it's unsurprising, I suppose, that, again, we're up to the wire, right? That seems to be how all these continuing resolutions seem to be. We can't pass a budget in I don't know how many years. Can you remember when the last time we actually passed a budget actually was? I don't. So, you know, it's unsurprising that, again, it's going to be used for political purposes. The surprising part was that Trump kind of crushed the deal at the 11th hour even though him and Johnson had been in communication and had worked out that deal and so we'll see what happens it's always one of those what's the political benefit of it you know and like we said as we were walking in if Trump is wanting to get rid of the debt ceiling as a part of this continuing resolution well I can't see Democrats giving him a blank check and as a pretty principled conservative I don't want that either so I know
SPEAKER 20 :
I know. So I'm very concerned about this. And the government's been shut down before. And as somebody said on one of the shows last night, they shut down on the weekends and they shut down on all the holidays. So we should be able to function, I think.
SPEAKER 02 :
We will function. It's just it's an aspect of is this is this the political fight he wants to be fighting right when he gets into office? Because as soon as he's sworn in, he's going to have this sitting front and center. And was this the best use of his political capital to to have a continuing resolution, a government shutdown while he's being sworn in? Or would have been more politically expedient for him to focus on some of the other things that we that many Americans elected him to do?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, good point. And you're so astute on all that. So we'll continue the discussion on all this. I wanted to get to, first of all, the word of the day. And it is redemption. That's spelled R-E-D-E-M-P-T-I-O-N. And it could be the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. And they gave an example of God's plans for the redemption of this world. It could be some synonyms are vindication, absolution. And then the last one is the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment or clearing a debt. And so the birth of Christ, Christ came to redeem the world, to give each of us redemption. And so I thought that was a great word of the day.
SPEAKER 02 :
It's an excellent word of the day. And, you know, it's the reason for the season, right? And that's why later we'll be telling some fun Christmas stories about that. And one of them is, oh, holy night and just the beautiful birth of Jesus and why he was sent to the world for all of us.
SPEAKER 20 :
And so we'll feature that in segments three and four. Since it is Friday, this is when we take a quote from the Medal of Honor quote book that has been created by the Center for American Values. And be sure and check out the Center for American Values. They are located in Pueblo on the beautiful Riverwalk. And they honor our Medal of Honor recipients and then these great educational programs to really put forth these foundational values of honor, integrity, and patriotism. But our quote for today is from David H. McNerney and the United States Army Medal of Honor. He was born in 1931. He died in 2010. These were actions taken on 22 March 1967. It says, First Sergeant McNerney distinguished himself with his unit when his unit was attacked by a North Vietnamese battalion near Polai Doc. Running through the hail of enemy fire to the area of heaviest contact, he was assisting in the development of a defensive perimeter when he encountered several enemy at close range. He killed the enemy but was painfully injured when blown from his feet by a grenade. In spite of this injury, he assaulted and destroyed an enemy machine gun position that had pinned down five of his comrades beyond the defensive line. Upon learning his commander and artillery forward observer had been killed, he assumed command of the company. He adjusted artillery fire to within 20 meters of the position in a daring measure to repulse enemy assaults. When the smoke grenades used to mark the position were gone, he moved into a nearby clearing to designate the location to friendly aircraft. In spite of enemy fire, he remained exposed until he was certain the position was spotted and then climbed into a tree and tied the identification panel to its highest branches. now and he's injured remember that oh my gosh okay then he moved among his men readjusting their position encouraging the defenders and checking the wounded as the hostile assaults slackened he began clearing a helicopter landing site to evacuate the wounded When explosives were needed to remove large trees, he crawled outside the relative safety of his perimeter to collect demolition material from abandoned rucksacks. Moving through a fusillade of fire, he returned with the explosives that were vital to clearing the landing zone. Disregarding the pain of his injury and refusing medical evacuation, First Sergeant McNerney remained with his unit until the next day when the new commander arrived. First Sergeant McNerney's outstanding heroism and leadership were inspirational to his comrades. His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the armed forces of this country.
SPEAKER 19 :
I don't know what else.
SPEAKER 02 :
It borders on the unbelievable if people didn't see it. Truly what all of these Medal of Honor recipients have is just you could truly make a Hollywood movie out of it, every single one of them.
SPEAKER 20 :
And you would say that's impossible. And it's amazing. So, again, oh, I didn't even give his quote. Hey, Joe, you're supposed to help me remember to do that, you know, because I get into these stories and I forget.
SPEAKER 18 :
My bad. Yeah.
SPEAKER 20 :
So this is what he said. The most important possession you have is your name. Never dishonor it. And that's David H. McNerney. And let's see. Let's go ahead and let's go to break because when we come back, I've got some interesting this day in history because it was during this time the Battle of the Bulge is being fought. and during in world war ii and we have these discussions because of our sponsors and the roger mangan state farm insurance team is a great sponsor of the show and give them a call and make a an appointment it's complimentary and go through your insurance coverage so that you're sure that you know what you have and that you have exactly what you want so give them a call at 303-795-8855 like a good neighbor the roger mangan team is there
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SPEAKER 03 :
It's right.
SPEAKER 20 :
Indeed, it is Friday 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 a weekly email newsletter and 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 I had mentioned the Center for American Values because we had shared this quote from Medal of Honor recipient David McNerney. But make sure that you check out their website. That is AmericanValueCenter.org, AmericanValueCenter.org. And also wanted to mention Hooters Restaurants. We're getting into the bowl games. It's a great place to get together. They'll have all the games there and they've got great specials for lunch and happy hour, Monday through Friday. And so be sure and check that out. And Alan Thomas, you're in studio here and you're probably getting pretty excited about all these bowl games, yes?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, my team isn't in it, but it'll be pretty exciting. It's a new playoff format. So we'll see how that all works out.
SPEAKER 20 :
Oh, it is? Oh, is that where they have the national?
SPEAKER 02 :
There's 12 teams in it now. So it's a whole bracket now for college football. So we got a lot of games now through January 20th, I believe, is the national championship game.
SPEAKER 20 :
Oh, really? Okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 20 :
And then what? The Super Bowl then is in February. Is that right?
SPEAKER 02 :
I think so. Yeah. OK, so there'll be a lot of football between now and now in the beginning of the year for sure.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, you want to watch that all at Hooters restaurants. So be sure and check that out again. Five locations, Loveland, Aurora, Lone Tree, Westminster and Colorado Springs. Let's get over here to this day in history. I found this kind of interesting. 1192, Richard the Lionhearted captured near Vienna by Leopold of Austria on his way home from the Third Crusade. He was released two years later. I don't know all that history. Do you know that?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, I haven't really studied that part. No, that's interesting. I mean, that's Robin Hood, right?
SPEAKER 20 :
I think so.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 20 :
Oh, and you did that great piece about that great essay regarding.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, the sheriff in Nottingham.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, which was who Michael Johnston wanted to be. So great. So check that out at my website as well. This now I was in the clothing business for many, many years, the ladies clothing business. And there were things and innovations that changed things. Textile manufacturing is so fascinating, what they've been able to do with different textiles. But this is something that really changed things for women in 1790. The first successful U.S. cotton mill began spinning yarn in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, built by Samuel Slater based on Richard Arkwright's design. All these innovations started to change things. Because in those days, everyday people didn't have very many clothes. I actually do have a lot of clothes because I was in that business. But regular people didn't. And so these were the things that started to change all that. So creativity and innovation, 1803. The French flag is lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer of the Louisiana purchase from France to the USA. Purchase for, do you know how much?
SPEAKER 02 :
Pennies on the dollar, that's for sure.
SPEAKER 20 :
$15 million. Huh. This is interesting. 1820, Missouri imposes a $1 bachelor tax on unmarried men aged between 21 and 50. Huh. Huh. Is that the proper role of government?
SPEAKER 02 :
Probably not, but it's definitely true that women make single men better. That's true.
SPEAKER 19 :
That's true. Although some of these millennial women that we see on television.
SPEAKER 02 :
It's tough out there, and I know several single men in that age range, and I hear the stories and the entitlement and just everything. It shocks me. It makes me very, very happy to have the most wonderful wife in the world.
SPEAKER 20 :
And yes, she is. Okay, 1879, Thomas Edison privately demonstrated the, again, creativity, innovation. 1919, U.S. House of Representatives restricts immigration laws. You think that maybe we might, the Biden-Harris administration might have learned something from that. 1924, this is the, you know, the left, they never sleep. They never give up. Adolf Hitler was, in 1924, was freed from jail early, having served only nine months of his five-year sentence for his beer hall putsch, P-U-T-S-C-H.
SPEAKER 1 :
1924. 1924.
SPEAKER 20 :
So then we fast forward into World War II. 1941, Japanese troops land on Mindano, Philippines. Now just think about the time frame. December 7th, 1941, Hawaii is bombed, and here they are now invading the Philippines. So they were planning on this. 1941, World War II, the first battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers in Kunming, China. And then this story, 1944, this is so famous, the Battle of Bastogne. The Nazis have surrounded the 101st Airborne. And the Battle of the Bulge began on December 16th. And although outnumbered, the regiments of the 28th Infantry Division delayed the German advance towards Bastogne. allowing American units, including the 101st Airborne Division, to reach Bastogne before the German forces surrounded the town and isolated it on 20 December. Until 23 December, the weather prevented Allied aircraft from attempting to resupply Bastogne or from performing ground attack missions against German forces. The siege was lifted on 26 December when a spearhead of the 4th Armored Division and other elements of General George Patton's 3rd Army opened a corridor to Bastogne. And the Americans prayed for clear skies, and they finally got it. But this is the famous story. It says General Anthony Clement McAuliffe was born in 1898, died in 1975, was a senior United States Army officer who earned fame as the acting commander— of the 101st Airborne defending Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. So they're surrounded. And apparently the Germans send two Germans in with a white flag because they are going to ask for the Americans' surrender. And when... He was given the request. He said, nuts. And then they're talking. He says, well, how should we respond? And one of his guys under his command said, I think you said it. And so they wrote down nuts, sent it back, and they did not surrender. And the rest is history.
SPEAKER 02 :
That's amazing and truly American when you think about it in every way.
SPEAKER 20 :
It is. It is. So just there were three other things I found interesting. 1946, the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life premieres in New York. 1956, Montgomery, Alabama removes race based seat assignments on its buses. 1990, the world's first website and server go live at CERN, C-E-R-N. And in 2019, the United States Space Force was founded, an armed forces branch dedicated to space warfare. I think that's super interesting stuff.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, this is a super interesting day in history for sure.
SPEAKER 20 :
I know. And I do this, Alan, because I think it's important that we understand, just think about all these different things that have come before us so that we can then maybe get hard from that as we look into the future. Sure.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, they always say, if you don't learn from history, you're doomed to repeat it, right? Because history definitely echoes throughout the generations. And we aren't here just randomly, right? There was lots of people that made decisions well before us that have shaped our lives and what we do.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, and when I say that we were made for this moment, we're in such an interesting time in history. And I did an interview with Marley Hornig, one of the co-founders of United Sovereign Americans that we broadcast next week. And they've really been in this fight regarding making sure that our elections are free, fair, honest, and transparent. And I said, I really think that we are in the third founding of our country. And that's why it is so historical here. We're in this battle of ideas on what will America, as she was founded with these rights from God of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, that we're all created equal, is that going to continue? or not. And it's up to us. And so that's why the great work that you're doing with all these essays and us kicking the tires on these ideas and helping all of our listeners get their brains around it so that they can engage in this battle of ideas is so important, Alan.
SPEAKER 02 :
It really is. And, you know, it's kind of interesting looking at our founding about the different, you know, you say the third founding. You know, the first one was what type of government are we even going to have and what should that look like? There was a lot of debate between should the states be sovereign or should we have separate confederacies that just kind of get along similar to like the European model, right? And so we solve that question. But they really punted the slavery question to later. Right. I mean, it was a it was a huge contentious deal. And and they really punted it at the time because they saw the need to be one country before Britain wanted to come back, which they didn't. did in 1812 and and luckily we we fended them off again so we had that second founding that abraham lincoln was really a part of and it's it's kind of interesting you know dr tom cranwitter really argues that uh progressivism started with that civil war it was people looking around saying hey this isn't right this is so much death destruction um maybe this founding um Maybe this idea of the American Constitution and Declaration isn't a good idea. And so that progressivism has been creeping into our society since that really second founding of Abraham Lincoln. And we are now full-blown in this war of ideas against this progressive model and this idea of is there even truth? What is it? And what is the proper role of government? And it's really critical because for... For a while, we've kind of allowed this brilliant idea of the Declaration to just sit there and say, well, obviously people can see it. Obviously, it's a good idea. And we haven't really fought for it the proper way. And I think people are really beginning to see the effects that progressivism in our culture really has. And it's very detrimental.
SPEAKER 20 :
It is very detrimental, and I'm very encouraged, but it is a real battle of ideas. And with the election of Donald Trump, I think people breathed a sigh of relief that perhaps this progressive march towards socialism and communism has at least been stopped. You and I are both, I think, a little frustrated to hear that this debt is not sustainable. We talk about sustainability all the time. This is not sustainable. And no debt ceiling. I certainly am concerned about it. But what I think is going to happen is Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, J.D. Vance, Donald Trump, there's a lot of focus on the federal government. The progressive communism socialism model, they are going to double down at the local, at the county, and the state level. And so I want to give you an example. We didn't get to talk about this, and Lakewood was first, and now Denver City Council. It says Denver City Council, this is from the Denver Post, could join Lakewood in clamping down on gas stations in 2025 despite industry pushback. One of the great things about everyday people is their freedom of mobility, to be able to go where they want to, when they want to. With freedom of mobility, you have more employment options, but the progressives want us to live in apartments and ride around on trains and buses and walk, and they don't want us to have freedom of mobility. And the internal combustion engine offers that. And so here you have Lakewood, they said that we're not going to have any new gas stations in Lakewood. Now Denver is saying the same thing. So you see this, this is going to happen at the local level. So we've got a lot of work to do, Alan.
SPEAKER 02 :
And they really tipped their hat a while ago, didn't they? I mean, when we talked about the Soros-funded DAs all throughout the country, I mean, they have seen that this local politics really has a lot of control. And that's by design, right? Our country was designed for the federal government to be very inefficient. And fortunately for us, it for the most part still even is, as we've seen with this continuing resolution. It's very inefficient. It's very difficult to get enough votes to push legislation through, even when you're in a majority. So they've been going after this local level for a while. And it's time that we wise up as well and really start pushing back because the founders wanted to give that control locally. They wanted to say, hey, you know, you're in charge of your neighborhood. You're in charge of your street. You're in charge of your state. So don't mess it up.
SPEAKER 20 :
So quick question for you, Alan. So when I was on city council, we talk about local control. And in the Constitution, it says that whatever is not given to the federal government, it goes to the states but to the people. But there was – well, it's the whole Hooters story. And that is where PBIs were deciding which businesses – They wanted in which they didn't. That's not the proper role of government. But I had pushback with people saying, if we don't want X business in our city, then we shouldn't have to have that. And I said, wait a minute. Every business, legitimate business, must be treated impartially and equally. You can't, if we look at the vision of the declaration, government can't be picking winners and losers. So you can't do it at the federal level, but Alan, I think that even at the local level, if you have control, but you still have to adhere to this vision of the declaration, there are people that push back on that with me.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, and that's the brilliance of what they did, right, is you could have that virtue locally if you wanted. The fact that you could have you could say, hey, we don't want a strip club in our neighborhood is a perfectly valid local concern as long as. Locally, you all agree with it, right? But nationally, that's not what you want to do. But you do, as you said, you do run the risk of, hey, if you push X business out of here, then there's economic consequences and other municipalities, other states, other counties will be able to look and say, hey, was that good? Did that actually work out for them? Is that what they want to do? And we're seeing it with marijuana, aren't we? Like we're seeing that locally, there are a lot of states and municipalities that are saying, hey, we want this here. We want to do this. So we're going to allow that freedom. And now we're seeing a lot of the consequences of that action. And we're able to look and see. And, you know, a lot like Texas, Missouri, Mississippi, they're able to say, hey, is what Colorado and Washington did, is that good for their state? You know, has that been a net positive for them? Is that freedom actually a good thing? And they're able to adjust their thinking about these sorts of controls based on what they see from others. So it's it's a good thing to have that experimentation. And it's a good thing for people to be able to control their neighborhood now. Of course, your point is, where does it get out of control? And that's always going to be the question locally is, at what point are we giving our local governments too much control over our lives? And that's always something we need to be willing and able to push back on. which has become difficult in the progressive state because they've got so much power that they can pick winners and losers, even if it's a Hooters or even if it's a Christian-based organization. Now they're starting to really use that power and go a little wild with it.
SPEAKER 20 :
So, and that's why I took the stand. And regarding Hooters restaurants, the whole thing was whether or not they, and again, I don't think this is necessarily the proper role of government, but to issue a liquor license. The location had been a restaurant. It had liquor license, you know, a zone for a restaurant. So there was no reason to not issue that particular liquor license because I was concerned. This was pre-COVID. What happens if you start to have government determine which businesses are essential and which aren't? And so realizing you've got to stand for freedom. You just have to stand for freedom. Then you fast forward into COVID and you had government choosing which businesses were essential and which aren't. And so we've got to stand for freedom. And so that's the stand I took.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, and if I could maybe help clarify that just a little bit, you are wanting everyone to play by the same rules, right? If a legitimate business applied for a liquor license, why should we get to pick and choose which ordinance applies where? And that's a very fair rule of law stance to take to say, hey, why do you get to say this business is good and this business is legitimate, but not that one? Like if we're going to have economic parity, we should be able to apply the rules to everybody and we should all be playing by the same game. And that's not fair to take one rule and say, hey, this one, yeah, technically you're playing by the game the right way, but we just don't like you. So we're going to penalize you for it. And that's the problem that you saw with this Hooters restaurant. And that's why it was important for you to take that stand was saying, hey, there's nothing illegitimate about this business. We got to let them play by the same rules.
SPEAKER 20 :
Exactly. Well said. Well said. And these are such important discussions, and I want to talk about these Christmas stories, but I do want to address one other thing that you mentioned. So we're going to go to break. I'm talking with Alan Thomas, and we will be rolling out your essay this weekend in beautiful Christmas stories, right? That's going to be that. And all this happens because of our sponsors. For everything residential real estate, reach out to Karen Levine.
SPEAKER 09 :
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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 20 :
It is Friday. Welcome back to the Kim Munson Show. Check out our website. That's Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for a 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 check out the U.S. MC Memorial Foundation's website, U.S. MC Memorial Foundation dot org. and make a contribution before the end of the year. And it's so important to honor those that have given their lives, been willing to give their lives, and a great way to do that is to contribute to the USMC Memorial Foundation. Alan Thomas is in studio, and we're gonna get to these beautiful Christmas stories, but I have these other things that I just have to run by you. You mentioned strip clubs in a community. And it has gone all the way to the Supreme Court that municipalities cannot outlaw strip clubs. It's a freedom of speech issue was the decision. But so what happens is each municipality has to have a zoning where they can have adult-orientated businesses. I think that's what it's called. Oh, gosh. Anyways, it's adult kind of businesses. And so every particular city has to have some place zoned for that. And so that way they are not going against the Supreme Court. so every city has that uh lone tree has that and um so there's this sexual it's called sexually orientated businesses is what it's called and so now and and i've actually reached out to the county commissioners on this is when we have had these drag queen shows at libraries or the county fairgrounds or at the rec centers, there's been this threat of lawsuit and so many of these elected representatives cave because they're afraid of a lawsuit and they go ahead and let these sexually orientated drag queen performances go on. And I said, listen, I don't think that the Douglas County Fairgrounds is zoned as a sexually orientated business. And I think that you could say no to these drag queen shows under that. And I have not had one elected representative bite on that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hmm. I mean, the threat of lawsuit and the threat of all of this is part of the problem, right? They're very scared of that. And there's also, to be honest, Colorado's difficult right now. I mean, there's the very real problem of them being worried they're not going to get reelected and that there might not be community support behind it. So that's why it's important to talk to your elected representative and voice those very same concerns. That way they know that there's support for these sorts of issues. Yeah. It reminds me of this story, too, by this—and I forget the particulars of where or when, but there was a church that was really trying to make a difference in their community. And this is the role that we as Christians can play using the free market. And they had this whole section of this city that was very known for— sexually oriented crimes, strip clubs, things like that. And what the elders decided to do was to buy the building. Now the problem was the building owner had a pre-existing lease with these strip clubs for several years. So they, by law, were required to own the building where these strip clubs were. And the church elders got a lot of flack for this, but they said, trust us, we have a plan. And as soon as the lease was up, they non-renewed their lease and turned that whole neighborhood around because they were willing to have the bravery to own a strip club in their building for several years, knowing that, Once their lease was up, they were going to change the purpose of that property. So it was kind of an interesting story about how we can use freedom still as Christians to change neighborhoods as long as we know that we have a longer term goal. And so it's just kind of a beautiful story about how to change a neighborhood and change a neighborhood's virtue legally and using the freedom principles.
SPEAKER 20 :
And the other thing is, is they honored the contract. And contract is a very important thing on the American idea as well. So that's super interesting. Two other things that I wanted to mention to you regarding local government, where I said that I'm concerned. This is where the fight's going to be, my friends. And it's actually more difficult because there's the study sessions and there's the meetings and they have all these different commissions. But this is from the Washington Post. A California campaign manager said, is arrested and charged as a Chinese agent. And this was a campaign manager for a local office. So, you know, hold on there. And then this also. The Denver School Board – this is from the Denver Post. The Denver School Board is set to decide Thursday whether to further restrict the public's ability – to comment in front of the board by reducing the time that individuals, speakers can address the elected directors who govern Colorado's largest school district and in which the taxpayer just gave them a whole bunch more money.
SPEAKER 02 :
I mean, we've seen our own issues in Douglas County with our commissioners to restricting public access to speak to them, too. And it's it's a serious problem. And it's it's one we need to highlight because the voters of those districts need to vote them out and say, if you do this, sayonara.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah. And so, yeah, local. So we're going to I want to start something called Doge Colorado, Doge Douglas County, Doge Lone Tree. I want to work on all that. So there's so many things to do in this next year. Let's go to break just a little early so that we can come back and talk about your great Christmas or your beautiful Christmas stories. All this happens because of our sponsors and a great source of protein. And also for that steakhouse experience at home. Check out Lavaca Meat Company.
SPEAKER 10 :
Lavaca Meat Company takes great pride in selling only the best. Lavaca Meat Company is a third-generation family-owned business with its roots in eastern Colorado. Lavaca means the cow in Spanish. As our name implies, we only sell beef. No poultry, pork, bison, or game. Just premium quality, aged, mouth-watering beef. Our store is located at the corner of Maine and Nevada in the historic Coors Building in downtown Littleton. For a steakhouse experience at home, visit us in person or shop online at LavacaMeat.com. Lavaca Meat Company, only the best. Again, that's LavacaMeat.com.
SPEAKER 07 :
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.
SPEAKER 11 :
Franktown Firearms has all the firearms, accessories, and training opportunities your loved ones need this Christmas season, all under one roof. If your Christmas shopping isn't done yet, what are you waiting for? And if you haven't seen the remodeled Franktown store, you need to get down there today. They've completely redesigned the layout for a more welcoming atmosphere and for way more selling space. So if your loved one has been dropping hints about that brand new optic for their hunting rifle and you're not even sure what it is, come on down to the gun store where friends are made and they'll help you get to the bottom of it. Their clean and welcoming indoor range is perfect for your shooter to practice safely. And gift certificates are available so you can give them the gift of range time, an annual membership, or anything else in the store. Find out more about Franktown Firearms by going to their page on the klzradio.com advertiser page and come see why Franktown is the gun store and range where friends are made.
SPEAKER 20 :
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. Alan Thomas is in studio, author at The Kim Munson Show. And I can't believe that it's December 20th, tomorrow's the shortest day of the year. Christmas is right around the corner. You've got some beautiful Christmas stories that we'll highlight in your essay, but where do you want to start?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you know, I just want to start. It's pretty awesome having a four-year-old right now in Christmas, getting to see the excitement and just the joy and the magic of it all. And, you know, sometimes it's easy when you get a little bit older to lose some of that joy, that passion, that beautiful aspect of Christmas. And We were in our church and our church is doing a series on Christmas songs. And the singers got up and they were telling this story about O Holy Night. And it's one of my wife's favorites. Every time we sing it, she always starts crying. It's a beautiful song. And they kind of in a passing comment said it actually has an anti-abolish effect. abolitionist, uh, verse in it. And it, it just sparked me. And I was like, wow, you know, Christianity is so beautiful. Freedom is so brilliant. And I wanted to kind of pass that along. That really inspired me to, to find some of these beautiful Christmas stories and maybe pass them along and, and reignite some of that joy and beauty of the season. So, um, O Holy Night, it's kind of got a very interesting past. It was actually a French song originally, and it was written by a part-time poet in France. I'm going to mess up his name, but it's Placide Capot. And he actually had connections to a pretty famous composer named Adolph Adams, who came up with the song and made the poem more into lyrics. Now, when you read the direct French translation, there's a lot of theological issues. Like, France and the Catholic Church did not like that version of the song. But in 1855, a Unitarian minister named John Dwight heard the song, thought it was beautiful, and took very liberal use of translating it into American, which is how we actually ended up with a pretty beautiful song. Luckily, a little bit more theologically consistent. But where him and this part-time French poet both agreed was in the third verse when, you know, 1855, we're talking about abolition around that time, especially here in our country. And this is how the third verse goes. Truly he taught us to love one another. His law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother and in his name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy and grateful chorus raise we. Let all within us praise his holy name. And I just thought that was beautiful. You know, the fact that we as Christians know that everyone is created in God's image. And certainly while there were those that were not portraying Christ truly and used the Bible to justify slavery, really there was a strong Christian element to say, hey, this isn't right. You know, this isn't right to hold people in chains. We are all made in God's image. We all deserve to be free. And I just thought that was a beautiful verse. And a lot of times when we hear the song, very rarely do you get to hear that for the later verses. And that's just I don't know. I just I thought it was beautiful.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah. And again, going back to get this history on the song, bring will bring even more meaning as we hear that this this Christmas season. What's the next song?
SPEAKER 02 :
So the next one is actually a story that probably everybody knows about, but a true underdog story in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. So it has also a very interesting story, but more important than this story about this reindeer that has a defect and a red nose that lights up, is actually the story behind it. And actually in this corporate America, it's quite beautiful actually. So there was this company called the Montgomery Ward Company. It was very successful. And one of the things they did every year was give out coloring books to the tune of well over a million coloring books to all their guests. Well, that got quite expensive because they were actually buying them and then giving them out for free. So what they decided to do is, hey, why can't we do something ourselves? It'll be a little bit cheaper. We'll do it in-house, save a little bit of money, but still continue this tradition of giving our guests something. Well, there's this gentleman called Robert L. May. He was a copywriter. but he had aspirations of being a writer. And so kind of down on his luck, not exactly what he saw doing his whole life, but he came up with limericks and he was good at writing little children's stuff. And so they said, Hey, you're pretty good at what you do. Do you want to take a stab at creating a Christmas story or something for us to do this Christmas? And so he jumped into it full time. And ironically, he also had a four-year-old at the time and he, uh, He used his life story and really the story of the ugly duckling to create this underdog triumphing through Rudolph. And he, you know, it's a limerick, so it kind of rhymes. And so he worked with it very closely with his four-year-old daughter until he really liked it. And he brought it to his boss, and his boss said, I'm not too sure. I'm not sure this is quite the vision that we had. Well... Robert May was pretty convinced that he had something. He created something beautiful. So he has a story. He has this story. He's created this Rudolph story for the Montgomery Ward Company for their Christmas promotion. And his boss initially says, he reads the story and he goes, I'm not so sure.
SPEAKER 20 :
So were they going to create a storybook or something that they were going to give out?
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. That was the idea because they were giving out coloring books. So they wanted something similar to do. So he went to his art department and found somebody there and said, hey, come with me to the zoo. I need sketches for this story. And I just believe in it so much. Let's figure this out. So he gets his art department to go get some sketches together, brings it to his boss. His boss says. Okay, I think I see what you're going with here. The sketches kind of completed the story for him. And that year they printed 2.4 million copies of the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. And it was wildly successful. So this is around... By 1946, they had printed six million copies of the book, which is really important because there were actually paper shortages because of the war at that time. So six million copies is incredible, right? Well, Montgomery Ward owned the rights to the story completely. It was an in-house produced story. And since the time he wrote the story to 1946, May tragically was widowed and strapped with a lot of medical debt because his wife had a terminal illness. So he was really, really down on his luck. And that's when he approached the CEO, Sewell Avery, and he said, listen, can Can I just get something? You know, I created this story. It's wildly popular. I know I don't deserve it. Like, obviously you own the rights, but can I just get a small fraction of the profits? And something we don't see often in corporate America, the CEO, again, Sewell Avery, can't say his name enough because this is so beautiful. He signed the rights to the story over free of charge and completely to Robert L. May. But the story gets even better. So Robert May takes the rights to this story. He then markets it. It's now the second most popular song that's behind White Christmas. His brother-in-law actually was the first one to sing it and make it popular. So for the next seven years, he kind of took the business, quote unquote, if you will, of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and made it very profitable. turned his life around, absolutely took that gift that the Montgomery Ward CEO gave him and changed his life. But in a true act of loyalty, after seven years, once he figured out that this story was going to kind of run all by itself, he actually returned to work for Montgomery Ward as a copywriter for 13 more years. Just because he saw that loyalty they gave him and he wanted to return it in kind. And so just just kind of a beautiful story there about some Christmas cheer, if you will.
SPEAKER 20 :
I never knew that. That's that's amazing. And of course, then the movie that we watch every year as well. That's amazing. OK, just a teaser for the last one then.
SPEAKER 02 :
A teaser for the last one. So this one was actually in World War I, so probably a little bit more known than the other two. Again, shows the just brilliance and the humanity that music can have with us. And this story is so unbelievable that actually many questioned its authenticity even today, but there's pictures of it. Around Christmas, that first year, 1914, everybody kind of believed this war was going to go quickly, right? They believed they'd be over. They believed, actually, many believed they'd be back by Christmas. But at the front lines, there was trenches, and there's this area called No Man's Land, right, where you don't want to stand up in the trenches. You're going to get hit by a bullet. These two warring sides, the British and the French, across the line is the Germans, and it's Christmas Eve. And the Germans had a couple of Christmas trees up along the front lines just because they're in the Christmas spirit. They're away from their family. They're feeling the longing. And both sides are pretty bummed that they have to be there when across the lines, the German side start singing Silent Night. And the British side hears this, and they start to join in. And both sides start caroling. And eventually, they start shouting at each other. And one side says, hey, tomorrow, if you don't shoot, I won't shoot. And what became, it was a very informal truce. The very next day, the German side and the British side met in No Man's Land for Christmas. Now, this wasn't across the whole front line. There were obviously parts that still were warring. But for a small moment, I don't think we've ever seen it since, in the middle of a war, an informal truce happened on Christmas of 1914 just because both sides got to singing and got inspired by the spirit of Christmas. So... A pretty beautiful story there as well. Just, you know, when you see the humanity in the other side, when you can see them as people, it can change your whole world. And, you know, obviously they fought the day before. The day after Christmas, all the high command came in and said, no more of this. We need to get back to what we're doing. No more peace. No more truces. There'll be no fraternizing with the enemy. But for one day they came together and played soccer. or football, if you will, at that part of the world and came together for Christmas and had a truce during Christmas of 1914.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, be sure and check out our website and be sure you're signed up for our weekly newsletter because we'll publish that piece this Sunday. Ellen Thomas, thank you so much. And I know you're going to stay for the next hour, but Merry Christmas to you and yours. Merry Christmas to you as well. And our quote for the end of the show is the quote from General Anthony Clement McAuliffe when he was presented with the request by the Germans in World War II to surrender. Nuts. 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. God bless America. Stay tuned for hour number two.
SPEAKER 12 :
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 09 :
It's the Kim Munson Show. Analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 20 :
An early childhood taxing district? What on earth is that?
SPEAKER 09 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 20 :
I don't think that we should be passing legislation that is so complicated that people kind of throw up their hands and say, I can't understand that.
SPEAKER 09 :
Today's current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 20 :
And it's not fair just because you're a big business that you get a break on this and the little guy doesn't.
SPEAKER 09 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let's have a conversation.
SPEAKER 20 :
indeed let's have a conversation welcome to our number two of the kim munson show thank you so much for joining us you're each 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 thank you to the team that's producer joe luke rachel zach echo charlie mike theresa and all the people here at crawford broadcasting happy friday producer joe happy friday kim we have been working like maniacs uh pre-recording for christmas week amazing interviews amazing guests so be sure and check that out next week and um we search for truth and clarity uh as looking at these issues through this lens of freedom versus force force versus freedom if something's a good idea you should not have to use force to implement it and on the show we focus on the issues not the personalities now we will talk about the people that are pushing forward issues. But we're trying to stay out of the eighth grade girl fighting, which I didn't like eighth grade that much back then, and I don't like it that much now. And so I try to stay out of that. In studio with me is Alan Thomas, and we'll be rolling out your piece, Beautiful Christmas Stories, this weekend. So it's great to have you here for the second hour.
SPEAKER 02 :
It's always great being here.
SPEAKER 20 :
And Kurt Gerwitz is in studio as well. Professor Gerwitz, great to have you. We'll be talking about Doge and different agencies. So this is going to be interesting.
SPEAKER 17 :
I'm looking forward to it, Kim.
SPEAKER 20 :
Absolutely. So great to have you guys here. And Alan, I think you and I both agree. We really don't like the eighth grade girl fighting. But man, politics is the epitome. And we have guys that act like eighth grade girls.
SPEAKER 02 :
We have politics is pretty much just, you know, eighth grade and not just girls. I mean, eighth grade was not a fun time for me either. There was a lot of restrictions on the playground and bullies, really, you know, and the easiest way to do that is drag somebody's name through the mud.
SPEAKER 20 :
yeah yeah yeah i know that's what they do in politics what is it a politics or the word politics comes from uh the two uh well two different parts the first is poly meaning many and the other is ticks which is a blood-sucking insect so okay gentlemen um let's get into it here first of all i want to say thank you to laramie energy For their goal sponsorship of the show, it is reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy sources from oil, gas, natural gas, coal that powers our lives and fuels our hopes and dreams. Our word of the day is redemption. And I chose that because Christmas is here and Christ came to redeem the world. And so the word is redemption, R-E-D-E-M-P-T-I-O-N. It is a noun. It could be the action or saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil, as in God's plans for the redemption of his world. And the other is the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment or clearing a debt. And so your challenge is to use the word of the day in a sentence today. And again, that word is redemption, R-E-D-E-M-P-T-I-O-N. Our quote of the day since it's Friday, I go to the Medal of Honor quote book that's been published by the Center for American Values, and the center is located in Pueblo. Pueblo is known as the home of heroes because there were four Medal of Honor recipients that grew up there. And do check out the center, and I'd really recommend you take the children down there sometime over Christmas break to Pueblo. Go to the center, and then there's great restaurants around there as well. but this is the quote from david h mcnerney he was born in 1931 died in 2010 these are actions that he took on 22 march 1967 and he said the most important possession you have is your name never dishonor it my father said that all the time to me as well and again the most important possession you have is your name never dishonor it and uh Let's see here. We went through this day in history in the first hour. We talked about the Denver City Council is... considering preventing new gas stations joining Lakewood. And so this is part of this whole Green New Deal, if you will, and that is to take away our options to be able to drive gas-powered vehicles. They want to make it more and more inconvenient. And, Alan, I mentioned it, and we talked about it in the first hour, is – There seems to be a relief that Donald Trump has been elected, hopefully to thwart this movement on the federal level towards progressivism, socialism, communism, that was the focus of the O'Biden-Harris administration. But we're going to see then things doubling down at the local, the county, and the state level. So with Denver and with Lakewood saying they're not going to have new gas stations, you can see that they're pushing that agenda, Alan.
SPEAKER 02 :
They are, and we'll have to be very strict. It was great that Trump got elected, but this isn't going to turn around in four years. We have to take a much more long-term approach towards renewing the proper role of government. So this was a great election, but also there's only so much you can do in four years, and political time moves rather slowly as well.
SPEAKER 20 :
We've got a lot, a lot, a lot of work to do.
SPEAKER 02 :
We do.
SPEAKER 20 :
And I get to work with amazing sponsors, and I tell you, if you want a real treat, check out Lavaca Meat Company. They're located at the corner of Main and Nevada in Old Littleton. And, of course, you know Jim May, cattleman with Lavaca Meat Company. Jim, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hey, good morning, everybody. And, Ellen, good morning to you, and happy holidays to everyone. I don't know your other guests, but I've written a holiday poem, and I'd just like to say a quick couple of things about Lavaca Meat. If there's still time, if you've got that somebody you can't figure out or whatever, you can come by the store. There is $5 parking back, a lot of parking back behind the store, which I think it's Rinky Brothers. But, yeah, come on in. Jerry will take care of you, and maybe you can make somebody's Christmas Day better with a good piece of Lavaca meat.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, and it really would be a great gift and a real treat for employees or friends or family. And so I would highly recommend it. So definitely. So Jim May, you've got a poem for us.
SPEAKER 08 :
I've got a holiday poem here. And I just wanted to say the experience of doing this has caused me to write more. Obviously, I used to just write for my family and little events and stuff like that. And this has been a lot of fun for me. And I've grown a lot. And as I wrote this, I started thinking, you know, Jim, you're not just talking to You know, Christians at Christmastime, there's Hanukkah and everything out there, Kwanzaa. And so I wrote this to be for all people today and maybe extend through the new year. The name of this poem is just Happy Holidays. It's finally Friday, and it's really hard to believe that in just a few short days it will be Christmas Eve. The Colorado Rockies are white with winter snow. It looks a lot like Christmas from the KLZ studio. I really like the front range view from the Kim Munson show. A big picture window, an American flag. And there's producer Joe. I've been lucky to be a part of it and say what I want to say. Free speech is what it's all about. It's the American way. I hope that you have enjoyed the cowboy poetry this year. It's a chance to share my thoughts and spread a little cheer. Most importantly, the work Ben here just means a lot to me. Thanks for supporting Lavaca Mead, and many thanks to KLV. This season sometimes makes you feel like you are a kid again, remembering Christmas past and let them come alive again. There are times you would like to hope the season never ends, sharing joy, love, and quality time with family and friends. And so I want to thank you all for your kind words this year. The phone calls, texts, the little things are just so nice to hear. I'm just a Colorado cowboy who would really like to say blessings of peace, joy, and love to you. And have a happy holiday.
SPEAKER 20 :
Jim May, that's beautiful.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you. I really mean that from the bottom of my heart. I hope everybody out there, no matter right, left, Woman, man, whatever race, it doesn't matter to me. And I just hope you all have a great holiday and a wonderful new year. I think we've got a new sheriff in town, and I think things are going to start to improve. And I really enjoy listening to Ellen's stories. They're about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and all that stuff. That was cool. And just keep that spirit going and come by and see us at Lavaca Meat.
SPEAKER 20 :
And Lavaca Meat is located at the corner of Nevada and Maine. And of course, Old Littleton is so beautiful this time of year, Jim May. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas, prosperous 2025. And I thank you for sharing these fabulous poems with us. It's a great, it just really adds something to Friday, I think.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, right back at you, Kim. And I hope you all have a wonderful, not only Christmas, but the upcoming. That's a nice thing. We've still got one more holiday after that. So let's keep having fun.
SPEAKER 20 :
Absolutely. Again, that's Jim May with Lavaca Meat Company. And another nonprofit that I really highlight on the show on a regular basis is the USMC Memorial Foundation. And I would highly recommend that you buy a brick between now and the end of the year to honor your military service, your loved one's military service, because they have a matching program. And you can get more information by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. That's usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And it's a perfect segue into we've been promoting Doyle Glass's book, Swift Sword. And it's about Marines. in Vietnam. Very important book, and he's been focusing this whole week on a national push to sell the book, again, to remember our Vietnam veterans and to say thank you.
SPEAKER 16 :
Eyes peeled and moving quickly, Lance Corporal Jack Swan led 164 of his fellow U.S. Marines from Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines over the face of a bare, rocky knoll to rescue an isolated company of fellow Leathernecks besieged by the Communist North Vietnamese Army. Then all hell broke loose. Instead of rescuing their fellow comrades, the Marines now faced complete annihilation. Author Doyle Glass tells their story in Swift Sword, a true Vietnam War story of epic courage and brotherhood in the face of insurmountable odds. Order Swift Sword by Doyle Glass now. They never gave up. We should never forget.
SPEAKER 09 :
There are always opportunities in changing markets, and the metro real estate market is no exception. That is why you need to work with seasoned RE-MAX Alliance realtor Karen Levine when you buy your home, sell your home, consider the opportunities of a new build, or explore investment properties. Rising interest rates are spurring creativity, innovation, and opportunity in the real estate and mortgage markets. Kim Munson highly recommends award-winning REMAX realtor Karen Levine. Call Karen Levine today at 303-877-7516 for answers to all your real estate questions. That's 303-877-7516.
SPEAKER 13 :
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 20 :
Indeed, it is Friday. Welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Check out our website. That is 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. 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 thank you to Laramie Energy for their goal sponsorship of the show. because it is reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy sources from coal, natural gas, and oil that helps power our lives and fuels our hopes and dreams. So pleased to have in the studio with me Professor Kurt Gerwitz. It's great to have you. It's good to be here. And Alan Thomas has stayed for the second hour as well. And so DOJ, that's the Department of Government Efficiency. And Donald Trump has put Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in charge of that. And first of all, apparently Elon Musk was very influential in making sure that the 1,500-page document uh, continuing resolution, uh, which, uh, did not pass. And so one of our listeners, thank you. Uh, Connie said that Mike Johnson dumped a 1500 page, uh, CR omnibus full of pork. It did not pass. I think that's good. Then president Trump's team came up with a continuing resolution that would help hurricane victims, farmers, and keep the government open. It did not pass. I think that's unfortunate. I think it's crazyville, uh, kurt gerwitz that here we are a few days before they needed to have something done they've been messing around in washington dc they don't have a budget and now they say hey if you don't do this that we're going to shut down the government what do you think about that
SPEAKER 17 :
It's human nature to wait for a deadline. One of the teaching gigs I had was teaching negotiations, and it was an amazing experience. We would split people into twos, buyers and sellers, and we'd pair them up, and then we'd say at the end, you had your sheet, each side had their sheet, and we're prepared, and then you'd go and see if you could come to a deal or not. And we bring everybody back into the room and say, is there anyone who could have used more time? And more than half the room raises their hand, right? And you could also ask, like, when did the deal get done? It's like last minute, right? It's human nature. And so the teachable moment was so classic. It was... why didn't you ask for it this is a negotiation class you could have asked me the facilitator hey can we have five more minutes and we would have given it to you maybe maybe not but you you'll never get it without asking for one right and so yeah it's it's uh it's human nature to wait to deadlines deadlines are important a piece of the accountability piece
SPEAKER 20 :
What do you think, though? I've been making some changes in my life. I had talked with someone about Joe Rogan, who's wildly successful. A little bit.
