03-10-25 - *FULL SHOW* Mark Toth on World War III; Eggs & the Economy; Gen-Z Trends

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We all just had a weekend, and we know there's
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a lot of stuff going on in the world, a
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lot of serious stuff to talk about.
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I think I think it.
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Would be best to start by talking about random genital inspections.
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Don't you, Shannon, Don't you think that would be.
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A great way to start a Monday morning with a
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random genital inspection?
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Actually, what I'm talking about this is in the Denver Post,
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by the way.
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So apparently apparently somebody's been going around a few different
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parks in Jefferson County, including including like restrooms at Crownhill
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Cemetery and the Park and some other places and putting
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up little flyers that appear to come from the Jefferson
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County Sheriff's Department, and it says Jefferson County Sheriff's Department
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has the jeff Co Sheriff's logo there, and it says
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in big letters it says notice, and then underneath that
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it says, in compliance with recent executive orders, the Jefferson
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County sheriff to Apartment will be conducting random genital inspections
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at all public restrooms beginning April twenty first, twenty twenty five.
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There's there's so much you could you could make of
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this story, but I'm not.
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But I'm not going to.
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I'll leave you to make up those things for yourself.
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Let me just let me just make very very clear
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that the jeff Co Sheriff's Office said, and I quote,
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although the insinuation is absolutely absurd, that Jefferson County Sheriff's
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Office believes it's important to clarify that our agency would
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never be involved in anything of this sort. All right,
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So in case, in case you were worried that it
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might be true, or or in case you're somebody who
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normally pays extra for that.
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And you are hoping it would be true. Yes, I
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took great umbrage at the cartoon character with the magnifying glass.
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Oh and there's and there's our versus Shannon. Yeah, producer
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Shannon has taken two announcing himself after he speaks rather
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than before. But we have we have permitted that either
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way as we as as we said, like with the
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disclaimers that have to run with certain commercials, they can
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run before or after, and and so it is with
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with producer Shannon the magnifying class. Oh my gosh, all right,
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that was a very silly way to start your Monday,
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which is always the best way to.
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Start your Monday.
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Speaking of genital inspections. Oh my gosh, am I really
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starting the week this way?
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Oh that's wrong with me?
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So In Trump and Chad Bauer just asked me as
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I was walking to my desk to make some tea
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this morning.
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Which I have in my little thermis next to me,
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how do it know.
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That the Supreme Court announced this morning that they would
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hear a case about a Colorado law. This is the
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kind of case that they have rejected in the past,
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but they're gonna hear this one a Colorado law. And
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I'm actually looking at the law right now, and then
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I'll come back to the new story. Of the law
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is House Bill nineteen TOSH eleven twenty nine, that nineteen.
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When I say House Bill nineteen.
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That means it was done in the year twenty nineteen.
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So HB nineteen that nineteen.
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Represents which session of the legislature it was, and then
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eleven twenty nine is the bill number during that year.
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The title is Prohibit Conversion Therapy for a Minor.
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And it says the act this law.
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Prohibits a licensed physician specializing in psychiatry or a licensed,
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certified or registered mental health care provider from engaging in
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conversion therapy with a patient under eighteen years old. A
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licensee who engages in these practices is subject to disciplinary action.
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By the appropriate licensing board.
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Conversion therapy means efforts to change in individual's sexual orientation,
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including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to
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eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feeling towards
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individuals of the same sex. Now, I'm not going to
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get into a big conversation about what I think about
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all of this. You know, I have my opinions on
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conversion therapy, and I'll just say mostly I think it's
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a waste of time and kind of dumb. But I
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also don't think it should be illegal. This is you
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know again, parents need to decide what's best for their kids.
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And as long as no one's you know, physically hurting
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a kid, if it's just talking to a kid, I
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know some people will.
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Say, well, talking to a kid can hurt a kid,
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you know, listen. So here, let's let's let's get back
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to the law for a minute.
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The what this case revolves around is well, the plaintiff
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is is a person named Kaylee Childs And and Kaylee
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is a licensed counselor and devout Christian who wants to
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be able to talk with her clients, some of who
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may be under the age of eighteen, brought to her
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by parents who share her Christian faith, and she wants
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to perhaps try to, you know, I don't know, talk
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them out.
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Of being gay. I don't think you can do that,
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or talk.
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Them out of expressing themselves as being the other gender
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in school or whatever. I don't care. That's between the
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parents and whatever. But so this law says that she
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can't do that, that she's breaking the.
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Law by doing that.
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And so rather than the policy part in the conversion
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therapy part, I'm just going to focus on the law
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for a second because this is kind of interesting what
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the state has argued and what lower courts have essentially
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bought as.
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The state's argument, the winning argument in.
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The case is that what this law does is regulates
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professional conduct and not speech. Right, so they're saying that
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the people who made the law. Lower courts have said
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that by telling a licensed therapist or a psychiatrist that
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as part of your practice, you may not talk about this.
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They're saying that the as part of your practice. Part
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of that means they are regulating professional behavior, and therefore
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the stuff after the comma is part of your practice.
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Comma, you may not talk about this with people under
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the age of eighteen.
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So their argument is everything before the comma makes everything
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after the comma not subject to.
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Challenge by based on a First.
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Amendment argument, I think the Supreme Court is going to
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say that the First Amendment trumps licensing, and that you
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may not use business licensing, medical licensing, any other kind
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of licensing as a cudgel by which you would bash,
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by which you would infringe on somebody's First Amendment rights.
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So I'm going to guess that the Colorado law is
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going to be overturned. It's going to be heard in October,
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and we'll see what happens. I wanted you to be
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aware of it. We'll be right back on Koa on mondays.
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I like to start slowly, partly for your benefit and
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partly for mine.
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It's hard to just.
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Jump into all this stuff going on in the world
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and the stock markets sell off and the war and
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all this.
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And I promise we're going to get to all that,
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but I.
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Just, especially on a Monday morning, I like to do
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a couple other things first, So let me do let
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me do a football thing, actually, if you don't mind,
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and let me let me find this.
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Let me find this link. Where did that go?
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There?
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We go?
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Okay, So I kind of like the Buffalo Bills. I mean,
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I don't have any connection to Buffalo, but I find
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them a team that's that's easy to like. And I'm
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you know, I was rooting for him this year and
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I wanted to share this story with you. Apparently, the
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Buffalo Bills have signed their quarterback Josh Allen.
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Who probably could have been at Denver Bronco if.
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The Broncos had played their cards right, but they didn't
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seem to see much value in him, and I, you know, whatever, Son,
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you can't always tell how good someone's going to be. Anyway,
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Josh Allen and the Bills have apparently agreed to a
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six year contract extension worth ready for this Shannon three
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hundred and thirty million dollars for six years, including two
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hundred and fifty million dollars fully guaranteed, which is the
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most money ever guaranteed to any player in the history
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of the NFL. By the way, the previous biggest guarantee
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was to Deshaun Watson from the Cleveland Browns, and that
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work out too well for them. I'm hopeful that this
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will work out better for the Bills. An average of
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fifty five million dollars a year.
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Fifty five million dollars a year.
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Given the average number of games he'll probably play in
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a season, you know, if they make the playoffs and
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so on, you know, it's probably.
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A little bit under three million dollars a game.
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I realize he practices and all that stuff too, but
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that's some that's some serious money. Congratulations to Josh Allen
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you I'm sure you deserve it. The other thing, speaking
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of Buffalo Bills and speaking of a former now Denver
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Broncos rather than almost Denver Broncos, the.
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Buffalo Bills have released Von Miller.
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I know I don't do a lot of football, but
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von Miller is so popular still here in Denver. And
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part of the reason I like von Miller so much,
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not just his great years as a Bronco, but the
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fact that even now that he's in Buffalo, every time
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he's asked a question about Denver and the Broncos, he
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only ever has positive things to say, how much he
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loves the Broncos, how much he roots for the Broncos,
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how much he loves the people at Denver, and I
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just I really appreciate that about the dude. And so anyway,
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you know, he was making an immense amount of money.
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He had gotten injured, so still a good player, but
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not dominant the way he used to be. So the
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Bills released him, even though he did take a pay
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cut a year or two ago, a pretty big pay cut.
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But the Bills released him to free up somewhere around
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eight point four million dollars in salary cap space. And
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they've actually said, by the way, that they might be
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willing to pick him up again, but of course it
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would be at a much lower price. And von Miller
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will have to decide whether he wants to do a
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fifteenth year in the NFL. I mean, fourteen years as
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an edge rusher in the NFL is a pretty incredible thing.
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And I'm a big as producer Shannon would say, I'm
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a big fan of von Miller's, so I wanted to
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you know, he was released, but there's a chance they'll
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they'll pick.
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Him up again. Uh, let me share this story with you.
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This is this is good news.
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This is actually a press release from the TSA Transportation
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and Security Organization or whatever that whatever it is, yeah,
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Transportation Security Administration.
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So I'll just share this with you.
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And this is dated Friday, but I didn't see it
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until the weekend. Today, the Department of Homeland Security announced
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that it is ending collective bargaining for TSA security officers,
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which has constrained TSA's chief mission, namely to safeguard our transportation.