SPEAKER 17 :
$500 million. Yeah.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
It's like more than any baseball player ever. And he just he's just a guy having conversation. You're we're doing it. We're announcing my podcast. You're coming on my show.
SPEAKER 20 :
OK, definitely. But so I listen to one of his podcasts and he was talking about being a success. And he said and, you know, he was a what a fighter.
SPEAKER 17 :
UFC UFC UFC fighter martial arts.
SPEAKER 20 :
And he said he became successful because he did the most difficult things first. And so I've started to try to do that as well. And I'm seeing a change in getting things done. And it's really affected my life, Kurt.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, there's a concept called eat a frog. You know, if the first thing you do in your day is to eat a frog, the rest of your day is going to be pretty easy. So you make that disgusting face. And that's the face, that's that feeling that a lot of us get about the hardest thing to do during the day or the most disgusting. If you just did something that has to be done, it's on the critical path to achieve your goal. Get it done first and it'll get done more often and it'll make the rest of the day easier. And yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER 20 :
What do you think about that, Alan Thomas?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I've heard the eat the frog, and as a chronic procrastinator, thank you for justifying why I procrastinate so much. I'm explaining it, not justifying it. That'll make my wife very happy. Maybe she'll start setting earlier deadlines for me. Yeah.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, the other thing, life does get full. And so we understand that as well. And there are things that you know you've got this deadline over here, but there's other things that needs to get done before that. And that's valid as well. But doing the most difficult things first in the day is actually it's pretty liberating to make that happen. So the fact that Congress has waited again until just a few days and said, hey, if you don't do this, then we're going to shut down the government. You know they've been negotiating on this whole thing. And Alan, to your point, the political maneuvering on this is a little wild. As Connie said, there's the reality, but there's that whole political maneuvering, which is somewhat curious.
SPEAKER 02 :
It is, and you know, it's... Again, we kind of play into the Democrats hands so, so often, don't we? I mean, as opposed to submitting continuous resolutions a month ago and saying, hey, it's actually the Democrats that are being the bad faith actors. Now we look like now Republicans look like the bad faith actors. And now the Democrats are going to say, oh, you don't want to pay federal workers on Christmas and New Year's and whatever. What a terrible way to start out the new year because these awful Republicans just want to help millionaires, right? So, again, there's principle and there's pragmatism, right? And too often the pragmatic gets dragged down by people that want to be too principled. And there is a point to principle, but there also is – a a filthy pragmatism that accompanies politics i mean case in point our constitution when you talk about pragmatism it had the opportunity to say slavery is wrong and we could have wrestled with that reality from day one of our country uh but there there was this pragmatic approach that said we're not going to get this constitution unless we make some concessions and so that's That's been politics for over a millennia. It'll be politics until humans are wiped off this planet.
SPEAKER 20 :
But from a principle standpoint, the story of the Constitution, many of the states didn't want to ratify without a Bill of Rights. And Madison said, ratify this and we'll get you the Bill of Rights. And they trusted him because he was a man of principle. He was a man of his word. And Kurt Gerwitz, that's pretty unique in human nature.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, you know, going back to the horse trading that's happening right now, you know, they passed a law. They took out pork out of Congress, and they went a decade, and nothing got done, and they were all frustrated. So we had to bring it back. We had to let people put in—what do they call it? They're not dog ears. Yeah, ear marks. Ear marks, yeah. They had to put in—I like dog ears. I don't want to call them dog ears. They had to put earmarks back in because people were like, I have to – I'm accountable to my local constituents, my voters, and they need me to fight for them to have jobs. That's what they hired. I'm their hired lawyer, their representative in the system, and I've got – we've got to have – I have to have something to trade. You have to have something to offer me for me to give you my vote. You mentioned Joe Reagan – Joe Rogan – Joe Reagan. How about that? Yeah. There's an interesting portmanteau. He had Blagojevich on the show recently. I haven't seen it yet. But that – do you remember? I do. He got in trouble for trading – Barack Obama's Senate seat. Senate seat, yeah. And he – And they have him on tape saying it's something of value. You don't just give that away. And who's clasping their pearls at such a statement? It's always been my understanding. That's just how this stuff works. It's politics. How is he the fall guy when there's so many... There's something there in that story I don't understand. But yeah, it's ugly, it's messy. I've always applauded you, Kim, for being willing to. You dress so nice and you're such a pretty young lady here. And you go and you get in the mud and you get in the dirt with those, what is it, teaching a pig to sing or wrestling a pig, right? It's just you're wasting your time and the pig enjoys it and you get all dirty. But I honor you for that.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, I tell you what, Kurt Gerwitz, I think part of it is probably America's Veterans Story Show and then getting to know Drew Dix, the Center for American Values. These... And I say men because primarily it was World War II. It was guys that were in combat. And hearing these stories of people willing to put their lives on the line, guys that have given their lives so that we could have liberty and And I think about our next generation and the generation after that. And this country was founded on people that stepped forward and were willing to give their lives for liberty. And I feel like I have to do my part. So that's why I do that. And I love people, but what I get very frustrated with is when people are trying to manipulate or lie. And that's where then I get into the fight. You're a crusader. I guess so. And my four years on city council was so eye-opening. And then I've served on different boards for nonprofits. And all of that has been very eye-opening. And so I've learned, Alan, kind of how the sausage is made. And ultimately, everyday people, we look out the window here at KLZ. We see cars going by. Everyday people that they just want to pursue their happiness. And it is PBIs that are doing the stuff that you're talking about, buying and selling, Senate seats, horse trading, all that. And that's wrong. And so my job is to shed light on that. That's what I think, Alan.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. And, you know, some of that masks a societal issue. Right. I mean, the fact that the fact that he knows he can hold on to that Senate seat or the fact that if we take pork out of out of bills, that nothing gets done shows how much people's vote can be bought. And that was a big fear of the founding fathers. They said, hey, if government ever figures out that they can buy people's vote with their own money, right. we're going to be in trouble as a republic. And we're really seeing the symptoms of that. And a lot of the solutions are more government, more pork, more this, that, or the other. And it's masking an underlying societal problem that's more difficult to address and to fix, especially as principled conservatives.
SPEAKER 01 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, it's tough to go out there and make people see that asking for federal money in their district is actually a net negative in their life, that the tax dollars have to come from somewhere. So, you know, we just have to be strategic and we have to just constantly be on the offensive to try and show people that, no, we want government as small as possible, that it's actually better for their lives if that's the case.
SPEAKER 20 :
And so it's a communication thing. And certainly Ronald Reagan was not perfect. And over the Thanksgiving holiday, I rented the movie Reagan. Many of you had said, Kim, you need to watch it. Well, I watched it, and then I rented it the next day, and the next day I should have just purchased it because there were so many different nuances in there as well. But I think that the thing is, is instead of saying I'm going to bring home the pork, I think that as from a communication standpoint, you say, I'm taking the stand because if government is smaller and you have more liberty in your life, you're ultimately going to thrive and flourish. And so we'll talk about a little bit of pork. And I want to talk with about if there's any agencies that should not be on the chopping block for,
SPEAKER 11 :
for doge and one of those might be the small business administration so we're going to talk about that with kurt gerwitz as well and we have all these important discussions because of our sponsors and one of those is lauren levy if you're 62 or older a reverse mortgage could be a great tool regarding retirement and estate planning it is essential to understand the process lauren levy with polygon financial group has nearly 20 years in the mortgage industry and has the experience to answer your questions Lauren understands that each financial transaction is personal. If you'd like to explore your options on a reverse mortgage, remodel your home, buy a rental property or move, call Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881. Licensed in 49 states, Kim Monson highly recommends Lauren Levy for all your mortgage needs. Call Lauren at 303-880-8881.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
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.
SPEAKER 20 :
Indeed. It is Friday. Welcome back to the Kim Munson Show. 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. I do want to recognize our Colorado Union of Taxpayers, my fellow board members. That's Steve Dorman, Greg Golianski, Russ Haas, Bill Hamill, Carl Honiger, Rob Knuth, John Nelson, Joseph O'Loughlin, Wendy Warner, Marty Nielsen, Ramey Johnson and Mary Jansen. we're gonna get through Christmas New Year's then the Colorado State Legislature will convene and we will be going to work to watch different legislation and if you would like to get our weekly email that we send to all of the legislators and the governor regarding our positions on different bills join us it's only $25 a year and you will be very very informed so if You can do that by going to coloradotaxpayer.org. That's coloradotaxpayer.org. We were talking about pork that is in these continuing resolution bills and earmarks, and I totally disagree with all of that. I would say let's let everyday people keep their money. Let's not borrow money. money from our children and grandchildren, more and more debt. So I got a little story for you when I was on city council. I know that I've told this before, but it was something that I was really grappling with. And Kurt, I'll go to you first on this. So I'm on city council and i thought that in the spirit of the constitution that at city council we would debate these issues that are in front of us and the public could come in and make public comment and that then then we would make a decision and the majority would you're laughing you're right because that's not that's exactly uh actually what i learned was study session is where you're going to see a lot of things and mary jansen i think she agrees with us because she was on city council in lakewood so A study session is where you really see what's kind of coming down the pike. But then there's things that have been talked about even before it gets to study session. So the mayor had approached each of the city council members and his thing, he was focused on light rail. He likes mass transit. And he wanted mass transit to come to Lone Tree. And then that would be good for development or good for the developer as they're developing Ridgegate. And so I was on 2012 to 2016 during the Obama years. And, of course, Obama was pushing the World Economic Forum, getting people out of their cars, onto buses. trains and buses and so they were offering what was called these new start grants to several municipal well several regional areas to put in light rail which was pushing forward this whole agenda by the world economic forum i didn't know it at the time i just kind of felt like you two look like i'm boring you i'm sorry so anyway um It was kind of like, we need to apply for this New Starts grant, and it would be good for the community. I was like, okay. We didn't really take a vote on it, but we went ahead and applied. I was new, seemed like, okay, you think it's good, okay. But then as I was learning more and more, it was highly expensive. It was like $207 million for 2.3 miles, and we were taking $96 million of federal money, which I thought that's wrong to be borrowing that from our neighbors and our children. And so I voted no on it. I kid you not, a very influential Republican that lives in my neighborhood was so frustrated with me. And I said, this isn't right to take this government money. And she said, Kim, if we don't take it, someone else will. And that's akin to if we don't rob you, somebody else will. So you might as well let us get to it. That's my opinion. What do you think?
SPEAKER 17 :
You've got a point. And I wasn't bored. I was frustrated by the topic. Yeah, I hold my nose when I vote most of the time, right? Like, it's a fascinating question you brought up. But the clean piece of this, the cleanest piece of this is, like, how wasteful is it? How much does it cost per mile? Why does it cost so much per mile?
SPEAKER 06 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 17 :
Like, can America build? See, here's the thing, Kim. I'm such a strong believer in public transportation. And that's where you and I would probably disagree.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, we probably would.
SPEAKER 17 :
You know I'm a single-issue voter.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, and the reason is is because it's so totally subsidized.
SPEAKER 17 :
It requires community action, yeah. See, there's a balance in the world between the individual and the community. And we need, you know, liberals and liberals and conservatives. We need the left and the right. We need the yin and the yang. We need the Democrats and the Republicans. And I don't think we just need the two. I think we need a lot of outside voices, too. But, yeah, like there's there are things that require and the smaller, the better. Like like you in your first hour, you're talking about bringing down. That, you know, if we if we if we're winning against the socialists at the highest level, which we have in this last election, then now the fight goes to the states and the local. Well, that's a better place for it. And, you know, your family, no family is a democracy, right? Your children don't get to vote on whether they get to have Twizzlers for dinner.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, but that's the family. That's different than government.
SPEAKER 17 :
And then it goes, you know, the next step up is the church or the community, and then the next step up is the local. And so, yeah, local rule should. But sometimes it requires, you know, collective action.
SPEAKER 20 :
You mean legalized theft from one person to give to another?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I guess that's what I mean.
SPEAKER 20 :
What do you think, Alan?
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you, Kurt Gerwitz. No, absolutely. And it is an intriguing question. And the problem with subsidies is it's very easy to subsidize something and say, here's what was produced, right? I mean, this is economics in one lesson. This is the broken window fallacy. It's easy to say, hey, you know, the money is going to the glazier, you know, the person who's replacing the window. So actually it was a net positive for... The whole community.
SPEAKER 20 :
Let's set it up just so. What happened was is the store owner, somebody threw a rock through his window, and so the window's broken, and there are those that say that that's an economic driver.
SPEAKER 02 :
It's actually economically good because then the glazier gets business, and then the glazier's able to pay his employees, and he's able to do things. And what's ignored is you're able to say, okay, well, a new window pane of glass was built. A new light rail was built. A new... windmill of clean energy was built, it was subsidized. Here's what we did with your money. The problem is, is it's very in the air of what would have happened with that money had it not been taken from the business owner, had that taxes not been taken. And the point that is the store owner was forced to buy a window. What could he have invested in in himself, in his employees, in his business, or what could he have bought from other places? We'll never know. We'll never know where that money could have actually gone. And it's difficult to talk about an intangible thing. And when we talk about subsidies, that's the difficulty is it's easy to say, hey, we spent 95 million on this. It's very difficult to say, hey, what would a small business owner have done with an extra $400 or $500 in taxes. And if you spread that out across all the business owners, that $95 million, what net positive could have happened to society if we hadn't taken that $95 million from other people? And that's the difficulty about these conversations is there's an intangible thing. And then there's the, hey, here's what we did with it.
SPEAKER 20 :
Okay. So the store owner, now let's take out, let's say that he didn't have insurance, but even if he had insurance, there is that cost. But let's say The brick comes through his window, he has to pay money to have the glazer put in the new window, and of course all the downstream from the glass has to be produced and manufactured, all that. All these people have jobs. That's the argument. But if you look at it, the store owner had a window before. He has a window after. But he had to pay money that he could have used for something else. Instead, he's just at even. And so that's, I think, the fallacy of the broken window. Yes?
SPEAKER 02 :
Correct. And that's the difficulty of talking about subsidies, too, right? It's like, where could that money have actually been used? Because now we have a new window. Now we have a new fill in the blank. I mean, this isn't just public transportation. This is subsidies in general, right?
SPEAKER 20 :
So what do you think about that, Kurt?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I'm squirming in my seat here. If only we had an economics professor who could chime in on this. No, you guys, you've nailed it correctly. So the language I would add to it is, so it's an unseen opportunity cost. It's like, you know, I do more finance than economics. And in finance, we don't talk about what else you could have done with that money sometimes. So that's exactly the point, is the $95 million from the government to build, you know, in Colorado... It's not just that this is magic money from the government. This is taxpayers' dollars. And for the window, it's like what else would that owner have done with that money? Rather than repair something, he would have built something. And it's always better to build than to just repair. Exactly.
SPEAKER 20 :
Good point. We've got some great stuff coming in on the text line. I love this from Eric. He says, how about choice in transportation? So that's what they're trying to do is take away our choices.
SPEAKER 17 :
For me, the choice is like I don't have the choice to not have a car. That is not a choice in America. This is embarrassing for America. There's programs where like the government will help you buy a car because we know it's – if we're going to be in the streets and say that healthcare is a right and that's going to force doctors to work. then we're gonna how sooner is it before we say that having you know an automobile having that that mobility of that that version of mobility is a human right because it's required look i i you know i've been on the air with you almost two years now and one of my early subjects was social mobility and having a car is really really essential for people getting out of poverty and having a job and getting around, so cars are that important in the United States, and I encourage you, I was running, I tried to start a nonprofit, it failed quickly, to send politicians to Amsterdam, where you can see that people have made a choice to live better in community, And I think that I have a lot to say about cars and how evil they are in general. But the essentially like we could choose. We have such great weather and we've got a we've got a good nature loving population here. We should be on bicycles. It's more efficient. It's yes, there are there is a place for cars. But boy, like the roads.
SPEAKER 20 :
I couldn't do I couldn't do what I do on a bicycle, Kurt. You could. I couldn't. No, you couldn't. I have no interest in getting on a bicycle and riding over here at five o'clock in the morning. It's dangerous. It might be snowing. It might be snowing. It's rain. It would take me so much time. Then I can't go back.
SPEAKER 17 :
meet my clients i can't do that you're and you're lacking the i would i would have a non-profit that would send you to amsterdam to show you how life could be lived so much better than art like if you look at when they built the game um sim city they had to take out parking lots because parking lots they absolutely destroy community like making you tell me whether a community is like whether a street is more enjoyable if it's walkable or not
SPEAKER 20 :
We're talking about, that's a luxury. People, if they have, well, but those that are pushing public transportation, first of all, it's not economically viable. Because the cost, you're fair, and this was when I was on city council. The fare that you pay only covers 20% of the operating cost. It doesn't even cover anything for building it. And nobody wants to ride these trains because they're dirty, they're dangerous, they're inefficient. And so by subsidizing it, you're taking away other people's choices, Kurt.
SPEAKER 17 :
It's a lack of vision to imagine the world that I've seen where public transportation is clean and fun and you make a friend while you sit next to your neighbor. I think windshield time is one of the worst things on planet Earth, and it's the worst in America. I think a gift from COVID was work from home, and people realize that the commute is the strongest correlation to happiness is the inverse correlation to how long your commute is. So time in cars, we're individuals and we're sitting in SUVs, or most of us are sitting in sedans, but we're one and one in the car. And if you look at the amount of space that's being used, I've got more on this topic. I want to talk about how the SBA and how veteran services are flowing through the federal government to help our local veterans.
SPEAKER 20 :
Okay, let's just, I think we'll have part two on this next time you're in. Alan, would you like to say anything on this? Then we'll go to break.
SPEAKER 02 :
There's parts of things that you're touching on that I agree with, but I probably disagree with the With the conclusion, like, yes, commuting is terrible. I don't think anybody has talked about how wonderful they find the commute, but taking people's choices away. You know, we do this a lot where we compare ourselves to Europe and we forget how condensed Europe is and how how long it has existed before. And the time it takes to get from European countries is the United States is massive. It's absolutely massive. And you're talking about a homogeny or it's so heterogeneous in Europe, in certain places, that's difficult to take directly from them and put it into here. I mean, I've been to Paris and it is wonderful to be able to take. public transportation all around as a tourist. I'm not saying I'm not against public transportation. I'm saying that there is a difference between Europe and the U.S. And even with subsidizing it, we have not been able to copy that model. And there's something there that we need to figure out. But again, it doesn't justify subsidies either.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, I love the freedom of the open road. And I used to call my car, my commuting taking kids to school or whatever, the tube of truth. It was amazing what you would find out when you were in the car with your children. So, gosh, we're going to go to break and lots coming in on the text line. But we want to talk about Doge and the Small Business Administration. We have these discussions because of our sponsors. And if you've been injured, reach out as soon as possible to John Boson and Boson Law.
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 20 :
It is Friday. Welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Check out our website. That is 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. Thank you to all of you who support us. We're an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity as we look at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. Alan Thomas is in studio. We'll be rolling out your essay, Beautiful Christmas Stories. And Professor Kurt Gerwitz. I have to apologize. We're not going to get to the Small Business Administration. We'll do it next month. So first question coming in on the text line. How does a family of six get groceries home? Or if you're an electrician and you need your tools, how do you make all that happen on a bicycle?
SPEAKER 17 :
It does happen. It happens in a cargo bike, and kids should be walking to school. But I get it. We lack vision for this in the United States. If you haven't seen it, it's hard to imagine. It's impossible to imagine under the current state.
SPEAKER 20 :
So Amsterdam, this listener says Amsterdam has a huge drug problem and a lot of human trafficking.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, it's a large cosmopolitan city. It's one of the most diverse and capitalist places on planet Earth. It's a lot like New York City. It's the New York City of, you know, Northern Europe, perhaps. And New York City is a place where, you know, most of the citizens there prefer to not have a car.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah. Okay, let's get to Yvonne. She's on the line, and I want to get to some of these other text messages. Yvonne, what's on your radar?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, hi. First of all, I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and all the other holidays at the end of the year for you and Kirk and also Alan. And I was just really touched by all the Christmas stories that Alan was talking about. Sorry to interrupt your economics, but since it's Christmas, back to Christmas, I just wanted to thank Alan for that. As a veteran, and I had actually heard that one story from World War I, and it was just great to hear it again because sometimes you forget. And I think sometimes people also forget that military folks despise war more than anybody else. because it is us who have to fight, bleed, and die in them. And I think sometimes we're looked at as warm hungers or something when it's really quite the opposite. And that was beautifully illustrated by those people who left their trenches to go to the no man's land in between and celebrate together, if only for one evening. So I thought that was really, really beautiful. And I wanted to share what happened last evening. I was having dinner with a friend here at home. And we had a ring at the door, and we're like, oh, I wonder if it's, you know, a neighbor or something. And we went out, and there must have been over 20, I'm going to say 27, but it could have been more, teens with their Santa hats on, and they were singing Christmas carols. And I'm telling you, this has not happened in my neighborhood for probably over 20 years. I think in the almost 30 years or 20-something years that I've lived here, It might have happened once so long ago, I can't remember, but it did happen last night, and it just touched my heart. And having, you know, been a police officer and everything, there's a million things that young people can be out doing at night that is not good for them or for other people. And to see so many gathered, to just ring a stranger's doorbell and bring a little Christmas cheer, it just filled my heart, you know? And we joined in in song, and gosh dang it, between here and the next four days until Christmas, I might just grab hats with some other adults and go do it too.
SPEAKER 20 :
Oh, that's awesome, Yvonne. Thank you so much. Let's get back to some of these text messages. One says, try riding a bike in the snow. So riding... You have your Santa hat on now, Kurt. Yeah. Five o'clock in the morning. I'd have to leave at four o'clock in the morning. No, no. I like freedom of transportation. I don't like all these subsidies. Another one said, and this after the whole Daniel Penny thing, how safe are the subways in the big cities? I used to go to New York regularly. I wouldn't want to get on the subways right now. I never did like, you know, walking down those stairs or going down the escalator. And I never liked getting on the subway, Kurt.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, it's terrible. The only thing worse is a car.
SPEAKER 20 :
Oh, my gosh. I love my freedom of mobility. And you know what? Fine, but don't take my money to subsidize what you want to have happen.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I mean, you don't think that the way that America's set up has been subsidized? You don't think that this has been the influence of... It's one of my favorite conspiracies is the the streetcar conspiracy was Firestone and GM. And they went around city to city and took out streetcars. And I mean, it was a big deal in New Orleans. My dad was out there protesting in 1960. And and then it was in 2000. I think it was before he died. It was in the 2000s that they put the streetcar lines back in. They're romantic and they go where you expect them to go. They had taken them out and replaced them with buses because you can sell a bus and you can replace tires. But the streetcar was too good to be true.
SPEAKER 20 :
I think the bottom line, I get your whole subsidy thing, but I like my freedom of mobility. I like to go where I want to when I want to.
SPEAKER 17 :
It comes at the cost of other people being able to have the freedom to walk to places. It's about urban design. It's the freedom to not have a car in the United States, to move from poverty into the middle class. Good luck. You've got to have a car.
SPEAKER 20 :
Okay. We're just about out of time. Anything you want to say on this, Alan?
SPEAKER 02 :
Again, I think you can touch on two things and they can be true. Absolutely, I'm completely against cronyism where big businesses get in the pocket of government and take away things to pad their bottom line. Do I fully believe that GM Buick Firestone got so big that they used the government to get their way? Absolutely. And that continues today. And I would be 100% in favor of government... reducing regulations, getting rid of compliance to allow the free market to come to a solution, whether that is the vision of Kurt here or whether that's the vision somewhere in between. But let free market figure out what people really want and take away the ability of government to get into bed with big businesses, let them compete the same way everybody else does, and let the consumer decide what's best. And really, that's going to be the... That's really the difference between the European model and our model is we are very unrelenting on our freedom to choose. And we are very distrusting of a government ever having our best interest in mind. And as long as we have that difference of opinion, it's going to be difficult to enact a lot of these different ideas.
SPEAKER 20 :
But it's important to have these discussions. So, Kurt, thank you for being here. We're just about out of time.
SPEAKER 17 :
Can I get one sentence in or no? You tell me. You hate it that we're subsidizing electric, but you've forgotten that we have subsidized the internal combustion engine from the past. I'll say this. Yvonne was right. The only thing more interesting than economics is indeed love. So let's get out there and sing Christmas carols.
SPEAKER 20 :
Okay. Kurt Gerwitz, thanks for being here. Appreciate it. Alan Thomas, thank you so much for being here. Our quote for the end of the show is what General McAuliffe said when he was presented with the request to surrender from the Germans at Bastogne in World War II, Battle of the Bulge. He said, nuts. Nuts. And so 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. God bless America, and Merry, Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 05 :
Tell them if I don't survive, I was born.
SPEAKER 12 :
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.
God uses undeserved suffering to get you to orient to His grace. Grace is unmerited favor—His divine provisions. “We can be enabled by means of the grace of God” (1 Col 10:13). Grace is the means of conveying the power of God to you. At the point of weakness because of suffering or testing, you will either turn to God for support or turn away in anger or bitterness. At your weakest point, you can be your strongest. “My grace is sufficient for you because My strength is made perfect in your weakness” (1 Cor 12:10). Suffering is designed to get you to rebound or for blessing, to get you to grow. Grace orientation is you using the same grace assets that Jesus Christ used as God-man. We are to stand fast in grace and “Not come short of the grace of God” (Heb 12:15). Use grace orientation and thank God for testing and suffering.
Click for Full Transcript: https://rhem.pub/grace-orientation-f3682
Grace Orientation in Testing
Transcript of FLOT Line Episode 615 aired on June 11, 2017
Good morning and welcome to the FLOT Line. I'm your host Rick Hughes and for the next few
minutes, please stay with me. Our show is always about motivation, inspiration, education,
always done with no manipulation. No games, no gimmicks, no appeals for money, no soliciting
membership, we’re not trying to sell you anything. We're just offering accurate information that
my prayer is will help you verify and identify the plan of God for your life and if you can do this,
well then you have the freedom and the privacy to orient and adjust to the plan. That's up to you,
it's your life. You control your own destiny. You control your own decisions. I learned a long
time ago and you know this too, we can't change anyone but ourselves and so when we get to a
point in our lives where we’re willing to make a change, then we’ll do something about it. As far
as God goes, there's always a time when you need to orient and adjust to His plan. You cannot
continue to walk down the My Way Highway doing things your way if you are a believer in
Jesus Christ because it is a dead end street, it is a cul-de-sac. You will go on a frantic search for
happiness and you'll never find it.
So one of the ways that God guides us, one of the ways that
God leads us, one of the ways that God teaches us is through undeserved suffering,
suffering that believers often go through designed to orient us to grace.
Paul put it this way
in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He said,
“There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to
man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Now this is
not the word temptation as we know temptation. This is not God tempting you to sin. The word
is
peirasmos
in the Greek New Testament and it means a test. If we translated it correctly, it
would say in the original languages,
“There has no testing overtaken you but such is common to
man.”
God tests us. God puts us through the fire designed to refine us, designed to bring us in
line with His will. When Paul wrote to Timothy the young pastor he said,
“You my son, be strong
in the grace that is in Jesus Christ.”
In this verse,
“Be strong in the grace that is in Jesus
Christ,”
is a present active imperative verb and I tell you this because in the Greek New
Testament these things are very important. The present tense is a durative which means there
never is a time when he's not to be strong in the grace of God and the active voice tells us the
subject produces the action of the verb so he's not the recipient of it, he's the producer of it. And
the imperative mood is what we call the verbal command. This is a command of God. When it
says,
“Be strong,”
it is the word
endunamoo,
and the word for power is
dunamis.
We get an
English word from this dynamite and so this verse simply says,
“We can receive power by means
of the grace of God.”
“We can be enabled by means of the grace of God”
(1 Corinthians
10:13).
So the strength that you and I need to face any testing, any adversity whether it's fair or
unfair, the strength that we need is us orienting to God's enabling grace assets. God has given us
grace assets and these assets are available to us 24/7. As a reminder, the supreme court of heaven
is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So any complaints, any problems, any difficulties, you can
615-Grace-Orientation-in-Testing-transcript.pdf
always go straight to the Father because you are a believer priest and you have that privilege to
do this. So if we're talking about the strength we need to face adversity and unfair testing, these
tests are always designed to strengthen us and this is found in orienting to God's enabling grace. I
want to read to you what Paul said about this in 2 Corinthians 12. Here is something that's very
insightful, it's encouraging, listen,
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to
buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I sought the Lord three times that
it might depart from me and He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee because My strength
is made perfect in your weakness.’ Most gladly therefore I would rather glory in my infirmities,
so that the power of Christ may rest on me. Therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities, in my
reproaches, in necessities, in persecution, in distress, for Christ’s sake. For when I'm weak, then
I’m strong.”
Now when he said,
“The measure that was given to him,”
when he said,
“This thing
happened to him because of the measure that was given to him,”
God allowed a severe test to be
administered to Paul so that he wouldn’t get arrogant about his experiences. Here’s what it says
beginning in 2 Corinthians 12:7,
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh.”
Paul talked about how
he had died and gone to heaven, how he had seen the Father, and how the Lord had told him not
to tell anybody what he saw and then had given him this [thorn in his flesh] to keep him humble
in his life so that he wouldn't get arrogant about it. 2 Corinthians 12:1-6, you can read this for
yourself. Paul wanted the thorn to be removed. He wanted the suffering to go away. Was he
suffering for sin? No. Was he suffering for anything he did wrong? No. Why was he suffering?
To keep him oriented to grace so that he would keep his eyes on grace. Did God answer his
prayer the first time he prayed and asked Him to take it away? No. Did God answer his prayer
the second time he prayed and asked Him to take away this thorn in his flesh? No. What about
the third time? Well God said what I read to you.
“He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee’
My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
That's almost an enigma, the weaker we are, the
stronger we are. Let me give you some principles. For the maturing believer and hopefully that’s
you, hopefully it's me, that's the believer that understands the mechanics to the Spirit filled life
by the use of rebound, that’s problem-solving device number one in the FLOT line of his soul.
That’s the believer who understands that he is to
“Grow in the grace and the knowledge of his
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,”
he's the maturing believer, he takes in the Word of God on a daily
basis. He's not a member of the nod to God crowd. He's not your traditional Christian that just
shows up one day a week, puts on the suit, goes to church, puts some money in the offering
plate, goes home, and promptly forgets everything that he heard. That’s ritual without reality. If
you are going to church and it’s ritual without reality, it is meaningless. It means nothing to you.
It must not be ritual. Your Christian life is based on a relationship founded through faith alone in
Christ alone and it’s not a religious ritual that you go through to impress God. So if you are a
maturing believer, then you are actually at your strongest point when you are the weakest in life.
Did you hear this? When you are weak, you're really strong. Listen, this is what Paul said,
“Most
615-Grace-Orientation-in-Testing-transcript.pdf
gladly would I rather glory in my testing
[in my infirmities]
so that the power of Christ may rest
on me and God said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you because my strength is made perfect in your
weakness.’”
At this point of weakness because of testing you will either turn to God for
support or you will turn away from God in anger or bitterness.
Whenever unfair
circumstances happen in your life like were happening to Paul, this thorn in the flesh from Satan
whatever it was, there are a lot of different people that guess what it could have been but it was
something 24/7. It was something that nagged at him constantly, it would never go away. It was
some sort of suffering that he had. If you had that would you gripe? Would you complain? Would
you be bitter at God? Would you be angry at God because He didn't answer your prayer and He
didn't take that away from you? If He doesn't take it away, there’s always a reason.
Remember,
suffering is designed to either get you to rebound from your unconfessed sin or it’s designed
to bless you, to help you to grow, to refine you, to purge out parts of you that don't need to
be there. So at your weakest point, you can be your strongest when you use your grace
assets.
Even though Paul asked God three times to remove the test, every time he would ask Him
God would say, “No, no, no,” and God said,
“My grace is sufficient for you.”
Paul's reply is,
“My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly I accept these sufferings so that the
power of Christ may rest on me.”
Now here's the question, what is the power of Christ? Did you
hear, what is the power of Christ? That's what Paul is saying, “I accept this so that the power of
Christ may rest on me,” wow. Well, what do you think the power of Christ is? Let me give you
the answer. It begins with a mandate to grow in grace.
“Keep on growing in the sphere of
grace,”
2 Peter 3:18 says.
“Keep on growing in the sphere of grace and in the sphere of
knowledge about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory to Him both now and glory to Him in
the day of eternity. Amen.”
The strength of Jesus Christ was the grace of God.
The strength of
Jesus Christ was the grace of God. When you utilize the same grace assets He utilized, this
is grace orientation,
a problem-solving device. Problem-solving device number four on the
FLOT line of your soul, grace orientation.
In 1 Peter 4:12, again,
“Beloved think it not strange
concerning the fiery trials which try you as though something strange happened to you, but
rejoice inasmuch as you are partakers of the suffering of Jesus Christ so that when His glory
will be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
If you are going through unfair
testing you can do one or two things. You can react to the unfair test by getting bitter and by
getting angry and that's a failure to have any humility in your life. That’s your own arrogance,
it’s called self-pity, it’s having a little pity party. It is you looking at your own problems, at your
own self and demanding to know why God won't take it away. If you get into self-pity, that's
nothing more than an arrogant reaction to what you deem is unfair. First of all, we must go
through unfair testing so that we can mature. Even as a child, were you not disciplined for
something that you did not do? Were you not called on the carpet for something that your brother
did or your sister did? Were you not disciplined in school for something someone else did and
how did you handle this? Did you get angry? Did you stomp off and slam the door and say, “I
didn't do that,” and “This is not fair?” See, this is the arrogant attitude that a lot of believers get
615-Grace-Orientation-in-Testing-transcript.pdf
when they go through this testing. This is not the attitude you're suppose to have. The attitude
you're suppose to have is the attitude of humility because the Bible says,
“God makes war
against the arrogant, but in fact He gives grace to the humble.”
The attitude of humility is how
you handle unfair testing and so that's why Peter says,
“Don't think it strange these trials that try
you, as though some strange thing happened to you.”
Listen, it’s happening to all believers. All
believers are going through these things and yet if you center on yourself, if you think you're the
only one that's having this, then you're dead wrong. I've been through it, you've been through it,
we can compare notes. We could talk about the times we suffered and see who suffered the most
and we will suffer more in the future. There's no doubt about it, but suffering for Christ’s sake
relates to us taking a stand for Jesus Christ, for living in the devil's world, and being persecuted
because we are believers and there's a lot of this going on in America today.
So the only way
that you and I can pass any sort of suffering test is to use the power of Jesus Christ, the
same power He did, which is grace orientation.
Was it fair that Christ went to the cross? No.
Did He do anything wrong? No. Was He guilty of a crime? No. Did He ever sin? No, but He
went to the cross. He was scourged, beaten, mocked, crucified, died, buried, and resurrected and
yet He never complained. He simply said,
“Father forgive them. They do not know what they're
doing.”
You didn’t find any bitterness in Jesus Christ in His unfair testing. You didn’t find Him
reacting and getting angry about the Father's desire for Him to go to the cross for the sins of the
world. You could just see the Lord Jesus Christ say, “Are You telling Me I've got to die for the
sins of Rick Hughes? That jerk, that louse, that idiot, I'm not going to die for him,” and yet He
did. He died for me, the jerk, the louse, the idiot. He died for you too. He took our place. He paid
our penalty and He did it willingly. So grace, the grace assets that Christ utilized, what He
thought was grace. Grace is the means of conveying the power of God to the life of the ordinary
believer like you and me. We’re told in 1 Peter 5:5,
“Clothe ourselves with humility toward one
another because God makes war against arrogant believers, but He
[listen now, here it is]
He
gives grace to the humble.”
Grace is a system of support. Grace is a system of sustaining you.
Grace is a power option in your life when you learn it, use it, when you understand it. The grace
of God is amazing and so the Bible goes on to say,
“Humble yourself under the mighty hand of
God, so He could promote you at the proper time.”
What's the proper time? After you're tested,
after you've gone through this.
In 1 Corinthians 15:10,
“But by the grace of God
[Paul wrote]
I
am what I am and His grace toward me did not prove to be in vain but I labored even more than
all of them, and yet not I, but the grace of God was with me.”
And then in Ephesians 1:6,
“To the
praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the beloved One.”
Grace, the
Greek word is C.H.A.R.I.S.,
charis,
grace, unmerited favor, freedom.
Grace is unmerited favor.
It's a divine provision for all of mankind before salvation, during your time on this earth,
and even after your time on this earth.
There are three categories of grace that we can identify
from the Bible. The first one, and I remember my pastor teaching me these things years ago, was
pre-salvation grace, and this included all that God is free to do for the spiritually dead person.
This is called common grace. Common grace is all God has done for every member of the human
615-Grace-Orientation-in-Testing-transcript.pdf
race, not just a few. All, because the Bible says,
“God is not willing that any should perish but
all should come to the knowledge of Christ.”
So the common grace that God gives to us is the
divine call and then there's efficacious grace. That's another type of grace, efficacious grace is
saving grace. Common grace is God gives you the opportunity to hear the gospel, to hear the
truth. Efficacious grace is God takes the truth you heard and responded to and He saves you, He
puts you into His royal family. Salvation grace which includes all that God accomplished to save
a spiritually dead person like you or me, that's the saving work of Christ on the cross. That's the
judgment of God on the Son. That's the revelation of the message by God the Holy Spirit and
actually there are many, many, many things God does for us at salvation. We have a list of about
40 things that my pastor compiled many years ago that God provides at the moment of salvation
and we can provide that for you if you'd like to know it, write to us, we’ll send you the book. So
pre-salvation grace, this is all God is free to do for you before you ever get saved.
Then we have
post-salvation grace and this includes the divine provisions of God so you can fulfill His
plan and His will.
You can live out His purpose for your life and it includes, this is the amazing
thing about it, it includes everything you need. Every asset you need, everything that you need
apart from any human merit, on the part of any Christian, God provides it all. He provides the
strength by means of the Holy Spirit. He provides direction by means of His Word and by a good
well-qualified pastor who teaches it to you. He provides protection,
“Greater is He that is in you
than he that is in the world.”
He provides promotion, He promotes us in due time the Bible says,
in due time and so it's amazing. You don't have to rely on your own ability. You don't have to rely
on your own assets. You don't have to guess what God wants you to do or doesn't want you to do
and you don't have to worry about being able to handle the difficulties. Everything you need is
already provided for you. It's all there. It's all common and efficacious grace turned into post-
salvation grace which is living grace. It's the grace that Paul utilized when he suffered in 2
Corinthians 12.
When God said,
“My grace is sufficient,”
this grace was the power of Jesus
Christ, grace orientation.
When Jesus Christ said to the Father,
“Not My will but Thy will be
done,”
that's grace orientation. You know Jesus Christ is God and as God He's also man. He’s
undiminished deity and true humanity in one body forever, the God-man. We call this in
theological terms, hypostatic union, the God-man. While He was here as a man, He never
utilized His deity to sustain His humanity. That's called in theological terms, the doctrine of
kenosis. Never once did He utilize His own deity to sustain His humanity. You might remember
the song, “He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set Him free, but He died
alone for you and me.” As God He fed 5,000, as God He raised the dead, as God He healed the
crippled and the blind and the lame. He did many, many things as God, but never as a man did
He rely on His deity. Do you know what He relied on? God's grace, He utilized the same grace
assets you have. He had the enduement or the filling of the Holy Spirit, you have this. He had
His Father's Word as promises and provisions in the power and you have this. Everything that He
needed to live His life as a man was the predecessor to the Christian life for us. We are
Christians, we are Christ-like, we are living using the same assets He used while He was on this
615-Grace-Orientation-in-Testing-transcript.pdf
earth as a man. What He used, we use. These assets are ours and that's grace orientation. He used
the grace of God and it’s an amazing thing. Grace is what God does for the believer totally apart
from any merit on the part of any Christian, it's amazing. In our post-salvation grace He keeps on
giving greater grace and the Bible tells us,
“He makes war against the arrogant,”
as I told you,
but greater grace means greater than the pre-salvation grace. Pre-salvation grace or common
grace was one thing, but this is greater. It's the greatest grace of all. Post-salvation grace includes
more grace than anything else in life.
In John 1:16 we read,
“From His fullness we have all
received even grace in exchange for grace.”
In other words, we've exchanged salvation grace
for post-salvation grace.
If we are saved by grace, then we should live by grace.
“The law was
given through Moses and grace and truth came through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So in 1 Peter
4:12,
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which try you is something
strange that happened to you, but rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ’s suffering so
that when His glory will be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
So don't think
it’s strange that you’re suffering. Don’t think it’s strange that you’re enduring adversity. Don’t
think it’s strange that you're going through some sort of unfair testing. Utilize your grace assets,
the supreme court of heaven is open 24 hours a day. Paul told you this is for your growth. We
saw that in the beginning of this passage. We saw in the beginning of this passage where we
studied this and how grace causes you to grow in Christ. Psalm 119:71,
“It is good that I've been
afflicted in order that I may learn Your statutes,”
t
hat's what it's about. And so post-salvation
grace, under the policy of grace, all believers are mandated to live the grace oriented life. 1 Peter
5:12,
“I’ve written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God.
Stand fast in it.”
We are to stand fast in the grace orientation of God. We are not to be confused
by legalism, we are not to be impressed by our own works.
We are to stand fast in grace,
“Not
come short of the grace of God,”
as Hebrews 12:15 says.
“Not to receive the grace of God in
vain,”
as 2 Corinthians 6:1 says,
“Not to nullify the grace of God,”
such as Galatians 2:21. You
live in a unique time, a unique dispensation called the Church Age and you have the greatest
grace assets the world has ever known. You are unique, don't forget this. Nothing can bog you
down. Nothing can harm you. Nothing can slow you down.
Use grace orientation and thank
God for the testing.
I'm your host Rick Hughes, I hope you come back next week, same time,
same place
In this episode of Rush to Reason, host John Rush delves into the intricate dynamics of the housing market, uncovering the ways recent Federal Reserve decisions impact mortgage rates. Joined by financial expert Kurt Rogers, they explore the differences between short-term and long-term loans and the challenges of a fluctuating bond market. Understand how inflation and consumer spending affect these financial decisions, and gain insights into what these mean for potential homeowners.
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Yeah, it was just a weird November.
SPEAKER 04 :
Best everything else.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, it was. Here today, going to talk a lot about not only mortgages, but the housing market and some of what the Fed did yesterday. And I guess we'll start with that, Kurt. Why is it that the Feds can come out with a rate cut, but yet mortgages respond the way they did last night?