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Systems and keep America safe.
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Eliminating collective bargaining removes bureaucratic hurdles that will strengthen workforce agility,
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enhance productivity, and resiliency, while also.
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Jump starting innovation. I'm so happy about this.
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I do not believe any government employees should be allowed
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to collectively bargain.
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FD are not believe that government.
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Employees should be allowed to collectively bargain. And he's nobody's
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idea of a conservative. He just understands that when you've
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got one government employee negotiating with another government employee about
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how much you know, the whichever one gets paid from
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taxpayer money, that's like two wolves in a sheep. Negotiating
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over what's for dinner. Plus you have all these these
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secondary downsides. As as the press release makes clear, a
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couple things I want to mention gaps and benefit programs.
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This is quoting quoting still, including non verifiable family and
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medical leave, are being exploited by a select few poor performers,
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placing greater burden on tsos at the expense of American
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travelers and taxpayers. This includes instances where a TSO requested
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sick leave seven.
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Months in advance. Now listen to this part.
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Transportation Safety Administration TSA has more people doing full time
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union work than performing screening functions at eighty six percent
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of our airports. Of the four hundred and thirty two
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federalized airports, three hundred and seventy four of them have
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fewer than two hundred TSA officers assigned to those locations. However,
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nearly two hundred TSA officers are paid by the government
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to work full time on union issues. These people do
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not retain certification to perform screening functions. Additionally, in a
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recent TSA employee survey, over sixty percent said poor performers
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are allowed to stay employed and not surprisingly continue to
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not perform.
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So there we go.
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This comes from the Department of Homeland Security and the
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TSA ending collective bargaining for TSA workers. I am so
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happy about this news, and so should the American taxpayer
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and American travelers be. We don't know. Von Miller has
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not said he wants to retire. So the story that
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I shared with you earlier was that the bills dropped him.
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But a lot of that is because von Miller is
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very expensive, because he got a contract that he did
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take a pay cut, but still very expensive. If the
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dude wants to play, and he's willing to play for
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a little less, then he'll probably he'll probably get a
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contract somewhere. I mean, even a thirty something, you know,
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even von Miller in his mid thirties, I forget how
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old he is, thirty six something like that is probably
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a better edge rusher than some players in the NFL.
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Right he probably won't be the best edge rusher on
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any team right now, but that's okay, you know. So
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if he does want to retire, yeah I would. I
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would do that. So there you go. So lots of
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stuff to talk about today. You know, I just saw this.
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I'm gonna share it with you without adding a lot
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of my own commentary, but I just saw this come
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up on National Review. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced
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today that eighty three percent of USAID's programs, or around
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five two hundred contracts, will be terminated and approximately one
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thousand contracts will be administered by the State Department.
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Rubio said on x the.
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Fifty two hundred contracts that are now canceled spent tens
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of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve
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and in some cases even harmed the core national interests
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of the United States.
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He said, in consultation with.
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Congress, we intend for the remaining eighteen percent of programs
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we are keeping approximately one thousand, to now be administered
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more effectively under the State Department.
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Rubio thanked the Department of.
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Government Efficiency for its work on reforming USAID, the biggest
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price Doese has pursued to date. Billionaire Elon Muskat A
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Doze took the lead on dismantling AID.
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USAID last month because of.
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Its long history of wasteful spending and funding for left
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wing projects worldwide.
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I note, you know, for those of you.
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Hearing that kind of wording, this is coming from a
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conservative outlet that worded it that way, But I think
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it's absolutely correct. It's absolutely correct. USAID has has been
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and we've look even for those of us who were
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quite skeptical of USAID, even I didn't think it would
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be quite as bad as it turned out to it
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as it turned out to actually be.
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So yeah, So so.
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There you go, that USAID is effectively going to be
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gone and State Department will run, you know, the less
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than twenty percent of the projects that remain, and by
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that's all. That's all fine with me. That's all fine
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with me. This listener says von Miller was overrated. That's
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not true. It's not possible to overrate von Miller when
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he was in his heyday. Didn't he win Super Bowl MVP?
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I have a vague recollection that he won Super Bowl MVP.
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How often does someone who isn't an offensive player and
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usually the quarterback win Super Bowl MVP. Von Miller is
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freaking awesome and I'm still a huge fan. But it
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is a little weird. Also, I will say, as a
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guy in my fifties to be thinking about the possibility
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that a guy in his mid thirties is too old
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to do a particular job.
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That's life in the NFL.
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But it makes me, it makes me want to support
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von Miller even more.
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Even more so, I want to share a little.
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Audio with you following up on something that intrepid Chad
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Bauer just said in our newscast there who's talking about
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how much stock market was down today?
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And it is. It's down quite a lot.
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It's been down most days for the past week and
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a half or so. After it started to become clearer
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to investor, what's become clear to me for quite some time,
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and that is that Donald Trump is really intent on
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trade wars and that he does not me and tariffs
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primarily is negotiating leverage over other countries, even though he
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talks about him that way, and he will use them
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that way.
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He likes that tool.
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But I have been convinced that Donald Trump will impose
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tariffs no matter what other countries do.
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And that's part of the reason that a little.
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Less than a month ago I sold a fair bit
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of my holdings in stocks. I just thought there and
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I thought stocks are already pretty expensive, but I thought
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that the world is going to see what Donald Trump
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is doing as very dangerous economically and that doesn't mean
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it won't work out in the future, although I think
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it won't.
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Maybe it will.
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But the point that right now, my anticipation was the
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stock market's going to react very badly to this, and
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unfortunately I've been right. I didn't want to be right.
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It's not like I don't own any stocks. I still
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own plenty, and we all still live. Let me just
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talk about this for a normal second. Even those of
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us who don't own much in the way of stocks,
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we're all leveraged to the economy. If I can use
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that sort of financial terminology, we're all leveraged to the economy.
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Meaning if if economic growth drops, if GDP drops, if
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if if we have a recession, if people start losing jobs,
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we all do worse in direct or indirect ways. Direct
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way would be you're a person who loses your job,
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or you're a person this may be more of kind
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of what is unseen, but maybe you're a person who
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could have gotten a raise but now you don't, or
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maybe the value of your house goes down lot there,
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or how about me, how about me, I'll just I'll
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just put my cards on the table here. If there
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were a recession, it's possible. Well that let's say a
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current morning show partner would say, I just don't have
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the money to be on your show anymore and drop
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off the show. I will say, the last time we
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had a recession, I think I only lost one morning
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show partner and they came back.
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But that's a possibility.
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If you're in the advertising business, how you know how
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many people are gonna are gonna drop out and you're
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gonna make less money. So my point is, we're all
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leveraged to the economy, right, unless you don't have a
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job and don't own a home. We're all leveraged to
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the economy even if you don't own stocks, and the
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majority of Americans own at least a little bit in
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the stock market, even if it's not directly. The majority
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of Americans have some kind of retirement plan that holds stocks.
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Right you're four ah one K if you're in PARA
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for example, that owns stocks. To PARA is a somewhat
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different situation because PARA is mostly a defined benefit plan,
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which means what what's actually going to happen is when
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their investments go down in value, the people who are
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in PARA, their retirement payments won't drop instead, they'll come
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they'll have to come read taxpayers to make up for
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the loss in the stock market.
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Anyway, it's bad. So so Donald Trump.
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Was on with Maria Pardiromo on her Sunday Fox show
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called called Sunday Morning Futures, and they had a conversation
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that I think is part of what's weighing on the
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market today. And you've heard people talk about what Trump said,
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but I want you to hear what he said, how
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he said it, and we'll and we'll talk about it
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a little bit.
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Are you expecting a reception this year?
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I hate to predict things like that. There is a
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period of transition because what we're.
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Doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America.
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All right, let me interject.
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So the first part of that answer I thought was
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correct and smart and the right answer, right, which is
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to say, I don't know if there's going to be
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a recession. By the way, I think Trump is well
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aware that economic data right now looks pretty weak. Consumer
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confidence is pretty weak, and we're I think quite likely
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to have at least one quarter now of contraction. A
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recession is normally defined as two quarters of contraction. I
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think Trump is absolutely right to say. I don't want
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to try to predict that. I will note that his
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Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnik, was on some other show
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and he said, no way, there's going to be a recession.
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I don't have a strong prediction as to whether there
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will be a recession or not. I think we're kind
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of overdue for one. I wouldn't be surprised if there's
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a recession. I think it's fifty to fifty. I know
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that sounds wishy washy, but I just I think it's
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a flip of a coin, right, I think it's But
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I do think that what Donald Trump is doing on
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tariffs is making a recession much more likely, and only
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partly because of how much poorer the tariffts are going
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to make Americans, but at least as much in the
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short term is the unsettling it causes and the hesitation
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it causes in the business community to build a factory
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or expand a business, or start a business, or hire
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more people or whatever.
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And when when.
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Businesses, especially manufacturing businesses, it doesn't matter very much for
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services businesses unless it's a unless it's a service business,
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that service is a manufacturing business, than it does but
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for these manufacturing businesses.
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You just don't know what to do now.