SPEAKER 13 :
A lot of people have asked me that question over the years, and you can explain it to them. What they have to understand about the Feds, the Feds' job is to create money, the flow of money in the country. So they're always dealing with short term loans, not long term loans. So they're dealing with credit card loans and car loans and HELOC loans and things like that. The mortgage industry is designed basically off the 10-year bond. So if you want to see what's happening in the bond market, you just go to the 10-year, look at it, add anywhere from two and a quarter to two and a half, and that's your 30-year fixed rate.
SPEAKER 05 :
And really quick, of late, last few years, that spread's been bigger, right?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yes, it used to be three and a half.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 13 :
But they've had to condense it down because you would have pushed the rate so high, people wouldn't have been able to afford homes. And understanding that the biggest driver of the economy is homes. The new builds, after you have a house, the remodeling, all that stuff, you've got to have the people in the homes making mortgage payments to make it work. Now, I think the reason that the bond market's not moving is threefold. The first one is inflation. Inflation has come down, and it's 2.7, but it's not what the Feds want. And the stock market's a little concerned about that, so people aren't buying 10-year bonds, which is what's causing it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Which means because they're not buying them, they raise the rate.
SPEAKER 13 :
They raise the rate. That's right. When you buy them, they're lower the rate.
SPEAKER 05 :
They're incentivizing folks to buy them.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's right, because they're the most secure place you can put your money. is in mortgage-backed securities.
SPEAKER 05 :
Because the federal government is backing them.
SPEAKER 13 :
We are backing them. As everybody knows, they back FHA and VA loans. They also basically back Fannie and Freddie, which is 90%, 92% of all mortgages done out there.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 13 :
The other part of that that we're dealing with is consumer spending is up. You and I have talked about this all year, that credit card debt is $1.1 trillion.
SPEAKER 05 :
All-time high.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, guess what? If you look at the spending that's happening this year, that number is going to go up.
SPEAKER 01 :
I agree.
SPEAKER 13 :
And the usage of it, that is going to become a problem down the road that maybe the feds have thought about that. But you're going to start seeing all those people that went out and got new credit cards. and now all of a sudden they've got the equity in their home and they want to refinance it come spring, they're not going to have enough to be able to make that work because the rates aren't going to move much on mortgages. Feds talked about two months ago, lowering rates another point next year in 2025. Well, I think you're actually going to see, at best, two drops. So if you're not seeing them move that number, it's not going to happen. The other part that's that people are worried about is they're talking about jobs. The unemployment rate is 4.2. That's low. Lowest we've ever been is 3.5. 4.2 is a good number. You could go to 4.5, but as long as you're low on the Fed's fund rate, the Feds have no reason to lower the rates because money is flowing through the system. What they're not looking at is if you look at industrial production, where the things are built at, they're only running at 76% capacity.
SPEAKER 05 :
The other thing really quick that they don't factor into the number you just gave is the fact that the majority of those jobs that have been filled are by illegal workers. Well, that was my number three. You're right. So the Fed's not factoring that. They're not factoring. It's not Americans that have filled those jobs. It's others that have.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's exactly right. So because of that, they're filling them jobs. They're doing it at less money.
SPEAKER 05 :
It makes the number look good. Right. But economically, it's not.
SPEAKER 13 :
So if you're selling 100 widgets and you're only able to produce 76 – And you can't produce enough. So the lack of industrial is actually going to be deflationary, which is a good thing. The other issue is, like you talked about, immigration with the number of people here and with the new administration coming. The new administration is talking all these things they're going to do. One of them is tariffs. I personally don't believe that it will end up as to the way it's presented. I don't either. I just don't. I don't either.
SPEAKER 05 :
I'm with you.
SPEAKER 13 :
He's a businessman. That's not what he's looking at.
SPEAKER 05 :
I agree.
SPEAKER 13 :
He's trying to get control back to where it should be. And I think by the time it gets there. But that's got the market scared.
SPEAKER 05 :
Of course. Well, and I've said this before. You haven't been with me, but I've said this before on this program numerous times. It's because the majority of Wall Street, in fact, the majority of the financial world, they're globalist. They like things going on all around the world, and frankly, they at times don't even care so much about what happens here as to what's happening globally. So for those guys especially, they don't even like the word tariff no matter how it's used because they know at the end of the day, it's going to affect the global end of things, which they don't like.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, they don't. They're acting like they're tough. They're going to understand. And he's not the kind of guy, you know, he's a Reagan. He's not the kind of guy that's going to back down.
SPEAKER 05 :
But he's going to put America first, which you would think the stock market would say, well, that's a good thing. The problem is, again, most of the stock market's full of folks that are more on the left than they are the right, and they're looking at things way differently than what even you and I do.
SPEAKER 13 :
Agreed, at a different level with different zeros behind it. Because of the immigration problem and what the left is trying to do to slow it down, what's going to happen there? These uncertainties is what's causing the market to not understand. They don't like uncertainty, so people are not going to invest. That's part of why you're not seeing mortgage rates go down.
SPEAKER 05 :
So before we go to break, your thoughts on – Because I really feel like, number one, the Fed yesterday screwed up. Jerome Powell should have just said, you know what, we're going to let President Trump take over. We know there's a lot of uncertainty around that. We're going to just sort of sit back, watch. We're still going to be – we're thinking today we're still going to be on target for where we were. We may have to make some adjustments next year, but let's let him get into office. Let's see how things work out first. Let's see what the economy does, and we'll come back to that. That's what he should have done. That's what he should have said.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, he should have. He screwed up. He knew what he was doing.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, absolutely. I mean, this was not done by accident. Absolutely, he knew. And what's ironic about that, Kurt, is what I just said and what you agree with is what, frankly, is going to happen. It's exactly what the Fed will do. If they get into it and they decide that things aren't rolling along like they should be and we need another rate cut, they could do three instead of two when it's all said and done. The reality is they don't have a crystal ball. They're guessing. And what he said yesterday did nothing but just cripple the markets.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, he put a big dent into it because it's now got people. And the ripple effect of that, we're not going to start to see us coming out of that, in my opinion, until the end of January, first part of February.
SPEAKER 05 :
I agree, because to your point, Trump has to take over. He's got to get in. He's got to get some of his people in place, which will take even 30 days or so once he's inaugurated. So it'll be mid-February before you start seeing people. some of the effects of even being there. And then the reality is the huge effects of some of that you won't see, frankly, until probably early summer.
SPEAKER 13 :
I don't disagree with that at all. I mean, looking at the numbers, I'm like, there's some great things he wants to do, trying to get them done. It's going to be great. Part of the other problem with rates is the people voted. When they voted, they voted for immigration was one. The second thing they voted for was us to get a budget. And what they're trying to do and give themselves a pay raise and spend all this, he's come out already and said, we're going to fix that. We're going to have a budget. Now, how can you run the country if you don't have a budget?
SPEAKER 05 :
You can't.
SPEAKER 13 :
Because you're spending my money. That's right.
SPEAKER 05 :
And you want more of it. You still can't get it right. And frankly, and this is, again, a question for you. Answer this when we come back. Having that fiscal responsibility, getting a budget, getting government spending under control will actually help Wall Street and probably help in some of the things you and I are going to talk about. Okay. We'll talk about that in a moment. Geno's Auto Service is coming up next, folks. And if you need help with your vehicle, even as we head down this stretch into Christmas and the New Year's, give them a call today. They've got some great specials running as well. Geno'sautoservice.com, and Geno's is with a J.
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SPEAKER 05 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Kurt Rogers with us, by the way, Affordable Interest Mortgage. And if you hear something or you just want to talk to Kurt directly, whether it be any question, I mean literally any question, you may be thinking, hey, I just need to get my debt end of things, you know, my credit score up and so on. You know, what do I need to do in that area? Kurt's always there to help you, 720-895-0500. But back to our topic, Kurt, and just talking about the feds and the rates and where things are at and so on. What are your thoughts?
SPEAKER 13 :
It's surprising. The rates have been going up, and they were higher back in June and July when it's a selling cycle. The bond market was up. All of a sudden, it went down. On December 6th, and I have a little chart in my office, rates dropped down to where they were under 6% on 30-year fixed mortgages. Conventional, FHA and VA were down almost to 5%. Within a day, they had moved up, and then they continued to where they are now, which is about a 0.5% higher.
SPEAKER 05 :
OK, so I asked you before the break, if Trump comes in and does some of the things he claims, we get on a budget, get the economy rolling along, cut some of the spending, the runaway spending literally that we've seen the last four years. Will that not have a positive effect on some of the things that we're talking about?
SPEAKER 13 :
I believe it's going to have a great effect because it's going to help people. Many people think because the market is slow that homes are depreciating. They're not. We could talk about that. But when the rates start to go down, there's so many people that have so much credit card debt and installment debt, 50, 60, 70, 90. I've seen as high as 100,000. But they have the equity in their homes. But they're not willing to pull that trigger to make it go away. Well, when rates come down, they're going to pull that trigger because then they're going to be saving $700,000 to $1,000 a month. When you start doing that and all that debt goes away, it takes the pressure off and the market's going to get stronger. Right now, we're running at about a 4% appreciation on homes for the year. That's year after year. We're up 7% from last year. So homes are still appreciating no matter what you think, but you've got to look at the homes that are. The homes that are going up are the ones that have had remodeled, that are updated. Right. If you have a house that needs a little TLC, it's not going to bring the money.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, no. No.
SPEAKER 13 :
People don't want to buy a house and they turn around and spend $40,000 to fix it.
SPEAKER 05 :
No. Nope, I can attest to that.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 13 :
And there's a lot of them out there.
SPEAKER 05 :
Uh-huh, there is.
SPEAKER 13 :
So the reason there's a 30 to 45-day supply of homes is because the majority of them are those homes.
SPEAKER 05 :
Agree. Okay, so going back to the bond market, if we as a country have a stronger economy and people have more confidence in us as a country, don't those rates on bonds start to come down because they become more entertaining to buy? No.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, because more people are going to be buying homes and putting their money. So, yes, they become stronger. So those rates will come down. That's what I thought. People will be buying them. And it's actually going to help. I think the rate to be healthy where it needs to be is between five to six.
SPEAKER 05 :
Agree. Five and a half is what I keep saying.
SPEAKER 13 :
Right into that range.
SPEAKER 05 :
Agree.
SPEAKER 13 :
And it's good. You can afford things. There are so many people that want to buy a home. that need to buy a home, but they can't. They got a new job, and instead of moving to where that job is, they have to drive farther. There's just so many reasons. They've got more family members. They got a family member that needed to move in with them because they can't afford to rent.
SPEAKER 05 :
Aging parents, whatever the case may be.
SPEAKER 13 :
Whatever it may be, there's people who need to move, but they can't because the rates are too high and home values are having to decline. They're not going to. The solution to that is those rates coming down.
SPEAKER 05 :
The other thing that happens typically when things get better and if Trump comes in and does the things that we saw him do even the last time around and correct me if I'm wrong, but as the economy does better and the confidence gets better and the money supply starts to loosen up some. it becomes easier to do some of the things that we are talking about. In other words, the requirements around some of these loans and things along those lines, I don't want to say they just make it easy and hand out money. They're not going to do that again. They did that before 2008, and we already know the repercussions of that. I'm not saying we're ever going to go back to that, but as the money supply loosens, so does the ability to find people that need the money, and that happens more often. Am I right in saying it that way?
SPEAKER 13 :
You are correct. When you have a need, when the consumer says, ìI have this need, and youíre telling me I donít qualify, but this bank says, ìI got no problem, you do qualify.î
SPEAKER 05 :
There's no more competition that way is my point, right?
SPEAKER 13 :
That's healthy for the economy.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right now, we don't really have that. No, we don't. Am I right?
SPEAKER 13 :
No, we don't.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. That's what I thought. Unless you fit into all of the specific criteria and you're checking all the boxes, and even then there's not as many players in the market in the first place, it becomes harder to make all that happen, right?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, you have a lot of people that have had odd jobs over the last couple of years because of COVID and different things going on. Self-employed people. I have a very good client that you know that his income in 2022 was X. In 2023, it went up almost twice as much. And in 2024, it's come back to 2022. Well, the bank doesn't want to give him a loan. Right. Because they see this spike in 23.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, in the future, that will change because they're going to say, well, if I take the worst case, he can still afford the loan. So, yeah, those things are going to start to happen.
SPEAKER 05 :
and the money, not the Fed side, but what the banking side does. In other words, where they feel like, oh, yeah, I can loan to Kurt, and I know I'm going to get paid back, and the reality is even if I don't, I've got enough other customers that have come in that I'm still going to be good when it's all said and done because I've got enough other good loans. I can take a bad one, you know, maybe a little bit more of a risk here or there and be just fine. Banks right now, Kurt, as you know, are not doing that.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, they're not.
SPEAKER 05 :
Unless you are top notch, you're not doing anything.
SPEAKER 13 :
They've tightened them down a little bit. You have to be real clean. And they go back a ways. And there's things they ask for. You're like, where did you come up with that one?
SPEAKER 05 :
But that's the environment we're in right now.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's the market because they don't know which way it's going to go.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's where if Trump does come in, and I believe he will, and he gets the economy booming again, which, again, I believe he will. I think his policies he's already done at one time. It can happen again. I see some of the things even with Doge and government spending and so on. If we get a lot of those things tightened up and people start to really think, oh, man, okay, these guys mean business. We're going to have this country rocking and rolling. That confidence level alone, Kurt, will drive some of the things you and I are talking about.
SPEAKER 13 :
It will. I think he's focused on getting prices down to where the average American can afford to go to the grocery store. They talk gas prices are down. Okay, well, that's great. The big one that's up is grocery stores.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and that's another one, too, where if you see energy prices across the board start to come down, those will as well. And those are some of the things that Trump wants to do right off the bat. Before we go to break, if rates don't drop, let's say they stay at the rate they're at right now, there's some out there that are talking that, well, that's going to affect home values and they're going to decline. I, by the way, am not one of those. No. But why aren't they going to decline?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, to me, it's supply and demand. Right now, if you look at the numbers, there's 1 million homes available for sale in the United States. The demand, there's people wanting to buy, is 1.9 million.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I read this morning, and I was going to send you this and I forgot to, so I apologize. I read this morning, and you can probably verify this. I read this morning that in the last decade, we have built the least amount of homes since World War I. Correct.
SPEAKER 13 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 05 :
In other words, we haven't upped the supply in the last decade.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, we can't catch up with the demand.
SPEAKER 05 :
So given that there's not enough supply, there's not going to be enough supply, home values aren't dropping.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, and the 1.9 that's needed... The builders have decided to back off. They've cut their what they call starts by 27 percent. And the reason is they don't know. Right. So this supply demand problem. So if even if the rates don't come down, home values are not going to come down because there's there's such a big demand for it. And when they do come down, when the rates do come down, the prices aren't going to get cheaper.
SPEAKER 05 :
Agreed. I read, again, for those of you listening, I always read these naysayers. And I've seen them on social media. I've been watching these guys for years, by the way. But especially the last six months, there was a ton of naysayers out there. Oh, yeah, don't own homes here. They're going to drop. In fact, if I were you, I'd get out of it. I'd rent. Things are going to drop across the country. And I saw all sorts of individuals saying that, especially prior to Trump winning. I haven't listened to these guys since to see what they're saying now. But A lot of these guys were huge naysayers, and by now, literally by now, the end of 2024, we were supposed to have seen all sorts of cities across the country have huge drops, repossessions through the roof, on and on we go. And I'm happy to tell you that none of them have been correct.
SPEAKER 13 :
Most people will read that headline and kind of go with it. They'll say, well, the Fed's lowered the rate, but my rates aren't down. I saw one where they're saying 30-year fixed rates are going down. Somebody's advertising 5.5%. It's like... Those things are real. You've got to read all the numbers to go with them. And they may be talking about a two-year or a three-year arm on an FHA. Who knows? So you see a lot of that, and there's ways to investigate. Part of the understanding about homes depreciating is you can go online and pull up how many foreclosures in the United States. That number is right around 6% to 6.5%. That's a very healthy number. Because it's just like anything else. People, for whatever reason, can't afford their home.
SPEAKER 04 :
Stuff happens.
SPEAKER 13 :
But it's not a high number.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 13 :
Like unemployment, a 4.2. That's an okay number. That's average. That fits. When they start to go up is when that becomes a problem and home values come down.
SPEAKER 05 :
And the reality, folks, and again, this is, you know, we're talking the end of December 2024. Believe me, just sheer numbers and volume and capability. There aren't enough tradesmen even out there right now across the country to catch up, even if there were enough lands and lots and they had already put in the curb and the gutter and the asphalt and the power and the sewer and everything else. There is not enough tradesmen. to build the amount of homes right now that we need, even if what I just said, we're already ready to go, Kurt. In other words, there just right now physically isn't the ability to have an oversupply problem. No, you can't build them. It's not going to happen, Kurt. It's not there.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's part of it because of the expense for the builders, what they got to pay. They've had to tighten up their belt. That's why they've backed off with starts. They're not going to have as many homes. They're going to wait.
SPEAKER 05 :
And by the way, that helps everybody else that owns a home.
SPEAKER 13 :
It helps your value.
SPEAKER 05 :
So be happy with that.
SPEAKER 13 :
It's a double-edged sword. The value is going up. You might have to pay a little bit more, and there's ways to do that.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. We'll be back. Again, questions for Kurt, send me a text message, 307-282-22. Otherwise, high-five plumbing and electric is next. Speaking of the trades, by the way, they're there to help you with whatever your plumbing and electric needs are. Again, call them today, 877-WE-HIGH-5.
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All right, and those of you that might need some legal help, we have the answer. Flesh Law, Kevin Flesh, he's my attorney. He'd love to help you as well. 303-806-8886.
SPEAKER 07 :
Here's why you need personal injury attorney Kevin Flesch on your side. He understands the way the jury thinks. In the context of a personal injury case, you've been hurt by someone else's negligence. The idea is that you're going to try to recover so that you can get back to where you were just prior to that incident occurring. What that really means from a jurist's perspective is that you're going to be asking them to award you money. So when we talk about fairness, we're talking about six people that you don't know. Those six people view the evidence and make a unanimous decision that will decide what the fair value is. When you're the one who's hurt, you have a good idea of what you think it's worth. The question is, can you persuade those other individuals whom you don't know and were witnesses to believe that's what the case is worth? Kevin Flesch understands the way the jury thinks. Call now for a free consultation, 303-806-8886.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, back to Rush to Reason, presented by Hi-5 Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, Kurt Rogers again, Affordable Interest Mortgage with us during this hour. 720-895-0500 is his phone number. And, Kurt, one thing, I don't know if we've ever gone over this. We might as well do it here while we're kind of in our last show of the year. We'll have you back next year, of course. But when a client comes in and you start that process of helping them figure out what they're going to do on a mortgage, whether they're a first-time buyer or they're a seasoned buyer and they're looking to do something again, how does that process work for you?
SPEAKER 13 :
First thing I try to do is find out what they're doing. Are you buying or are you refinancing? Are you looking at pulling cash out? What's your goal? And in talking with customers, they seem to think sometimes that I get paid depending on the loan I put you into. My compensation, and this is federal law, as with every broker, my compensation is set with every lender, whether the loan is at 6%, At 4%, 9%? It doesn't matter, does it? I don't get paid any difference. My goal is to find you the best so I can get repeats and referrals.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 13 :
So I want to sit down and get some information as to how long you're going to be in the home. Are you a young couple? Is this your last home, your first home?
SPEAKER 05 :
Is this something you're going to be in for three to five years, or is it something you're going to spend the next 25 years in?
SPEAKER 13 :
Correct. Are you more concerned about rate or are you more concerned about payment? Because there's a difference between those two. Just because you have a lower rate doesn't mean you have a lower payment. So those are some of the things. I'm going to give you options. I may show you that by going with FHA, you're going to save more money than going with a conventional. But you got mortgage insurance, but you're still paying less money per month. Those are things that I need to find out what you're thinking, where you want to be, what fits in your budget. Then I show you the numbers. I have 38 lenders. I have plenty of lenders, a lenders that I can shop to get you good rates. I just need information.
SPEAKER 05 :
What do you feel is one of the biggest misconceptions or things that people are just steered wrong by whomever, family, ads, whatever the case may be? What do you feel is one of the biggest things folks just don't understand when they first contact you?
SPEAKER 13 :
Don't pay mortgage insurance. That's one of the big ones. Okay. Have to put 20% down. Don't pay mortgage insurance. Get the lowest rate. The rate's more important than anything else. See, you know me pretty well. I've done this 24 years. I'm more concerned about how much money am I paying and how long do I got to pay?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, it's like buying a car. I mean, people have a misconception there as well. They're working off of a monthly payment, and the dealer will try to do everything possible to get them into that payment, no matter what the length is or the price of the car or the add-ons or whatever. What they really should be asking is, what's my bottom dollar price on the car?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. At the end of the month, do I have money left over or does your way put me in trouble? Right. It's about the dollars. And again, the interest rate is important, but there's other ways to beat the interest rate to save yourself more money and keep more of your money.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. So that you feel is one of the largest.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's one of the largest one.
SPEAKER 05 :
Is there misconceptions about how you're paid, for example?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yes. Most people think I get paid on the rate. They've thought that, and it used to be that way. Before 2014, it used to. The mortgage crisis that came out that they had in 2008, and they changed the laws in 2014. They did this to brokers. You're flat. You cannot charge a customer more or less depending on the customer by rate. So we have to set our commission with every lender that we deal with. We have to set that, and it cannot be different from one to the other.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. I have another one I'm going to throw at you. Well, Kurt, I can't use you because my realtor said that I really need to use who she's telling me to use because it'll make closing a whole lot better. So I want to use you, and John says to use you, but I can't because my realtor says I need to use this person.
SPEAKER 13 :
Really? Your realtor's going to tell you what you've got to pay to own a home?
SPEAKER 05 :
I've seen some of them. Oh, so have I. I've seen that. I've heard it.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yep. And the realtor's doing it because it's convenient. It's a well-worn path.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 13 :
Sometimes a well-worn path costs you more money. They're more concerned about, and please don't take this wrong. I'm not against realtors. They have a job to do, and they need to close as fast as possible. But they'll put closing the loan fast as possible more important than what you're paying for at home.
SPEAKER 05 :
In other words, they're putting that above your best interest.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's correct. They're more focused on the dollar that they're going to make and when they're going to get that dollar than what's best for you.
SPEAKER 05 :
And frankly, folks, and you guys all know my feelings on this, a lot of that is because they have a different structure of pay than what Curt has.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's changing. We've talked about that for a while, but yeah, that's changing. We're starting to see that. I have a couple of realtors when I talk to them now, I say, what's the biggest question you get? They say, what's my compensation going to be? Before they even start from a buyer's agent, I have to discuss my compensation and get it set before we do anything. That's new for them.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, they've never had to do that before.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, they didn't.
SPEAKER 05 :
Does it cost anything? So I'm going to go house shopping, whether I'm a first-time buyer or I'm seasoned. Does it cost me anything to figure out on the front side where I need to be, whether it's a refi or I'm buying another house? In other words, that pre-approval side of things, is there a cost to that?
SPEAKER 13 :
There's a cost if you don't do it. No, there's not a cost to do it. A pre-qual or a pre-approval. We'll get you started whether you want to do a refinance or a purchase. It's mainly used on a purchase. But a real pre-approval can save you thousands. And it can save you thousands because it puts you as the buyer back into control. And because of that, you get to say, here's what I will do on that house that you're trying to buy. And I can close this fast so the realtors are happy. But you've done all the work. I've had three customers this week that have called me that we've done the pre-approval. Now they found a home.
SPEAKER 05 :
Nice.
SPEAKER 13 :
So their bids are getting accepted for that exact reason. We were ahead of the game.
SPEAKER 05 :
Awesome. Okay. going along with this. Well, Kurt, you know, I was going to call you, but I went online and, you know, Quicken had this thing where if I just filled out a few things, I could get maybe an idea of what my rate would be and so on. And I did all of that, and I was still going to call you, which I am right now. But man, Kurt, since I did that, I've had like 20 or 30 phone calls on people wanting to, you know, do their mortgage for me. Why is that?
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay. What most people don't know, and mortgage brokers have tried to get the government to change the law, and it was sent up, but it got kicked back. The credit bureau companies will sell your information to anybody for $5. So if I'm a mortgage broker company, I can buy that lead. The minute you run a credit bureau, I don't get your score. I get the fact that you're looking for a mortgage.
SPEAKER 05 :
So you went on Quicken Loans, you filled all this stuff out, and that's why that starts to happen. I got it.
SPEAKER 13 :
So I know your address. I know your phone number. I don't know your social, but I have enough information I get in touch with you. So I start mailing you. I start calling you. You're going to get 30, 40 phone calls, and you're going to get stories about what can be done. There is a way to prevent that. First of all, write your congressman and tell him to change the law.
SPEAKER 05 :
Good idea. That's rule number one or action number one.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's action number one. Number two, every time you contact me if we're starting a loan, the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to opt out. You can opt out yourself, and it protects you for five years from that happening. All you do is go to optoutprescreen.com. Fill it in, put in your name, your address, your social, your date of birth, and there'll be a code. Put it in, and they will take you to where the credit bureau company cannot sell that information to anybody. So you won't get those 30, 40 calls. You do that before you start the process. You come to me, that's the very first thing I tell you I'm going to do it. I'm going to get you out of the loop. Because people get real upset with those calls because they don't come in between 8 and 5.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, no. They're at 10 o'clock at night.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's right. Texting you. That's right. And they never let up.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's right. Okay. So for those of you listening, please, that's the first thing not to do. Because a lot of folks will say, well, I just want to know where I'm going to qualify and what kind of rate I'm going to be at. No, no. Please. Please. Just call Kurt. Ask him. He's going to ask you, as we mentioned a moment ago, a few questions and get the ball rolling and so on. But trust me, there's a lot of things he can do on the front side. And a lot of it is just because he's done it so long, he can even ask you, what's your credit score? How much debt do you have? What's your income ratio? Blah, blah, blah. And you can darn near tell him probably within a few points. A few hundreds of points, I should say, as to where they're going to be. Am I right?
SPEAKER 13 :
It's funny you say that. I had a customer call me last night at 5 o'clock, and she's thinking of buying a house. I said, I'm going to send you a little information, fill it out. I'm going to do what we call is a softball. It never shows on your credit bureau. Nobody will ever see it. They don't sell it. But it gives me the information, and I called her back this afternoon. I said, well, you could do this, this, this, and this. Now what do you want to do? Because it gives me the information that I need, and I understand what she, she wants to buy a house, she's getting married, thinking about this. I've given her the answers. Now they can go forward.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. So again, folks, those of you that are listening, please. I have known people, close family, friends, and so on, where I'll tell them right off the bat, call Kurt, and for whatever reason, late at night, because this is the other thing that happens for a lot of you. It happens to me because I talk a lot on the radio, and I talk about a lot of subjects. In turn... My social media feeds will get full of things that I am talking about because everyone, computer, phone, is listening to what I'm talking about. We've done shows on this, by the way. And where I'm going with this is you will start talking amongst yourselves about different things, mortgages and rates and moving and so on. And pretty soon, they're going to start pinging you. hey, check here for your best rate, and oh, we can give you this best rate, or we can do this, or we can do that. They're going to start pinging you on those things even before you call Kurt because you're talking about it already.
SPEAKER 13 :
That's what they pay Google to do.
SPEAKER 05 :
Exactly. So where I'm going with that is don't be tempted and don't fall into the trap of clicking on or going to some of these places and doing the things that we just mentioned. Otherwise, you get into that trap we just talked about a moment ago where there's 30, 40 people hounding you from that point on. Don't fall into that.
SPEAKER 13 :
At this time of year, you just don't have the time and the energy to handle that.
SPEAKER 05 :
No one wants that. I don't want that ever. This is me, folks, and I know a lot of you – I know I'm weird, and I'll admit it, but I want to be in control of these things. I don't need the 40 offers that are out there that are going to come in the form of a phone call because the reality is I know, first of all, that – Well, first of all, I'm self-employed and I know Kurt can do things for me that no one else will be able to do anyways. But on top of that, I also know that because of what Kurt said earlier and I've had this experience, he's looking out for my best interest and he's going to do whatever he can do to make things work for me personally. And I don't need 40 people giving me suggestions on what to do.
SPEAKER 13 :
If I needed 40 people, I can find 40 people I can call. I don't need you to call me. I call you if I want 40. If I want three, which is fine, call three brokers. Get them to compare. That's fine. But you don't want 40 people calling you.
SPEAKER 05 :
So as we kind of end things here, The self-employed thing, we haven't talked about this for a few times since you've been here, and it does come up, and I'm one of those, and I have a lot of folks listening to me because light begets light. There's a lot of self-employed folks out there that are listening as we speak, and any of them that have been through this know that it's not normal. All of you that have W-2 income, it's a piece of cake for all of you, and I mean that sincerely. Simple thinking. It's very easy. When you're self-employed, it's not. So, Kurt, talk to those self-employed individuals about how this works for them.
SPEAKER 13 :
If you're self-employed and you've been self-employed for two years, what the letter's going to look at is they're going to look at your Schedule C or your Schedule E, K-1s, depending on what they are, and how much money you're making. If you go from one year making $150,000 net, now we're not talking about what your gross sales are.
SPEAKER 05 :
We're talking about your net income at the bottom. Okay, so I'm going to stop Kurt for one moment and give you all a piece of advice that will help you with Kurt. I understand that there's this, I call it the dance, to where there's depreciation and other things that you can take as a business legitimate. Nothing is below the board. It's all legal, legit, IRS rules and so on. And your accountants are doing the best they can to help you out in not paying as much in taxes, which I get. And I fully understand that. And unfortunately, they are not looking out for your best interest when it comes to buying things like a house. So where I'm going with this is they may say, you know what, we can write everything off to the point where, you know what, you're not going to have much income. We'll have not much owed in taxes, if any. In fact, you may get a little bit back depending upon the situation, if you have somebody else in the home working, et cetera, et cetera. So let's do this. And at the end of the day, you'll be in great shape tax-wise. And you will be. Yes. The problem is you can't buy a house. You shot yourself in the head. So be careful with what that bottom line number looks like. And if you need help with that, I'm always here to help you with that side of it, or so is Kurt, because there is a dance there to where you need to have enough income shown on your tax returns and so on for your business to be able to have Kurt get you qualified.
SPEAKER 13 :
That was my next question. When you're doing those forms, the depreciation, depreciation can kick back in as income. Many people don't know that. So if you want to write it, you're going to get it to come back. What it does is it takes away taxes now, but you end up paying them later. But it still qualifies you for a loan. I've seen people make five, six, $700,000 in sales But when they're done, they're showing 20 grand because they're writing off all this stuff. Well, the bank's going to look at what you pay taxes on. I'm not saying I agree. I'm just telling you how they work.
SPEAKER 05 :
It is what it is.
SPEAKER 13 :
It is what it is. You can agree, disagree. This just is the facts. So that's one issue. The second issue is let's say you have been in business for three years. And one year you had a net gross profit of $100,000. The next year you had a gross profit of $300,000. And then the third year you had a gross profit of $100,000. The bank's going to look at the fact in the last two years, not three. They're going to see 300 and 100 declining income won't do the loan.
SPEAKER 05 :
I know. They won't.
SPEAKER 13 :
They won't do the loan. If it drops more than 20%, they're saying, we think you're going out of business.
SPEAKER 05 :
These are things that. You guys all know I coach businesses and do things along those lines. And by the way, these are conversations that I as a business coach have with clients because if they're thinking about doing any of these things even a year or two down the road, it's very important how they handle tax things now because that could have a huge impact down the road for them.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, and you may make a whole lot of money and want to buy a million-dollar home, but you're setting up to the most home you can buy is $300,000. And that's not going to be acceptable.
SPEAKER 05 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 13 :
So understand those rules going in. If you have a question, you just give me a call. I can look at the forms and say, okay, here's what I think the bank's going to do. I don't have a problem doing that for you to help you get set up for down the road.
SPEAKER 05 :
And as I said earlier, too, those of you that are self-employed, as the economy comes back, things get much, much better. The money supply starts to loosen up. Trust me, even you that are self-employed, this part of it gets easier for you as well. So that's something else to be looking at when you're on that end of things.
SPEAKER 13 :
Remember one thing. If you're self-employed, let's say for five years, and all of a sudden you decide to go to W-2, The W-2 income, as long as it's tied to this one, I don't need a two-year history. But if you're W-2 for five years and you go to self-employed, I need two years of self-employment.
SPEAKER 05 :
You're not going to do it otherwise. No. That's how it works.
SPEAKER 13 :
I don't care if it's the same line of work.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's how it works. Don't care. Nope.
SPEAKER 13 :
You've got to have two years self-employed.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's right. Otherwise, don't even go for it. Don't go for it. It's not worth messing with. Kurt, as always, I appreciate it. You need to give any disclaimers or anything?
SPEAKER 13 :
NMLS 217147, regulated by Dora, equal credit lender. Thanks for 2024.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you as well. Merry Christmas to you, and appreciate you very much. Thanks for all your support, Kurt. See you in January. We get to do it again. We'll do it again. All right. Dr. Scott's coming up next, folks. If you're looking for a great doctor, as we talked to Dr. Kelly, by the way, in the first hour, that is literally Dr. Scott in a nutshell. If you want that kind of a doctor to help you when it comes to your medical care, give him a call today, 303-663-6990.
SPEAKER 09 :
Are you tired of crisis care and instead want true health care? Do you want to improve your overall fitness and beauty? Do you have a chronic medical condition that no one has taken the time to understand? Are you trying to meet a health or weight goal? Or maybe you're just looking for a great doctor who thinks the way you do. Dr. Scott is a board certified internal medicine specialist, bringing decades of experience and expertise to the table. Dr. Scott is a true advocate of the latest advancements in health care. That's why he uses umbilical derived stem cells, which have been clinically proven to be the most potent stem cells available. Worried about being lost in the crowd of impersonal health care? Fear not. Dr. Scott is a big picture doctor, not beholden to big pharma or big insurance like some other providers. He takes the time to understand your unique needs and will customize your health care to fit you, your body, and your lifestyle. Reach your full potential and achieve your goals. Call Dr. Scott today at 303-663-6990 or visit him online at castlerockregenerativehealth.com or find him at rushtoreason.com. Dr. Scott Faulkner and Castle Rock Regenerative Health Care is your path to a healthier tomorrow.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, we have got a great book that helps young people learn how to read. It's one of those family items, by the way, that you will keep using over and over and over again. And some of you that say, well, I don't really have kids, but I've got neighbor kids. Okay, there you go. Get one for them as well. Use promo code KLZ to get 10% off. Just go to jimmyandandrew.com.
SPEAKER 10 :
American Stonehenge by Mike Goldstein is more than just a children's book. It's a way to connect with the children in your life and encourage them to read to you and for themselves. When Mike Goldstein started writing American Stonehenge, he went after a specific problem. Children today don't think for themselves, and test scores nationwide show that. American Stonehenge is gorgeously put together, so it'll draw their attention. It's filled with action, the prose flows as smooth as sand through an hourglass, and it's historically accurate from the stories and the illustrations. But it's also a portal to quality time with children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. It's a way to connect with them while tacitly teaching them the importance of critical thought and giving them a break from scrolling in their free time. Find American Stonehenge on klzradio.com and bring your family together this holiday season.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, and a lot of what we just got done talking to Kurt Rogers about involves finances and planning of and so on. And we've got somebody that will help you with your retirement planning, which does affect what we're talking about even with Kurt on a routine basis. Talk to Al Smith today, Golden Eagle Financial, 303-744-1128.
SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
As independent brokers, GIA Insurance can help you shop the market so that you get the right coverage at the right price. Whether it is your home, auto, classic car, or liability insurance, GIA has got you covered. Call 303-423-0162, extension 100, or go online to e-gia.com.
SPEAKER 15 :
It's time to leave your safe space. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, and closing with Kurt Rogers again, 720-895-0500. And especially those of you that are self-employed, I'll just tell you straight up, I have never had anybody yet on his side of the fence, me personally, that works as hard to make things happen for you as a self-employed individual as Kurt does. So I'll just put that last little plug in for Kurt. All right, tomorrow. It's Friday, Movie Rental Hour. Sorry, movies that we're reviewing tomorrow, Andy, will be Mufasa and Sonic 3. And then, of course, Movie Rental Hour will be favorite Christmas movies. Have a great night. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
In this episode of Rush to Reason, host John Rush dives into a highly debated topic: gun suppressors. Joined by Owen Miller, Vice President of the American Suppressor Association, they dissect the myths perpetuated by Hollywood and explain the real function and regulation of suppressors in the US. Learn about the historical context and current legislative landscape surrounding these often misunderstood devices. Listeners will gain insights into why suppressors are treated differently in the US compared to other countries, and the challenges faced in attempting to regulate or deregulate them. Whether you're a firearm enthusiast or simply curious about the subject, this episode aims to educate and clear up common misconceptions. John also discusses the broader cultural disconnection in American politics, sparking thoughtful dialogue about democratic values. Tune in for an informative and compelling discussion sure to expand your understanding and challenge preconceptions.
SPEAKER 04 :
This is Rush to Reason. You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you're scared. And you're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 12 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did.
SPEAKER 01 :
Get a job, sir. You haven't made everybody equal. You've made them the same, and there's a big difference.
SPEAKER 13 :
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 16 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind? It's Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, welcome back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Appreciate you all listening today, by the way. And we've got a lot more to cover here during this hour. Don't forget, 5 o'clock, we will have Kurt Rogers joining us. And we missed Kurt last month because of Thanksgiving, but we'll have him again tonight here at 5 o'clock. And anxious to talk to Kurt and talk about just everything that happened yesterday with the Fed, how that relates to the mortgage world, what we're going to see potentially next year when it comes to the housing market. and so on. So don't forget, Kurt will be with us at 5 o'clock today. In the meantime, we've got a special guest joining us now, Owen Miller. Owen, welcome. How are you?
SPEAKER 17 :
I'm great. How are you guys?
SPEAKER 14 :
I'm doing very well. You are vice president of the American Suppressor Association. And there is a lot of conversation here of late because of the, you know, shooting with the UnitedHealthcare CEO in regards to suppressors. And part of why I want to have you on is, number one, there's always confusion around these, what they are, what they do, how they're regulated and so on. So I thought I'd have you on and we can go through some of this.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, absolutely. Glad to help.
SPEAKER 14 :
I appreciate it very much. And again, I know quite a bit about these. I'm a gun nut myself. And on the same token, I want to make sure we put out the right information. But first thing I want to ask is, given that a lot of other countries require suppressors, why in this country is it such a big deal to own one?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, I think it goes back to just Hollywood mystique surrounding suppressors. Very few people, even within the gun community, have actual exposure to using a suppressor and understanding what they do and what they don't do. As their popularity has grown in the last few years, there's more people that have been exposed to them, but there's still a lot of people out there that Their only experience with a suppressor is what they've seen in the movies, and that couldn't be further from the truth.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, thank you. I was going to add that. And, yeah, what you see on television, like a lot of other things, Owen, as we know, it's not what really happens in real life, and it's not really how – they even function, sound, or anything. And I guess that was also where I wanted to have you on and really set the record straight for a lot of folks that maybe have never been around one. They might have even been around a lot of guns and have shot a lot and so on, but maybe have never been around weapons that have suppressors on them. Decibel-wise, when you shoot with a suppressor, and I realize it can change from suppressor to suppressor and, of course, caliber to caliber, but in general, what happens when you have a suppressor?
SPEAKER 17 :
Sure. So in the most basic terms, a suppressor works exactly like the muffler on your car. In fact, they were invented by the same person back at the turn of the 1900s. And he invented both devices to help reduce noise. And that's exactly what they do. They reduce noise. They don't eliminate it. So a suppressor is going to reduce the report of a firearm by about 30 decibels. But we're talking about a noise that's already very loud to begin with, and it's reducing it down to a level that is safer, but certainly not without risk. Even the quietest suppressor on the smallest of calibers is going to come in around 120 decibels, which, for perspective, is about as loud as a siren on an ambulance or a police car.
SPEAKER 14 :
And part of that, Owen, correct me if I'm wrong, but part of that noise, which, again, most folks don't realize and it's not... It's not this way with Hollywood movies, of course. You're breaking the sound barrier in most cases. In fact, some pellet guns can even do that and be extremely loud. Not as loud as what a regular firearm would be, but it's that breaking of the sound barrier where part of the noise is, right?
SPEAKER 17 :
Right, exactly. The bullet traveling through the air creates a sonic boom, almost like a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier. And the suppressor does nothing to control that noise. And that noise is almost as loud as the unsuppressed report of the firearm. So without slowing the bullet down and making it less effective, there is still that noise that the bullet creates and the suppressor does nothing for that.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, I think the misconception is for a lot of folks is they think it's just this small, you know, thud. You know, I want to make the sound on the radio, but you know what I mean? You see the movies and so on, and, you know, we think it's just this small little thud. But once again, nothing could be farther from the truth. But that's in the mind of most people.
SPEAKER 17 :
Right, right. And if we look at what happened in Manhattan, the perception that a criminal will go undetected by using a suppressor, it's pure Hollywood fantasy. The reality is that the assailant in Manhattan was both heard and seen by eyewitnesses, but they reported hearing the gunshots. Even an eyewitness that was inside of a vehicle reported hearing the gunshots. And his crime was captured on video. He was seen before, during, and after on cameras throughout New York. So the suppressor really did nothing to conceal his actions, but it actually, in this case, it caused his gun to malfunction. Right.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, and we'll get into that here in a little bit as well, because I want to get into why that is. I mean, for a lot of people, they may know. For some, they may not. I want to talk mainly about just in the United States of America, the amount of hoops that it takes and the things you have to jump through to even own one. And I guess, and I know you probably don't have the exact answer, but Why? I mean, given all of what you just said, given the fact that they don't deaden it completely, given the fact that they do, in fact, help with your hearing and potential hearing loss when you're shooting, especially for folks that shoot a ton, the reality is there's a ton of benefits, and yet we regulate these things like there's no tomorrow.
SPEAKER 17 :
Right. Yeah. And the why is actually really kind of unclear. If you look back at the historical record of Congress in the 1930s, 1934, when they first regulated suppressors, there was no recorded discussion of including suppressors in the legislation. It's unclear why they were included. There's kind of some anecdotal evidence or some historians that have kind of surmised why that might be, but there's nothing in the official record. But it's been the law of the land since 1934 that to obtain a suppressor, the buyer must pass a background check and register the suppressor with the ATF. And there's over 4 million of them now in the registry. A lot of that growth has been in the past decade. But every single suppressor that is lawfully owned in this country, the buyer must pass a background check and it must be registered with the ATF.
SPEAKER 14 :
You said there's how many, 4 million? Yeah, about 4 million. Okay, so 4 million, but for all of you listening, to put that in comparison to the amount of firearms in the United States of America, which, by the way, isn't even an exact number. It's a guesstimate at best. We have well over 300 million firearms in the country, right, Owen?