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You don't know where to set up the factory, you
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don't know what the taxes are going to be, you
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don't know what the tariffs are going to be. So
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you're just on hold with multi billion dollar investments, and
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that will reduce business confidence. That will reduce consumer confidence.
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Consumers will start buying less, and that can lead to recession.
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So I think when when I say it's fifty to
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fifty that we're going to have a recession, that is
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a guess with a much higher odds of recession than
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I would have said two months ago. Now, the other
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thing he says is we're going to bring wealth back
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to America. This is where Donald Trump is making a
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big mistake right imposing tariffs and especially broad tariffs on
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everything from our biggest trading partners. Our three biggest trading
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partners in order are Mexico, Canada, and China in that order.
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China and Canada are very close. When you say you're.
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Going to impose tariffs on everything, and there may be
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a couple things that he can't by treaty, but he
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wants to. That's not that's not returning wealth to America. Right,
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that's bringing poverty to America by by making us all
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much poorer.
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And for some reason, Donald Trump doesn't understand this.
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And this isn't some new populous thing on his part
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where he's got his you know, his finger in the
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air to see which way the wind is blowing. This
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is one of the few things that I think Donald
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Trump has believed for a long time, a long time.
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He's never been a supporter of trade. He's always thought
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that trading it means we're getting ripped off. And it's
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not just that he's wrong. He is wrong, but he's
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dangerously wrong. Let me add one other thing. There's an
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area of this where he's right, and that is it
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is certainly not what any normal person would call fair
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trade when other countries put tariffs on our stuff. And
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for example, the Canadians try to protect their dairy farmers
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by putting massive tariffs like close to three hundred percent
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on American cheese, butter and eggs.
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So just think about this for a moment when you are.
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Thinking to yourself, asking yourself whether you want us to
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put tariffs on Canadian stuff, or Chinese stuff, or Mexican
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or whatever. So let's just focus on that one for
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a second. Who's hurt by the Canadian tariffs? There are
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q groups that are hurt by Canadian by the Canadian
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tariffs on American butter and cheese and milk.
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One of those groups is small.
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And concentrated, and the other is large and not concentrated.
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The small concentrated group that gets hurt is American dairy producers.
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The tariffs are so high that, based on price, American
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dairy products simply cannot compete in Canada.
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And just an.
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Ordinary maker of American butter or milk or whatever, who
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might be able to sell into Canada a product that
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Canadians really want, either because they like the quality or
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because they like the price, really can't do either right now.
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I mean, in theory they can, But if the price
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of your product is going to be four times what
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it would be without.
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Tariffs, you're not even gonna try.
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Now, who's the This is the next part is the
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important part, because everybody always focuses on on the producer, right,
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somebody puts a tariff on American whatever steel and uh
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and and therefore American steel producers are hurt, and we
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want more steel jobs and I get that, and it
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is not fair when other countries make it difficult for
493
00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:33.799
us to export to them. It's true that it's not fair.
494
00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:38.039
But now, who's the other group that's harmed by.
495
00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:42.039
The Canadian dairy tariffs?
496
00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:48.519
And the answer is every Canadian who buys dairy products.
497
00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:55.039
The entire population of Canada has lost the opportunity to
498
00:27:55.119 --> 00:28:00.119
buy different, possibly better, possibly cheap.
499
00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:06.480
Milk, cheese, butter.
500
00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:10.359
Because the government wants to protect this small number of producers.
501
00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:12.279
So keep that in mind when you think about what's
502
00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:14.039
going on here and you think, oh, it's not fair
503
00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:16.759
that we can't sell such and such a product, that
504
00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:18.759
there's a tariff over there and we can't sell into
505
00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:23.160
that country. It's true that it's not fair. The question
506
00:28:23.480 --> 00:28:28.440
is whether you're willing to harm every consumer in America
507
00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:32.119
in order to try to get that other country to
508
00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:33.400
lift their tariffs.
509
00:28:34.119 --> 00:28:34.359
Right.
510
00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:40.920
That is it's a very very dangerous game. A little
511
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:41.680
more from Trump.
512
00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:45.359
That's a big thing, And there are always perrias of
513
00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:50.079
it takes a little time. It takes a little time.
514
00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:53.240
But I don't I think it should be great for us.
515
00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:55.160
I mean, I think it should be great. It's going
516
00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:57.279
to be great ultimately for the farmer. You know, don't
517
00:28:57.279 --> 00:28:59.160
forget I made the deal with China and the farmer's
518
00:28:59.160 --> 00:29:01.720
when added by fifty billion dollars worth of product, fifty
519
00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:04.759
million from fifteen to fifteen.
520
00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:08.519
They do it. They did it when I was president.