SPEAKER 17 :
Right, yeah. Some estimates I've seen are north of 400 million now. So there's less than 1% of those have a suppressor with them.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, I wanted to put that in comparison because even though 4 million sounds like a lot, and by the way, it is, but it still doesn't compare to how many actual guns are out there. Right, right. Okay, so have there ever been, and this is something I don't know, so I'm asking you this because I don't know the answer. Have we ever attempted to deregulate these to where they're easier to obtain?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yes, our association has proposed a bill in Congress that would reduce the burden on obtaining suppressors, but they would still be treated as a firearm. They would still require a background check. There is also a punitive tax on purchasing suppressors that is $200 for every suppressor purchased. And so it would eliminate that tax, but it would still require purchasers to purchase them through a licensed dealer and go through a background check to obtain them.
SPEAKER 14 :
Devil's advocate, why can't they just be a piece of hardware like a set of sights?
SPEAKER 17 :
There have been bills to treat them that way. I don't know where they're at kind of in Congress at this point, but I think the appetite for that kind of legislation just isn't there.
SPEAKER 14 :
And by the way, I would agree. I mean, for me, though, it's a tool. It's a piece of hardware. It does nothing. It has to be attached to something to actually make something happen. You're still going to, at the end of the day, hear that gun fire, as we've just mentioned. I mean, at the end of the day, I look at it strictly as a piece of hardware.
SPEAKER 17 :
Right, and our legislation that we've proposed in the past would still keep some of those guardrails in place in terms of background checks for for the suppressors while reducing the burden on obtaining them for the average user.
SPEAKER 14 :
Which, by the way, Owen, I think that's a good first step. I mean, if we want to get to the point where you can literally buy one at any time you buy another gun if you'd like, to us to get to even that point, you've got to do a step at a time. And I agree with you. There's not an appetite right now with most politicians, because I'm not trying to beat up politicians, but Most of them are pretty ignorant, especially when it comes to guns and what they do and so on, and we see that on an ongoing basis. Most of them don't know a magazine from a clip, from a bullet to the case. I can go down the list, Owen. They just don't know.
SPEAKER 17 :
Right. We've got a huge education gap out there in terms of these kinds of devices, and that's something our organization is working to close that gap and educate people about the realities of what these devices are. And that's exactly what they are, is just a safety device to protect the hearing of hunters and sportsmen and lawful gun owners.
SPEAKER 14 :
And you said something earlier that I wanted to mention as well because, again, misconception. The reason why in some cases folks don't use a suppressor, it goes through all of the hoops and so on, is there is a negative side to them in the fact that they will affect – The way the make sure I'm using the proper language here, but they can affect the performance of the gun they go on. And so that's why some folks aren't really big fans of them, because depending upon what you're doing, it may not be in your best interest to use one. Am I am I saying that all correctly?
SPEAKER 17 :
Right. Absolutely. Yeah. In the case of handguns, there are certain modifications that need to be made to the suppressor itself. And, of course, a changing of the barrel to have a threaded barrel so that you can utilize a suppressor and not cause malfunctions on the gun. In the case of rifles, certain suppressors can increase back pressure. They can, you know, induce other malfunctions in the firearm if it's not properly tuned and set up for the suppressor.
SPEAKER 14 :
Got it. And to your point, they can affect performance of the gun, which, by the way, I think we saw in this particular case, which, again, I'm a little bit baffled at. It's like, you know. You probably should have practiced and or known some of that on the front side, but maybe because of TV, you know, he didn't. I don't know, Owen.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, and I'm certainly not an advocate for teaching criminals how to be better at their job. But, yeah, as we see in this case in Manhattan, again, the use of a suppressor really didn't provide any benefit or advantage to him. It did cause the malfunction, and it didn't conceal his crime.
SPEAKER 14 :
Somebody texted me a moment ago, too, and asked that there's some out there stating that the shooter also used some sort of a slide lock for additional suppression. That I've not read anything on, Owen. I can't speak to that. Do you know anything about that?
SPEAKER 17 :
I certainly can't speak to it. I'm familiar with those kinds of devices. They're very rare. They're rarely used. They're a specialized type of firearm. From everything that I've seen of images of the 3D printed gun that he allegedly used, I don't see any evidence of that kind of a device being employed.
SPEAKER 14 :
I appreciate that. Thank you, by the way, for the text message. I appreciate that as well. All right. Talk to us about your association, how folks can get involved if they want to.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely, yeah. So the American Suppressor Association, we are the representative body for people that are interested in suppressors, both in the industry, manufacturers, distributors, dealers, as well as individual consumers that are interested in learning more about using suppressors safely. for hunting and other lawful purposes. And you can find out more information about suppressors and about our association at americansuppressorassociation.com.
SPEAKER 14 :
Awesome. Owen, you've been great. You've informed a lot of us on this whole topic, which, again, there's so much misinformation. I'm glad you were here. We can set the record straight, and I appreciate it greatly. Absolutely. Thanks so much. Thanks, Owen. Appreciate it very much. And for you guys listening, I hope some of that was helpful. And some really know a lot about suppressors and a lot of folks don't. I mean, I'm even talking gun enthusiasts a lot don't know fully what suppressors. They do. In fact, my comment a moment ago about the noise that's still going to be there no matter what because of the sound barrier factor, the breaking of the sound barrier factor. A lot of folks don't know that. And I'll tell you right now, most people in news media have no idea what I just said and have no comprehension. High-five plumbing is next, folks. Don't forget they do electrical work now as well. And as we head down this stretch into Christmas, make sure that you've got everything in your home dialed in for all of the guests and relatives and folks that will be coming over. 877-WE-HIGH-5.
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SPEAKER 03 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive, this is John Rush.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, we are back, and again, I want to thank Owen for coming on. I have several text messages from several of you saying how informative that was, and you learned some things that you didn't know prior, and I appreciate that. I do my very best to try to bring people on that I think will do some educational things at the same time, because as we've all come to know, you're not going to learn any of that from the mainstream media. They are not going to tell you some of those things. In fact... I will go as far as to say that even some of what I consider to be pretty good news sources, folks that even we follow, may not have people even on staff that understand some of the things that we just went through because it's not something that is super well-known. And you really have to be around some of those individuals that can inform you of that, which I've been lucky enough to be around. But not everybody gets that opportunity. So thank you, by the way, for those text messages. I do appreciate that. All right. We talked yesterday, even I think some Tuesday, Andy and I, and then I followed it up a little bit yesterday as well. This whole fact, because it is, that the Democrat Party has really found itself disconnected from not just the ordinary man and woman, but in a lot of ways, multitudes, society even. Yeah, they've got their hardcore following and they always will have. But outside of that, they're really losing, quote unquote, the culture. There was a piece written by none other than Rahm Emanuel, which some of you might know that name. He was the former Chicago mayor. And when he was, I talked about him a lot because he's a hardcore Democrat. Would you not agree with that, Charlie? I mean, probably about as hardcore as it gets. Rahm is one of those guys. and been in the party, I mean, hardcore in the party for a very long time. Well, he has come out with an op-ed saying that the Democrat Party has become distant and detached, adopting an aloof, elite image. We heard Van Jones on CNN say this just the other night. I think you said, Charlie, it was Monday night, I think, that Van Jones said basically similar things. Emanuel goes on to say the road back to power for the Democrats... He explained the party was blind to the rising idea or sorry, the rising area of delusionment in favor of Kamala Harris campaign of joy, ignoring growing distrust of the establishment. He goes on to say the bonds of trust between the establishment and the public have been severed and too many in our party failed to appreciate it. In fact, during the pandemic, Democrats abandoned the anti-establishment credentials and enthusiastically morphed into the establishment. And following the science, we shuttered schools and the economy. He then went on to attack Democrats for adapting an out-of-touch mindset focused on woke issues. I will be the first to tell you what I have ever predicted somebody like Rahm Emanuel saying these things. I think, Charlie, even you would agree, no, I would have never predicted Rahm Emanuel coming out and saying these things. He goes on and says, to win over voters, it was a hermetically sealed conversion or conversation with ourselves and appeared much as we sounded distant and detached. In other words, I'll summarize it this way, and Andy and I have talked about this many a time, they're out of touch. The Democrat Party, especially those hardcore Democrats that are right now running the party, they are completely out of touch with what's going on. And it's why they got hammered in this last election. Yes, I get it. Donald Trump was a great contender and a great answer. And I will also tell you, though, with as out of touch as the left is right now, any one of our candidates on our side would have won that election. And I mean that sincerely. Yes, Donald Trump did and will do a great job. I am confident of that. I've said that many, many times on the same token. the left has become so left and so woke and so out of touch that America finally said, we're done. You guys have had your last chance, and we're going to go a different direction because we don't like this. In fact, what our side should be doing is paying attention to that. For example, even what's going on on Capitol Hill right now. I don't think... I shouldn't say this. Let me rephrase that. I believe that the average American believes those guys on Capitol Hill don't deserve any kind of a pay raise or deserve any of the earmarks that were in the original bill that are in the bill now that most likely will be passed. I think the average American says, wait a minute, you guys don't know what a budget even is. You don't know how to not spend money. Now, I understand there'll be some out there that are rooting for their particular congressman to feed them something in their district out of this particular bill. But those are the exceptions. By and large, I think most Americans are. What are we spending money on again? I've played several different times now on this particular show and talked about it, the fact that there's been all of this money spent towards broadband for rural areas, which we've got a lot of rural folks that are listening to us right now. There's been billions of dollars spent for your areas, and yet we haven't hooked up as of November. Not one's been hooked up. Just 35, 40 days ago, not one has been hooked up, meaning I doubt seriously if by now any of them have been hooked up. Billions have been spent on that. And yet we've got individuals out there that are having a hard time putting gas in their car. They're having a hard time at the grocery store. They're struggling paycheck to paycheck, not enough paycheck to even make ends meet. Consumer debt is at an all-time high. And I firmly believe what the Fed did yesterday and their messaging that they put out and really affecting Wall Street, and we're going to talk to Kurt Rogers here in about a half an hour as to how that affected mortgage rates as well. I will tell you right now that I believe, and I know everybody says that the Fed's not political, but believe me, they are. Believe me, they are. They and others are doing everything they possibly can to trip up Donald Trump the minute he hits office. And the Fed contributed to that yesterday. And I believe that sincerely. The Fed yesterday, by the way, didn't have to come out and talk about how many rate cuts they will or won't have next year. And by the way, they don't even know. They could have easily just said, you know, we're going to go ahead and keep things on track. We're going to watch and see how things go, especially through the first quarter. We're going to let Donald Trump get into office and see exactly what happens economically speaking. But the reality is we really don't know what's going to happen in regards to some of the policies and things that might actually change. We're going to go ahead and leave our forecast to the four cuts that we've talked about this last year. And as we get a little bit closer, we'll know more. But right now, we're going to just stay the course. That's what they should have said, by the way. Because here's the reality. That's what's going to happen anyways. These guys are completely not only out of touch, but they are all for sabotaging a Donald Trump presidency. Jerome Powell, yes. He is all for sabotaging a Donald Trump presidency. I don't care what anybody says. And you guys all know my feelings about Jerome Powell. I don't like the guy. I don't like anybody that's on the Fed board right now, period. None of them have ever worked a day in their life. I mean that sincerely. They've never had a real job, in my opinion. Yeah, they've been in finance. They've been a professor. They've done this. They've done that. None of them, none of them have worked as hard as any of you listening. None of them. And yet, Jerome Powell probably, by default, has more power than even Donald Trump. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that. He controls the purse strings. And what's the old saying? He that controls the purse controls everything. That's Jerome Powell. And if I were Donald Trump, and I know that there's not much Donald Trump can do to make him exit, but I would do everything I possibly could to get rid of him. That would be me. You guys all know my feelings. I can't stand the guy. He was late to the game in raising rates because he called inflation transitory. They were late to the game in lowering them because they thought inflation was still too high, even though it was high because of some of the things they were even doing. And still are, by the way. Because as I say many, many times to all the different financial experts that will come on, Jordan Goodman and so on, that the Fed in and of itself creates inflation through borrowing costs and so on. And the reality is these guys have no idea what goes on on Main Street. And I'll stand by that. They don't know. But yet they'll run around all high and mighty and act like they do. And with just a simple sentence out of his mouth yesterday can change the entire trajectory of things for the common man. And he did. Jerome, I know you don't listen to me, but I hope you're proud of yourself. Again, he could have easily come out and said exactly what I said a few minutes ago. We're going to watch how things go through 2025. We're not sure yet. We've got a new president that's going to take over on January 20th, and we'll just watch how things go moving forward. But we're planning to just stay the course right now. Unless something major happens, we're going to stay the course. That's all the Fed had to say yesterday. But Jerome can't do that because he likes interfering in politics. Trust me. He likes interfering in politics despite what others may say. And I have this argument all the time with different individuals, and I'll stand by my words because Jerome Powell has more to do with how things are run politically in this country than most people will give him credit for, even though he's not supposed to be political. All right, let's take a quick timeout. We'll come back. Golden Eagle Financial is coming up next. Speaking of all of this, we have an expert that can help you with your portfolio. Talk to Al Smith today. Find him at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 16 :
Now, back to Rush to Reason, presented by Hi-5 Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, somebody called, too, and asked if I would explain, you know, the Federal Reserve and what it is and that it is, in fact, not a government entity. And it is not. So thank you, by the way, for that. And when I say that they're political, even though they're not supposed to be, that's what I mean. They are not, quote, unquote, a government entity. They're the central bank. They were established in 1913, December 23rd, 1913, with the Federal Reserve Act, which a lot of us as conservatives wish would have never happened, but it did. It was established to help in these financial panic situations and help to diffuse those, I guess you could say, and I'm telling you that's what it was designed for. I don't believe they do a good job of that, but That's a whole other conversation we could get some experts on and probably talk for hours on. Reality is, over time, their powers have been expanded over and over and over again, and they are not elected officials. So I know, and you'll hear all sorts of financial experts, Jordan Goodman himself, talk about how the Fed is independent. They're bipartisan. They're not partisan at all. They're not either Democrat or Republican, and they don't play in that world and blah, blah, blah. And I think it's all lip service, frankly, because they do. And they have been very well known in the past to work with certain presidents to in certain ways to either benefit said president or in some cases hurt that president. And you can go back through history and prove what I just said. So I am not a fan of the Fed at all. I am definitely not a fan of Jerome Powell. And I know a lot of people are, but I'm not. I think Jerome Powell's a goof. I think he's a, sorry, he's a putz. I don't know how else to say it. Guy has no idea what goes on in Main Street. He basically lives in an ivory tower and looks out at the markets in that way and surrounds himself with other individuals that do exactly the same thing. Like I said, go look up every single member of the Fed and tell me the real job they've had. Tell me any of them that have ever written a payroll check. Show me any of them that have ever run a cash register at a retail location. I can go down the list of things they've never done. These are folks that, for the most part, have worked their way through academia. They did really well at Princeton or Yale or Harvard or wherever. They come out with an economic degree. They go into the banking world. Maybe they become a banker or they go to Wall Street for a little while. And then somehow or some way, they work their way back into... this end of things, and I was going to say back into government, but I get it. It's not necessarily government, but in my opinion, it is. Might as well be. And at the end of the day, they dictate to literally the entire world, because what we do in America with our monetary policy affects the entire world, has to do with the strength of our dollar and so on. So at the end of the day, yes, in fact, it does affect the entire world. It's why I said a moment ago, Jerome Powell has, in a lot of ways, more power than the president does, the Fed chair does, because they control the purse strings. And when you control the purse strings, you control everything. And Jerome probably doesn't look at it. Well, I don't know. He might look at it that way. Some of these guys get super high and mighty, trust me. And have we had some good Fed chairs in the past? Good question. Personally, I don't think so. Some would say we've had some good ones in the past, but I don't know that I could agree with that. As you guys can all tell, I am not a fan of the Fed. I think they do way too many things to purposely change the trajectory of what you and I do on a daily basis. And I get it. That's what they claim to be doing anyways, although I will say this as well. They don't have as many tools in the toolbox as they once had. they can't control as many things as they probably would like to. And I think they're learning even the past couple of years that they don't have the same effect even on the economy that they once did, which I believe, by the way, is a good thing. John, you're next. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, so going back to the first hour, Dr. Kelly was spot on when she was talking about these crazy people. Hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin is sold over the counter everywhere else in the world but here. Correct. Yeah. And in Africa, they use it like a once area.
SPEAKER 14 :
Right. Right. Yeah, they use it for malaria. And to your point, John, in other parts of the world, well, there's other parts of the world, including just south of our border, where you can buy a lot of things over the counter, which, frankly, you should be able to do the same thing here.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, yeah, but then the big drug companies can't get their cut.
SPEAKER 14 :
Big insurance, big pharma don't get their cut. You're right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. You can go and buy, you know, whatever, ivermectin over the counter and treat yourself with that and some cold medicine. Well, the doctors aren't getting the vaccine.
SPEAKER 14 :
You can go south to Mexico and buy amoxicillin if you want to, John, penicillin, where if you know that you're somebody that's susceptible to a particular thing, sinus infections or whatever, and you know that a dose of that will help you get over it, and you don't have to go to any kind of a doctor to get over it, and you do, well, yeah, big insurance doesn't want that.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, big insurance, big pharma, and big medicine. They don't want that. None of the three want it. No, because, you know, you go into the dock in the box, the nearest urgent care. Right. And you pay your $20 copay if you have like I have, you know, insurance through my employer. But when you look at the bill, when it comes in, even though it says this is not a bill explanation of benefits for them to see it for 20 minutes is $300. Right.
SPEAKER 14 :
I mean, if you don't show up, you eliminate all that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well. There was a doctor here in Cheyenne when Obamacare came out. He shut down the, he said, I will no longer take any insurance. Everything is cash or, you know, up front. He cut his cost in half. He cut his patient visits in half. And he cut his staff from, I think it was seven down to three. Because he had a receptionist, a nurse, and him. And that was it. He didn't need four people to process insurance forms constantly and do all that documentation. It's a whole scam. Yep. But the other thing, earlier on X, 116 pages from 1,500. What do you think?
SPEAKER 14 :
Still too many, but way better than it was yesterday.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, way, way better.
SPEAKER 14 :
And really quick, for all of you listening, and I've got farmers I know that listen that would most likely agree with me, handing out $100 billion, a farm aid, John, most of those farmers would tell you that we would just like you guys to leave us alone. How about we regulate ourselves and handle the crops and the things and so on on our own, and why don't you guys just get out of it?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that's the next big act.
SPEAKER 14 :
family it's not family farmers a lot of them are big agriculture that are running these you you know in a lot of cases there are still states like nebraska where they can't do that that way it's still big family farms and so on but to your point john even in those cases it has to be a large family farm for them to compete otherwise it's really hard to do right i mean the only real smaller
SPEAKER 06 :
that are left are ranchers that are raising cattle.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, they're slash farmers. Yeah, there are, well, I have to be careful when I say this because there are some small farmers, but by and large, no, you cannot make enough money to make that work as a small farmer. And I know that because I've consulted some folks along those lines, and you can't do that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Who wants to work 100 hours a week to barely break even?
SPEAKER 14 :
Or lose money every year.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, that's your family farmer today because Big Ag has been able to put him out of business. There are people like John Bon Jovi or Bruce Bracing that get farm subsidies, and I guarantee they've never been on the farm they own.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
They just bought it as an investment.
SPEAKER 15 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 06 :
But the other thing, and I couldn't find whether it was a yes or no. I don't know if you saw it. I think they pulled the raises for Congress out of there.
SPEAKER 14 :
They should have pulled that. Now, one thing I didn't get a chance to check was did they pull the stadium out of it as well? They better have.
SPEAKER 06 :
They better have. Here's the other thing. Congress makes $174,000 a year. That's what the salary of a congressman is. $174,000. Not including the perks and other things they get on top of that.
SPEAKER 14 :
They get money for staff. They get some transportation funds and so on. So that's not the only thing they get, as you know, John.
SPEAKER 06 :
They get big expense accounts. You're right. And then, of course, there's the slush fund when they do something stupid and they get that covered up. So when they say they need more money, no. You need to be... They should be paid the average... of an American worker, which I believe is... Last I read, it was like $44,000 if you averaged everybody out.
SPEAKER 14 :
If you really want to clean things up, you do it the way I said yesterday. It becomes a volunteer position, and you don't make anything. You might get an expense account to help with AIDS and things along those lines, and maybe some travel I'd be okay with, John, but outside of that, you don't make anything.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, here's the other thing. They need to... If this Congress coming in has any guts at all, they need to pass... a law that says if the budget's not passed and we shut the government down, there is no back pay for government employees when they come back. Because the government employees that are essential, say TSA, Border Patrol, all those guys, they work. The military doesn't get to say, well, we're not getting paid, so we're not working. They're working. It's the The guy that works, you know, shuffling papers at the USDA, and I'm not picking on the USDA, it just, you know. Just came up, yeah, sure. Yeah, you know, he's the guy that doesn't go to work because it's shut down, but then when everything comes back, he gets paid for those five days that he missed. Right. Or seven days or ten days or whatever the shutdown would be. That should be, no, you're not going to get paid. We're not going to pay you. And if you don't want to lose money, give us five-year vacation days because I think they get a nice vacation, a federal vacation.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, let me go through a few of the things that they do get since we're on this, and I just looked it up and had time to do that while you were talking. So, of course, they get pension benefits that are two to three times more generous than those offered in the private sector for similarly salaried employees. So we all know they get that. By the way, that's why a lot of them want to make sure that they're in there for six years so they can actually get that pension. Senators automatically get that. They get health and life insurance, approximately three quarter and one third of whose costs respectively are subsidized by taxpayers. They get wheeled perks, including limousines for senior members, prize parking spaces on Capitol Hill and choice spots at Washington's two major airports. Travel to far flung destinations as well as to their home states and districts. Despite recent attempts to toughen gift and travel rules, junkets are still readily available for many people. A wide range of smaller perks have also defined or have defied reform efforts from cut-rate health clubs to fine furnishings. I could keep going, John. So, again, it's not just $174K they make.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, that's plus, plus, plus, plus, plus. They probably, if you added all that up, is about $350K.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, I'd say you're probably not far off in that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Before, then all the other little perks like, oh, we're going to pass this law, so let me buy... a thousand shares of Apple before we change the law.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, that's another one that, by the way, they should not be allowed to do, period, as far as I'm concerned.
SPEAKER 06 :
I agree. But the biggest thing that none of this, it wouldn't happen to you or I, if we were traveling in Belgium and we had an accident and fell and broke our hip, we, you or me, would not be flown to the nearest military facility and taken care of. Correct. But Nancy Pelosi was. That's right. That's right. You're correct. She has health insurance. The other thing is they should all be required to be on the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, as it's also known.
SPEAKER 14 :
Can't argue that.
SPEAKER 06 :
And they should be no exemptions. And the last thing is their staff. Congressional staffers have more power than actual congressmen.
SPEAKER 15 :
You are correct.
SPEAKER 06 :
They should all be. That should be a limited job, no more than 10 years. You say too. Okay. Well, some of the staff, is more administrative. They don't have as much power, but it's like the aides that meet with, you know. That's right, the lobbyists. They have a ton of power. That's right. And so who's the new guy coming in in five? What's his name in Colorado Five? Jeff Crank, I think it is. Crank, yeah. Whoever's place he's taking, I can't remember, he's going to inherit their staff.
SPEAKER 15 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 06 :
And that person's staff is going to try to manipulate him as much as they can. Well, you should talk to this person, not this person. So they can stay around. And that is the scary part.
SPEAKER 15 :
Agreed.
SPEAKER 06 :
Because a lot of things don't change with all these new people because they get up. there and they get corrupted by the beach state. I've got to run, John. With that, I'll let you go.
SPEAKER 14 :
Appreciate you very much. I'll come right back. Let me get a quick break in here. American National Insurance is next. Paul Lewinberger, by the way, is a broker. He can shop what's best for you when it comes to insurance. 303-662-0789.
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SPEAKER 03 :
Now back to Rush to Reason on KLZ 560. All right, Joe, I got about 30 seconds. Go for it, sir.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's all I need. One modification to John's suggestion about no retroactive pay. I think, you know, military, FBI, air traffic, they need, but you only need to single out one group. If Congress and their staffs got no retroactive pay, you wouldn't see these shutdowns, or if they did, they'd be very sure. Can you imagine you're a congressman, you're AOC, you walk into your D.C. office and you have an office in your home state, and you've got to tell your staff, Go home. Go home because you're not getting paid and there's going to be no retroactive pay. Can you imagine the peer pressure on Congress?
SPEAKER 14 :
Huge. Huge.
SPEAKER 05 :
That's all they need to do.
SPEAKER 14 :
You're right, Joe.
SPEAKER 1 :
100%.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, not for Congress, not for staff. No retroactive pay. I get it.
SPEAKER 14 :
Appreciate it, Joe. As always, good stuff. We'll be back. Kurt Rogers joining me here in just a few minutes. This is Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
I'm a rich guy.
HR1 Rush To Reason December 19, 2024 by John Rush
SPEAKER 13 :
This is Rush to Reason. You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you're scared. And you're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush. My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job, sir. You haven't made everybody equal. You've made them the same, and there's a big difference.
SPEAKER 11 :
Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 13 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 04 :
It's Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by High Five Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, where every call ends with a high five.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, happy Thursday. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Dr. Kelly Victory joining me now. We're doing our best to get a hold of Steve House as well, but Dr. Kelly, how are you?
SPEAKER 05 :
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me, and I can't believe it's less than a week until Christmas.
SPEAKER 15 :
I was just going to say, are you all ready?
SPEAKER 05 :
As ready as I'm going to be.
SPEAKER 15 :
Steve House with us as well. Steve, you ready for Christmas?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, you know, I just haven't gotten the two of you, your president, but everybody else I got.
SPEAKER 15 :
Do both of you have all of your boosters ready so that you're all dialed in for the family gatherings?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, my goodness, yes. We're doubling down on the crazy last week before the families get together.
SPEAKER 15 :
Unbelievable. And for those of you listening, Dr. Kelly Victory has been with us all the way through COVID and beyond. And you can go back and listen to previous episodes if you would like. Some of you I know do because I get comments from some episodes of the past episodes. From time to time, you can find all those at RushToReason.com. And then Steve House, of course, was the one that really put all this together. Steve, you and I have known each other for a very long time, and you were very instrumental in making all of this happen. And we've got a lot to talk about today. So, Steve, I appreciate it very much, and thank you for putting this together long ago.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, we do have a lot to talk about. It's getting worse. I can't believe it, but it is.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, so, Steve, I'll let you start. Since you are kind of segwaying into that, let's just get into it. And you would think by now that we would be long past some of these things, but we are not, unfortunately.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, and you know what's so funny? I mean, there's a lot of symptoms of the problem. It goes far and wide. It certainly hits healthcare hard, but You know, the omnibus thing that, you know, Mike Johnson said it wasn't an omnibus. And, you know, you've got the regulatory environment in health care, Pfizer getting praised by people, the PBM issue, you know, the spending issue. It's just. I it just doesn't seem I mean, Donald Trump got elected and I'm looking forward to his cabinet being in play and doing things. But my fear is they aren't going to take big and bold enough steps. They're just not.
SPEAKER 15 :
Dr. Kelly. No, Dr. Kelly, you've got some insight on some of that as well. What do you think?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I agree. I think, unfortunately, there's been a buildup and people have an unrealistic expectation that when this new administration gets into office, that all of a sudden on day one, all of these things are going to happen. And part of that has been fostered by things that Donald Trump has said or Bobby Kennedy Jr. Every day they say, you know, on day one in office, I'm going to do blank. On day one in office, we're going to get rid of fluoride. On day one in office, I'm going to... You know, deport all the illegals on day one. We're going to do X, Y and Z. And the reality is that unfortunately, isn't the way Washington works, as Steve knows. Well, the wheels turn, but they turn very slowly. So I think they would be better off to say, here are our top five initiatives. This is what we're going to tackle first. This is our goal to do in the first quarter of year one. And to really lay it out in a way that's more reasonable and measured, I think managing expectations at this point is critically important. Otherwise, it's going to appear to be a big fail. When you add on top of that the crazy making that's going on, and I'm sure we'll talk about that during the hour, whether it's Disease X or the drones or bird flu, you know, that is going to be very distracting in a new administration. And they're doing everything they can, they being the Democrats, to set this new administration up to fail right out of the box.
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely. And Steve, one of the things in this continuing resolution that I was reading, the second one, by the way, for those of you listening, there was one that really got shot down. Elon Musk, Vivek, others, Donald Trump even said, listen, this is not the direction that we want to head. We've got to put our money where our mouth is. This isn't going to work, and yet we get the second one today. Yes, it's better than the one that was prior, Steve, but at the end of the day, we still have the middleman that we talked about last week in regards to how insurance works and the pharmacy end of things and the costs associated and all of that, and we talked about how we could cap some of those things, and they had a chance even in this continued resolution to do so, and yet Steve didn't.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, yeah, I mean, quite frankly, John, it's one of those scenarios where I almost believe they can't help themselves. You know, when you talk about putting together a bunch of pork in a bill like this, and then, you know, there's this theory that, you know, we can't get it done in time, we can't do what we need to do because of one reason or the other. Well, the problem is they don't work very hard from my point of view. I mean, they work 164 days a year, so that's a problem. And then on top of that, they do not believe they have the ability to take a look at one subject bill have a debate about it. And, you know, they don't have to do a lot of reading when it's one subject. So, you know, Omnibus Bill, 1,500 and some pages is pretty damn daunting. But until somebody steps up, as far as I'm concerned, Mike Johnson needs to go. Whoever comes next, if they don't get the fact that this stuff can't be slammed through in big, giant chunks of crap, then they need to go, too. They need to keep doing that until we find a speaker who gets what needs to be done.
SPEAKER 15 :
Kelly, what are your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER 05 :
A hundred percent. They need to pass individual things. Every time you try to wrap it all together, it becomes everything. But the kitchen, you know, the kitchen sink sort of thing, nothing gets done. And part of it's because of the corruption and graft that happened in Washington that people say, oh, I'll support your project if you support mine. And everybody adds on and adds on and adds on. That's what pork is. People just keep adding their pet issue into it. And so when you look at something like Obamacare, the amount of stuff that was baked in, that was wrapped into a supposed health care bill, there's stuff in there that had nothing to do with anything having to do with health care. It had to do with the tree canopy and underserved populations. It was insanity. It's because they can't just say, yes, I will review this particular bill on its own merits and decide whether or not I can support it, and then we'll move on to the next one. We would actually get things done if they didn't try to shove it through as a big hairball.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. Steve, one thing I was thinking of as I was watching Vivecki put out a little video on TikTok about the previous bill, not this one, and all the things that were in it and so on. And what I noticed, and I want to get your opinion on this, Dr. Kelly, as well, but he said, listen, most people won't read the 1,500 pages, but I did. And here's all of the things that are in it. He starts spilling those things out. And the first thought I had, Steve, was, number one, and I'm trying to be as nice as I can here, And yes, there are some smart people on Capitol Hill. I'm not saying this universally. But my fear, Steve, is that there's a lot of those folks elected that I'll be straight up honest. I'm not sure can read 1,500 pages. And I'm trying to say that as kindly as I can. So now we've got aides and others that are actually doing it and feeding that information to the folks that are actually voting on it. Because I'll be real honest with you, Steve. And you said it a moment ago. They don't work super hard. And frankly, I don't think they're efficient in anything they do. They just happen to get elected.
SPEAKER 03 :
They don't want to work that hard, to be honest. I mean, they want to, you know, it's like, okay, I'm not the speaker, so I don't have that much to do other than go along, go to committees, ask a few questions, and then run for re-election over and over again. They're not being held to any standards. There's no KPIs, right? There's no key performance indicators for any of them.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, I agree.
SPEAKER 03 :
If there's no report cards for them, there's no nothing.
SPEAKER 15 :
I agree. Dr. Kelly, I mean, I hope I'm not being too hard on some of these folks, but I've interviewed some of these people over the years, and And I'll just say it, Dr. Kelly, some of these folks are just not that bright. They've gotten elected. They figured out that part of it in their particular end of the world, and they've maybe done OK there. And some of them, by the way, have never held a real job. They just figured out a way to get into politics. And at the end of the day, I'm not to Steve's point, Dr. Kelly, I don't think they know how to work.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, I think you're being kind. The reality is, with few exceptions. to say that they're not that bright is an understatement. Here's the reality. We better get our arms around it. The best and the brightest do not go into politics. And there's a reason, because they've got other things to do. They either have jobs in the private sector where they either make more money or they have more influence, and they aren't willing to give that up to go and move to Washington, D.C., and play that game. So the people who do run for office and ultimately get elected, are people who, frankly, wouldn't make it in the private sector. They don't have the work ethic to make it in the private sector. They don't have the intelligence to make it in the private sector. They don't have they really don't. Do you think AOC would ever make it? What would she have done other than be a bartender? OK, AOC would have a hard time.
SPEAKER 15 :
I'm not exaggerating here, guys. You would probably agree with me on this one. She would have a hard time following me around as an assistant, nonetheless, doing the things I do every day.
SPEAKER 05 :
Correct. And so, you know, granted, there are people like a Rand Paul, who I think is very bright, or a Jim Jordan. There are exceptions to this. But the reality is that in general, you don't get the best and the brightest. And I will tell you, I actually was approached some years ago to run for a congressional seat. in California. And, you know, Kevin McCarthy told me flat out, you need to have a quarter of a million dollars of your own money to put up. We are not supporting you until we're pretty clear that you can win. We really want you to do this. Well, why in the world would I stop doing what I'm doing in order to play that game? I have a good job. I've got a platform. Why in the world would I do that? So the way our government works is it actually sort of... reels in some of the lowest functioners out there who just have enough money to play the game.
SPEAKER 15 :
Steve, you know, you've been chair before along these lines, and you know as well as what Dr. Kelly just said a moment ago, it's designed to really keep folks that are very productive, they've done well in their lives. To Kelly's point a moment ago, they've got other things going on, and frankly, to stop doing what they're doing and go into politics, There's absolutely no incentive. We're very lucky to have somebody like a Donald Trump doing what he's doing, because really, Steve, there's no incentive to go do it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, having run myself and been a donor, I mean, I went through this court case recently on campaign finance laws. And in court, I had to disclose or it was disclosed that I had donated $281,000 to candidates in 10 years. and that I had spent $500,000 of my own money on campaigns, my own campaigns. So was I fortunate enough to be able to do that? Yes. When I look back, do I wish I had that money back? Yes. But it's become this scenario where, You know, if you don't have that kind of money that Kelly's talking about, if you're not willing to disrupt your life and give your life to it, you have to give your life to it. Because once you're in there, you're not making enough money to keep going on the money. You have to do something else.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. That's absolutely right. Perfect segue. Guys, hang tight. We'll come right back. I've got a couple of questions that have come in from listeners, plus some of my own. Affordable interest mortgage is coming up next. And Kurt Rogers is going to be with us at 5 o'clock. But in the meantime, his direct line, 720-895-0500.
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
No liberal media bias here. This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, we are back. Dr. Kelly Victory and Steve House. And there is an entire page dedicated to Dr. Kelly on our website, RushToReason.com. You can go check that out. And again, you guys can go back and listen to some of the previous episodes that we have on file where we've done this now for guys going on five years. All right, something I wanted to throw in really quick. Several different things we wanted to chat about. But one of the first things, and I sent you guys... a little article on this this morning i wanted to get dr kelly your opinion on this first and that is the infamous paper that popularized and this is coming out of science.com or science.org of course the unproven coven 19 treatment that is finally retracted and they're they're talking about hydroxychloroquine and i didn't read this thing you know word for word all the way through but basically what i see this as is a hit piece against a lot of us that realized there was lots of other things that could have been done for COVID all the way through COVID, and we proved a lot of those things even during that time, Dr. Kelly, and yet now we've got Science.org coming out conveniently right now basically saying that was all hooey.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. They keep desperately trying to say that the things like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin and steroids and vitamin D were not effective treatments against covid. When, in fact, those of us who actually were treating covid patients know that they were. There's we have now I think we're up to the thousands of papers, not just hundreds, but thousands of papers. that have proven it. The problem is that those papers don't get published because our journals are bought and paid for by Big Pharma. So unless a study comes to the conclusion that Big Pharma wants it to come to, it won't have a chance in hell of getting published. So trust me, you know, these these papers that come out now and say, oh, hydroxychloroquine doesn't work when, in fact, the doctors who actually were treating patients know that it does. And we've got many, many studies that, you know, I'm personally tired of trying to defend it. As far as I'm concerned, if you get covid and you don't want hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin or steroids. and you instead want remdesivir, God bless you. Yep, more power to you. No, that's right. Whatever.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, and I was talking about Dr. Scott, our great sponsor, who, by the way, Dr. Kelly, and you guys maybe not knowing his full story, but he actually lost his job at one of our major hospitals because off-hospital time prescribed hydroxychloroquine to some patients because he knew as well as we did that that was a good help when it came to COVID, and he got canned over that, Dr. Kelly.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, he's amongst many, many people who did. I had my medical license threatened over and over again, not even for things that I prescribed, but for daring to say it, to say what I'm saying right now on the radio or on television. And so I had to defend myself over and over again in Colorado and in Ohio and in North Carolina, where I have medical licenses, again, because there was such a strong effort to suppress any information getting out there. And this is always driven by big pharma because they had a lot of money to be made, not only in their vaccines. but in their brand new medications like remdesivir, which ended up by itself, by the way, resulting in the deaths of many, many, many people. It caused kidney damage and people died as a result of the remdesivir.
SPEAKER 15 :
Run, death is near. Steve House, your feelings on some of this as well. Again, you're on more of the admin sides of these things. And isn't it interesting that we're now seeing a lot of this stuff come out some, I don't know, what are we, about 30 days out from Donald Trump taking over?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I think it goes a little bit to what I had texted to you guys earlier, and I think you guys get it as well, which is, Think about what we're doing here. So you take hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, any number of things like that, all antivirals, because you have a virus, so why the hell wouldn't an antiviral be a good thing to try? But secondly, you have people out there saying in the scientific community that they don't work. They say that the vaccine does work. And the other side of the coin, they say, for all of you who are on medications, you should be adherent to your medication because your doctor prescribed them for you and you need to trust your doctor. So we're getting to this point where they're going, don't trust your doctor if they tell you to use an antiviral for a virus, but we want you to trust your doctor to take your drugs because we prescribed those drugs for you and those drugs are the best thing that you can take. It's gotten to the point where historically, John, tell you that When the people who run significant institutions in a country no longer have the trust of the people who are customers of those institutions, things fail. This is classic failure in action because we don't trust the government. I don't know about you. I certainly don't. I don't even trust... I don't trust Johnson, the speaker. I don't trust very many of the Republicans who are in Congress. I have a great deal of trust for Donald Trump, but I know what he's going to run into. And I don't trust the medical establishment, even though I know lots of great doctors like Kelly, because the system is pushing back on the people who know something. I don't know how this is ever going to survive.
SPEAKER 15 :
Dr. Kelly, I think, Steve, I agree with everything you said, and I would go one step further with that, Kelly, and say that it's the system even. Granted, the system is there. The people are in the system, so they're all guilty. But really, it's the system as much as anything that's corrupt. Am I correct?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, 100%. Let's look at the example of the ivermectin during COVID. We had hundreds of people, thousands around the country who were dying of COVID, okay? People who are elderly or had underlying health conditions who are in the hospital, in the ICU, dying of COVID, okay? There was nothing they could do. Their families were told, there's nothing else we can do. Your family member's going to die. Family members said, let's try ivermectin. and the hospitals refused now you're telling me you've gotten you've said there's nothing you can do you've said this person's going to die what is the problem then with trying ivermectin what do you have to lose right what do you have to lose and there were court case after court case after court case where even the courts would say to the hospital if the family wants ivermectin you must do it and the hospital's pushed back why in the world Would a hospital push back or defy? And they did many, many times defied a court order. You want to know why? Because they got paid if that patient died. They got money, $40,000 per patient through the CARES Act. You want to talk about did the system participate? Absolutely. And it was based on money. They fought back and defied court orders that said this patient should be allowed, must be allowed to try ivermectin. Their family doctor can come in and give it to them if the hospitalist doesn't want to. And the hospitals refused to comply because they made money if that person died and COVID could be put on the death certificate. People need to go to prison for this.
SPEAKER 15 :
Amen. Dr. Kelly, thank you for that, Steve. It's good that we're recapping this, Steve. I think a lot of people forgot some of the things Dr. Kelly just mentioned.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I know. And frankly, in the latter days, not so much in the very early days, They don't want you on ivermectin or that type of an antiviral in the hospital because they want you on remdesivir, which is a very expensive drug. Paxlovid, remdesivir are very expensive drugs. If you take an antiviral and you start to recover, because most people recover from COVID now, they're not going to give you remdesivir. They're not going to bill for remdesivir. And quite frankly, a lot of them have inventory of it. There's just no way around the financial equation. Hospitals are in big financial trouble as it is. So And 60% of them have a negative operating income. Sometimes it's huge numbers. So they're trying to make money, but they're making money at the expense of the risk they're providing to the patient who shouldn't have these drugs.
SPEAKER 15 :
Dr. Kelly, the next thing, and I didn't send you guys this because I figured you would have just seen it on your own, but Governor Newsom declaring a state of emergency in California due to bird flu. So it's like, okay, are we going back to this again? You guys didn't learn your lesson the last time?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I'm sitting in California today and it's absolutely preposterous. Yes, Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency, quote, proactively, whatever that means. So we're proactively declaring an emergency because of the increased number of cases of bird flu in the state of California. Now, let me clarify. These are not cases in people. These are cases in cattle, okay? There has yet to be a human-to-human transmission of a case of bird flu in the entire state. We've had a total, I believe, of 38 cases of bird flu in humans, all people who are in direct contact with infected cattle or infected poultry animals, and not one of them has had a symptom more serious than a sniffle or some pinkeye, conjunctivitis. There is a single case in the country, in the state of Louisiana, of somebody who has, quote, serious bird flu symptoms, something other than just sniffles and conjunctivitis. One case in Louisiana. And on the basis of these findings, Gavin Newsom has decided that we need to proactively go into a state of emergency. This is nothing more than, again, trying to garner control, trying to be able to manipulate people's behavior. And I believe they're going to create as much chaos as possible. Add in drones, add in, you know, whatever next disease X. I can go down the list. They're going to create as much havoc as possible going into January. And unfortunately, this bird flu issue is a problem because they will use it to unnecessarily kill off, cull millions of poultry birds and thousands and thousands of cattle. And as a result, wait for it. What do you think is going to happen to the price of eggs and beef going into February? And they could say, look, Donald Trump's in office. and groceries are higher than ever.
SPEAKER 15 :
That's right. Steve, I can't disagree with anything Dr. Kelly is saying. I believe that is spot on exactly what they're trying to do. Question I have for you, and you know more of the inside politics of all of this, does Donald Trump have the wherewithal and the folks around him to defeat this nonsense?