521
00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:11.079
What happened is when Biden was president, they didn't buy
522
00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:14.039
any longer. Yeah, because there was nobody to call them.
523
00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:18.160
And that's that's close to true. That's close to true.
524
00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:21.680
But here's the thing to keep in mind. When President
525
00:29:21.720 --> 00:29:27.079
Trump imposed tariff's on China last time, China imposed tariff's
526
00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:31.480
on American agricultural products in particular for a very specific reason,
527
00:29:31.880 --> 00:29:33.960
and that is because farmers are such a big part
528
00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:37.160
of the Trump base. So, by the way, Canada is
529
00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:40.480
going to do this too. Canada is going to put
530
00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:46.279
specific retaliatory tariffs on products that come from states that
531
00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:52.039
Trump won, and particularly states that have Republican governors. It's
532
00:29:52.119 --> 00:29:56.240
it's very very political. But here's the thing to understand.
533
00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:05.079
If Trump makes American roduce too difficult to let me
534
00:30:05.160 --> 00:30:09.240
change that. If Trump imposes tariffs that then cause retaliatory
535
00:30:09.319 --> 00:30:12.799
terrafts that make American produce too expensive for let's say
536
00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:16.240
the Chinese to import into their country. Then the Chinese
537
00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:19.279
will do what they did last time. They will slow
538
00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:23.599
down their purchases of American produce grains and veggies and whatever,
539
00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:29.640
especially soybeans, and buy it from Brazil. Last time around,
540
00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:33.079
this caused Brazil to massively increase the amount of land
541
00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:36.160
that they allocated to growing crops that China wants to buy.
542
00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:40.400
And they're still selling lots of that stuff to China now.
543
00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:47.440
And so what happened last time is that the government
544
00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:53.319
ended up sort of quietly giving twenty seven I think
545
00:30:53.319 --> 00:30:59.440
that's the number billion dollars to farmers to pacify them
546
00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:03.200
for the losses that they endured due to not being
547
00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:07.000
able to sell American product to China. And by the way,
548
00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:11.119
if they can't sell American product to China, and soybeans
549
00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:13.839
is probably the biggest thing here. But did I did
550
00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:17.839
I already mention that China imposed tariffs on American agricultural
551
00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:20.200
products today today?
552
00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:22.079
Okay, So.
553
00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:28.799
If that demand from China is cut off, it means
554
00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:35.519
domestic prices for grain are gonna fall. And Trump keeps
555
00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:37.519
talking about how farmers are going to do great and
556
00:31:37.559 --> 00:31:40.559
prices are gonna rise. It's simply not true. He has
557
00:31:40.599 --> 00:31:45.839
it absolutely backwards. All that said, I simply don't think
558
00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:52.240
that I don't think that Donald Trump will change his
559
00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:56.640
direction until the pressure gets to be too much.
560
00:31:57.079 --> 00:31:59.200
And I don't I don't know what too much is.
561
00:31:59.720 --> 00:31:59.920
You know.
562
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:02.680
So that Dow is down three and a half thousand
563
00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:05.680
points since he started this in Earnest a week and
564
00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:08.400
a half ago. Then ASDAK is down even more in
565
00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:13.000
percentage terms, a listener just texted me to say he's
566
00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:15.480
down seven percent on his stock investments for the year.
567
00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:17.839
Now He's lost all the games that happened after Trump's
568
00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:18.599
election and.
569
00:32:18.599 --> 00:32:23.200
Now he's down. And this is what trade wars do, right.
570
00:32:23.319 --> 00:32:27.240
Trade wars are extremely damaging, And I should note they
571
00:32:27.319 --> 00:32:31.200
also don't end up protecting the industries that they claim
572
00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:34.599
to want to protect. Those industries also end up harmed
573
00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:38.279
because so many of their customers go away, because their
574
00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:41.359
customers get run out of business by the new higher prices.
575
00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:43.519
All right, let me switch gears. This is a completely
576
00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:44.039
different thing.
577
00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:46.799
Maybe Mike Johnston, who I hope to get on the
578
00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:52.279
show soon, is trying to distract attention from his really
579
00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:56.640
ridiculous and terrible idea to add a twenty percent surcharge
580
00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:58.400
to every restaurant bill.
581
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:00.319
By the way, he wanted it's.
582
00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:02.960
That surcharge to be what they call above the line
583
00:33:03.400 --> 00:33:05.920
like with the food, and not below the line with
584
00:33:05.960 --> 00:33:09.799
the tip, and that way the twenty percent surcharge itself.
585
00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:11.720
Would be taxed.