SPEAKER 03 :
Certainly some of it. I mean, it's amazing how many people ask me the question about You know, like the omnibus bill, can he just come into office and say no and write an executive order? Well, he can do rescission. Rescission does exist for certain aspects of a bill like that. He has, you know, a high level of power. He can also write executive orders, but he's up against court judgment and decision-making, those type of things. So, you know, can he solve all these problems that are being created for him? Probably not. But he sure can make people look stupid. Because, you know, when he takes actions and things work versus what Gavin Newsom... I mean, Gavin Newsom might be doing it because once you call it a crisis, then you're eligible for federal funds, no doubt. Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
And so... And other control that the governor has he wouldn't have otherwise, right?
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. So, you know, there's that play going. I think the other thing that's happening here is that they're watching him be received by global leadership. And they're freaking out because... everyone on the global stage is making Trump look like he's the king of the world.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, basically, he's running the country right now, even though he hasn't been inaugurated. That's what's happening as we speak.
SPEAKER 03 :
but it's more than just running the country they know that he has not only did he have perceived power not only did he have position power because he was elected but this guy got real power so people will absolutely compromise because they know that he will go down a path and he and they will get what he told them they're going to get and i think that that's going to scare the elite so much because they don't want to deal with them And frankly, you can't hide stuff around the guy. He's pretty good. And then he's got two pit bulls in Vivek and Elon who are not going to let anybody hide anything either. They will be as outgoing as Donald Trump is on waste and fraud and abuse. It's going to be an interesting time. Hopefully everyone will survive it.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, that's where I'm not as concerned with this second bill that's going through. There's some pork in it, but you get him elected and you start that train, if you would, moving forward down the track. And these guys start getting in and analyzing all sorts of things. You could easily have additional bills come through and say, all right, guys, number one, we're going to have a budget. Number two, we're going to go back and fix some of these things that you guys passed in that CR bill. And we're going to get some things taken care of. And frankly, I think that's exactly how these two are looking at it. They didn't like what was there prior because it was way too much, way too much pork when it was all said and done. This next one has some, but not near as much as the one that was there just a day or two ago.
SPEAKER 03 :
The question is, why does it have any?
SPEAKER 15 :
I know. Don't get me started.
SPEAKER 03 :
There's no excuse. I mean, you're not going to get to where we need to go if it's got any.
SPEAKER 15 :
I agree. I agree. Dr. Kelly, a question came in, and this coincides with some of what we can even talk about when it comes to Trump, because he has talked about going to one – You know, time standard across the country moving forward, whether that be standard time or whether that be daylight saving time. And he hasn't taken a position one way or the other. I, frankly, am all for going to one or the other. I'm sick of the different changes that we do. I like daylight saving time, of course, because of my schedule and other things. And I had somebody ask that there's some studies out there talking about, because one thing you always hear is if you stay on daylight saving time and it's really dark a little bit later in the mornings in the winter, that that really affects kids at the bus stop and so on. On the same token, there's studies out there talking about kids should be starting school later anyways. And somebody asked if you knew anything about that study.
SPEAKER 05 :
I don't know anything about that study, but number one, I am a huge proponent of going to one time zone. This is absolute insanity. It was done initially for that reason, saying that because it's dark in the morning and kids shouldn't be standing alone in the dark waiting for the school bus. The reality is that that is not happening with most kids anyway. It simply is an outdated issue. You do far more damage to people's circadian rhythms by messing around with the time clocks and doing this twice a year, and it messes up everybody who actually has a job and is trying to keep track of their work schedule when the time changes. Then you add into the fact that other places, certain places in Hawaii, for example, don't change the time, and it's just way too confusing. I think if it ends up being a problem, the answer is, as you said, is to start the school day at 830 instead of 730. You know, push it back by an hour and go later in the day. There are lots of ways to fix it. But changing the clock back and forth based on where the sun is on the horizon makes absolutely zero sense.
SPEAKER 15 :
Steve, on the expense side, I think the other thing that Donald Trump is looking at is for a lot of different industries, the expense of changing twice a year is quite expensive as well. And even lost productivity and other things that you can throw in that probably aren't tracked as great as it is actual factual costs that you can actually track. And I don't know what that magic number is, Steve, but I've got to believe that there's a cost savings for the country and going to one as well.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, I'm sure that it's a big number, John. I mean, everything costs millions or billions. I wonder sometimes about when you think about the total U.S. economy and the trillions of dollars of GDP, you take out one three hundred and sixty fifth of that or one hour of one three hundred and sixty fifth of that. It's going to have a big effect because when you lose an hour, when you go forward and lose an hour, you know, an hour loss is an hour loss. I mean, it's true. It's part of the financial thing. And I don't I don't particularly care for it either. I actually think we should eliminate time zones. as well.
SPEAKER 15 :
And just go to, everybody figures out where they're at on the GMT scale and call it good?
SPEAKER 03 :
Bring the east back an hour and a half, the west forward an hour and a half, and in the middle, everybody's on that same number. I mean, there have been people who wanted to do that long ago. Because that way, you know, the country's all operating at the same time, which means people who work the East Coast aren't waiting until, you know, 8 or 9 o'clock at night to finish their business on the West Coast.
SPEAKER 15 :
Oh, as a radio show, trust me, I would be all for that, Steve. Because the other thing that's a real problem that most people don't think about, and those of you that live in it don't think about it, but the mountain time zone for most people in the country is unknown. They think in three time zones. They think we have Western time, you know, out in California. They think we have the middle of the country, Central time, and then Eastern time. We have mountain time.
SPEAKER 03 :
Exactly.
SPEAKER 15 :
I can't tell you how many guests over the years we have missed because they don't understand what time zone we're even in here.
SPEAKER 03 :
I know. I mean, frankly, I lost my circadian rhythm at my senior prom when I tried to dance. And I've never recovered it. All right.
SPEAKER 15 :
Good segue. Guys, we'll be right back. You got questions for us? Please send me a text message. I got a few more for Dr. Kelly and Steve that came in on the text line. You're free to do more of those as well. 307-200-8222. We'll be right back. Hi-Fi Plumbing and Electrical, of course, is next. 877-WE-HIGH-5.
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SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush. Myself, Dr. Kelly Victory, and Steve House, which for those of you listening, because of the holidays and everything else going on, this will be our last episode, our last show with them for 2024. We'll be back in 2025, of course. We've had a lot of fun, and we'll keep this going. Dr. Kelly, in your state, and this one I just – I don't – I shouldn't say that I'm surprised because I'm not, but we now have San Francisco's health department hiring a fat positivity expert to weigh in on things to make sure that people are not labeled incorrectly and that we're doing things right when it comes to people that are extremely overweight, obese, and so on.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, because God forbid we should actually be honest with people about their lousy lifestyle choices or the things that they are doing that are undermining their their overall health and wellness because everyone has to feel good about their decisions rather than take personal responsibility. This is absolute insanity. The reality is I'm not making fun of people who have weight issues. I'm not making fun of people who have drug addiction issues or any other problem. that is causing them to have ill health. But the reality is we know darn well that obesity leads to a multitude of medical problems, not the least of which is certainly hypertension, renal disease, diabetes, arthritis. Lots of problems. And the idea that you are going to make people feel OK about that is ridiculous. We should say to people, you should feel good enough about yourself to know that you can change and fix this problem, but identify that it is a problem. We cannot allow people to believe that it is healthy to remain obese.
SPEAKER 15 :
I also will say this as somebody that for a lot of years was overweight, and trust me, I knew I was, and what I'm going to go with here, Dr. Kelly, is that I would highly, highly doubt that there is anybody out there that's overweight that, number one, knows that they need to take some weight off. They know, and I know, they struggle with that because certain types of people and DNA and so on, you struggle differently with different things, and I understand that as well. My point, Dr. Kelly, is... I don't think that these people want excuses made for them either. They want somebody to come along and really help them with how do I live a more healthy lifestyle? What do I need to do to make that happen? I highly, highly doubt that there's anybody out there that's overweight that A, knows that they need, they all know they need to lose weight is my point. And I think that when these sorts of things come along, they just look at that and think, I'm just being lied to again and again and again, and I'm being played.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely. The same way that there's nobody out there who's poor, you know, who actually wants to be poor. They may ridicule the ultra-rich, but they would love to be that. I don't think there's anybody out there who's overweight who wouldn't like to be normal weight. Look, for example, at what happened with Lizzo. She came out and said how it was exactly how she wanted to be. She loved being fat. It was healthy. It was beautiful. And Social media came down on her. And lo and behold, interestingly, she has now lost over 100 pounds. Wow. She has totally changed her appearance. Good for her is right. She has just saved her own life. Her health, her wellness, her quality of life will be so improved by what it is. I don't know how she did it. I haven't seen any. I don't know if she did it with the help of Ozempic or whatever. or just diet and exercise, but for however she did it... It doesn't matter. That's right. She needed to do that. That's right. It doesn't matter. And I'm not suggesting that fat shaming is what we want to do. That's what happened with her, and it ended up having this... Well, Dr. Kelly, we...
SPEAKER 15 :
Steve, I'll throw this off to you as well, but Dr. Kelly, really quick. You know, when somebody is an alcoholic and we know they are, you know, A, we don't shame them for being one. In fact, we do everything we possibly can to help them not be one. In fact, most families that have an alcoholic family member will do everything they possibly can, including not drinking around them and all sorts of other things to try to help that particular person get over that particular problem in their life. Yet we don't do that with people that are heavy.
SPEAKER 05 :
Correct. We certainly don't. Go ahead, Keith. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER 03 :
I was going to say, if you think about it, I mean, you're 100% right, right? We try not to drink around somebody who's an alcoholic. We certainly wouldn't take drugs around somebody who's a drug addict. But the one thing that we don't do on Thanksgiving and Christmas is we don't put away cake and ice cream.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right? If someone needs to be healthier, we're not changing our diet. It's just as addictive. It is. In many cases. You're right. It's just as addictive. It may be more damaging. I think you can survive long-term alcoholism probably better than you can severe obesity. So I don't know why it is that way, why the stigma is that way. We basically are giving ourselves a break by saying, hey, you know what, I'm 25, 30 pounds overweight. It's okay. You know, you get older, it's fine. It happens to people. Gravity happens. You know, metabolism slows down. The reality of it is, look at Kelly Victory. If you haven't seen a picture of her, take a look. I mean, she's not my age, but she's getting to the point where she should be having as much trouble with gravity as I do, and for some reason she doesn't.
SPEAKER 15 :
Dr. Kelly, I would be happy even if it was only the 20 or 25 pounds. The problem is, as Americans, that is, let's just say that that is on the very low end of how people are overweight. Am I correct in saying that?
SPEAKER 05 :
A hundred percent. And, you know, we know that now we have I think it's 23 states where more than 50 percent of adults are overweight. I mean, think about that. Half of our country, you know, we have a massive issue with with obesity. And the problem is this is that, yes, metabolisms changes. You get older. You have to eat less. You have to eat less and move more, and it isn't fun. Being hungry or not being able to indulge in the foods we like isn't fun. But the reality is everybody wants a quick fix, and wealthy societies suffer from this not uncommonly because we have access to everything. You have access to food 24-7. It's good food. There's stuff around us all the time. We have made it such that it is very rare to have a social interaction of any sort that does not involve food true we would do ourselves a lot of good to say rather than you hey you want to meet me for a drink or hey you want to meet me for lunch to say hey do you want to meet me and go for a walk right right you want to meet me at the park right well and or the alternative and you know steve you know because i was very heavy at one time and fortunately got on the stick in 2010 and
SPEAKER 15 :
took a ton of weight off, about 110 pounds or so. And Dr. Kelly, what I did when normally somebody would want to go have some sort of a lunch meeting or something along those lines, I did exactly what you said, or I said something to the effect of, you know, everything we're going to meet about, we can do over the phone. I really don't need to be going out to eat. I'm really doing my best to try to be healthy and take some weight off and so on. If you want to get a cup of coffee or something along those lines, I'm game. But at the end of the day, Really, everything we're doing, we can do over the phone. So how about we do that? And you know what, Dr. Kelly? The majority of people, hardly an exception, didn't say, sure, John, we can do that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely. And when I was running a big healthcare company, I would say to people, if what we are going to do is have a meeting where we talk and we have this meeting scheduled for 45 minutes and we're just going to talk. In other words, we don't need a whiteboard and we don't need a slide deck or anything. Great. Let's walk and talk.
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 05 :
Meet me in my office and we're walking. And, you know, it doesn't have to be, you know, walking with weights or speed walking or going to a track. You're just saying, I'm not going to sit there. and have a donut and a cup of coffee while we have this meeting. We've got to get back to that.
SPEAKER 15 :
Steve, you're somebody, too. Most people don't know your history, but you've done very well in this area as well and can really relate to what we're talking about also.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and movement is such a big deal, right? I mean, some of it is I have a little saying that I say in my head all the time, and that is nothing tastes as good as thin feels. So, you know, that's one thing. Number two is I've got an aging doc that I have in Chicago that I go see periodically, and every single time I go, it's a four-hour appointment. You go over all the stuff, but the first hour we walk. We walk and we talk about the latest medical advancements and what's going on. I mean, if you look at the numbers, you know, 6,000 steps, 8,000 steps a day, you fix 40% of all-cause mortality is gone because you do that. You save yourself a 40% chance that all causes of mortality will be reduced because you do 8,000 steps a day. It's not easy to do 8,000 steps, but it's so much harder. And here's the other thing, the stat on the fact that men in the last 10 years, from 65 to 75— men suffer greatly as an average. The average American man suffers. I mean, pain in your joints, pain in all kinds of areas, not to mention cancers and other things. I don't really want to give up that 10 years and have a lousy 10 years, so I walk. I do a lot of things like that.
SPEAKER 15 :
Good for you, and that's the way it ought to be done. My whole point with this whole article was we've now got a city, and by the way, it'll grow. If San Francisco's done it, Dr. Kelly and Steve, other cities will follow suit. This will not be the only one that ends up doing this. So we now have a city that's basically hiring somebody that is their fat positivity person so they can run around the city and basically tell people that, I guess you can live an unhealthy lifestyle, and that's not a problem at all. And, Dr. Kelly, it kind of goes back to what my whole thought process was what we've talked about really all the way through COVID, and I'm sorry, I don't see this as being any different. We have a section of the political front, the Marxist, I don't know how else to say it, that are anti-people, and they will get behind anything possible to reduce the population on this earth. Am I wrong, Dr. Kelly?
SPEAKER 05 :
No, I think fundamentally that is correct. They don't care. The value of human life actually isn't important, and frankly, they'd just as soon see it go down. They'd like to see it go down precipitously, the population. But we have this culture now where you somehow have to validate anything that somebody does. It's never okay to say what you are doing is unwise or it's stupid or it's selfish or whatever else. You have to validate every choice somebody makes. If you decide you want to change your gender, oh, that's a great idea. If you decide you want to ride your motorcycle without a helmet, oh, that's fine. If you decide you want to whatever it is, be obese. use drugs, whatever it is, we have to somehow validate that rather than saying, you know what, that's a really bad idea because we know that it isn't healthy for you. It's not good for you. It's not good for our culture. It's not good for society, whatever it is. And so, you know, this is just the latest example, this, you know, fat, whatever you want to call it, I don't know what her title is.
SPEAKER 15 :
She's the fat positivity expert.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know what it is, John? There's one other thing to think about here, and I know Kelly believes this too, and that is the reason why they do that is they want to make people feel better that don't feel good about themselves.
SPEAKER 15 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, the reality of it is metabolic syndrome. creates a problem for you with dopamine, endorphins, for feeling good, feeling better. So basically, you're trying to tell someone who feels crappy because they've got a problem with their metabolic syndrome that they should feel better or that it's okay. That's not helpful. The harder message is, look, you've got metabolic syndrome. You've put on weight. You're having a hard time. The future will be better for you. You will literally feel better, think better. It'll all work better for you if you lose the weight. And there is no other answer.
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely. None. Absolutely. Guys, that's it for this hour. It always rolls by really fast. I wanted to give enough time to wish both of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are indebted to both of you. And I just can't say enough, A, how much I've learned from the two of you, how I consider you both as close friends, and I know a lot of our listeners do as well. And I just want to say just how grateful I am to have had this experience the last five years, and I look forward to hopefully five more, Steve and Kelly. So, Steve, I'll let you go first.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, no, I mean, I get so much, learn so much from you guys. The one thing I wish for, and I know it's not going to happen, is I wish – 10,000 listeners would have a chance to sit in a room with the three of us and have a conversation because I gain every time we do And I know that it's helpful not only to my own education, but I pass along so many things. I quote Kelly Victory more than anyone on this planet, no doubt. Absolutely. And it's because she's smart and, you know, she does the right things and she helps me. So I appreciate both of you. And, John, you lost weight because Mrs. Rush beat you to death. There we go. There we go. Just get out there. There we go. She loves you. She wants you to live. And she made it happen. So I appreciate her, too.
SPEAKER 15 :
I'll let you go, Steve. Thank you, Dr. Kelly. I meant what I said a moment ago, and I wish you a very Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, thank you very much, and I appreciate both of you so much. Maybe in 2025 we can have a John Rush Town Hall in Denver. That would be fun. I'll come down to Denver, and we can all sit in a room maybe and do a program with some people live. It would be really fun. I would enjoy that. Maybe we can find a way to do the program live together.
SPEAKER 15 :
We can do that.
SPEAKER 05 :
So let's make that happen.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, we'll work on that. Dr. Kelly, thank you. Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 05 :
I will talk to you in the new year. All right, sounds great.
SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
Adventures of Jimmy and Andrew. It's a great way to teach your young kids how to read.
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SPEAKER 15 :
All right, we are back. That's it for this first hour. We've got more coming your way, so don't go anywhere. Rush to Reason, Denver's Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 13 :
Average guys. Average guys.
Join us as we navigate through recent absurdities in news, including the rise of monkeys causing chaos at a Florida school. We'll discuss Jennifer's thrifty shopping strategies and the controversy over the massive grants given to zoos for applying DEI principles. Don't miss our insights into how these events reflect the larger socio-political landscape.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Pro Tips for the Pros, brought to you by Floor & Decor Parsippany. In this series, we'll explore essential advice for professional contractors to deliver outstanding renovation results. Let's dive in. Clear communication is key to a successful renovation. Keep the customer informed at every stage of the project, addressing any concerns or questions promptly to maintain trust and satisfaction. Thank you for joining us for this pro tip on planning thorough renovations. Stay tuned for more expert advice, brought to you by Floor & Decor Parsippany.
SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
Dana Lash's Absurd Truth Podcast, sponsored by Kel-Tec.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's his life mission to make bad decisions. It's time for Florida Man.
SPEAKER 03 :
So a Florida woman who was busted for speeding in a school zone bit a deputy after they found drugs in her car. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said a Claremont woman was not spreading holiday joy when she battered one deputy and tried to bite another. She got caught with drugs and a suspended license while speeding in a school zone. 23-year-old Lara Alexander was, well, she was looking at an iPad, not wearing her seatbelt, and she was like blazing through the school zone. And when they pulled her over, she didn't have a driver's license. It showed it was suspended already last fall. And then she had all kinds. She had like some dope on her. She became combative, though. She elbowed one deputy in the chest. And then they got her in the back of the patrol car and they said she was aggressive. And when the detention deputy came out to help get her out of the vehicle, she bit him in the arm. So now she's in trouble. In addition to her. traffic citation. She's got two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer resisting arrest. She just sounds like joy. She just does, doesn't she? Police got this guy in custody who hijacked an Amazon truck wearing a good vibes only t-shirt. Well, it seems like apparently it was bad vibes. They say that this guy, 46-year-old Hassan Raikin, hit an Amazon driver in the face while wearing a Good Vibes Only t-shirt, and then he drove away with the truck, and they were able to arrest him. And, you know, he's got charges of robbery, carjacking, battery, etc. No packages were stolen, apparently, so I guess people are going to just some minor delay. But, yeah, he's got a sunflower tattoo, and he was wearing a Good Vibes Only shirt. That's doesn't seem like that's going to be good vibes. This is crazy. OK, so in central Florida, they've got an issue with a certain type of these weird. They're like the friends monkeys, the ones that were on the one that Chandler had on the show. What do they call those? They're like capuchins or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So officials are trying to figure out how many monkeys are actually terrorizing people. But apparently they're going into people's backyards and they're terrorizing parents at a school drop off area. It's in central Florida in Volusia County. An elementary school principal literally had to warn parents because monkeys were running like one or two was in the drop off area Wednesday of this week. And like they were going like trying to go with the kids.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
This piece came out, the Wall Street Journal, where they finally are admitting that he's been senile this entire time. In fact, and I was... I mean, this is a hell of a headline over a Daily Mail. They have above the fold like their main photograph. They have Biden, one of the worst incidents when he fell down the stairs over and over like he he fell down the stairs three times for actually trying to get up them in one clip. And it says dud from day one. That's the headline. So this Wall Street Journal piece, they I mean, they knew from the get go. that he was struggling with his senility they knew it from the get-go this bombshell report the big lie as it were you know politic was it politifact that said the biggest lie was the eating of the dogs and cats in ohio the biggest lie was the cover-up of biden's mental acuity The Wall Street Journal, this piece is just about as damning as you can get. How the White House functioned with a diminished Biden in charge. I mean, this is something else. And it gets into all of these counselors who knew it and how they controlled every second of his public events. And the limitations around they even had limitations over what kind of media he consumed, where he what he would read. They said that whenever he traveled particularly, he always had a small group of aides that were right with him. And whenever he would travel, they'd be right there with him too. And they said that even they would shepherd him around in a manner. And these are like some people who apparently were talking off the record that had been, I don't know. I kind of wonder if it was in the press corps, members of the press corps talking about this. But they were saying that the amount of handholding and the amount of shepherding him, in public was unlike anything that they've ever seen. And they knew it from day one. I actually think that you could see it even before the election. Remember, they didn't have him out. He stayed in his, he didn't campaign. And there's a reason why. I mean, the coronavirus and the pandemic, that suited them perfectly. Because then they didn't have to worry about him making a fool of himself in public. They didn't have to worry about him slipping, either verbally or physically. And then all of the headlines that would emerge from that. But they said at events, aides would repeat, I mean, over and over again, instructions to him, like how to enter, where to enter a stage, how to exit, where to exit. And it would be obvious to, you know, an average everyday person. But with him, it wasn't so much. They said the protection, the protective culture was intensified. And they, I mean, everybody limited interactions with him. They said that... it insulated him not just from the scrutiny of the American public, and this is a big takeaway, that it also insulated him from his own cabinet secretaries, chairs of congressional committees, and other high-ranking individuals. So not only was he inaccessible to the average everyday member of the public, but he's inaccessible to his own staff, to the people who are advising him. He's very well insulated. And they said that all of this, all of these strategies to protect him worked until the debate. It worked until the debate. And the debate just blew it wide open. Which then, you know, makes me go back to that. Because in the beginning they were hesitant to accept the debate. And then they did. I mean, they had to have known. how horribly he would perform. And I was thinking about this last night when I was adding this to the headline. So if you subscribe over at Substack, chapter and verse, you get this out. And I was thinking about this when I was compiling some of the prep for this morning. They knew that he was going to perform horribly at that debate. They knew that the election for 24 was going to be won and lost at that one debate. And it was. I think that that that's the night that Trump won. And I think it became definitive. I think he won definitively at the McDonald's, the McDonald's thing. I mean, the assassination to the assassination attempt, he won. But I think it was really confirmed definitively. with Biden failing at the debate, because it wasn't just so much about people getting behind Trump. You had to show that they couldn't get behind Biden. You had to show people that there is no other choice. It's not for the people who were kind of in the middle and were thinking, I don't like either of them. That it had to be made evident to them that it wasn't just a choice between two people that they didn't like. It had to be a choice between someone who could actually function and someone who couldn't. And I think that played. I mean, he destroyed his own career. Biden did. But why did Democrats allow it to happen? Why did they even consent to the debate? You know, they limited the audience. They limited everything. I mean, they kind of had to consent to the debate. But also, do you think that they were trying to put him out to rest? out to pasture this way. I've always wondered what his inner circle, what really felt about him doing the debate. Because they had to have known. There was even at one point, and we remarked on this, I think we played it at the time, when Biden was, and it was before Biden The first it was before the second time he did it when Trump was like, I don't even know if he knows what he says or what he said. I don't think he knows what he said. Remember that soundbite that Trump gave the first time Biden did it, though. They had them on a split screen side by side. And there was I mean, Trump kind of has a poker face for the most part. He didn't with Kamala Harris, but there he did. I think he was very disciplined in the first debate. But he had an expression on his face. If you go back and you and it's on YouTube, if you watch Trump the first time that Biden kind of it's I mean, if you're really watching Trump, you can see it. He's got an expression on his face that reads like this poor guy. He really does. And I think that that is one of the reasons Trump didn't get nasty with him, because I think he felt like Biden was maybe Biden said he was always been a jackass. Let's not undermine that. But now in his sunset years, it sort of felt like everybody else was taking advantage of him because they wanted that access to power. They either wanted to rule through him or they wanted that power adjacency. And I think Trump recognized that when he was on stage. That was a really telling moment in politics. And then the second time Biden got lost in his own mind, that's when Trump said, I don't even think he knows what he says. But they knew this. This should be the big lie. It shouldn't be the, well, you know, they were eating cats and dogs. They were eating cats and dogs. I literally had, was it three weeks ago? It was like right after Thanksgiving. The woman who was an illegal immigrant who was caught on camera in the middle of a residential street eating someone's pet. That is literally from Ohio. That is video from Ohio. And that was a woman who was in the country illegally, according to law enforcement cited by the local press of the story. It's not a lie. But what is a lie? The big lie is all of these Democrats covering up for Joe Biden. Do you know how dangerous it is what they did? They put in to the White House someone who is already senile. And they knew it from day one. We could see it even. And they lied to you. They lied to all of us, all of our faces. That is the big lie. They were so desperate for power that they put someone in whose mind is actually failing them. Someone who controls the nuclear football. Someone who can make the call, push the right button, send your kids and loved ones to war. They put that guy in the White House. Do you know how dangerous that is? That's how bad they want power. They don't care how and they don't care about the dangerousness of it and they don't care what it costs. They want power. They have no idea how to keep it, but they just want it. If you're looking for a convenient, affordable way to access medications and treatments you can trust, All Family Pharmacy has you covered. Whether it's the flu or parasites, cancer support, or general well-being, All Family Pharmacy's online service makes getting the medications you need hassle-free. With All Family, it's simple. You can choose the individual medications that best suit your needs or opt for one of their comprehensive treatment packages designed to give you everything that you need in one convenient order. And every order comes with a doctor's prescription included. Ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, or any other effective medications, they have it all. 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SPEAKER 06 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 03 :
So Brazil traders are selling first and asking later as the pandemic is hitting their markets. Gosh, I forgot to tell you of the bird flu headlines, too, as well. This is it was they they they've been dealing with a collapse in their currency. Now their markets are in their crosshairs. Investors are losing faith in their ability to contain this crisis. And they think that the sell off has sent the real I mean, it's it's been it's plunged to a record low. Everything stocks, local currency, everything, everything is a mess. So what happens when you've been not fiscally responsible? This is actually going to do less than inflation or against inflation. The Fed trims interest rates in the third straight cut this year. I really don't think that this is going to do anything because I mean, they keep doing it incrementally and still it's not having any effect, really. It makes you mad.
SPEAKER 06 :
Makes me mad because government spending hasn't stopped or even slowed down. It's actually increased. There is no justification until we get inflation under control to cut the rates. But this is what they're doing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, yeah, I mean, and this is again, and we see why all of we're having all of these issues, all of the stuff that we're dealing with in Congress right now. And with this spending, you know, the cost of living increase and all that stuff. But yeah, they said Jerome Powell told reporters that it was today was a closer call. He says they're arguing that lowering rates could undermine their taming of inflation since it peaked at nine point one and twenty two. You know what else proves difficult in taming inflation? Like constantly printing money to cover your debts. That also does it too. Okay, so here's the first bird flu. Bird flu. First bird flu headline. First severe bird flu case is confirmed in the United States. The patient was hospitalized. They said that there's no details. It's at a hospital in Louisiana. And they said that the patient had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks. That's per the CDC. So they said that it's the general type in the patient's case is different from the one detected in dairy cows. I don't I think that it's just all a way to scare people. And I get really especially, you know, we all they try to use this to lock the country down again. I will literally kick some people in the blinking teeth. I mean, no joke. Okay, this is actually funny. I saw this headline last night. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says raccoon and squirrel are among dietary preferences. He suggested that consuming raccoon was not uncommon at all. It's actually not. But you know the people who think that it is uncommon are like the city-dwelling whole food eaters. I'm not trying to be mean about it. I've never had it. You've never had it? I've never eaten raccoon. I've eaten squirrel. My husband's eaten raccoon. I know I have family members that would hunt them and eat them.
SPEAKER 06 :
I've had rabbit and squirrel, but never, never, never that.
SPEAKER 03 :
It's greasy from what I understand. It's real greasy. I don't like that. And plus they're cute. Like I can look at a cow in the face and be like, you look delicious.
SPEAKER 06 :
But they eat trash.
SPEAKER 03 :
They're trash pandas. So you're eating trash meat because you are what your meat eats.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's kind of like bug meat, like in the seafood arena, like lobsters and shrimp into those bottom feeders.
SPEAKER 03 :
So it's like scavenger meat. Yeah. I don't like scavenger meat.
SPEAKER 06 :
That's what raccoons are.
SPEAKER 03 :
That's why it's greasy because it's dumpster meat. Ew, dumpster meat. Sounds like something out of Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Yeah, great. But yeah, I thought that was funny because you have media are freaking out about it and they think he's like a freak because of it. Also, a couple of other things here to make sure that we're touching on because we've got to get a lot of this stuff. This... I'm coming back to it, but I have a whole handful of stories. People who are spending tons of money on that Luigi Mangione. Now, I told you that they raised six figures for defense, right? But they now check. So this assassin, this murderer has received 158 cash deposits into his prison commissary account, 40 emails and 53 letters in the mail from his demented fans. And then, you know, I told you about the survey where Gen Z is like, really, was it that bad? Because, you know, the narrative about the CEO and all that stuff. It's just it's wild, wild. And let's see. Apparently, KFC is considering they open a new restaurant that's not like KFC. And it's called called Saucy. And it basically features chicken tendies and dips. That's all it is. Would you eat there? Yeah, like canes. I know I'm like canes. Stick with us. We've got a lot more in store. We got to get this under control because right now they're at. I mean, I I don't know. Says you can do a clean CR. Trump says it's dumb to do a clean CR. OK, so what are we doing? What is it? I mean, heaven knows, you know, the house being the power of the purse, heaven knows that Johnson's not there offering any kind of serious alternative except for the pork, you know, crapnibus that he proposed right before Christmas. So, you know, that's out. It's so frustrating. Not as frustrating as spending tax money, though, to study identity politics at the zoo. Oh, that's actually a real headline though. It sounded like something I was joking about. No, it's actually a legitimate headline. Hold up. Let me – I got to share this. This is so stupid. There's a half a million dollar grant that's supposed to help this zoo apply for an anti-racist lens. What is – I don't even know what that means. tax dollars, our tax dollars for a zoo to look at identity politics. So the, I'm going to pull this up. This is at the American Alliance of Museums, and it's like DEA on roids. They have some definitions. And this comes from Randoland, which is a great account for following a lot of this wasteful spending. So the Institute of Museum and Library Services, they gave a grant, and it actually ended up going to a zoo even. And it was about $700,000 in And they wanted to explore diversity, equity, access, and inclusion. D-E-A-I. Oh, now it's D-E-A-I. Oh, is it? Oh, yeah. You know. Okay. Hold up. D-E-A. So that's diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion. Oh. So there are. Working with the Association of Science Technology Centers and the two alphabet groups are apparently looking at how to implement these DEI practices, I guess. And it's just so goofy into like their their museums, zoos, etc. Why? Why? Why? Why are we doing this? Why is this still a thing? They had this – pulling this up. They had this – it went through the Endowment of the Arts, this grant that they had that was – I mean, that's like one of the things that they put money towards. Not only a grant for a zoo to study things through an anti-racist lens, there was also almost a million-dollar grant to an organization to provide outreach and engagement, non-traditional holistic supports, whatever, and alphabet-affirming interventions for youth and family, hundreds of youth and family. That was a grant that went through the NEA. I mean... The good news is that in private businesses, the DEI stuff looks like it's falling apart, falling to the wayside. The bad news is, is that it's so ingrained in government already that a lot of this grant money being allocated is still being funneled towards those DEI programs. So they have not caught up. Government is behind business in this. Yet zookeepers can apply equity, inclusion and anti-racist practices to to zoo structures, policies, and programs. The big recipient through the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences was the Woodland Park Zoological Society. What does that have to do with the zoo? Why do people have to have their money taken to make zoo workers less racist? Why are Z workers racist?
SPEAKER 04 :
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.
In today's show, we tackle the pressing issue of governmental budgets, exploring the controversies and decisions that shape the economic landscape of America. From hurricane recovery efforts to aiding struggling farmers, the discussion highlights the crucial decisions policymakers face. For those seeking to enhance their home’s aesthetic, Floor & Decor provides a comprehensive range of materials suited for professionals aiming to create impressive results. Stay tuned as we uncover the balance between policy intricacies and practical contracting expertise.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to Pro Tips for the Pros, brought to you by Floor & Decor Parsippany. In this series, we'll explore essential advice for professional contractors to deliver outstanding renovation results. Let's dive in. After completing the renovation, follow up with the customer to ensure their satisfaction and address any remaining concerns. Provide maintenance tips and guidance to help them preserve the results of the renovation for years to come. Thank you for joining us for this pro tip on planning thorough renovations. Stay tuned for more expert advice brought to you by Floor & Decor Parsippany.
SPEAKER 20 :
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SPEAKER 01 :
this was the conservative play call we don't normally like what's called a continued resolution of c r but in this case it makes sense because if we push it into the first quarter next year then we have a republican controlled congress and president donald j trump back in the white house will be able to have more say over the funding decisions for twenty twenty five now that would have been an easier thing to do but then we had circumstances outside of our control we had these emergencies that are required so we had as you know a record hurricane season we had helene and milton and they just did massive destruction across our red states frankly uh in the southeast and the eastern side of the country and then we've had farmers who are in jeopardy of permanently going under they've had three lost years in a row because of bidenomics and inflation and other circumstances outside of their control. And so when you cobble those two things together, there's a desperate need for that aid and that's what adds another hundred plus billion dollars to the bill and that's why everybody's uncomfortable with it. I am too. We have a massive deficit and debt problem of course in this country. We can begin to address that and shrink the size and scope of government in January with Republican control, but we've got to bridge the gap to get there, and we cannot leave our small farms and ranchers and our people who are devastated by the hurricanes out in the meantime. So that's the difficult part about this. That's what people are... are really struggling with, and I am too, but we have a responsibility here.
SPEAKER 06 :
This is the same old, same old. You talk about needing to cut all of that spending. Sean, this bill right here would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit, and the worst part is, it's all for dim priorities. Why would you saddle Donald Trump with this terrible spending bill before he even gets into office. And, Sean, the worst part is it dumps it right back in his lap in March. In March, under this bill, they'd shut the government down again, have to do this all over again, have to raise the debt ceiling again later the same year. It's ridiculous. It's a horrible plan. I can't believe that Republican leadership ever cooked it up. Clearly, they didn't talk to Trump about it. And I tell you what, we need to have a serious look at who's leading this Congress because if this is the best they can do, I mean, it's just, it's total incompetence. This is a disaster.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, this is it's this stupid bill. And I mean, it's just it's amazing. Some of the arguments that I've heard in favor of it now, apparently we're hearing about, you know, we have to possibly potentially just raise the debt ceiling so we can get what we want. It's just the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Welcome to the radio program. Dana Lash with you. I just want to dive right into this just to get it set up because there's kind of a lot to fit in. But. it's this fighting over the budget. It's this CR, this omnibus. And, you know, as we've been discussing on the program, we talked about this yesterday as well, the whole issue is overspending with the government. And when you look at, I think, what was the last time when we were raising when we like push to raise the debt ceiling i think we increase debt by like four trillion dollars or something insane like that and you can't keep going that way and i understand the difference between the deficit and the debt ceiling and all of that stuff i get it but i don't understand why you can't just allow us to hit the debt ceiling and then from there force cuts. And again, I get it that it takes, you know, if you're forcing cuts, it's something that you're going to have to go through the House on. I completely understand all of that. But the issue here is dispending. I mean, we just had members of Congress that are trying to, they slipped in this, they slipped in this omnibus, $174,000, like what, a 60% pay increase, I think was the percentage, a 60% 40% still.
SPEAKER 09 :
It's like 176 to like 240.
SPEAKER 18 :
Now, again, why did they need that? Because they said it was a cost of living adjustment. It was a raise, but it was a cost of living adjustment. Okay, so here's the issue. It's a cost of living adjustment that's brought on by the incessant spending that we keep seeing from Republicans and Democrats. It's this excessive spending that's driving all of this, that's driving the deficit, that's pushing through all of this stuff. Why? Just again, I know it's going to take a longer bit of time, but just go through the house and take let it take time. I'd rather it take time than consistently raise the debt ceiling. And there are some people out there that are going to tell you it doesn't really matter that they're going to raise it anyway. Those are the people that also aren't going to give you anything to cut. They're not going to give you any solutions. They're not going to give you anything like this. And, you know, I got to tell you, with Speaker Johnson, and that was audio somebody won, right? Yes. Okay, so he wrote this damn bill. So how is it he's like, well, this is the conservative play call. You know, we don't normally like it, but in this case, it makes sense. You wrote it. You wrote the bill. So how, what is this? What is this nonsense? You wrote it. You wrote the thing. So, you know, I got to tell you, This is pretty frustrating, and we're going to dive all into this because there's a lot of tricks, there's a lot of movement, and they're going to try to, I think, get away with a lot more than they should be able to get away with. And we can't... They're going to use military pay as a way to try to force you. They're going to use military pay. They're going to use... What are some of the other things that they're trying to hold hostage? There's a whole bunch of stuff in here that they're trying to hold hostage. They're trying to say, oh, well, it's going to be... Oh, yeah, the J6 committee.
SPEAKER 09 :
They're actually putting protections of the committee in here for some reason.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah. It's rough. It's rough. And I'm just... So tired of hearing the same old arguments from a lot from these same people. I mean, they also one of the things, too, they keep all that they're going to shut down the government and they're going to, you know, they're they're bad Republicans. Let them do it. They've used the debt limit as leverage for every budget fight. Every budget fight, they've used the debt limit as leverage. And they always say, well, we've got to be able to pay our debts. We're going to go into fiscal crisis. And I get it. They're not going to default. They can't default. But you realize that you could actually divert some of this big government spending that you're spending on stupid stuff to maybe pay some of it. I mean, there's a process. There's a way to do it. But even now, Trump is saying that maybe we need to raise the debt limit. We're going to dive into the debt limit more here coming up. But this bill and there's a lot of momentum that's going against it. Thankfully, Trump tweeted about it. But he also then said we got to raise the debt limit or the debt ceiling, which I don't I'm still against that. We're going to dive into that aspect of it more here coming up. But he was saying that he was. going to because some want a clean bill a clean bill means that you can do a standalone bill to keep government open and then you can do a secondary bill if you wanted to do disaster aid or for farming and you know all of that stuff those that can be something separate but they always try to lump it all together so that they can play off each other And the thing is, is you can pass the CR and then you can come back and hit this again next year because this is going to come to a head again. And what I think they're still timing it out. But what, like June or something like that? Yeah, I don't think that they they're still trying to figure out exactly when. But it's going to this is going to come up to a head reconciliation in June. So it's not a done fight. And again, the last time they did this was was over a year ago. It was over a year ago, a year and a half. And since they suspended the debt ceiling the last time, we grew debt. I said $4 trillion. I'm sorry. I'm way under that. It's $4.7 trillion. $4.7 trillion. That's why nothing is affordable. It's why Congress is saying, well, we're going to have to give ourselves a cost of living adjustment. We're going to have to do that. That's never acceptable. But there, I feel like they don't even, they don't want to fight. 1,500 pages, over 1,500 pages. Now, some say, well, you know, you can just, if you're going to have to do the debt limit, then pass just, you know, the state, the continuing resolution. That's what the CR stands for. Then just pass the continuing resolution and go from there. Yeah, but here's the issue. You know, you're still going to have to deal with the debt limit. And I mean, Can you pass a clean CR and then allow the debt limit to be hit? Because if that ends up happening, Democrats, obviously what I think you have maybe six months before the cycle starts. I think it's early enough that Republicans can get around it should they want to. But this is a this is a big deal. It's a big mess. And it seems like, you know, they're going to continue having this fight and they're going to continue dealing with this until they can start. They can cut spending. And like I said, we're going to dive into that. Also, one of the other things I mean, I just happen to notice Argentina exited their recession. That was a huge win. I mean, just look at some of the parallels with Malai. We can do that here. It is possible. Also on deck, which we're going to dive into a bombshell Wall Street Journal report. Absolutely confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt what everybody else knew that Democrats lied about Biden's senility, that they knew how bad he was, which we all knew that they did. But now the media is like, hey, guys, you know, this is kind of a bad thing that happened. We're going to dive into that because. This I mean, for the Wall Street Journal, of course, it's they can write about it now because there's no risk about them writing about it now. So we're going to dive into that as well. And I am amazed. We have to have a serious discussion about some of the surveys that have come out about this killer, this Luigi Mangione, because apparently there were several surveys. And Gen Z doesn't really think that, you know, they don't really totally hate what the guy did. It's wild. He's raised six figures online. He's raised six figures. His defense has raised six figures. This is insane. This guy's a killer, but because it involved a CEO. 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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 20 :
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SPEAKER 09 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 18 :
So Brazil traders are selling first and asking later as the pandemic is hitting their markets. Gosh, I forgot to tell you of the bird flu headlines, too, as well. This is it was they they they've been dealing with a collapse in their currency. Now their markets are in their crosshairs. Investors are losing faith in their ability to contain this crisis. And they think that the sell off has sent the real I mean, it's it's been it's plunged to a record low. Everything stocks, local currency, everything, everything is a mess. So what happens when you've been not fiscally responsible? This is actually going to do less than inflation or against inflation. The Fed trims interest rates in the third straight cut this year. I really don't think that this is going to do anything because I mean, they keep doing it incrementally and still it's not having any effect, really. It makes you mad.
SPEAKER 09 :
Makes me mad because government spending hasn't stopped or even slowed down. It's actually increased. There is no justification until we get inflation under control to cut the rates. But this is what they're doing.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, yeah, I mean, and this is again, then we see why all of we're having all of these issues, all of the stuff that we're dealing with in Congress right now. And with this spending, you know, the cost of the living increase and all that stuff. But yeah, they said Jerome Powell told reporters that it was today was a closer call. He says they're arguing that lowering rates could undermine their their taming of inflation since it peaked at nine point one and twenty two. You know what else proves difficult in taming inflation? Like constantly printing money to cover your debts. That also does it too. Okay, so here's the first bird flu. Bird flu. First bird flu headline. First severe bird flu case is confirmed in the United States. The patient was hospitalized. They said that there's no details. It's at a hospital in Louisiana. And... They said that the patient had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks. That's per the CDC. So they said that the genotype in the patient's case is different from the one detected in dairy cows. I think that it's just all a way to scare people. And I get really, especially, you know, they try to use this to lock the country down again. I will literally kick some people in the blinking teeth. I mean, no joke. Okay, this is actually funny. I saw this headline last night. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says raccoon and squirrel are among dietary preferences. He suggested that consuming raccoon was not uncommon at all. It's actually not. But you know the people who think that it is uncommon are like the city-dwelling whole food eaters. I'm not trying to be mean about it.
SPEAKER 09 :
I've never had it.
SPEAKER 18 :
You've never had it? I've never eaten raccoon. I've eaten squirrel. My husband's eaten raccoon. I know I have family members that would hunt them and eat them.
SPEAKER 09 :
I've had rabbit and squirrel, but never, never, never that.
SPEAKER 18 :
It's greasy from what I understand. It's real greasy. I don't like that. And plus they're cute. Like I can look at a cow in the face and be like, you look delicious.
SPEAKER 09 :
But they eat trash.
SPEAKER 18 :
They're trash pandas. So you're eating trash meat because you are what your meat eats.
SPEAKER 09 :
It's kind of like bug meat, like in the seafood arena, like lobsters and shrimp into those bottom feeders.
SPEAKER 18 :
So it's like scavenger meat.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 18 :
I don't like scavenger meat.
SPEAKER 09 :
That's what raccoons are.
SPEAKER 18 :
That's why it's greasy because it's dumpster meat. Ew, dumpster meat. Sounds like something out of Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Yeah, great. But yeah, I thought that was funny because you have media are freaking out about it and they think he's like a freak because of it. Also, a couple of other things here to make sure that we're touching on because we've got to get a lot of this stuff. This... I'm coming back to it, but I have a whole handful of stories. People who are spending tons of money on that Luigi Mangione. Now, I told you that they raised six figures for defense, right? But they now check. So this assassin, this murderer has received 158 cash deposits into his prison commissary account, 40 emails and 53 letters in the mail from his demented fans. And then, you know, I told you about the survey where Gen Z is like, really, was it that bad? Because, you know, the narrative about the CEO and all that stuff, it's just, it's wild, wild. And let's see, apparently KFC is considering, they opened a new restaurant that's not like KFC. And it's called Saucy. And it basically features chicken tendies and dips. That's all it is. Would you eat there? Yeah, like canes. I know I'm like canes. Stick with us. We've got a lot more in store. Our partners, they help bring you the program. It's our friends over at Patriot Mobile. The only Christian conservative cell phone service that is out there. Patriot Mobile, they have plans that can support any type of budget, any type. And you're going to get exceptional nationwide coverage in all three major networks. When you switch, you're going to support what matters. Your money is not working against you. You get seamless switching with a 100% U.S.-based customer service team. And right now with their Every Friday Matters special, when you switch, you get a brand new smartphone. You can keep your number or get a new one. The choice is yours. But it's eligible only with promo code FRIDAY. So a free smartphone, limited time offer or until supplies run out. Terms and conditions apply. Make the switch today. PatriotMobile.com slash Dana 972 Patriot.
SPEAKER 17 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Keep your finger on the pulse with the Dana Show podcast, delivering timely news with insightful analysis. Whenever you want, straight to you on YouTube, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 18 :
Welcome back to the program. Oh, this is a good one. This is a good Christmas track. It is a Christmas track. Welcome back. Dana Lash with you. Bottom of this first hour. Okay, so if I seem like I'm real stiff, I literally can't turn right or left. Your girl has a pinched nerve. Oh, no. It's bad. On a scale of 1 to 10, and I have a pretty high pain tolerance, it's probably about a nice 8. So we're just riding the lightning today.
SPEAKER 09 :
What about nodding up and down?
SPEAKER 18 :
Don't even. You can't even. I almost shook my head and I died.
SPEAKER 09 :
I just died and came back to life. No yes or no question.
SPEAKER 18 :
Tens units, this pinched nerve laughs at them. It flicks them off. Wow. We're just riding the lightning today. So if I freeze up totally, it's because my nerves made everything shut down because I'm way more animated usually. So there you have it. All right. So moving on this, we've been talking about the CR, this whole, I don't want to say what I really think of it because it's, it's just an, it's a nightmare. This is not anything that what we voted for nothing at all whatsoever. And I'm really confused. So audio soundbite two, this is J.D. Vance, who was in the halls of Congress yesterday. And he was asked about he and, you know, POTUS elect where, you know, what are they thinking? This is what he said.
SPEAKER 20 :
Should Speaker Johnson be reelected? Do you support a clean CR?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, what the president believes is we should support a clean CR so long as it contains a debt limit increase. That's the position of the president. That's what we're going to try to push for.
SPEAKER 21 :
Are you supporting a government shutdown then?
SPEAKER 01 :
Have a good night, guys. Thanks.
SPEAKER 21 :
Did you speak to Speaker Johnson directly? Did you communicate? Do you think you should be reelected, Mr. Vance?
SPEAKER 1 :
Hmm.
SPEAKER 18 :
Why are we... Okay, so again, why would the debt ceiling increase? Somebody give me a good argument for it. I haven't read one.
SPEAKER 09 :
I don't have an argument, but I've seen the explanations for it with that conversation coming up in June. Here's my take on all of this. If Doge is designed to cut government spending, find the waste, get rid of it, why do we need to increase a debt ceiling when we could literally cut to accomplish the same thing?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, that's my, yeah, that's my whole point. Right. Like, why can't we just hit the limit and cut spending elsewhere to service our debt? Yes. Why can't we do that?
SPEAKER 09 :
We have to do this at my household. I can't just vote myself a credit line increase.
SPEAKER 18 :
I mean, I keep, people keep telling me that there's chess afoot and that that's what it is. And I'm like, okay, well, explain this to me then. Explain to me then why... allowing Congress to just raise the limit. How was that in any way? It doesn't make any sense. So I don't know. That's what I don't understand. And he tweeted about this. Let me pull this tweet up. He tweeted about this, well, twice now, last night and This morning. And he had said that, you know, this is not something he doesn't want anything to pass. No spending bills until he's in office. And he also with the way that he put it, it seemed like don't do anything until, you know, don't do anything that can be attributed to my administration. Right. I mean, that's that's.
SPEAKER 09 :
I don't know. I dropped it in Slack. I'm confused. If Republicans try to pass a clean CR without all the Democrat bells and whistles that will be destructive to our country, all it will do after January 20th is bring the mess of the debt limit into the Trump administration.
SPEAKER 18 :
Rather than allow it to take place in Biden's. And so that was the big thing. So the fact that he and J.D. Vance, as he just said, the president wants an increase in the debt ceiling. He wants that to be raised. Right. So you're saying that it's OK as long as it just doesn't happen under your administration? I'm confused. But where is the strategy to spend less to cut spending? I, you know, I made this mention. I had mentioned of this yesterday with in talking to Congressman Thomas Massey. This is really the first test of this new administration is this right here. It's the first test, and it's a difficult one because you're going into a holiday season. You are going into potentially shutting down the government. You're going to hit a wall of bad press because they're going to do what they're going to do, and they're going to argue that you're not paying military and all of this other stuff. And it's tough, but it's a test that this administration said they could handle, and it's their first one. And the other problem that they have, you know, nonwithstanding the media assault and Democrats, is Republicans, is dealing with other Republicans. I don't know how Doge is going to be successful. If Republicans can't even take seriously the first test that will determine the strength of their commitment to reducing government spending. If they can't reduce spending here with this or even pass just a simple CR and say, if you're going to hit the debt ceiling, then hit it. And then we're going to reconvene and we will you know, go through that process of cutting, you know, what needs to be cut and reshuffling, refocusing or redirecting what we already have allocated to servicing this debt. If they can't do this, don't expect them to listen to Doge. Don't expect them to listen to it. And then, in fact, what they could turn Doge into is just theater. Look, we have something that makes it seem like we care about this commitment to reducing the size of government and wasteful spending, but we're not actually going to incorporate anything that they're proposing into any kind of useful legislation. So it's just like the appearance... of being fiscally conservative without actually being fiscally conservative. Does that make sense? I worry about that. This is the first big test. And I don't understand the whole idea of raising the debt ceiling again. It's debt. It's debt we owe. We can't default on it. The United States is not going to default on it. But there is so much wasteful spending elsewhere. Why? I mean, then redirect it. Now, I said I made mention of this on X and I had a lot of people like, well, you know, you can't that has to go through the house. And yeah, that's the point. That's the problem with a lot of this stuff. It didn't in the first place. You realize that, right? There's a lot of wasteful spending that they would just write an open check to this bureaucratic agency or this one. And then you wonder how you end up getting, you know, spending $3 million to study lesbian obesity. Right? Or studying what it's like if squirrels are on crack. You know, I don't know. It's just, this is part of the problem. So we've got to get this situated. We really do. And to see the president, I don't want to see the president of the United States fold on this. Now, then you have this situation with Social Security. Oh, boy. My Nana's going to throw something at the TV. The Social Security bill, it's supposed to be headed toward a bipartisan win. It's going to be $196 billion added to the deficit. Now, it shouldn't be added to the deficit. This is what is enraging. The reason why they're adding to the deficit is because government spent it already. And now they're going to have to spend more. That's why. I mean, this is just madness. This is the worst math I've ever seen in my life. This is bad math. In addition to all of that, hold up, we got more. Some of the other items in this, you know, almost 1600 page bill in it. And this is something the Washington Examiner found the State Department, their censorship office. Well, it buried in the spending bill. There is a provision that would reauthorize the State Department's Global Engagement Center. Now, this thing was established back in 2016 under Trump. I don't know if they knew it. It's come under immense public and congressional scrutiny because of the stuff that they're doing. I mean, they literally gave tax dollars to this Global Disinformation Index thing and these other outside groups that were trying to measure whether or not what you or other people said or some of the stuff that you read, whether or not it was considered disinformation. And they pretend to work behind the veneer of disinformation as a way to suppress conservative voices. So the State Department sent a notification to Congress. This was earlier in the month. They said they were going to terminate the GEC because they didn't have any support from Republicans. They had an eight-year mandate. The GEC did. It had an eight-year mandate. And you have to... You have to reauthorize their funding. So it wasn't something that was just on auto. And this this entity, by the way, if you remember. It was frequently featured in these House Judiciary Committee and House Small Business Committee hearings. And there were subpoenas that had been issued, Republicans issued subpoenas, and they were accusing this agency of orchestrating this huge campaign of suppression against right-leaning voices. And that they were working alongside these very far-left progressive entities to do so. So this is all true. And so now, slipped in to the bill by leaders in Congress is text that would save it. reauthorize its funding. Remember how I said you got to reauthorize it and Republicans haven't been supporting it. So there were two different Republican committees that investigated and tore apart GEC, this global engagement center with the State Department that was involved in claiming that something is disinformation for the purpose of suppressing right-leaning voices. And they slip language into this bill that destroys all of the work that these two committees did. And then we all have to pay for the investigation. I mean, this is... This is crazy. I mean, if you remember, there was Jim Banks. He went after them because they were trying to say... They were trying to smear him because of Trump. And they were trying to say that he was like a Russian asset or something. And the GEC was found to have circulated all of this internal stuff. And the Washington Examiner has been really good in reporting regularly on this. They were... looking into they had this internal memo that they were circulating, claiming they were looking into Jim Banks's associations to this and that as a way to smear him. See, it's just they put it out there that they're looking into it as a way to just suggest without having to provide evidence of a formal accusation that a formal accusation would require. I mean, this is this is in the bill. It's in the bill. It's a one year extension. the one year extension. And there have been a lot of deep dives into their speech suppression. I mean, it's in the bill. It's in Section 301, Global Engagement Center Extension. And it says Section 1287J of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017 is amended by striking on the date that is eight years after the date of the enactment of this act and inserting on the date that is nine years after the date of the enactment of this act. So it's literally just one sentence that's been slipped in here that extends this thing for a year. And we all pay for it. That's what we're looking at. This is unbelievable. And there's a lot more in there, too. I mean, you've got plandemic powers being expanded in this. I mean, this is a mess. This is an absolute mess, and there's no way to defend it. And Mike Johnson wrote it. How are you leader in the House and you're allowing this stuff to go in? How is any Republican, including POTUS elect, protecting Johnson? Although I will say one of the things Lorraine found is that Johnson was supposed to be an event at an event this weekend with Trump and Tucker Carlson. And he's not now. Apparently, it's his appearance has been canceled. Interesting. Our partners over at ReadyWise. They're always ready even if you aren't. Free and fast shipping on most orders. By the way, this is premium survival food for which you know the chain of command from start to finish. 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SPEAKER 05 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of the United States.
SPEAKER 13 :
uh now turn it over to the flat earthers who would like to go first so obviously you all know jaron campanella of jaronism one of the most popular flat earth youtube channels all right guys uh sometimes you are wrong in life
SPEAKER 04 :
And I thought that there was no 24-hour sun. In fact, I was pretty sure of it. But I respect Will Duffy for being a stand-up guy, at least in the way that he kept saying it was true. I kept saying it wasn't. He said, do you want to go? I'll take you. And he brought me here. And it's a fact. The sun does circle you in the south. So what does that mean? You guys are going to have to figure that out yourself. Don't listen to my beliefs or my opinion. It shouldn't matter to you. But at least you should be able to accept...
SPEAKER 18 :
that the sun does exactly what these guys said as far as circles the southern continent somebody spent $35,000 to take this dumbass barely illiterate product of incest to some mountaintop so he could just watch the sky for himself was it Mike Johnson who did it sounds like something that Mike Johnson would do It was a flat earther who went all the way to Antarctica to prove that the earth was flat, only to find out that it wasn't. Kane and I were having a fun debate about this. Are you a flat earther in addition to hating old people?
SPEAKER 09 :
No, I'm actually, like I told you, just because I know it makes you laugh and kind of gets under your skin, but I'm keeping my mind open.
SPEAKER 18 :
I mean, I think the earth is round, but I don't care.
SPEAKER 09 :
I've never been to space.
SPEAKER 18 :
I feel like there are people out there on the internet that are like, my gosh, I have nothing left in life. So I'm going to cling to this one premise and my whole life's happiness and everything I do and my justification as a person here on earth is dependent upon me being right about this one thing. And I just, I'm like, I don't care. I believe it's round. I don't care. I'm not going to fall off it. I don't care.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I'm with you there. I'm keeping my mind open. Sure, whatever. What is there to keep your mind open about? Have you been to space to look at the thing?
SPEAKER 18 :
No, but I've never been in a wreck with a dump truck either. It probably sucks.
SPEAKER 09 :
I don't think that's the same thing. But my point is, I'm just leaving it open. I don't have the definitive proof with my own eyeballs that it's not.
SPEAKER 18 :
So you can't believe it unless you see it with your own eyes? Yeah. Anything?
SPEAKER 09 :
Not anything. Stop doing that. I know what you're doing. I know what you're driving to. I can see it. I can hear it. I can feel it.
SPEAKER 18 :
I didn't do anything at all.
SPEAKER 09 :
I'm just saying.
SPEAKER 18 :
Stop it. If that's your measure as to whether or not something exists, this is going to be a fun next two hours. This is going to be super fun. So I'm not even on a muscle relaxer for this pain in my neck. I'm just riding the lightning. This is, can you imagine? All right. We got a lot more on the way. Second hour coming up. Boy, oh boy. Look, I'm going to tell you, I've told Pete, I've said this a million times before. I carry. every chance I get. And I have zero problem at all whatsoever in using lethal force to protect myself or a loved one. Unfortunately, you know, we live I mean, I get it that you have private property rights, and you have property owners that maybe don't want you to carry and but they're not going to provide you with any kind of security, right? Or maybe it's, you know, a government building, or maybe it's, you know, the municipality that's like, like Los Angeles that wants to or Chicago that wants to ban something. You don't want to be left defenseless and you don't want prosecutors to use like unconstitutional laws as a way to remove or bar you from further exercising your Second Amendment rights. But you still need a means of protection. And this is where the burner gun comes in. Think of it as diversifying your weapons array. So you have a way to still protect yourself. And you don't have to worry. Pay attention to gun-free zone signs because a Burna gun doesn't care about that. Burna gun does not care about waiting. Waiting periods are inapplicable. They ship it. No background checks. They ship it right to your front porch. And if you're unfamiliar with what the Burna gun is and does, the SD is their most popular model. It shoots chemical irritant projectiles that can disable threats from up to 50 feet away. Now, they have other models, but I don't. I talk about the Berna SD most because that's what I have the most familiarity with. And everybody I know that's gotten a Berna gun, they've gotten the Berna SD. And in fact, a lot of law enforcement agencies are incorporating it as a way to be able to control threats and to have just a gradient approach, so to speak. Now, you can get a major discount on them. We get 10% off by going to Berna.com slash Dana. You can look at all of the models that they have. They have different projectiles, accessories, all kinds of stuff. And again, no background checks, no permits, ships right to your door. They don't care about gun-free zone signs. Visit Byrna.com slash Dana. Diversify your weapon array. Get 10% off your purchase. That's Byrna.com slash Dana for 10% off.
SPEAKER 03 :
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SPEAKER 18 :
Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash with you. We're at the top of this second hour here on the program. And we've been going over this big bill, the omnibus, which I think they just need to let it hit the debt ceiling and be done with it because it's ridiculous. Just let it do that. Be done with it. Because the issue when we were talking about. POTUS elect as well. And he had tweeted out that he doesn't want this thing to happen basically on his administration. So make it happen on Biden's administration. And then he talked about raising the debt ceiling, which I don't know why we have to raise the debt ceiling when we should just hit it and then force that to make Congress actually implement some cuts and redirect spending to service the debt. I mean, that seems like the most obvious thing possible. But, you know, it's you're dealing with Republicans in D.C. This is the tweet. Juan's got it up on the simulcast. If you're watching Channel 347, the chats at Rumble, where he says there and you can read it that rather than allowing it, it should it should don't let it go into the Trump administration, you know, as opposed to, you know, allowing it to take place in the Biden administration. I don't think it needs to happen in any administration. And I just like I've said, I think that this is really the first test for the new Congress, for this president, for this term. And it's a test for Doge to see whether or not they're actually going to implement or would they even listen to them? And that's a big deal because all of this is from, you know, insane government spending. And we got to think of it. The reason why Congress wanted to vote for themselves a pay raise is because they keep they keep spending money. They keep spending money like it's out of control. It's out of control. And they've used it as leverage. I mean, I don't know. I have people telling me that you do have to raise the debt limit. I disagree with it. But it has been used as leverage. I don't know how long we can use that carrot in front of the donkey, but it would be nice. But we've used it as leverage. The last time we raised it 18 months ago, we expanded, what, added $4.7 trillion in debt. 4.7 trillion. I just, I mean, a clean CR. And I, the other thing too, if you pass a clean CR, you're going to get it through the Senate. Because who are the two votes in the Senate that, because you're going to need all of those votes, who do you think is going to support it? Manchin and Sinema. They're both going to support this. They will support a clean CR. Make everything else like the disaster aid and anything for farming, that needs to be its own separate thing. It needs to be a clean CR. And we need better leadership from Mike Johnson, which we spent a lot of time on him yesterday. A lot. So, I don't know. This battle, I think... You know who's been absent during this battle? Biden. Where's he been? He's President of the United States. Okay. We have... All of this, you know, the headlines with drones. You have this fight over debt and spending. And he is nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. It is stunning to me. This piece came out, the Wall Street Journal, where they finally are admitting that he's been senile this entire time. In fact, and I was, I mean, this is a hell of a headline. Over at Daily Mail, they have above the fold, like their main photograph, they have Biden, one of the worst incidents when he fell down the stairs over and over. Like he fell down the stairs three times, four actually, trying to get up them in one clip. And it says, dud from day one. That's the headline. So this Wall Street Journal piece, they, I mean, they knew from the get-go that he was struggling with his senility. They knew it from the get-go. This bombshell report, the big lie, as it were. You know, was it PolitiFact that said the biggest lie was the eating of the dogs and cats in Ohio? The biggest lie was the cover-up of Biden's mental acuity. The Wall Street Journal, this piece is just about as damning as you can get. How the White House functioned with a diminished Biden in charge. I mean, they it's. This is something else, and it gets into all of these counselors who knew it and how they controlled every, you know, every second of his public events. And the limitations around, they even had limitations over what kind of media he consumed, what he would read. They said that whenever he traveled particularly, he always had a small group of aides that were right with him. And whenever he would travel, they'd be right there with him too. And they said that even they would shepherd him around in a manner. And these are like some people who apparently were talking off the record that had been, I don't know. I kind of wonder if it was in the press corps, members of the press corps talking about this. But they were saying that the amount of handholding and the amount of shepherding him, in public was unlike anything that they've ever seen. And they knew it from day one. I actually think that you could see it even before the election. Remember, they didn't have him out. He stayed in his, he didn't campaign. And there's a reason why. I mean, the coronavirus and the pandemic, that suited them perfectly. Because then they didn't have to worry about him making a fool of himself in public. They didn't have to worry about him slipping, either verbally or physically. And then all of the headlines that would emerge from that. But they said at events, aides would repeat, I mean, over and over again, instructions to him, like how to enter, where to enter a stage, how to exit, where to exit. And it would be obvious to an average everyday person, but with him, it wasn't so much. They said the protection, the protective culture was intensified. And they, I mean, everybody limited interactions with him. They said that... it insulated him not just from the scrutiny of the American public, and this is a big takeaway, that it also insulated him from his own cabinet secretaries, chairs of congressional committees, and other high-ranking individuals. So not only was he inaccessible to the average everyday member of the public, but he's inaccessible to his own staff, to the people who are advising him. He's very well insulated. And they said that all of this, all of these strategies to protect him worked until the debate. It worked until the debate. And the debate just blew it wide open. Which then, you know, makes me go back to that. Because in the beginning they were hesitant to accept the debate. And then they did. I mean, they had to have known. how horribly he would perform. And I was thinking about this last night when I was adding this to the headline. So if you subscribe over at Substack, chapter and verse, you get this out. And I was thinking about this when I was compiling some of the prep for this morning. They knew that he was going to perform horribly at that debate. They knew that the election for 24 was going to be won and lost at that one debate. And it was. I think that that's the night that Trump won. And I think it became definitive. I think he won definitively at the McDonald's, the McDonald's thing. I mean, the assassination, too, the assassination attempt he won. But I think it was really confirmed definitively. with Biden failing at the debate, because it wasn't just so much about people getting behind Trump. You had to show that they couldn't get behind Biden. You had to show people that there is no other choice. It's not for the people who were kind of in the middle and were thinking, I don't like either of them. That it had to be made evident to them that it wasn't just a choice between two people that they didn't like. It had to be a choice between someone who could actually function and someone who couldn't. And I think that played. I mean, he destroyed his own career. Biden did. But why did Democrats allow it to happen? Why did they even consent to the debate? You know, they limited the audience. They limited everything. I mean, they kind of had to consent to the debate. But also, do you think that they were trying to put him out to rest? out to pasture this way. I've always wondered what his inner circle, what really felt about him doing the debate. Because they had to have known. There was even at one point, and we remarked on this, I think we played it at the time, when Biden was, and it was before Biden, The first it was before the second time he did it when Trump was like, I don't even know if he knows what he says or what he said. I don't think he knows what he said. Remember that soundbite that Trump gave the first time Biden did it, though. They had them on a split screen side by side. And there was I mean, Trump kind of has a poker face for the most part. He didn't with Kamala Harris, but there he did. I think he was very disciplined in the first debate. But he had an expression on his face. If you go back and you and it's on YouTube, if you watch Trump the first time that Biden kind of it's I mean, if you're really watching Trump, you can see it. He's got an expression on his face that reads like this poor guy. He really does. And I think that that is one of the reasons Trump didn't get nasty with him, because I think he felt like Biden was maybe Biden said he was always been a jackass. Let's not undermine that. But now in his sunset years, it sort of felt like everybody else was taking advantage of him because they wanted that access to power. They either wanted to rule through him or they wanted that power adjacency. And I think Trump recognized that when he was on stage. That was a really telling moment in politics. And then the second time Biden got lost in his own mind, that's when Trump said, I don't even think he knows what he says. But they knew this. This should be the big lie. It shouldn't be the, well, you know, they were eating cats and dogs. They were eating cats and dogs. I literally had, was it three weeks ago? It was like right after Thanksgiving. The woman who was an illegal immigrant who was caught on camera in the middle of a residential street eating someone's pet. That is literally from Ohio. That is video from Ohio. And that was a woman who was in the country illegally, according to law enforcement cited by the local press of the story. It's not a lie. But what is a lie? The big lie is all of these Democrats covering up for Joe Biden. Do you know how dangerous it is what they did? They put in to the White House someone who is already senile. And they knew it from day one. We could see it even. And they lied to you. They lied to all of us, all of our faces. That is the big lie. They were so desperate for power that they put someone in whose mind is actually failing them. Someone who controls the nuclear football. Someone who can make the call, push the red button, send your kids and loved ones to war. They put that guy in the White House. Do you know how dangerous that is? That's how bad they want power. They don't care how and they don't care about the dangerousness of it and they don't care what it costs. They want power. They have no idea how to keep it, but they just want it. Our partners over at Black Rifle Coffee, the Freedom Roast, a new roast for Black Rifle Coffee just in time for Christmas as well. And you can check it out over at BlackRifleCoffee.com where you can also sign up for the coffee club and get free shipping, automated orders, the whole nine yards. Now, with this company, I mean, they make great coffees. They have Just Black, Silence, or Smooth, all kinds of stuff. The Freedom Roast available on ground, whole bean, 12-count rounds as well. And you can save 20%, not just on Freedom Roast, but all the roasts that they have. It's so smooth, full of flavor, the best roast out there, veteran-owned, veteran-operated coffee. And they hire active duty and retired military as well. And they celebrate America and our military history with everything that they do. Get your freedom on with the Freedom Roast from BlackRifleCoffee.com. And check out the other top shelf roasts like the Just Black and Silence or Smooth. Whatever it is you decide, you get 20% off using code Dana. 20% off with code Dana at BlackRifleCoffee.com.
SPEAKER 09 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 18 :
An Oklahoma cannibal who killed a 10-year-old girl in a depraved plot is executed on his birthday. Yay! Kevin Ray Underwood. His fat backside was pronounced dead at 10.14 a.m. I love capital punishment for child predators and rapists. Yay! It was their fourth execution of the year because Oklahoma knows how to get stuff done. It took place on his 45th birthday, so maybe Satan can have him blow a candle out in hell. Yay. Let's see here. Dana, you're so mean. No, I'm not. We got more. This is California. Oh, my gosh. I don't like this. California squirrels. Squirrels are weird anyway. I don't like their teeth. And now they're turning cannibal in California. Of course they are in California. There are photos of them eating meat, y'all. And I mean, it's gross. Like one of them ate a mole. That's nasty. Oh, water. You really going to put that foot? Oh my gosh. It's a squirrely meat. They said they're supposed to be vegetarian, but they engage it because they're jerks. You know that, right? Squirrels are the jerks of the animal world. Squirrels and dolphins. And some goats. They're jerks, though. Squirrels are... I've literally had one throw acorns at me. Yeah. And I throw them back at them. I'm sure I look crazy. But, you know, they're wild. But they said that in California, they've never seen this behavior before. And that they are eating actual meat. Like they're acting like predators. I don't like things that fly around in trees like that that eat meat. It's weird. You've got to get a handle on your phone. So this porch, a porch pirate returns an item after a twerking video. What? So they said that police in New Jersey are searching for two suspects. They were caught on camera stealing a package off of somebody's porch. They returned the item days after a video of them twerking and taunting during the theft emerged online. Yeah, that'll do it. They grabbed, it was literally a package that contained four glasses and baby items. And then they taunted the resident on their camera by twerking. And they returned to the victim's home because apparently they made him famous on the Webernets. I mean, those doorbell cameras, man, I'm telling you. The Vatican's on the brink of bankruptcy due to a dramatic decline in global donations under Pope I'm a Communist Francis's leadership. That's not shocking. I mean, you know, there's got a lot. I mean, it's evident people don't want to give money to that because they don't think that it's doing the Lord's work. Stick with us. We've got more in store.
SPEAKER 05 :
Subscribe to the Dana Show podcast because who says you can't make fun of people while staying informed on your own personal time? Subscribe on YouTube, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 11 :
If I were king for a day, I'm not, and I don't aspire to be, here's what I'd do. First, I would tell everybody to take their meds. Number two, I think President Trump is going to have to consider coming to Washington. I mean, let's face it, he's the president now. It's not President Biden. President Trump needs to sit down with Mike Johnson and John Thune and come up with a new skinny CR. If the president wants to do something on the debt limit, we need to find out what it is and put it in the bill. And then the president's going to have to help Mike sell it in the House.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, come January, I want Johnson's guts to go. But I do think that, and that's Senator Kennedy from Louisiana, I do think that he needs to, I think POTUS needs to, POTUS elect, you know, not talking about the guy who doesn't, I don't even think, does Biden know he's president? I don't know. I think he does need to say what is or what he's looking for. He needs to say, well, what, you know, in terms of a spending level, this is what I want. Because it just seems like very confusing. And You can't throw out something like, yeah, I'm okay with the debt ceiling being increased. That needs to be contextualized. Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash with you. Bottom of this second hour. I wanted to make you aware of this narrative, and I made mention of this last night, that is developing. Let's play Audio Soundbite 10. This is Eric Fartswell. What's so funny? Nothing. That's his last name. I said Swallowell. Swallowell. He's talking about, they're trying to invalidate Elon Musk and diminish the authority of the voters with this new narrative. Listen.
SPEAKER 19 :
including Cassidy Hutchinson. The other thing that's happening in your body, why are they taking orders from Elon Musk? Why is Speaker Johnson? Who's the Speaker? Is it Elon Musk or is it Mike Johnson?
SPEAKER 07 :
It's Speaker Musk right now.
SPEAKER 19 :
Is he co-president or is he Speaker?
SPEAKER 07 :
He wants to be speaker this week, but he invested, you know, 200 plus million in the last election. And now he thinks that he owns these guys and then that he can tell them, you know, how to vote, when to vote. And what I've told my Republican colleagues, and I told some of them this today, I said, if you go along with this and you let Elon Musk shut down the government by tweet, he's going to own you the entire Congress. The next two years, you're going to sit around and wait for him to send a tweet to see if you're allowed to vote on a bill.
SPEAKER 18 :
Oh, that's so stupid. First off, they had no problem when it was George Soros. Nope. Yeah, they had no problem when it was like Ted Turner, Warren Buffett. They had no problem when it's, you know, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Jack from original Twitter. They had no problem when it was any of these cats, particularly Soros, buying up DAs in counties across the country. Oh, but now suddenly someone levels the playing field. They're still mad because they can't control social media. They're mad because they can't control X and because it's been so... Show show we the equalization of I don't even know how to put this. It because it's been such a show, the takeover of X and the switch from suppression to just, you know, free discourse. For the most part, they still have some algorithmic issues because it's, you know, it's a decade of that stuff that. It makes this one thing look super dramatic when these are the people that control broadcast news, Hollywood, academics. Oh, the White House still and the Senate still. But they're trying to invalidate the authority of voters by saying that it's all just one guy, that it's all just him. They have to have a boogeyman. They are desperate for a boogeyman. And I'm going to tell you, Trump isn't going to be a boogeyman for them much longer. I think that Trump probably maybe up until his last year in office, they're going to fight him. But then they are planning ahead because Musk, his authority and influence is going to outmeasure Trump's. I don't care how rich a president is. Once they're out of office, once they're termed out, that's kind of it. Same thing with George. You know how George W. Bush was after his second term. Gosh, he was the devil until he wasn't. Same thing with Reagan. It's just like it's like that with every single Republican president. But they're looking at Musk like, oh, we got to pay attention to 28 and beyond because he's relatively young and he is going to be influential in the political sphere and be involved in it long after Trump. So they're gearing up to do one of two things. They're going to they're trying to invalidate this. All of the support that these that Musk has received and that these policies have received. And they're going to try to make it look like it's just one guy. So it's invalid because it's not representative of all the people. And then they're also trying to gear up to go after because they see him as the boogeyman. They're going to go after him. and try to tarnish his influence and reach for even when after Trump is out of office. So it's a one-two thing. They're mad at him because they're livid. They're so livid over X, I don't know that they'll ever get over it. Because by and large, X, I try to explain people the different social media platforms and how they're used. So few people are on X when you look at Americans at large. X is where narratives are fought. X is where you have politicos and media people, maybe some sports and A&E, but it's where narratives are fought. It's where stories are either defended or defeated. It's where the stuff is established. This is where the pressure is really exerted. Facebook is where things are merely affirmed and shared and really it's a different audience. Because it functions differently. And Instagram is somewhat similar. Instagram is more of an affirmation of the individual as opposed to the group where Facebook can be more group over affirmation of the individual and Twitter is where all this stuff is battled out. And so they're mad because that was their main tool. That was their big tool of all of the social media entities that are public square. It's X that's the most because it's immediate. Absolutely immediate. It's real time. It's where Facebook is more like a message board. I mean, unless you get into a live comment situation, X is like a real live chat 24-7. And it can also kind of function as a message board. And it's... Because of that immediacy, it is a way more powerful tool for pressure and waging advocacy campaigns, I think, in my opinion, because I'm on all of them. And I just note that that's kind of the difference. And I think that's also why too few people are on X. X is brutal. It is. If you're in... I mean, Cain, don't you think so? I think that's way more brutal than Facebook and Instagram.
SPEAKER 09 :
I mean, if you... look at just an open discussion as brutal, then yeah, I guess.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, no, not open discussion. Like, people who are conservatives, I hear this from so many people, they will, like our listeners even, they'll open accounts on X so they can watch certain things and read certain things, but they don't want to tweet because they're like, oh, we see the pressure that the left, you know, what they try to do and how they get the bots to go after people who, you know, if they were to share something about what's happening in their school district or if they were to disagree with That's true. You know, and they, they see that and they're like, Oh my gosh, they don't. I think it's easier for the bots on X still to the, I just still don't think that they have that problem solved, but they see that and people freak out that. And I understand it. It makes them nervous because X is like the Thunderdome. It is. And so that, and that's why not, that's why more people I think are, are on Facebook as opposed to X because it has a way it can, it has a way different purpose. Now, that's not to say you shouldn't do it, because it's just very easy to mute people. You've got to ignore stuff. But the left used to control that. I remember when it first started. I used to be friendly with people who were friends with Jack. And we were always nice to each other. We obviously were at opposite ends of the political spectrum from one another. But... In the beginning, you didn't have all the suppression and no one talked about algorithms and that stuff didn't exist. And then after conservatives got so successful, you can't tell me that Democrats haven't been involved in this for over 10 years. They've been pressuring X to suppress conservatives. I bet if lawmakers wanted to go all the way back to when like 08, Even if they wanted to go all the way back to, you know, Obama's early term, even before then, I think that you would that's when you would start to see Democrats making overtures to these tech execs like Twitter to try to suppress people on the platform because conservatives were so successful, so successful. I remember once I hosted a co-hosted a money bomb and we raised like half a million dollars for a lawmaker and one afternoon. I think that five years ago, you wouldn't have been able to do that as a conservative because they would have just throttled you to death. And it's weird. And they're still wrapping, unwrapping that onion, getting to all those layers of algorithms. I can definitely see it, for instance, on my account. And this was after Parkland. I had someone who one of our listeners got mad at me because whenever I would type the word gun on Twitter, I have to take the U out and put an asterisk in. And there's a reason why, because they were saying, why don't you know, you don't have to be afraid of the word. And I wanted to punch the person in the face. But then I remembered that they didn't know. So when I. type and I can see it and I've taken screenshots when I type gun or guns, or even if it's like gun control, like gun hyphen control, and I go and look at my impressions. That's like how many times someone runs across that tweet. I've been kind of capped at like the follower level. But my impressions go down to like 120 something. Now, one of my average tweets will have thousands and thousands of impressions. Any time I say anything about gun, guns, gun control, anything that has the word gun in it, gun hyphen, Oh, my. It's like it disappears from the platform. And I know that they're unwrapping all. But that's because and that's not just me either. And it's not just that word that has been weaponized and applied to so many different conservatives on that platform. for a host of issues like trans stuff. That's why you see a lot of people put asterisks and things because they don't want that algorithm to kick in and suppress them. Like for instance, Libs at TikTok has to do it whenever she talks about grooming, groomers, certain trans issues. Whenever you see those words with the asterisks in it, that's because those accounts have one of those algorithmic punitive layers on it. And they have to get around that by doing that. And I know they're still fixing it, but that's the stuff that the left did. This is why they're so mad at him. They look at him and he's not a conservative. He's not even a Republican. He's just a normie. He's just being practical. The left doesn't get that to their detriment. They are still thinking on party partisan lines and that's going to be their undoing. You can't build a coalition like that. But then you also have to learn how to run a coalition. We've got a lot more on the way. We've got Florida Man coming up. Oh my gosh, there's like a million things. Hold up. Before we go, there's a million things we haven't gotten into that we still need to touch on because we have more... By the way, on the whole thing with the CR. Also, this is some of the stuff that our money is being spent on. Do you know that there's going to be like a six-figure grant? This is the stuff that we grant money to. This zoo is studying how to apply an anti-racist lens for their zoo exhibits. I don't even know what that means. We're going to discuss that coming up. Florida Man is going to keep us sane.
SPEAKER 09 :
It's his life mission to make bad decisions. It's time for Florida Man.
SPEAKER 18 :
So a Florida woman who was busted for speeding in a school zone bit a deputy after they found drugs in her car. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said a Claremont woman was not spreading holiday joy when she battered one deputy and tried to bite another. She got caught with drugs and a suspended license while speeding in a school zone. Twenty three year old Lara Alexander was well, she was looking at an iPad, not wearing her seatbelt, and she was like blazing through the school zone. And when they pulled her over, she didn't have a driver's license. It showed it was suspended already last fall. And then she had all kinds. She had like some dope on her. She became combative, though. She elbowed one deputy in the chest. And then they got her in the back of the patrol car and they said she was aggressive. And when the detention deputy came out to help get her out of the vehicle, she bit him in the arm. So now she's in trouble in addition to her death. Traffic citation. She's got two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer resisting arrest. She just sounds like joy. She just does, doesn't she? Police are there. They're there. Got this guy in custody who hijacked an Amazon truck wearing a good vibes only T-shirt. Well, it seems like apparently it was bad vibes. They say that this guy, 46-year-old Hassan Raikin, hit an Amazon driver in the face while wearing a Good Vibes Only t-shirt. And then he drove away with the truck. And they were able to arrest him. And, you know, he's got... charges of robbery, carjacking, battery, etc. No packages were stolen, apparently. So I guess people are going to just some minor delay. But yeah, he's got a sunflower tattoo and he was wearing a good vibes only shirt. That's doesn't seem like that's going to be good vibes. This is crazy. OK, so in central Florida, they've got an issue with a certain type of these weird. They're like the friends monkeys, the ones that were on the one that Chandler had on the show. What do they call those? They're like capuchins or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So officials are trying to figure out how many monkeys are actually terrorizing people. But apparently they're going into people's backyards and they're terrorizing parents at a school drop off area. It's in central Florida and Volusia County. An elementary school principal literally had to warn parents because monkeys were running like one or two was in the drop off area Wednesday of this week. And like they were going like trying to go with the kids. I mean, if you can kick it, you can defeat it. Stick with us. Third hour next.
SPEAKER 12 :
One thing that we haven't been able to change yet, and it's starting to change, is that you go to a grocery store, a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, a pound of bacon still costs more than it did before the pandemic. That's a lot of money for people. It's taking time to change that. So there's reason for frustration, but there's gigantic change being made.
SPEAKER 18 :
No, there's not. Let's just stop pretending. There's not. Stop it. This is so ridiculous. Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash with you. That's Potatoes, who is saying that we haven't been able to change the milk and bacon and stuff at the grocery store. Like you've changed anything else. You haven't. See, that's like part of the problem with all of this, you know, this approach to spending, because what's going to happen is whatever whatever they end up doing. And I agree with what others are saying. It's going to take. I mean, there's going to be some immediate things that you're going to be able to tell. But also there it's some of the other forms of relief that come from. going, doing like a hobby or I'm a lie sort of approach. That's, that's gonna, I don't even know if you would be able to immediately see it even, you know, in 2028 with whatever, whoever gets elected there, but it's, everybody's afraid of austerity. I mean, you, when it comes to the debt limit and again, welcome back. You can listen to Australia, channel three 47 drag TV rumble. When it comes to the debt limit, um, It's about the debt that we already have accrued, not how much we can spend. So it has to be serviced. So why not hit that limit and then take all of the big spending, all of the money that we've been sending to Ukraine, et cetera, et cetera, and start allocating that towards the debt? And people are saying, well, you can't just – it has to have Congress. You can't just implement a cut immediately. Well, they can send money to Ukraine really without having – You know, Biden can just unilaterally decide that he's going to send billions to Ukraine. So why couldn't we just also unilaterally decide to service the debt? I know that's such an obvious question, Dana. I don't know. It's where we are, though. But the austerity, I think everybody's afraid of because we remember when Greece tried to do that. When Greece's economy went through the wringer and they were implementing all of these austerity programs, they had to cut entitlements. They had to cut, you know, the social spending. And when they did, people rioted. They rioted. And I think the left is the left is afraid to be seen as part of any kind of austerity approach, because that does mean, you know, there are going to be some government programs that have to be cut and there's going to be a lot of a lot less entitlement, no social spending. But that's not what the government's supposed to be involved in anyway. If they're afraid of austerity now, it's never going to happen. I mean, I actually have my doubts as to whether or not it's ever going to. They're not even on the same page. Can I just point this out? I don't care how unpopular it is. We voted. We're taxpayers, right? We all voted for the same thing. Yesterday, Vivek Ramaswamy said that he wanted a clean CR. He tweeted, quote, Yes, it is possible to enact a simple one page continuing resolution instead of 1500 plus page omnibus pork fest. Here it is. He's right. I know I've disagreed with him on a number of things before. He's right. A one-page CR. A clean CR. He's exactly right. But then the POTUS elect tweeted... Quote, if Republicans try to pass a clean CR without all of the Democrat bells and whistles that will be so destructive to our country, all it will do after January 20th is bring the mess of the debt limit into the Trump administration rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden administration. Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should and will be primaried. Everything should be done and fully negotiated prior to my taking office. But then he also said no more spending bills until after I take office. So I'm confused. They're not on the same page. Right, Cain? You read that the same way.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I look at it as so if they raise the debt ceiling now and they implement all this new spending on these new things that are in this pork omnibus bill, then that's Trump won't be allowed to do what's necessary in his first year in office. At least that's the take that I think he has on it. So what he would like is just something clean, pass it on. Then when I get in office, obviously raise the debt ceiling so that when it comes time, I can implement what I need to implement to make this happen. So I think that's his thought. Now, you said it earlier. We need context for this. We need Trump coming out and telling us Like, hey, all of us are looking at this from a logical standpoint and saying, why don't you just use Doge that you've been bragging about for the last month and cut spending to find that new money? Why raise the debt ceiling? He needs to contextualize it.