586
00:33:12.519 --> 00:33:16.599
So, as I've said repeatedly, as I said in our
587
00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:19.720
Eggs in the Economy event that I did with the
588
00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:22.200
Common Sense Institute a few days ago, and thanks to
589
00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:24.799
those of you who who came by. Actually I've got
590
00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:26.599
an article about it up on my blog at Ross
591
00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:28.640
Kimisky dot com. You can go check that out. But
592
00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:31.559
as I said, it's hard for me to imagine how
593
00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:35.359
an idea that bad comes from a guy who's quite smart.
594
00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:37.680
Mike Johnston is quite smart.
595
00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:39.319
That doesn't mean he has a lot of great ideas,
596
00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:41.200
but at least in terms of pure IQ you can
597
00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:44.480
tell he's a smart dude. So I think he's trying
598
00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:46.640
to distract a little attention from that. So the latest
599
00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:49.640
idea from Mike Johnston, who has another problem on his hands,
600
00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:56.359
which is how harmful the Business Rapid Transit project essentially
601
00:33:56.400 --> 00:33:59.759
eliminating one lane of traffic in each direction on East
602
00:33:59.799 --> 00:34:03.440
Coal Facts so that there can be dedicated bus lanes there.
603
00:34:03.799 --> 00:34:06.480
That's putting an immense amount of pressure on the businesses.
604
00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:07.599
They're hard for people.
605
00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:09.480
To get there and to park, and they just don't
606
00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:11.840
want to deal with all that. So Mike Johnston has
607
00:34:11.880 --> 00:34:15.679
said that he's going to go do once a month.
608
00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:19.559
He's going to go be a guest bartender at this
609
00:34:19.719 --> 00:34:22.679
or that place on Callfax and get people to come
610
00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:24.400
hang out on call Fax and spend some.
611
00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:25.920
Money at those businesses.
612
00:34:26.119 --> 00:34:29.840
It's funny Westward, which is you know, it's a place
613
00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:31.239
that likes Democrat politicians.
614
00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:32.400
Westward Magazine.
615
00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:36.039
They have a whole bunch of They posted a whole
616
00:34:36.039 --> 00:34:38.199
bunch of Facebook responses to.
617
00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:39.800
Mike Johnston's suggestion.
618
00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:44.480
One of them is an all time example of Democrats
619
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:48.039
thinking they're celebrities and not public servants. Another one, should
620
00:34:48.079 --> 00:34:50.159
we start placing bets on how many drinks are tossed
621
00:34:50.199 --> 00:34:52.639
in his face? Another one going to be a line
622
00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:54.320
to get out of the door.
623
00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:56.920
I like it?
624
00:34:57.039 --> 00:34:59.639
Another one okay, So instead of creating an actual plan,
625
00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:02.199
he'll just getting people drunks so they forget about how
626
00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:05.880
terribly the city is being run Denver. Are you okay,
627
00:35:06.920 --> 00:35:09.400
oh boy, Mike Johnston has some work to do.
628
00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:14.440
It's a story that broke on Friday, Friday afternoon, and
629
00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:17.159
sometimes I think not.
630
00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:18.920
That useful to talk about stuff that's been in the
631
00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:24.440
news all weekend already, But I want to talk about
632
00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:29.559
this Gene Hackman story. It's very sad, and I don't
633
00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:31.760
know if you've been kind of following the details over
634
00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:34.559
the weekend. We talked on the show you Know early
635
00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:37.599
last week. I guess it was when we learned that
636
00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:39.760
Ke and his wife were both found dead in their
637
00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:42.400
home and one of their dogs was found dead. The
638
00:35:42.440 --> 00:35:46.880
front door was a jar, two of their dogs were fine,
639
00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:50.920
and the whole thing was very weird, And my first
640
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:55.400
guess was carbon monoxide, and I thought that was most
641
00:35:55.519 --> 00:36:00.199
likely because how many other things are there they kill,
642
00:36:00.840 --> 00:36:04.800
you know, two people and an animal in a house.
643
00:36:04.840 --> 00:36:06.079
Now, I believe.
644
00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:09.199
It may turn out that the animal may have been
645
00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:13.320
caged and not free to walk around, right, So if
646
00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:16.199
there were no humans to give the animal food and water,
647
00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:17.400
then that could explain that.
648
00:36:17.480 --> 00:36:20.760
But at the time they hadn't they hadn't said that, so.