SPEAKER 18 :
Absolutely, because we cannot have miscommunication like this. I mean, if I were on the left, what I would do is I would hold up Vivek Ramaswamy's post, and then I would hold up Trump's post, and I would say, Trump just called Vivek stupid. If I... You have to anticipate what your opposition is going to throw at you. That's part of understanding the strategy on this messaging. I would immediately have that out there and I would be pushing that. Even though I know that's not what Trump intended to do, but they're not on the same page. And I would highlight that and I would use that. The left... Here's the other thing to watch out for. The... Administration needs to be very careful that they are all on the same page and that their messaging is choreographed. And here's why I think that's so incredibly important. First off, we're in a soundbite culture and the first headline is the one that sticks. Doesn't matter if it's false. It's the one that sticks. Number two. You're dealing with, and I'm not saying this as a way to be mean. I'm just describing their personality. You're dealing with people who are very big personalities in this administration. They are not content to ride shotgun. They are not content to be in the backseat. They are all very strong personalities. And everybody is very, very driven. That alone is one of the biggest reasons why you need to be all choreographed and organized because it is very easy if you are not for a malicious press or Democrat opposition to come in, highlight any kind of daylight between where they are on any given issue, and use that to drive division. And you know... that POTUS elect and other people on his team pay attention to what is happening in the headlines. You don't want them to be manipulated or there to be a chance for them to be manipulated into a civil war in their side between all these strong personalities because people have their messaging. They're not on the same page. And if you don't think that that's a reality, then I dare say anyone who believes that it's not a reality did not pay attention to some of the stuff in the first term. So that is a big issue. They've got to be on the same page. This is not the first time either. Because if you remember, Vance and Trump, like a week or so ago, were on different pages where it came to that vote, that very important Senate vote. And J.D. Vance was saying, well, I'm helping POTUS evaluate cabinet members. And POTUS was like, shame on any senator who didn't show up and vote. I'm like, they weren't on the same page. Here is a second instance of them not being on the same page. You got to be careful when you got a lot of cooks in the kitchen. You got to be careful. And I'm saying this because I know how the press is going to act. I have been railing about the press since 2008 before. This is exactly what they're going to do. And they they will absolutely. And, you know, here's the other thing. And one more. Each of these strong personalities have their own little team. Right. So Vivek has his own team. Musk has his own team. Trump has his team. And then some of his team have their own little team. There are people, not all, but, you know, there's always an exception. There are people within some of these that, you know, they get very proprietary, right? They get very, you know, they don't want their guy taking a hit and they don't want, they also would love to be able to be seen as being influential or having, you know, power adjacency. And they're not all trained, I think, to deal with media psyops. Does that make sense? So the more people and the more of their little groups that you have there in the kitchen, the chances that, you know, somebody's not going to be on the same page and then the press is going to exploit that increase. This has to be about team discipline. They have to be on the same page. And I dare say that because regardless of whether you agree with it or not, POTUS elect has seniority and he's a POTUS elect. I think it's the responsibility falls to everybody else to make sure they're on the same page with him. Not that he's on the same page with them. So I agree entirely with what Vivek says here. I think he's a thousand percent correct. But I still think he has to make sure that he is on the same page as POTUS elect and not POTUS elect being on the same page as Vivek. So they've got to get this because this is the second time in a month. They've got it. And that's we're not even we don't even have the team in yet. New Congress isn't even in. So we got to get this under control because right now they're at. I mean, I I don't know. Says you can do a clean CR. Trump says it's dumb to do a clean CR. OK, so what are we doing? What is it? I mean, heaven knows, you know, the house being the power of the purse, heaven knows that Johnson's not there offering any kind of serious alternative except for the pork, you know, crapnibus that he proposed right before Christmas. So, you know, that's out. It's so frustrating. Not as frustrating as spending tax money, though, to study identity politics at the zoo. Oh, that's actually a real headline, though. It sounded like something I was joking about. No, it's actually a legitimate headline. Hold up. Let me I got to share this. This is so stupid. There's a half a million dollar grant that's supposed to help this zoo. Apply for an anti-racist lens. What is I don't even know what that means. Tax dollars, our tax dollars for a zoo to look at identity politics. So the I'm going to pull this up. This is at the American Alliance of Museums. And it's like DEA on roids. They have some definitions. And this comes from Randoland, which is a great account for following like a lot of this like, you know, wasteful spending. So the museum, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, they gave a grant. And it actually ended up like going to a zoo even. And it's almost about $700,000. And they wanted to explore diversity, equity, access and inclusion. D.E.A.I. Oh, now it's D.E.A.I. Oh, yeah. You know. Hold up. D.E.A. So that's diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion. So they're. Working with the Association of Science Technology Centers and the two alphabet groups are apparently looking at how to implement these DEI practices, I guess. And it's just so goofy into like their their museums, zoos, etc. Why? Why? Why? Why are we doing this? Why is this still a thing? They had this... Pulling this up. They had this... It went through the Endowment of the Arts, this grant that they had that was... I mean, that's like one of the things that they put money towards. Not only a grant for a zoo to study things through an anti-racist lens, there was also almost a million dollar grant to an organization to provide outreach and engagement, non-traditional holistic supports, whatever, and alphabet affirming interventions for youth and family, hundreds of youth and family. That was a grant that went through the NEA. I mean... The good news is that in private businesses, the DEI stuff looks like it's falling apart, falling to the wayside. The bad news is, is that it's so ingrained in government already that a lot of this grant money being allocated is still being funneled towards those DEI programs. So they have not caught up. Government is behind business in this. Yet zookeepers can apply equity, inclusion and anti-racist practices to to zoo structures, policies, and programs. The big recipient through the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences was the Woodland Park Zoological Society. What does that have to do with the zoo? Why do people have to have their money taken to make zoo workers less racist? Why are zoo workers racist?
SPEAKER 09 :
And now, all of the news you would probably miss. It's time for Dana's Quick Five.
SPEAKER 18 :
So, golly, another health scare. Of course, it's in L.A. A dangerous diarrhea-causing superbug is spreading in Los Angeles. They said it's a drug-resistant strain of Shigella. Sounds like a bad name. Like, that's Shigella's purse. It's actively spreading in the U.S., scientists warn. It's a... Ew. Like, it's resistant to almost every antibiotic thrown at it. And... Where is it? I mean, I'm like, OK, how do we get it? They said, oh, contaminated food or drink. Also sexually. So quit being skanks. Oh, and it's specifically with kind of like dudes and dudes. Oh, yeah. Let's so we really don't know. Let's see here. Alberta leads a new poll on whether or not Canada should become the 51st U.S. state. No, thanks. And let's see, DMV apologizes for Cybertruck's license plate. It was supposed to be, I can't say that. I can't say that. We got Victoria Coates coming up.
SPEAKER 05 :
Make some common sense of the crazy headlines with the Dana Show podcast. Your on-the-go guide for getting up to speed on today's most important stories. Subscribe on YouTube, Apple, or your favorite podcast platform.
SPEAKER 18 :
Welcome back to the program. Dana Lash with you at the bottom of this third hour. And of course, you can listen coast to coast and you can watch the stream at Channel 347, DirecTV. We're also on X, the chats at Rumble. So and of course, don't forget YouTube and Facebook. One of the things that we I think this was yesterday, the day before yesterday, we were talking about when that when the story hit was Israel closing its embassy in Ireland. And the shock that was from that, we kind of dove into some of the history there between, you know, Ireland and Israel and World War II and some of this other stuff. And I've noticed an increase in questioning. from people who don't seem to understand the mission or purpose of what the United States' alliance with Israel serves and how important it is to have an ally in the Middle East. And it just is kind of it's wild to me that that would even be questioned. But it is which I think it's important that this book came out actually just this week. It's called The Battle for the Jewish State, How Israel and America Can Win. And it's authored by Victoria Coates, who also previously was the former deputy national security adviser to POTUS elect. Victoria Coates is vice president of Catherine and Shelby Cullum Davis Institute. for National Security and Foreign Policy at Heritage. And she joins us now via Skype. Victoria, congrats on the book. It came out just this week, a couple of days ago. This is something, I mean, I don't know, I'm trying not to be naive, but am I wrong in noticing like an increase in questioning I guess, as more people become politically aware or active and people are trying to they're asking questions that I thought were had obvious answers. You know, the United States is partnership with Israel. There are only ally in this part of the world in the importance of that relationship, which is what your book examining it through October 7th really gets to.
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, Dana, great to be with you. And I think the reason I wrote The Battle for the Jewish State is precisely that. I think a lot of Americans do wonder, what is the nature of the U.S.-Israel alliance? And I hate to date myself this way, but when I was born, the alliance was 20 years old. It's now 76 years old. So that is a historical arc that takes a sort of scrappy startup country to being one of the world's great powers. They're in the top 20 U.S. News and World Report list of most powerful countries. And so, you know, I think that does require a reexamination. I've heard all those questions that you've heard, and there are strong answers to them. And that's what you find in the battle for the Jewish state is the history of the alliance, why the alliance matters. What the heck happened after October 7th? How did we find ourselves in this war too? And why it is a war on both Israel and the United States.
SPEAKER 18 :
I think that's a great way to put it. We're talking with Victoria Coates on Skype, via Skype. And you mentioned... October 7th, in which there were American hostages taken, which we don't really hear about a lot at all, really, from this administration. And in fact, I dare say that it like slipped down the issue of priorities for not just politicians, but maybe even the attention span of voters as we went into the election season. I mean, we have terrorists that are holding hostage Americans still. That's incredibly important. I mean, and especially from the same administration that flubbed Afghanistan, messed up, you know, they withdraw in Afghanistan there. Do we even did this administration even have a response to that? I mean, I'm just shocked that we still have American hostages.
SPEAKER 21 :
Now, it is shocking and it's disgraceful. And President Biden really stopped talking about them after Christmas of 2023 when there were some deals to get some hostages out. Those were good photo ops for him. So he talked about them then. But then he stopped because they became an inconvenient truth for them, for the administration trying to elevate the Palestinians, trying to rehabilitate Hamas. trying to pressure israel into a negotiated ceasefire with terrorists but not only do we still have american hostages four of whom we pray are still alive but we lost more americans on october 7th dana than in any terrorist attack the second uh most deadly terrorist attack after uh after 9 11. and so it's it's a really dire situation for the united states and furthermore What we've seen since then are not pro-Israel demonstrations on our political, on our city streets or our academic campuses. We've seen pro-Hamas demonstrations. So this is here at home.
SPEAKER 18 :
You also touch on how this is not Just some simple regional squabble that you can send some diplomats to and they can have a peace negotiation. It's not going to get solved that way because it is, you know, it's like a holy war plus a cultural battle, you know, plus a military battle. And after Assad left Syria, that regime's collapsing in Syria. Iran was really hit, really hit hard. And that really highlighted that Shia Sunni fight in this part of the world and how you have like one faction that hates Israel really wants to establish itself as the powerhouse. And then you have these other factions who. don't hate Israel. They're willing to work with them. We got the Abraham Accords. That really kind of is like the power struggle. And Israel's sort of in the way of this, like Russian, Iranian, Chinese dominance in the area. Is that like just like too myopic of a view of this? Because it seems like it all kind of boils down to that, at least partially.
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, I don't think that's too myopic. And I think it's a really important point. I was actually in Israel and then in Bahrain, an Abraham Accords country, as the fall of Syria was happening week before last. And it was really interesting because the Gulf countries, they only wanted to talk to the Israelis and find out what was going on and how to keep a lid on this situation. Because those Sunni Gulf monarchies are deeply concerned about the radical Islamists who are part of the now governing body of Syria. So yes, we're all delighted Assad is spending Christmas in Moscow. Hope it's nice and cold for him. very cognizant of the many atrocities he committed against the Syrian people. But that doesn't make the Turkish backed HTS folks angels. And so you have quite the alphabet soup of former ISIS and Al-Qaeda alums in there. And the interesting thing is, as Israel claimed a little bit of territory in the Golan Heights adjacent to the space they already have, you had all sorts of people accusing them of being imperialist, that they were somehow trying to conquer the Levant. Well, news flash, nobody wants Syria. I mean, Syria doesn't want to be Syria. And so, you know, the notion that Israel wants to take that territory over given just the intractable problems that country faces is ridiculous on the face of it. And I think the cooperation between the Gulf and Israel is only strengthening even after a year of war. And that's a great and good thing.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, very good thing indeed. We're talking with Victoria Coates, her new book, The Battle for the Jewish State, How Israel and America Can Win. I don't know of any other country that's worked – As hard as Israel has at trying to maintain peace and be peaceful and only responding when it is incredibly important to do so in defense of national security or, you know, of life of Israeli life. But yet that's not how that's not how it's processed. That's not how it's laundered in the media. They're always painted as the aggressor. And even the words from our own government. You know, have kind of, you know, hinted that, oh, well, they're aggressive here. We need to stop the bombing of Gaza, for instance, when, you know, really they've only ever responded once they've been shelled. Then they respond to protect themselves. Is that ever going to change? I mean, when does that stop? When does reality set in? Well, I'm hopeful that it is.
SPEAKER 21 :
And the clarity the President Trump brings to this issue is being welcomed by every reasonable person in the region. And going back to the hostages for a minute, I also was in Israel when his Truth Social post came out about the hostages. This is something Joe Biden could have done 15 months ago. He could have said, let them out now or there's going to be hell to pay. And he didn't for 15 months. President Trump is saying that. There's movement now from Hamas. Concessions are being made to Israel, not the other way around. So we could see them out now during the season of Hanukkah, Christmas next week, that would be a great and good thing. But that would happen only because President Trump had the clarity that he did. So I'm hopeful that as we get closer to the inauguration and beyond, that he makes good on what he's been saying, that he wants this war to end, but he wants it to end in an Israeli victory. And we're not gonna have another ceasefire. We're not gonna let Hamas regroup and rearm.
SPEAKER 18 :
and attack again we're going to end this vicious cycle of violence that's been going on for really 50 years and the greatest victims are the palestinian people and you mentioned too you know just the way that that you know the current administration has responded to october 7th i can't imagine if Israel had listened to the Biden administration and had not hit back at Hezbollah as hard as they did and sent them reeling. And I think really kind of started this domino effect that led to what we see with Assad now in Moscow. If they had not have hit back as hard, if they had not pushed back against Hezbollah, I mean, where would we be if they had listened to the Biden administration and not done anything?
SPEAKER 21 :
Would be back where we were in 2009 when Condi Rice, I mean, a Republican Secretary of State, abstained from a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel for violence in Gaza. Would be back where we were after the 2014 Gaza War when John Kerry withheld arms from Israel until they stopped fighting Hamas. After the 2021 Gaza War, you see where I'm going here. I mean, this is history repeating itself. And if, you know, after... I think Israel said we cannot afford to have this kind of a risk on our border anymore. We have to take decisive action. And no thanks to the Biden-Harris administration. You know, they've been slogging through the trenches now for 15 months doing the Lord's work. And I think what they've achieved against Hamas, and importantly, as you noted, Hezbollah in the north, is going to be in the long term a huge good thing for the region and beyond. But as I said, sadly, no thanks to the United States in this case.
SPEAKER 18 :
Victoria, put it in terms that people can really understand. When they look at our ally Israel, what happens with a compromised Israel? What happens if Israel were to weaken and we don't have that strong ally in that part of the world? Because obviously there's going to be a blowback to the U.S. if that were to ever happen. What does that look like?
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, it really would be a kind of a deadly weakness for us. The Middle East, you can try to pivot away from it, but it won't pivot away from you. And the fact of the matter is, it is that crossroads between East and West. A lot of the world's shipping goes through that region, and a lot of the world's energy reserves are in that region. And so, especially as we take on our new stance as an energy superpower and grow into that strategically, You know, we want to have influence in that region where there are other significant reserves. Without Israel, we really don't have that point of power projection and the collaboration between our countries on intelligence, on the development of weapons systems, notably missile defense. This is critical to the security of the American people. then i'd just say you know you would have trouble using your iphone eating a cherry tomato uh all sorts of things that they've achieved in the medical field without israel i mean it is beyond security they are the startup nation they are you know in an enormous tech hub and have become prosperous well beyond their size. And I think that is a great ally for the United States.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, definitely. This is a must-read book. I think that provides a lot of context that's normally missing from this conversation nationally and internationally. The book is The Battle for the Jewish State, How Israel and America Can Win. Victoria Coates, we'd love to have you back. Victoria, thank you so much for what you do. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Merry Christmas to you, Chris. Thanks. Thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
On the go and need a quick news fix with a fun twist? Follow Dana's Absurd Truth podcast for bite-sized informative episodes. Perfect for your busy schedule on Apple or wherever you get your podcast.
SPEAKER 18 :
Gosh, this is the most completely hypocritical song of this segment. Jiminy Christmas. Is that Andy Williams singing that? I mean, he's a gem. He's a gem. I want to know why Trump and Chip Roy are fighting now. Or actually, I just want to know why Trump is fighting Chip Roy. He is blasting him on Truth Social for some reason. I have no idea why. He had said that. He tweeted out, quote, Chip Roy is just another ambitious guy with no talent. By the way, how's Bob Good doing? I had I hope some talented challengers are getting ready in the great state of Texas to go after Chip in the primary. He won't have a chance. OK, first off, why in the hell is Trump speaking more harshly of Chip Roy than he ever has of Mike Johnson? Chip Roy is a conservative stalwart who has delivered on Trump's agenda more than Mike Johnson could ever hope to. Go and look at the voting record. I'm not even playing. Go look at it. Bob Good was a conservative stalwart. People have to be strategic. Is it about uplifting your ego or is it about securing the country for voters? I didn't vote for this. I didn't vote for people to sit here and, you know, have giant ego circle jerks. I did not do that. It's not what I voted for. I did not vote for petty infighting when we could be going after the left. I didn't vote for that, nor did you. I mean, my gosh, people, I don't know if you realize, but this administration's got its work cut out for them. And everybody's all pitching together to make sure that it gets done. But you're not going to secure anything when you go after your most conservative fighters. I don't care if they kiss your ass or not. Do they vote for your agenda? He does. Chip Roy does. He has backed that agenda to the hilt. He's not an ass kisser. I'm not either. But we back the agenda that gets it done for voters. And that's what it's about. That's all it's ever been about. Why in the world is he doing this? Why? And no, Chip Roy is super popular in Texas. He's not going to go anywhere. Bob Good is a conservative stalwart. We had a hardcore conservative who got replaced by a moderate. We lost a hardcore conservative who stood shoulder to shoulder with you on everything from lower taxes to gun rights to everything. And he got replaced by a moderate because people decided they got mad at Bob Good because Bob Good, I don't care who you supported in the primary. If you're still litigating the primary, you are a walking mental abortion and you are everything that is wrong with this country. And I hope you have a crap Christmas. And I hope it's mean as I sound because I'm tired of this stuff. I'm tired of it. Some of these people need to get over their fetish over the primary. It's weird. If you're still litigating the primary, you're anti-American. If you're still litigating the primary, you're a communist psyop. We all want lower taxes. We want to get rid of this DEI stuff. We don't want World War III. And by God, you're not going to get it done by having these petty ego fights. It's not going to happen. We voted for good Trump. I didn't vote for petty infighting. Stop it. Must have won it every time of the year. Kane, go ahead. Oh, I just hurt my shoulder again.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, you know, you always accuse me of having a tinfoil hat only because I have 10 of them. But listen to the chicks on the view here. Oh, my gosh. Juan, play this.
SPEAKER 16 :
Who is in charge? Because I've been saying it for a while. Yes, you have. I've been saying that I think Elon Musk believes he's president. I do. I've called him vice president. I've called him president because I don't know what J.D. is doing.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, the gist of it is they think that Elon and J.D. are plotting to get rid of Trump. Okay.
SPEAKER 18 :
See, there's where the narrative starts.
SPEAKER 09 :
Good Lord.
SPEAKER 18 :
I told you that narrative's happening, right? They're going to try to divide and conquer. I told you that. And you know what? Going after our own conservative stalwarts isn't helping either. Folks, that does it for us today. Find us at Substack. I'll be back behind the mic with you tomorrow to finish out the week.
Listen as the Sekulow team explores the intricacies of the case against President Trump and the role the ACLJ played in securing the disqualification of the entire Fulton County DA's office. Learn about the potential next steps in the legal process, including the possibilities of an appeal and the impacts on the other defendants. Throughout the episode, the importance of relentless pursuit of justice by organizations like the ACLJ is emphasized. The show concludes with a call to action, urging listeners to support ongoing efforts to protect constitutional freedoms.
SPEAKER 04 :
Breaking news today on Sekulow is Fannie Willis is disqualified from the Trump prosecution.
SPEAKER 07 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110.
SPEAKER 04 :
And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. All right, folks, you know, those of you who have called in for years and think that we can't, that injustice never gets fixed in our system. today is a day that to remind you that when you fight back against injustice and those violating your constitutional rights you are eventually vindicated in the United States of America and you can be successful even when it feels like at first they're using all of their money all of their resources to prosecute you and to prosecute anyone else they can and of course we're talking about here Fonny Willis Fonny Willis the DA for Fulton County who brought charges against over 30 people on this electors issue and the phone call issue putting that all aside right now because her entire DA's office has been disqualified from the case involving President Trump and the other defendants so because of the fact that she brought Nathan Wade in as a special counsel who had no special or unique knowledge of a RICO case nearly a million dollars that they used and it looks like they lied about how they were utilizing the funds to get together it was $768,000 that his firm was paid to be the special counsel that he didn't have a specialty in and they used it for trips remember they tried to hide all of that they had tried to hide their relationship The lower court, the trial court, basically said there was the appearance of impropriety, but this needs to likely be seen by potentially an appeals court. This was, of course, appealed. And the Georgia Court of Appeals, in a two-to-one decision, said Fonny Willis... out but it's not just Fonny Willis who's out it's the entire prosecutor's office so Fulton County DA's office cannot be involved in any more of this prosecution now what happens next in Georgia briefly for you it goes to what's called the prosecuting attorneys council of Georgia they have a membership I think it's nine different counties nine from across the county DA's they can decide to dismiss charges or they can appoint someone who is a prosecutor from another county to decide what to do. My dad is going to join us in the next segment of the broadcast to talk through this because remember for President Trump I think this is over because again he hadn't gotten to the level where there were other people who made plea deals and issues like that who were going to want somebody to work with. So this council I would imagine while they may be able to dismiss the charges will likely have to appoint someone who can handle all of these different people who might be appealing deals that were made or fines that they're supposed to be paying because of those deals. I mean, there's a lot more people that were involved here other than President Trump. But what we know is that when you take a deep dive at these individuals, I mean, look how different these prosecutions are post-election. And remember, it was not President Trump winning that brought down this case it was the the workings of Fonny Willis and her team who have been doing this for years in fact in 2022 they were kicked off another case because she was doing a fundraiser for the opponent of someone she had her office investigating And so they got kicked off that case. I don't know where this ends up for Fannie Willis, and that's something we can follow. But what we are seeing across the country, and I think we can be excited for this, and the ACLJ filed in this case, which is something unique for us to file this strongly against a DA to say they should be removed. But we did, and we will continue to file. If they appeal this to the Supreme Court of Georgia, we'll file again. Because this was wrongdoing. It should have never happened this way. It should have never been brought, this case. But justice can be done. You just have to fight. And that's what groups like the ACLJ do. And we don't, you don't take breaks. You continue your fight. We need your support today with our matching challenge, our faith and freedom drive. Again, this is the most important year for us. One of the most important weeks for us. Donate today. Double the impact of your donation. This is why. So that justice is done. Donate at ACLJ.org. We'll be right back with more information. all right so just briefly for everyone who might be just joining us the georgia court of appeals in the case the aclj filed it and unique for us to file in a case to have a district attorney's office removed from a case uh she could still appeal this to the georgia supreme court though when you look back in history um likely would not have much success there but again you don't want to predict 100 though likely what is we've seen today and you'll see in the headlines but i want to make sure you understand what the headline is actually saying is that Fannie Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, has been removed from the Trump case that was brought in Georgia. And that was brought against, I think, 30 additional individuals. There might have been 16 remaining by the time this got to the Georgia appeals court because other people made plea deals or were taken out. They were not prosecuted. But it is not just Fannie Willis who was removed. It is her entire office. So anyone involved with the Fulton County DA office is taken off this case, and it goes to a Georgia prosecuting attorney's counsel that can decide to dismiss this, which they did two years ago in a similar case that she was booted from and got her whole office booted from because she was doing fundraisers for someone who was an opponent of someone they were launching investigation against. But I want to go right now to Jay Secular, our chief counsel, my dad – Dad, right away, this doesn't happen often, but so it is a big decision for President Trump and everybody who was brought up on these criminal charges from this grand jury and the work that was done by D.A. Willis' office.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, you're right. And the victory here is huge because the court of appeals correctly, not only took her off the case, but also her entire office. So, as you said, it goes to the district attorney's counsel. I do not see any way in which they bring a charge. based on the same charges she brought in the Rico case from a new DA. I just don't see it. Now, another thing that's important in the opinion, and I think this goes to the heart of what we argued in the case, was that, remember, the trial court judge said there was an odor of modacity surrounding this, but he didn't think it rose to the level of disqualification. Obviously, the Georgia Court of Appeals, and that's what we wrote in our brief, thought it was enough for disqualification. The disqualification here is also significant because it goes back to the pre-indictment investigation. In other words, what the Georgia Court of Appeals is saying is her office should not have been involved even in the pre-indictment issues. So it puts into question the entire process. But I think the good news for the president-elect, as well as the incoming president, it takes this case off the plate. And there is no way that anything is going to happen anyway, but this certainly doesn't. And for the other defendants, this is really good news. There were some really good friends of mine that were in this, including a very well-known trial lawyer in Georgia. In fact, I was talking with him this morning, he called, with texture, rather. And he was brought up in this, which was ridiculous. He's one of the most respected trial lawyers in the state. And of course, he's a supporter of the ACLJ, I should add. And he's out of it now as well. So I think this is nothing but a resounding victory and a great job.
SPEAKER 04 :
I know that people, obviously they're focusing on President Trump, but I think you rightfully brought up that there were a lot of other people here. I mean, I think at one time there were 30. I think it got down to like somewhere under 20. But that was because of plea deals and things like that. I mean, here, is there any... way for those individuals once this is finalized by that council if they decide to not bring any charges do you think they have to appoint somebody to deal with the ramifications of this because of people who might have paid financial penalties and and other made other deals because of the way the opinion is written where they have that specific discussion
SPEAKER 08 :
in the opinion, about activity pretrial. So they're talking about the indictment process, the investigation process. I think that when the DA counsel looks at this and decides not to proceed, if I was representing one of these defendants, I would go in and try to get those pleas now removed. Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Because you're talking about constitutional rights being violated in the first place. Right. Right. These are the, and what we we've talked about is it's usually difficult to sue the government, even state governments for financial penalties. Right. But if you violate constitutional rights, there is a provision where they usually waive that. And in this kind of case, where people's lives have been almost ruined or at least put on hold for years while this has been going through the process, even though it looked absurd from the outside when we found out all this information, that those individuals too can see some justice in this. I mean, President Trump, obviously, this is not going anywhere. But like you said, I can't imagine... Any other DA's office, they would have to start over. There's no way to just clean this up and just clean because, as you said, it goes back to pre-indictment. So, I mean, you'd have to start at point one, and I'm not even sure if you can do that without violating the court's order. It's interesting, the dissent in this case, too, is two to one. But I want to make sure that the audience knows, the dissent just said, we shouldn't have to be the court doing this. The trial court should have done this on their own. The trial courts should have done it. So that was just a disagreement over which court should be the one that issues that decision. They did not disagree that she should be removed. So, I mean, there was pretty much – it was unanimous to that idea that this DA's office, again, the entire office needed to be removed. And, of course, I think it's a huge victory for President Trump. And, Dan, what a turnaround we've seen. in just the last few months of these cases whether it's Jack Smith in the federal side or you see it now in Georgia and we await what will finally happen in some of these New York cases.
SPEAKER 08 :
No, you're right. I mean, the scope and nature and breadth and the movement in the cases against the president as they collapse totally. I mean, the only thing that's really left is New York at this point. And that is that's where that whole case is ridiculous. So and I think that Judge Mershon and his order the other day is going to get reversed by the appellate division. of the courts there, if not the Court of Appeals will. So I think, look, for the president, this is very good. For the other defendants, this is very good. The case never should have been brought. This was a RICO case, which is absurd. Think about that. Racketeering, influence, and corrupt organizations. And this whole idea of the prosecution here was ridiculous. It was far-fetched. And now he has rightly thrown off the case, as is her entire office.
SPEAKER 09 :
When you look at this decision from the court, and then I know when we read the comments that we've seen for years because of the amount of lawfare that we've seen in this country over the past eight years, I'd even argue, between the deep state and the Biden administration and those around the country that just want to target conservatives. You read this decision and it gives you hope, but it also... points out why we at the ACLJ have to keep fighting every day. You know more than anyone that the wheels of justice sometimes take a long time to get to the good outcomes. But should this be giving our audience hope that when the ACLJ fights, and when those of us that fight for the rule of law, that justice will be served?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, let me just bring everybody a quick rewind. Remember, all of this was going on at the same time we were at the Supreme Court of the United States representing the Colorado GOP as they were trying to get President Trump taken off the ballot. And the trial court, remember, in that case, ruled one way and then their Supreme Court ruled another. And then we went to the U.S. Supreme Court and, of course, we won 9-0. I think that was the beginning, by the way, of the end. That was the beginning of the end of these cases. The theories were so outrageous that you had liberal members of the court agreeing with the conservatives that you can't do this. And I think this bodes well. But it does mean we have to fight. And your support of the ACLJ, especially in these next, you know, 11 days here, are critical. This is our most important 11 days of the year financially for the American Center for Law and Justice. And your support in this faith and freedom drive will be really appreciated.
SPEAKER 04 :
We've seen, again, what if you fight back, and as I said, it's not necessarily the normal ACLJ filing to file to have district attorneys removed, but when people's constitutional rights are being violated, whether it's the president or there were other people involved here that were being prosecuted or investigated and their constitutional rights were being violated, the ACLJ is going to stand up. And as you said, whether it's at the U.S. Supreme Court or the Georgia Court of Appeals, we were there and we've been victorious. And that has shown, I think, also... it's kind of vindicated President Trump and all those individuals that these prosecutions were so motivated only by politics. It's kind of the worst of the legal system, but a good news in the sense that they are coming to a close and that hopefully with a new attorney general and a new FBI director and a new administration at the helm that we can get back to the respect for Well, that's right.
SPEAKER 08 :
And here, the theories of law that have been put forward here have been outrageous. They have been reversed. We have won. We're going to continue to fight. And again, the support of everybody that's listening to this broadcast right now to the ACLJ is critical.
SPEAKER 04 :
continue to fight this one. If it's appealed, we're going to continue to fight it, folks. And that's why you go to ACLJ.org right now. Double the impact of your donation. This is one that could move very quickly. So we'll have our team on it right through the holidays. ACLJ.org is where you donate. We've got our Faith and Freedom Year in Drive. As my dad said, our most important 11 days. And our team continues to work, as we've said, to ensure that your constitutional rights are protected, whether It is someone who is living in an adult's living home, which we'll talk about later on. Another case there. Or a president of the United States. ACLJ.org. Donate. Welcome back to Sekulow. I do want to take some of the calls, and if you have questions about this, of course, give us a call. 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. If you're just joining us, Fonny Willis taking off the case. The entire DA's office taking off the case from Fulton County involving President Trump in this RICO charge. This, again, coming from the Georgia Court of Appeals. saying the idea here and the attempt to conceal the relationship between Willis and Nathan Wade, the $650,000 that he was paid as special prosecutor that appears to have benefited both of them personally and these vacations and their relationship, all of that created, again, a situation where her office entirely, not just her, but her office entirely needs to be removed from the case. I do want to go to the phones, though, and answer questions about it because it's unique to get a decision like this. We'll go to John in Missouri on line one. Hey, John.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hello. Thanks for my call. My question is, can Fannie Willis refile?
SPEAKER 04 :
No. No. Her office is barred. Now, she could try to – they could appeal – this case to the Georgia Supreme Court and and but she has been down this road before I say it doesn't happen that often but for Fannie Willis this isn't new this happened to her in 2022 and and again um she her whole she was she had her office investigating at the time I think it was lieutenant governor who was up for re-election and she was doing uh fundraisers for the opponent of that lieutenant governor while at the same time investigating the lieutenant governor and who was the target of one of her investigations and she was again the entire Fulton County DA's office was taken off the case so this is unusual in one sense but is not so much in the world of Fannie Willis I mean I think the question here is for people who live in Fulton County is this who you want to be a prosecutor or not because they've now got a record of whether whatever regardless of what side you're on you think these charges are wrong right that this is someone who is not making smart decisions about how to move forward if you're going to try to move forward with all these political cases that involve elected officials or former elected officials who are now incoming elected officials so they could try to appeal there's of course it's a Georgia court of appeals but I think what will ultimately happen here this case is done And what I hope is set up is something for those who may have made agreements. As my dad said, this goes to the pre-indictment level. So this goes to even before your indictment, all the money that they had to spend. Some of these people who have had to take out loans from family and friends to pay legal bills, that they will be made whole again eventually because of this decision by the court.
SPEAKER 09 :
And I'm going to read from this decision by the court because I think even the language you hear is very important when you're understanding this. It says, after carefully considering the trial court's findings in its order. So the information they're using is what Judge McAfee had provided. It wasn't they didn't go out and do their own fact finding their own court briefings other than what we filed and things of that nature. And they didn't even get to oral argument. Remember, so they're relying on the briefings and what the lower court had decided. And it says, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis in her office. The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pre-trial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring. While we recognize that an appearance of impropriety is generally not enough to support disqualification, This is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of those proceedings. So when you hear that, Jordan, they're talking about the pretrial issues, the appearance of impropriety, and they're saying that no other thing... can happen to address this other than disqualification of her in her office. That goes to our caller's question of can she refile? I feel like the answer is right there because the appearance of impropriety, even at the pretrial discretion, so before charges and everything was brought, all that work, has an appearance of impropriety no she can't bring this case again she is done and they have disqualified her from this.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think the people just got to understand this is why we fight in systems where you may say oh is it you know it's so difficult you know to get a this happened to a DA and listen it's not the norm nor should it be but When it came to Fannie Willis, she had a history of this. And so you fight back if you believe there was wrongdoing. And here, remember how bizarre it was when she stormed into the courtroom that one time to testify on her own? That was probably the beginning of the end of this whole thing. And unfortunately, it's just dragged on for so long. And it's not just affected President Trump. but all these other individuals and I think this is important for all these prosecutors around the country to know is that listen you try to bring these politically charged cases against politicians or former politicians and their allies just because you don't like their politics that is not going to work out and it's not going to end well for you when you try to make up new laws or try to make up new ways to prosecute people So what we have to do at the ACLJ is continue to file, continue to fight, and make sure you fight it out until this is over, done with, 100%. Now, how we make that easy for you is, listen, we will update you throughout as necessary, like today. And with the nitty-gritty that comes through with what happens next in this, we'll continue to update you. But the big news here is that everything would have to start over again. for anyone who wanted to take this again, and you couldn't even start because the president-elect is about to become the president of the United States, so that would be on hold as well. This, again, is the second time it's happened to Fannie Willis. It is a case, I think, when you look at it, there were so many people involved, so much injustice. And finally, these courts have said, listen, there's nothing else we can do other than say this entire office, including the DA, has to be taken off this case. It goes to this council now. The council could decide to dismiss all of the charges. I think then what you have to figure out is what happens for some of those individuals who... Listen, they were worried. They may have made plea deals and things like that just to be done with this so they could move on with their lives. But even in their case, their constitutional rights were violated because this goes back to even pre-indictment. So before they were threatened with indictment. And so they made those deals. This goes to, again, injustice there and constitutional wrongdoing. And when you have unconstitutional behavior, you don't just write that by saying, well, it was unconstitutional. It goes broader than that. It will be broader than that. And again, we have to see how it all works. plays out there with the committee and council that exist in Georgia. But I want you to know is that the ACLJ filed here, the ACLJ will continue to file on the side of what is right in this case. We need your support financially. As my dad mentioned, I want to just underscore it again. These 11 days for the ACLJ are the most important for us financially of the entire year. So it allows us not to just continue to work strong through 2024, but also how we kick off 2025. There's going to be a lot of changes. We're going to have to fight for some of those changes and confirmations. And we know that at the federal level, but we also have to continue to fight the state level. We got two ACLJ cases to update you on today that we haven't even gotten to yet on the show that we have just started working on. So we will get that to you as well. Stay with us on the broadcast to talk to us on the air. It's 1-800- 684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. But a big victory here that you were involved in if you support the work of the ACLJ. Fonny Willis and the DA's office kicked off the case against President Trump and those others who, again, they tried to indict and twist and scare with jail time, prison time, financial penalties. Support the work of the ACLJ. We'll keep filing if we have to. Donate today. ACLJ.org. We are taking your calls at 1-800-684-3110. Just to remind people again, because people join throughout, if you're watching, if you're listening, Fannie Willis and her entire office, so the entire Fulton County DA's office in Georgia, has been disqualified from prosecuting President Trump in that case and all the other people who were defendants in that case that they were attempting to bring these charges against so that case is thrown out now it goes to a council in Georgia that council is made up of prosecutors from different counties and they can dismiss this entirely that might happen here I can't predict exactly what they'll do they can also appoint someone a DA to kind of handle this and they could decide to dismiss this entirely but also there's other defendants here who were further along in the process than President Trump and some of them you know took plea deals others were working on deals like that immunity deals so you'll have I think that there will have to be someone there to to kind of be for the county level to replace her and her team to handle the fallout. from this case at the Georgia Court of Appeals level. Could she appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court? Yes. If you look at the makeup currently of the Georgia Supreme Court, it would be shocking that the court would come to a very different conclusion than the Georgia Court of Appeals. So I think very big win here today for President Trump and those who she tried to indict alongside President Trump as this is now her office completely taken off the case though the case isn't closed out yet the committee of these DAs can do that as that's how it works in Georgia or they can appoint a DA that can also eventually do that they may have to figure out the other people who are involved here to make sure their rights are also vindicated because as I said some were further along in the process let's go to the phones Mary in Maryland online too Mary welcome to Sekulow you're on the air
SPEAKER 01 :
Thanks so much. I just love you guys, and I pray for you all the time. And at 90, I would triple or double-triple what I give because I'm a patriot, but I just have my limits. Sure, of course. And anyway, I was wondering this crazy Fannie Willis, with her history of all the false charges that she seems to be doing on a regular basis, Could she be charged somehow legally and have her...
SPEAKER 04 :
and be disbarred from practicing so I don't know if because the appearance of impropriety if you're going to get a disbarment this was unique usually the court said it would take more than the appearance that even having Nathan Wade and getting rid of Nathan Wade might not be enough in normal cases to be disqualifying but in this case it was such a huge part of the case because he was supposed to be the special counsel that put together the RICO charges That led the RICO case here because doing that is a specialty in the law to put together or to defend a RICO case. And the reason this became scandalous was twofold. One, he had never done a RICO case before and got paid $680,000 from the county to do so. and then two it looks like that they were commingling and utilizing those funds for vacations together and that they had a relationship that they were trying not to disclose to the courts that was disclosed and obviously Nathan Wade was removed from the case but then the Georgia Court of Appeal said that's not enough this goes all the way back to even the pre-indictment this again that the appearance here met the standard for whole entire office to be removed if you talk about you know disbarment and process all these other issues that's up to the Georgia bar and up to Georgia attorneys who can bring those kind of challenges that's totally separate from the criminal process here and the court process we are in that's the second time for her So I think also voters have to decide, you know, are they going to keep electing these political DAs who may be able to bring, you know, scary looking charges and be like, even Jack Smith at the federal level with these, is a special counsel even okay under the constitution? How can he have the authority that a U.S. attorney that has to be confirmed does not? But again, I think they have to think twice now before they bring these politically charged prosecutions that look and appear to the public as just that politically motivated and wrong and when you're politically motivated and wrong it's unconstitutional We're going to continue to take your calls, 1-800-684-3110. Let me remind you, this is why you support the work of the ACLJ, because these issues, when they come up, do you think that we shy away from them or that we just talk about them to sound tough on this broadcast, whether you watch or listen to the broadcast? No, we file in these cases. We put our names to this, and we did in this case to remove Fannie Willis. at the Court of Appeals level and that's what the Georgia Court of Appeals has done. They've instructed that Fannie Willis and the entire DA's office from Fulton County be removed from the case involving President Trump. What does this really mean? This case is done. There's just no other way to look at it but There is more work to be done here for some of the other individuals, and it hasn't been totally thrown out yet. And that's, again, you don't stop working until that is done. But this is truly huge. Again, the second time this has happened to Fannie Willis when she has tried to play politics with prosecuting, which is... Again, the worst of the worst that we see in our legal system. There's nothing worse than people being prosecuted because of their views. Again, it's not just viewpoint discrimination that is a constitutional issue. This is, I mean, viewpoint prosecution. because your political views and you're somehow involved in this grand conspiracy because of who you support for president of the United States or ideas that you may propose to the president about what happens after a campaign or during a campaign or policy proposals or legal proposals that you say you can, listen, fight out in court. But she has been completely removed. Can she appeal? There is an appeal here potentially to the Georgia Supreme Court, but this is totally devastating to Fannie Willis for the second time when she's tried to go after current or former politicians. This case was already likely not moving very fast because President Trump about to go into office. I think we're going to see something similar out of New York. It may not be with Judge Mershon. It may be an appeals level. But we will, again, continue fighting there as well. Harry Hutchinson is joining us right now. And Harry, we've got calls coming in. Let me take one of them right now. Let's go to John in Washington State on Line 1. Hey, John.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey. I think that Everything's going to happen correctly and the case is going to drop, but my fear is that she's going to appeal it and that it's going to drag out past January 20th and all the pundits and the people, the late night people that don't listen to this program and don't understand and don't invest the time to understand the case are going to just blow it off as... the case got dismissed because Trump is now the president slash dictator.
SPEAKER 04 :
But this has nothing to do with it. This is state. These are state courts. So he can't order state courts to do things. Of course, I'll go to Harry Hutch on this. There was going to be a pause. There was no way they were going to be able to continue a case against him while he was president of the United States, Harry. But at the same time, that was it. They could have stayed it until then. I mean, they are... Your power as president is more limited when you're talking about these state entities like these DA's offices. We believe and argue that while you're president and even the fact that trying to hang these cases over them as coming back, like in New York is one of the proposals that was put forward by Alvin Bragg to Judge Rashad, that even that is... That is impacting the presidency and thus cannot stand because these cases should not have any impact at all on the president of the United States. And even the idea that this case is going to come back as soon as I'm done with being president, that is impacting the president and the president's decision making and shouldn't stand.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think your analysis is spot on, and I would say that this particular decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals suggests that the road to legal Armageddon is already at its end point. This means that the era of lawfare, both at the state and federal level, is virtually over. Secondly, I would agree with your earlier point that President Trump, President-elect Trump, cannot order the end of this litigation. However, he has several federal claims outstanding, for instance, with respect to immunity. But the real issue here is that Fannie Willis brought a flawed case in the first place. And so she's engaged, if you will, in a pattern and practice of conflict of interest prosecutions. And this commenced well before bringing the charges against Donald Trump. So if you go back to, sorry, 2022, she brought a case against an individual who was running for Lieutenant Governor, and she appeared in support of a fundraiser for that individual, but then worked with a grand jury to prosecute that individual. That is a clear and unmistakable conflict of interest. And here we also have evidence of a conflict of interest. She hired her ex-lover to bring charges against Donald Trump. Then she went to Miami with the ex-lover, to Belize, and to other trips, Napa Valley. And so she profited from this transaction. brought against Donald Trump. So I think at the end of the day, she was a flawed individual. And I would argue that many of these individuals who bring these cases, including Alvin Bragg in New York, Jack Smith at the federal level, they suffer from the Trump derangement syndrome. And they therefore misunderstand basic rules of law. And so I'm glad to see the Court of Appeals in Georgia reach the right result. Of course she can appeal it to the Supreme Court in Georgia, but I'm quite confident that they will deny her appeal.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I think if you look at the makeup of that court, again, and because of who appoints that court and how they get there with elected and then first chosen by the governor, a lot of Republican governors in the past. So this is not going to be a court that you would think would have a very different opinion than the Georgia Court of Appeals, if not even stronger. And the only thing stronger would be the court ordering it dismissed outright. But here, the court's really done that. I mean, they've said, listen, this goes to this council. That council of district attorneys can dismiss this outright. They don't have to wait and just give another DA this. Now, they have in the past, though, taken some considerable time to do that. So on this case, I do believe there's going to be some impetus to move quicker and to put this behind them so that those who might have... legal issues with what, what happens so that they can actually bring them forward. Let me go to Ronald in South Carolina online for he's watching on rumble folks. If you want to talk to us on the air, the number you call is 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. Ronald, you were on the air with us.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes. Thanks for taking my call. Uh, when can we officially, uh, name this conspiracy with the law fair that has been taken against, uh, President-elect Trump and his associates and everything, when can we finally just put it out there and say this has been a national conspiracy against this one person and his persons that were with him?
SPEAKER 04 :
that's why we brought up the case that my dad did earlier in the broadcast with the Colorado trying to remove him from the primary ballot based off this based off these kind of cases saying that because he's facing these challenges and because of what happened in New York at the state court level that he can't be on the ballot as president of course we won that 9-0 at the U.S. Supreme Court representing the Colorado Republican Party but you know this issue too Harry is I think you could say at this point listen there's obviously was a legal a conspiracy amongst the left to try and bring down President Trump through the legal system both federal and state whether or not that's something you could actually prosecute as a legal illegal conspiracy I think here the court stepped in before we got to that point this is about removal and I think again we'll have to see what happens when other defendants start to bring their cases I think they said you know I said 16 I think it directly involved President Trump and six other defendants directly. So you're talking about seven people who might have claims depending on where they were in their case. And listen, I think there were more people if you add on those who may have already started to pay financial penalties as part of a settlement.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think you're precisely correct, and there is adducible evidence showing that Fannie Willis worked with members of the White House slash Justice Department in bringing these charges against Donald Trump. There's also evidence that a White House, I'm sorry, a DOJ prosecutor stepped down to work with Alvin Bragg in the New York case. So I think the caller's analysis is spot on that there was indeed a conspiracy and it was a national conspiracy.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. 1-800-684-3110 if you want to talk to us on air. Your ACLJ taking on literally hundreds of cases every year. Handled 142 religious liberty matters this year alone. That's 142 clients, briefs, demand letters, all fighting back against the war on your faith. But other cases like this case. We talk about the hundreds of other cases. This falls into that. The 126 legal actions battling the federal deep state. The 142 religious liberty matters. 197 free speech matters. The 175 pro-life legal matters. I said 142 on fighting back against the war on your faith with religious liberty. And in these cases as well that we talk about, we do all of that because of your support of the ACLJ. That was all of those cases just in 2024. And we've got to be able to start off 2025 and this interim period just as strong. But these are 11 very important dates to the ACLJ financially. If you can donate, we need you to donate right now. Have your gift doubled during our Faith and Freedom Year in Drive. Donate at ACLJ.org today. Donate right now. All right, welcome back to Secular. We are going to get back to Fonny Willis. I do want to update you on two other ACLJ matters and cases that we are working on right now. And Will, let's go first to the cases involving religious liberty out in Washington State.
SPEAKER 09 :
That's right. So there is an apartment complex that is a 55 and up community, a senior apartment complex where our...
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. Exactly. Yes.
SPEAKER 09 :
Where one of our client now was handing out a newsletter. This wasn't an official newsletter of the of the center personal, but talking about upcoming activities, things to be aware of in the community as we approach the holiday season and at the top of it. It said Merry Christmas, but she also wanted to make sure that she was not just saying Merry Christmas. She also said Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa. So it wasn't even just directly a Christmas message. But on this, she was informed by the authorities or the management of this senior living apartment complex that, yes, You can't say Merry Christmas. It's too religious to mention the holidays on this newsletter. And so she was being prohibited from expressing this. And there's also other things I can't list on the calendar, Bible studies and things of that nature. The normal stuff we see. I know we like to talk about, you know, we can say Merry Christmas again. President Trump is back. But the reality is when the left makes fun of people saying, oh, no one said you can't say Merry Christmas. They're doing it all the time in this country. And it's misinformed management companies many times that are putting in place policies saying that you can't say this. Federal housing regulations prohibit this when actually the law is completely opposite of that. So we've got a demand letter off to this housing facility saying you got to change course. Don't violate our clients' rights. And we are going to fight to make sure that she can express herself over this holiday season.
SPEAKER 04 :
Those demand letters are not answered in the appropriate way and they aren't ready to talk through the remedies. We go to court. So you give them, in this case, an opportunity, hopefully to make things right before the holiday season is over. That's one reason you wouldn't want to just file a... the court case because you're trying to see if you can you can get to that company and make them realize that they have done the wrong thing that they have got to correct the wrong and and make it right and make it right by allowing this resident to pass this out. Someone who was trying to go above and beyond to not be exclusive or exclusionary to anyone who was receiving their personal update that they decided to hand out to others who lived in this housing center. And again... Will is right. When they say, oh, these cases don't happen, yes, they do. And they happen right in the holiday season, hoping that there's no one to fight back. But there is here. So at the ACLJ, again, the demand letter's out. And if that is not responded to adequately and we're not able to get to the right place there, we will file a lawsuit. Other next case will.
SPEAKER 09 :
That's right. There's a pro-life matter that's coming up. You know that we're fighting in Massachusetts with our ad campaign as well as going against the state in that organization that we're filing, putting out ads going against pregnancy resource centers. But this is a case we've been following for a while and have filed in already. This comes out of South Carolina, where the governor had issued an executive order directing the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to deem abortion clinics unqualified to receive Medicaid funding. Planned Parenthood fought back, and it actually lost, at the appeals court level... The side that we're on, which would be the governor, wanting to end funding to abortion clinics, lost there. They filed a cert petition with the Supreme Court. ACLJ filed a amicus asking the court to grant cert in this case or to take up the case. And yesterday we found out that the Supreme Court will be hearing this case on whether or not states can individually defund Planned Parenthood. So we talk a lot of times about federally defunding. This would be the use of state's Medicaid dollars and how they spend it and whether or not they are forced to spend them on abortion clinics. We will be filing in this now that it has been granted by the Supreme Court and we look forward to fighting for pro-life policies and the ability to end taxpayer funding to abortion clinics.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's very important that you can look at this. Of course, Doge has looked at this from the federal level. We saw that from what Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy put out through the government accountability, this office. But the idea here is that... states have been at the forefront of this issue. And what has been preventing them is that courts have said, well, there's Medicaid and there's these other federal programs. And so then there'd be issues that we'd have to dispute there between the supremacy clause and the federal dollars that you're taking in and the state dollars that you're taking in so that you can't do that. And I really do believe the Supreme Court is taking this case because we are in a different situation when you look at those federal laws without Roe versus Wade. So when you've overturned Roe versus Wade, you've taken out this idea that abortion without restriction has some, or almost no restriction, has some special federal constitutional protection. It's a very different case when that no longer exists. And so this case is, in a sense, though it has been brought before the court before, it is entirely new because of what has happened with these other abortion cases. now that at a federal level it is not receiving these unique constitutional protections that we believe were wrongly given to abortion since the decision Roe versus Wade that has been overturned now and that these states like South Carolina can defund the organizations like Planned Parenthood without violating federal law. So it's always good When if you've lost at the trial level and at the court of appeals level, if the Supreme Court decides to take your case, it's better that they take your case than they also just agree with the lower courts that likely you can't win. It doesn't mean you're automatically going to win, but it's a better position to be in. And this could open the doors for states who have tried to do this for more than a decade to be able to defund Planned Parenthood at the state level, not just the federal level, which would take congressional acts signed by the president, but at the state level where in some states you've got even more pro-life state legislatures and governors out there who are ready to do this. In this case, it was a governor's executive order to do this and it wasn't about do they have the authority to do that it's whether or not the federal laws that come into play and the funding that come into play the state accepts through Medicaid does that stop them and the court is going to look at that of course we have filed in that case as well at the American Reserve for Law and Justice we filed at the cert stage of encouraging the court to take the case they have said yes we will now we'll be filing on the merit stage with amicus as well so doing that at the american center for law and justice so you were just hearing in the final days before christmas brand new work the aclj is taking on to defend religious liberty and life of the unborn so what a time for you to be able to support the work of the aclj during the most important days of the year for us financially to fundraise i mean it's direct we've been telling you this all month that this is the most important month of the year we raise a close to about a quarter of everything the ACLJ takes in just in the month of December. Because of your financial support, we continue to expand the work that we do in all of those different areas of the law, whether it's pro-life legal matters, free speech matters, religious liberty, the deep state, hundreds of other matters involving, for instance, Fannie Willis. and these prosecutions, all because of your financial contributions to the American Center for Law and Justice. Your gifts can be doubled today at aclj.org. So I encourage you to donate today at aclj.org to be part of the Faith and Freedom year-end drive. You know it's the most important time of the year for us financially. So if you're in a position to donate, whether it's $10, $20, or $2,000 or more, donate today. It will be doubled, aclj.org.
Listeners are treated to discussions that traverse the complexities of national security and the trust of American institutions. George Barna joins Jody to discuss the pressing cultural and political trends for 2025, centered around the public’s relationship with government, media, and the church. With Family Research Council's ongoing contributions highlighted, this episode is a call to action for prayer and engagement in safeguarding faith, family, and freedom. Tune in for this comprehensive analysis and thoughtful reflection on the state of the nation.
SPEAKER 02 :
from the heart of our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good afternoon and welcome to this Thursday edition of Washington Watch. I'm Jody Heiss, Senior Vice President here at the Family Research Council and President of FRC Action. It is indeed an honor as always to be sitting in for Tony and thrilled to have you on board with us as well. We've got a lot coming your way. In fact, yet again, breaking news is occurring even as we speak, and we'll bring it to you as it unfolds, if it happens to unfold during the next hour. So here are the highlights. Less than 24 hours after President-elect Trump spoke up against the spending package that was negotiated by congressional leaders. And that was unveiled just the night before, by the way. But a new deal has now been announced. And this deal has already received the approval of President-elect Trump, who actually went out on social media a little while ago, and he said the following. Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good deal for the American people. The newly agreed American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the government open, fund our great farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes. The president-elect ended the post by saying all Republicans and even Democrats should do what is best for our country and vote yes for this bill tonight. Well, according to what we just literally heard just minutes before going on the air, the vote is expected later tonight, perhaps as soon as 6 o'clock Eastern Time. And that's just 30 hours from the potential midnight shutdown tomorrow. So is this bill going to pass? That is a huge, huge question, and I'll be joined here in just a moment by Mark Tapscott, who's the senior congressional correspondent at the Epoch Times, and he will bring us absolutely the latest on what's happening with the CR. And then yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration decided to temporarily ban drone flights over several areas across New Jersey until January 17th of next year. Now, they said that this move is due to special security concerns. But now, wait a minute. Didn't the Biden administration claim that these mysterious drones that have been spotted all across New Jersey and other nearby states, that they do not present a national security or public safety risk? So which is it? Do the drones present a security issue or don't they? Well, I'll be discussing this later in the program when I'm joined by retired CIA operations officer Sam Faddis. So you certainly want to catch that. And a new development in South Carolina's fight to defund Planned Parenthood. The case is now headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. And ADF attorney John Birch will join me to discuss the latest on that critical case. And then at the end of the program today, I'll be joined by Dr. George Barna to discuss some of the issues and the developments to watch for as we enter into 2025. So as always, and seems like as of late, this program is going to not only be packed with news, but potentially with breaking news as the show unfolds. So you don't want to miss any of it. But if by chance you do, you know where to go to catch up. You can go to our website, TonyPerkins.com, where you can certainly catch this edition as well as past editions of Washington Watch. as well as a number of phenomenal resources that are available for you. So be sure to bookmark that page and use it. And then this Christmas season, before we jump into the program, I just want to remind you yet again, Family Research Council is inviting you to join us as we continue trying to shine the light of biblical truth in Washington, D.C. and beyond. Certainly, we're living in precarious times. potentially very dangerous times and in the midst of it all a transition of leadership as well as lame duck session of Congress and here we are FRC serving literally as a watchman on the wall trying to protect faith family and freedom from multiple attacks coming from the left and good news and here's what I want to land this on thanks to a one and a half million dollar challenge match Every dollar that you give to FRC between now and December 31st will be doubled. Yes, you can double your impact, and we encourage you to do so. Come along. Stand with FRC, enabling us to continue literally being a prophetic voice for biblical truth. You can jump on board and double your impact simply by texting the word LIGHT, L-I-G-H-T. Text the word LIGHT. to 67742, and together we can all have an eternal impact. All right, let's jump into our first topic for the day. As the federal government has been teetering on the brink of a shutdown, the battle over a short-term funding agreement As we all know by now, it came to a head yesterday. In fact, in a statement posted on social media, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, they slammed the proposal yesterday. And they accused people of, if they voted for it, that they would be giving Democrats everything they wanted. But even before President-elect weighed in, the bipartisan deal yesterday was facing sharp criticism. Many were calling it a Kramnibus, and it was just, it was... It was just not going to pass. Well, Speaker Johnson has since been scrambling to find a path forward in a situation that many people said was absolutely impossible. And with less than 33 hours before the potential shutdown, a new deal was announced. And so here we come now to find out what does this new deal look like? And joining me to discuss the latest developments is Mark Tapscott. He's a senior congressional correspondent. for the Epoch Times. Mark, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you. Congressman, how are you? Okay. Boy, we got a lot to break down. Give me the latest. What do you know right now?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, we are back at the point of a vote soon, they hope, and it is absolutely uncertain how it's going to come out. My guess is there will be some Republicans who, Chip Roy, for example, will vote against it. He's already said he's a hard no. But there will be some Democrats. I don't have any that I can name at the moment, but I suspect there are a handful of them who will come over and the bill might pass by one or two votes. It's absolutely that close. We don't know.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's a coin toss right down. In other words, it can go either way. And I agree with you. Before coming on the program, as all this was unfolding and breaking, I was trying to go through in my own mind what the outcome of this would be. And frankly, I'm still trying to get out what's in this new proposal. But I came to the same conclusion you did. This is an absolute toss-up. Can you tell us some of the difference? I did see a picture of the 1,500-page bill, plus bill, And now this one's just 116 pages. So it's vastly decreased in size, but I've not had a chance to figure out what's in it. Can you tell us a little bit of what changes are in this new bill?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, you know, the first question I have about it is how many pages are in this? Because it looks like it's probably 50 or 60. That's a great improvement over 1,500, but still. They have decided to take all of that stuff out that Trump and Musk and Ramaswamy were pointing at, including particularly the congressional pay raise. And they have removed some other things that were getting some real critical commentary from folks. What it looks like we have now is basically keep the government open through mid-March, $100 billion for the disaster relief, especially in North Carolina. Extending the farm bill, and there is apparently a provision for, I don't quite have all of the details yet, $10 billion in farm credit assistance. You also get the health care provisions that are due to be extended. They get extended. I don't know what the time limit is on that. And probably the most important or certainly the most significant part of it is President Trump yesterday demanded that the national debt limit be lifted through his entire four-year term. They compromised, and this new continuing resolution suspends it for two years. It will be interesting to see who comes out of this one as the great compromiser.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, so you've brought up some really good stuff, some quick questions, and you may not have the answers. Again, all this is breaking by the moment. But the $100-plus billion disaster relief that you mentioned, is that paid for, or is that new debt that's incurred?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, that is a great question. And my assumption, quite frankly, Congressman, is that it's new debt, because the government is operating in a deficit condition in any case. And I've heard nothing about any kind of offsets or any of that kind of thing to shift funding from one place over to the disaster relief, which would have a neutral effect on that question.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that's going to be interesting because I would certainly think that would be problematic if there's not a pay-for going into this for a number of Republicans. And there's tons of wasteful spending, tons of places where it could be pulled. And I'm just going along with you. I don't know either. I don't know if there's pay-for with that. or not. So how likely do you think, and again, perhaps it's a little unfair to ask you because none of us know, but what's kind of your gut feeling going into this? Is this strategy in your gut going to succeed, or are we still going to end the night with just hours away from a potential shutdown?
SPEAKER 05 :
I'll be honest with you, Congressman, and you know this better than I do from your own experience on the floor. In this kind of situation, every man and woman in the House potentially is the Speaker and holds tremendous bargaining power with their vote. And we will not know until the final vote is closed what the count is going to be. My gut says—I do think that Speaker Johnson is— I will be surprised if it doesn't pass, but if it does, it's going to be, as I said, one or two votes. And I won't be surprised if it doesn't make it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. This is one of those, I would suspect this vote is going to be open for a long time, as there's going to be, perhaps it doesn't have the votes initially, and so they'll just keep it open and just keep trying to sway people to change their vote in that direction. in that scenario. Now, William, I have just less than a minute left. How difficult is the position that Speaker Johnson is in right now? There's rumors that his position could potentially be in jeopardy. Do you believe that's a serious scenario?
SPEAKER 05 :
I think it's a very serious scenario. And just speaking for myself, um, Newt Gingrich said a couple of days ago, I heard him on one of the networks say that he thinks that Mike Johnson has the toughest job in Washington, and it's far more difficult than the Speaker's job was when he was Speaker. I agree. That's absolutely true.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I agree with him. Thank you so much, Mark Tapscott, senior congressional correspondent for the Epoch Times. Always great to have you. Thank you for your insight and Merry Christmas to you. All right, friends, after the break, we'll discuss the mysterious drones. There's a lot happening in that. Sam Faddis, former CIA operations officer, will join me right after the break.
SPEAKER 10 :
During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we're making an eternal impact. 2024 has been another year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, D.C. This fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit. to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins marked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC's outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere with a community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God's intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel's peace, prosperity, and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Government. Launching in January 2025, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us for another year of standing for faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 09 :
Looking to grow closer to God in the new year? FRC's Stand on the Word spiral-bound journal is here to help. Dive deeper into scripture with thought-provoking questions, note-taking space, and context for each book and author. This second edition, covering Isaiah 2 Revelation, will guide you in tracking your journey through God's word while deepening your faith in Christ. Order now at frc.org slash store or text journal to 67742. Perfect for you and your loved ones.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good afternoon, and welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm your host today, Jody Heiss, sitting in for Tony, and thank you for joining us as well. Before we get to our next guest, let me just say this, and I just didn't have time to end the previous segment with this comment, but Each of you who are watching and listening right now, you understand what I'm about to say. We are facing an extremely difficult time right now in our country, and this CR is a major battle. And I just want to call on you to pray for Speaker Johnson right now, to pray for our members of Congress. for wisdom, for unity, for them to be able to work through this. And I don't know if it's going to pass tonight or not, but even if it does not, the clock continues to tick and something is going to happen. And so we need to bathe this in prayer. And I want to sincerely call upon you to do that for all those who are involved in this right now. And I thank you for doing so. All right, let's go to our next topic. After weeks now, these mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey and nearby states, and by the way, with claims all the while from the Biden administration that these drones don't present any kind of national security for public safety or federal safety, the Federal Aviation Administration decided yesterday to temporarily ban all drone flights over 22 areas across New Jersey until January 17th of next year. They said that the move was due to, quote, special security concerns, end quote. So, I mean, all of us are wondering, do the drones present a security risk or don't they? Well, it's a legitimate question. And here now to dive deeper into all of this is author Sam Faddis. He's a retired CIA operations officer. He served in both the Near East and South Asia. He's also the host of Ground Truth. Sam, welcome back to Washington Watch. It's an honor to have you.
SPEAKER 18 :
Great to be here. Thank you, sir.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. Bottom line, let me just throw it out there to you. Who do you think is behind these mysterious drones?
SPEAKER 18 :
Look, I think we should start by looking at the Chinese communists. And look, as a caveat, not everything everybody has reported seeing in the sky is a legitimate drone sighting. There's a lot of erroneous sightings. There are also some people that I guess think it's funny to essentially manufacture video and manufacture sound. Okay, so there's a certain amount of this we got to strip out, but at its heart, you have continued drone sightings that are unexplained that essentially all occur over sensitive U.S. military installations. And this against the backdrop of the fact that the Chinese have been caught red-handed, literally prosecuted, and in some cases, imprisoned for doing this on multiple occasions across the country and around the world. So if I'm investigating this, where do I start? I start with my top suspect, the communist Chinese collecting intelligence.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, so with that being your view, Obviously, I was going to ask, and I think you just answered it, these drones should be viewed as a threat to our national security, correct?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, 100%. Look, again, the communist Chinese clearly are at the top of the list. They have a sustained record of flying drones and, for that matter, physically intruding on the ground into military installations, U.S. military installations. That's known. And what are they doing? They're collecting intelligence. for use in the event of a shooting war, for sabotage and so forth. There's no mystery about that. So, I mean, it's like you're conducting an investigation for a crime. Somebody knocked over a convenience store and you got a guy that lives down the street who's been convicted 10 times before for knocking over convenience stores. Is that enough to put him in jail? No, but it's enough to go knock on his door and start with him as your prime suspect. So let's just let's just start right there. I mean, literally, we just put a arrested a guy within the last week out at Vandenberg Space Force Base, a Chinese national flying drones over the base.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good analogy there. Yeah, I wish I had it in front of me. I don't. I read earlier today that evidently, allegedly, a high altitude balloon was spotted flying over Washington, D.C. today. And of course, that brings back all sorts of memories as well. So there certainly seems to be enough evidence, as you suppose, the guy that takes out the convenience stores. There's reason to suspect something's going on here. Doesn't our response in all of this send a message, a wrong message, not only to the American public, but also to our adversaries as to what we would do with drones?
SPEAKER 18 :
A hundred percent. It sends exactly the wrong message. But, you know, you made reference to balloons. There have been any number of balloons, actually, that clearly came from China. But there's the one that everybody remembers that circled our nuke bases out in Montana and so forth. This government allowed that intelligence collection device to complete its mission, presumably transmit back to Beijing all the data it collected. And then when they finally took it down, took it down so it ended up in the ocean and no average citizen could see the payload. So we don't have to guess what the attitude of this government is toward this kind of thing. We've seen it with our own eyes. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. So we have drones there. There are other worldwide threats taking place. What other issues are developing out there that you would consider threats perhaps are not a problem at the moment? Maybe they are, but certainly could devolve into a problem quickly later this year or maybe next year. What are you looking at?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, given that we're coming off four years of Joe Biden, everything. But a couple of things that come to mind. The Iranians have been developing nuclear weapons for some time. We don't know that they don't already have them or that they won't have them before Trump is in the White House. Very real threat. Syria just imploded. Assad is gone. Good riddance. He was a monster, okay? But what has replaced him is essentially a new caliphate, a new radical Islamic state in the heart of the Middle East. So anybody who thinks that now we have a kinder, gentler government in Syria and have turned the corner is misinformed at a minimum.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you, Sam Faddis, host of Ground Truth. We are grateful for you coming on and breaking down some of this and giving some of your professional insight on it all. Merry Christmas to you. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch tonight.
SPEAKER 18 :
Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, friends, don't go anywhere. We have much, much more to bring your way. Coming up next, should Medicaid dollars, those are funds intended to help low-income individuals obtain necessary medical assistance, should Medicaid dollars be allowed to go into the pocket of Planned Parenthood so that they can perform abortions in the name of so-called health care? Wow. Alliance Defending Freedom's John Birch will join me to discuss that after the break.
SPEAKER 06 :
So if you like to think and you like to pray, FRC is the place for you.
SPEAKER 07 :
I think it is the best program out there.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I've absolutely loved my experience interning at FRC.
SPEAKER 07 :
They really are making waves out in the political world and doing it from the light of the Lord.
SPEAKER 06 :
It's really humbling for me as a college student who has been involved in the life movement for only a couple of years to be able to witness it alongside of some of the people who have spent their entire lives fighting. A huge thing that sets FRC's internship apart from others is they are looking for what they can pour into you instead of what they can get out of you.
SPEAKER 07 :
I have talked to so many of my friends who have interned. other places and they're responding to emails or taking phone calls and doing things like that. But here we get real hands on experience and get to talk to important people and do important things that we get to see the impact of.
SPEAKER 19 :
The throne of Jesus Christ is unchallenged. His name was never on the ballot to begin with, and it's never gonna be on the ballot. He's the King of Kings and He's the Lord of Lords, and nothing's gonna change that. And so our mission stays the same, preach the gospel, make disciples, get ready for heaven. In the meantime, that we're to advance the concerns of the kingdom of God here on earth.
SPEAKER 03 :
America has entered a critical and vulnerable period from now until January the 20th. Join Family Research Council for Operation Prayer Shield, a 10-week prayer initiative for our nation. From now until January 20th, our country faces global challenges, a transition of leadership, and a lame duck session of Congress. This season calls for heightened spiritual vigilance, discernment, and prayer. Text the word SHIELD to 67742 to join us. You'll have access to prayer points, scripture, prayer calls. Text SHIELD to 67742. Unite with us and pray for our nation.
SPEAKER 04 :
I'm your host, Jody Heiss. We're going to be sitting in for Tony today. Thank you for joining us. All right, some really good news yesterday. And by the way, this is a type of news that is kind of being pushed under the rug with all the other big news items that are coming out publicly. But this is a big deal. Yesterday, our nation's highest court agreed to hear a case that could decide whether pro-life states like South Carolina can direct Medicaid funds away from abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. Those funds are intended to help low-income individuals obtain necessary medical assistance. But should they be used to fund Planned Parenthood? Well, here now to share why South Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services sued Planned Parenthood is John Birch. He is Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy at Alliance Defending Freedom. John, welcome back to Washington Watch. We appreciate you coming on.
SPEAKER 13 :
Always happy to be here. Thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, so break this down for us, boil it down. What is at the heart of this case?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, you have to go back almost seven years ago, and South Carolina defunded Planned Parenthood as part of its Medicaid program. Every state takes Medicaid dollars from the federal government and then distributes those to hospitals and doctors and medical facilities all around the state to provide health care for low-income people. And Planned Parenthood demanded a portion of that. Well, states can defund a medical provider from their state program for a variety of reasons, whether that be endangering patients or not following health and safety standards or committing fraud, abuse, and any number of other things. And for several of those reasons, South Carolina defunded Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood had the right to file an administrative appeal with the state, but it missed the deadline on that. And so it conspired with one of its patients, its clients to file a federal court lawsuit and got a federal judge to order the state to reinstate Planned Parenthood. And that went up to a court of appeals, which affirmed that. And now the Supreme Court has decided to review the decision and it will decide whether states have the ability to defund Planned Parenthood as part of their Medicaid program.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, that's huge. So what would be the implications if the Supreme Court stands with South Carolina?
SPEAKER 13 :
It's tremendously huge because Planned Parenthood takes taxpayer dollars in states all across the country. And right now, the Federal Court of Appeals are divided over whether states can do that. And so if the Supreme Court would rule in South Carolina's favor, not only would that give South Carolina the ability to defund Planned Parenthood and use those tax dollars at more comprehensive care clinics to take care of women with a full panoply of services, It would allow many other states to do the same, which are currently prohibited by similar court rulings in their locales.
SPEAKER 04 :
So what's the process from here as it moves to the Supreme Court? When would a decision be made? When would some oral argument be made? What's the process?
SPEAKER 13 :
The oral arguments will likely be in April, and because the Supreme Court is usually pretty good about issuing decisions in all of the cases that it hears during a term, we would expect a decision by the end of June.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. So this is going to move pretty quickly through the Supreme Court.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, this is very fast. The Supreme Court is usually not a fast player. The legal system is never fast. But if you have a petition granted in December or January, as this one was, then you can actually get through the whole U.S. Supreme Court process pretty quickly. And we feel pretty confident about the Supreme Court's decision here because it's got several precedents in the past. interpreting the same provisions of the Medicaid statute that look pretty good for our case. And so our hope is that they'll vindicate the right of South Carolina and every state to choose where they send their federal funding dollars for Medicaid only to those clinics that protect and support life and women's health.
SPEAKER 04 :
Is there a state rights issue versus a federal law type issue involved with this? Could that be a complication in all of it?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I think that's something that actually helps South Carolina here, because when Congress enacts a spending clause statute like Medicaid, they offer states money. And if they take it, then they have to follow certain conditions. Then Congress needs to set unambiguously in the statute what the states have to do. And there's nothing in the Medicaid statute that suggests that states can be sued by Planned Parenthood and their clients in federal court in order to have their funding reinstated. And if the Supreme Court says that Planned Parenthood can't do that, then the federal lawsuit goes away. Most likely their appeal is time barred and the South Carolina defunding decision would stand.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Incredible. This is huge, and this is one of those news items I think just kind of lost in the fog of all the other news that is so much in front of the line right now. Any idea, we've only got about a minute or so left, any idea how many abortions are actually paid through Medicaid funds, be it in South Carolina or nationally?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, it's hard to tell because you can't get a good look at Planned Parenthood's books. And part of the problem with these funding situations is that they can take money for non-abortion purposes, say providing contraception or something like that, that other medical providers could do equally well or better. And then because they've got that money in their operating budget, they can use that to fund abortions. So what South Carolina and other states understand is that if you want to stop Planned Parenthood from committing abortions, you need to squeeze away all of their government funding. And that's what South Carolina intends to do here.
SPEAKER 04 :
Fantastic. Thank you, John Virch, Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy at Alliance Defending Freedom, our great friends at ADF. Thank you so much for joining us and for bringing this tremendous news. Again, a prayer item that we want to be supporting in every way that we can. Merry Christmas to you, John. Thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER 13 :
Merry Christmas. And if folks want to follow the case, they can find out more about it at ADFlegal.org.
SPEAKER 04 :
Fantastic. Thank you, sir. All right. On the other side of the break, FRC's George Barna is going to be joining me to talk about issues and developments to watch in 2025. A fascinating discussion coming your way right after the break.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hello, I'm Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But you know, the Bible talks about four institutions of government. You know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn't be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
SPEAKER 15 :
Let's not be discouraged. Don't lose heart. Don't lose the faith. Stand now strong because the Lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our courage matters. So let's stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.
SPEAKER 17 :
The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus and conservatives don't defend it, who will?
SPEAKER 12 :
Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don't say the wrong thing, that somehow we will come out of this unscathed. You're naive if you think that, because what they want from us is not our silence. What they want from us is our submission.
SPEAKER 01 :
Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we've relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource. and we've relied too little on the power of God and God's ability to open doors that we can't open and do things that we couldn't even hope to begin to do.
SPEAKER 08 :
This may not be an easy task, But we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know always that we are not alone, that his spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Dobbs, after all, was never supposed to happen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Father, we thank you. You have entrusted us with this moment in history, and I pray that we would be found faithful, and that as a result of our faithfulness to you, that thousands, millions would come into the kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in Jesus Christ. Amen.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm your host, Jody Heiss. Honored to be sitting in today for Tony and thanking you again for joining us as well. Before I turn to my next guest, I want to again encourage you to come on board and join Family Research Council in shining the light of biblical truth right here in Washington, D.C. and literally across our entire nation. We all know these are perilous times that we're living. And FRC is here serving literally as a watchman on the wall. We're doing everything we can to protect faith, family, and freedom from multiple attacks coming from the left. And we have a very special opportunity right now. Thanks to a $1.5 million challenge match, every single dollar that you give right now up until December 31st, every dollar will be doubled. And so you are able literally to have an oversized impact. So we invite you to come stand with FRC and help us continue to be a prophetic voice for biblical truth. You can do so by texting the word LIGHT, L-I-G-H-T, to 67742. And again, that will enable all of us together to have an eternal impact and to continue to shine the light of biblical truth. All right, as Americans navigate literally through a rapidly evolving cultural and political landscape, there are certain recent trends that reveal that we have both challenges as well as opportunities facing us. On the one hand, for example, we've seen that Gen Z is literally bucking the downward trend of Bible engagement. And on the other hand, there's a troubling rise in things like anxiety and depression and suicide rates. So with all of this, what are some of the issues and developments to be watching as we enter into 2025? Well, I don't know of anyone better to discuss all of this than Dr. George Barna. He, of course, is the director of research at Arizona Christian University and a senior research fellow right here at FRC's Center for Biblical Worldview, the author of many, many books, including Raising Spiritual Champions. George, welcome back to Washington Watch. It's always an honor to have you, my friend.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thanks, Jody. Good to be with you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I look at 2025 just right now on the horizon. No doubt there are many changes that are coming. One of them that hits the top of my mind, obviously, is this is a year that Republicans are going to have control of the White House as well as the Senate and the House of Representatives. And all of this is coming at a time when overall confidence in government is probably at historic lows. And yet the Republicans are coming in promising to make some major, major changes. Is there any way that we might see an increase in trust among the American people with the government?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, you know, there are a couple of ways of looking at that, Jody. One of those is to say, well, it could easily get higher because it's so low right now. There's not too much lower than it can drop. But I would also say that, yeah, it's going to be difficult to raise that proportion of people who say that they do trust the government. It's interesting when we study it, you find that the closer the government is to the people, the more trust the people have in it. So almost two-thirds of Americans say that they trust their locals. government and the leaders and officials that are part of that. It drops to about half of the people saying they have an above average level of trust in state government. And it drops down to somewhere between a quarter to a third when you're talking about the federal government. And of course, as you break that down, if you look at Congress, it's Less than one out of ten people say that they have a lot of trust in Congress. So, you know, can it get higher? Yes, it can. But it's going to take some significant steps forward. One of those would be casting a compelling vision of the future for our nations. and describing ways in which everyone in government is going to work together to see that happen. People are tired of the standstill in government. of all the obstacles that they're seeing there, the outrageous amounts of money being spent, the debt that's being piled up. And they also have this perception that a huge proportion of public officials are corrupt. And so if we want to change people's sense of trust in their government, they're going to have to address those issues full on. They're going to have to see actual leadership skills demonstrated.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, yeah, that's a big hill to climb in the current environment, especially. But it's not only Congress and government. And I think it's a great point that the closer government is to home, the higher the trust level. That is tremendous. So that would say to me that smaller government on the federal level would be a huge step in the right direction. But it's not just government. Also, the trust in the media is something that is often reported on these days. And more and more people... certainly younger generations, but more and more people overall increasingly rely upon social media, personal experience or whatever over traditional institutions of media coverage. Is that likely to change or not change in the coming year?
SPEAKER 16 :
No, I think what we're going to see is a continued movement away from traditional sources of media, from mainstream media, if you will, toward independent media, where people now, because they at one point in their observations said, you know what, I really can't trust what I'm getting from these mainstream media sources. It's not objective. It's very biased. It doesn't tell the full story. There is a narrative underlining and undergirding the messaging that they're giving to me. So I'm going to look elsewhere. And so people have really started testing things. In the last five years, if you look at the trajectory of podcasts, for instance, what you find is that they've skyrocketed in terms of their popularity. And what's happening now is where people used to think about what channels or what news broadcasts or what newspapers or radio programs am I going to tune into? Now what they're doing instead is they're searching around for podcasts. They're searching around for other kinds of media channels on Instagram and Facebook and elsewhere. And they're putting together a completely new media environment. Is traditional media going to be able to win back their popularity and the sense of trust of Americans? I don't really see that happening in the next three or four years, at least, because people now have set their minds to the point where they're saying, I can't trust them. There's no reason for me to even listen to them.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. So let's move on from government and from the media. This is one that is very disturbing to me. In fact, to be very honest with you, George, I hate to even bring this up, but there's also seemingly, at least from my perspective, I've seen this in my own family, but an increasing distrust for churches, a lack of trust. We've seen so many leaders fall and all this type of stuff. What do you think this next year will holds for the church? Is there anything that they can do to become a greater influence in our culture? Where does that stand?
SPEAKER 16 :
You know, it's interesting, Jody, because when you look at what's going on with churches, in some ways it's very similar to what's happening with government, where people have less and less trust in the leadership of their churches. They feel like they're not getting real value from their churches. And as we've been evaluating that, one of the things that's become clear is that often that's because they feel they're not being given practical advice, practical guidance, real tangible value for their life. Where does that come from? Well, it would come from preaching God's word on a consistent basis. and breaking it down for people so that they know how to apply God's truth principles in their personal life. What we're hearing is that they don't feel that the teaching and preaching and programs that they're getting from the local church is doing a good job of supplying that kind of personal value in their lives. Now, when we look at why would churches move away from that, What we find is that churches tend to evaluate their success in ministry, their impact, based on how many people show up, how many programs they offer, how many staff people they've hired, how much money they're raising, how much square footage they've built out. And if you think about those five objectives that most churches in America consistently measure to evaluate their ministry effectiveness... One conclusion we can come to is, well, that's bound to fail as a set of measures. Why? Because Jesus didn't die for any of those. That's not what his life, his ministry, his teaching is all about. And so we've gotten away from the Bible, not only in what we're teaching, but even in how we're measuring things. success, and impact in ministry. So I would say until churches get back to those kinds of things, we're going to continue to see things that we're seeing now, like a consistent decline in church attendance. We've gone in the last five years from half of all adults in America attending a church at least once a month on average down to roughly one-third of Americans. That's a huge drop in a short period of time. And some people would say, well, yeah, that's because a lot of people are shifting towards streamed church services. We measure that as well. So that's not the reason. The reason is they're not getting biblical value from churches. Wow.
SPEAKER 04 :
And this is an extremely important issue because the well-being of our whole culture ultimately comes down to the spiritual health of the culture, which ultimately obviously rests upon the health of the church. And I know some of your studies, George, and this is a great place to interject this, but you have seen a very clear tension between and a relationship between declining church engagement and rising mental health challenges. That's stunning to me. So how do we, as you just mentioned, what does the church need to do to get people to come back to church? What kind of changes need to be taking place within a church body to fulfill the mission that God has given them to do?
SPEAKER 16 :
You know, Jody, basically that comes back to the whole issue of worldview. Why is it that young people in particular would say that they often are struggling with fear, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, all of these issues that we've been studying, and it comes back to their perspectives about how life works. And so when you've got a young adult who doesn't believe that there's a God who's all-knowing, all-powerful, who's merciful, who's just, who's involved and engaged in their lives, when you've got generations of people who say that they don't believe that there's anything that happens after they die, so they've got to live in the moment, that's all there is, generations of people who say there is no such thing as absolute moral truth, that they're the only ones who can determine truth for their own lives. And it's completely dependent on their feelings and their situations and experiences. Well, obviously, they're going down the wrong pathway for life, not the one that God has prescribed for us, not the one that God has prepared us for, not the one that God wants to guide us through. And so I think, again, it's imperative that That if either churches or families want to be uplifting, want to be a source of strength and hope and optimism, particularly for younger adults, well, then they've got to get back to God's word. You know, right now, the dominant worldview in America, of course, is syncretism. 92% of Americans are syncretists. only 4% hold to a biblical worldview. And so that huge gap that we've got is moving our entire culture in the wrong direction. And it's up to churches and parents to raise their children up, to understand the truths of scripture, to help their children, to be reading the Bible, to trust the Bible, to know God, to trust Jesus personally, to understand that we're sinners, to believe that the only way that you can determine success in life isn't by your material goods, your possessions. It's not by your fame. It's not by your popularity. It's not even by feeling good. It's about consistent obedience to God. So helping young people in particular to grab onto these things will address the fact that, you know, right now 56% of Gen Z says that they often are overwhelmed by anxiety, depression, fear, and so forth. Or the fact that 44% of Gen Z members say that they're scared to die. Well, Jesus is the antidote to that. The Bible shows us an alternative way of living to address that. So the more that we can address worldview issues, the more that we can not only rebuild the church, but we can bring back a sense of life and hope and optimism to all Americans.
SPEAKER 04 :
George, fantastic information. This is probably my last question, and we only have a little bit over a minute or so left. But the American Bible Society, I know you're aware the Bible sales have increased. So people are probably reading the Bible more, but the American Bible Society says that scripture engagement has drastically dropped. So what does that say to us? People, are they looking for answers? They're maybe not engaging the way they should, but they're at least buying the Bible.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, but Jody, I mean, it's like if I'm looking for answers and I speak French and somebody gives me a book in English, I can open it up and look at the pages. It's really not going to speak to me very effectively. I think the big issue that's going on in America right now is discipleship. When we talk about worldview development, that's a discipleship issue. When we talk about people turning to the Bible but not knowing what to do with it, that's a discipleship issue. And as I look at the research that I'm constantly doing related to how is discipleship working in America, what we're seeing is that we've got major issues. People who are disciples are not spending enough of their time and their energy and and their prayer life engaged in relationships that will enable them to disciple others. The church isn't going to come back until that happens.
SPEAKER 04 :
Dr. George Barna, thank you so much. Of course, your research is spectacular. We appreciate so much you joining us on Washington Watch. Merry Christmas. Thank you. Same to you, Jody. All right, that wraps up this edition of Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us and stay tuned again tomorrow. We'll be back for more Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 02 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