649
00:36:20.920 --> 00:36:23.559
Just trying to follow Walcam's razor, I thought two dead
650
00:36:23.599 --> 00:36:29.480
people and a dead animal and and nobody saying or
651
00:36:29.559 --> 00:36:31.960
sign a foul play. They did end up saying it
652
00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:34.920
seemed suspicious, but they never said it seemed like somebody
653
00:36:34.920 --> 00:36:38.320
else was in the house, Like okay, what else could
654
00:36:38.360 --> 00:36:39.880
it be? And then they said, well, they came out
655
00:36:39.920 --> 00:36:42.679
and they tested everything and it's not carbon monoxide. And
656
00:36:42.679 --> 00:36:45.559
then I thought, all right, well, what would be like
657
00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:49.280
any anything else after that? To find two people and
658
00:36:49.320 --> 00:36:51.239
a dog dead at the same time, in my mind,
659
00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:54.000
is a much lower probability. But they've already ruled out
660
00:36:54.039 --> 00:36:56.559
the high probability one, so what's left. And then the
661
00:36:56.559 --> 00:37:00.239
next thing for me was maybe somehow, maybe they were
662
00:37:00.239 --> 00:37:02.679
both taking the same medication for something, and somehow they
663
00:37:02.679 --> 00:37:05.880
got a bad batch of the medication. And again I
664
00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:08.000
didn't know the dog was caged. It seems to be
665
00:37:08.039 --> 00:37:10.159
the case now, But I thought, since they found the
666
00:37:10.199 --> 00:37:13.000
pills spilled and it looked like she spilled them when
667
00:37:13.039 --> 00:37:17.400
she fell missus Hackman or miss Arakala is her last name,
668
00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:19.760
you know, I thought, maybe they got a poisoned a
669
00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:23.599
batch of pills and one of them fell on the
670
00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:24.440
ground and the dog.
671
00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:25.679
Ate it and they all died.
672
00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:28.280
And I didn't think that was a high probability but
673
00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:29.599
I couldn't think of anything else.
674
00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:32.599
Again, again, trying to think of something.
675
00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:34.320
That would kill two people in an animal at the
676
00:37:34.360 --> 00:37:39.000
same time, and it's none of that. Based on what
677
00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:41.480
they've told us at this point, it's kind of a
678
00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:42.559
shocking story.
679
00:37:43.559 --> 00:37:46.519
So what they've said now, based on.
680
00:37:48.199 --> 00:37:51.559
Doing autopsies on Gene Hackman and Betsy.
681
00:37:51.239 --> 00:37:55.159
Arakawa, is that he I'm sorry.
682
00:37:55.239 --> 00:38:00.599
She most likely died about a week before he did,
683
00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:09.159
on or around February eleventh, from hantavirus. Haunt of virus
684
00:38:09.280 --> 00:38:15.159
is a very dangerous virus makes it if you not
685
00:38:15.199 --> 00:38:17.519
a lot of people get it, but if you do
686
00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:20.719
get it, there's a higher and average chance it'll kill you,
687
00:38:21.239 --> 00:38:26.519
especially if you're older, right, and hauntaviruses is typically transmitted
688
00:38:27.199 --> 00:38:31.280
in the poop of mice and rats that might poop
689
00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:32.880
in your house, and if you don't clean it properly,
690
00:38:33.079 --> 00:38:35.039
if you're not careful when you're cleaning this stuff up,
691
00:38:35.960 --> 00:38:38.360
you can breathe it in and you can get sick
692
00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:42.480
and you can die. So it appears that she died
693
00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:48.920
from that. CBS News quotes and experts saying that once
694
00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:53.199
somebody gets haunted virus, initially you can start feeling like
695
00:38:53.239 --> 00:38:56.920
you got the flu for several days and then you
696
00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:02.000
start getting fluid in and around your lungs. And this expert,
697
00:39:02.119 --> 00:39:05.039
quoted by CBS says, without medical treatment, once you get
698
00:39:05.079 --> 00:39:09.079
to that point, a person can be dead within twenty
699
00:39:09.119 --> 00:39:12.719
four to forty eight hours, and also said it's not
700
00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:15.039
uncommon to find someone down on the floor as part
701
00:39:15.079 --> 00:39:17.639
of a terminal collapse, so to speak.
702
00:39:17.679 --> 00:39:19.280
And that may well have been what happened.
703
00:39:21.159 --> 00:39:24.079
So there's that that appears to be how she died.
704
00:39:24.639 --> 00:39:28.840
So that's already pretty crazy and a rather rare thing. Okay,
705
00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:32.599
So why the dead husband and the dead dog? And
706
00:39:32.639 --> 00:39:37.079
what appears to be the situation now is that Gene
707
00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:47.119
Hackman was suffering from really significant Alzheimer's and may hardly
708
00:39:47.199 --> 00:39:51.639
have been aware of anything around him. May not have
709
00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:54.320
been aware that his wife was dead on the floor,
710
00:39:55.480 --> 00:39:57.639
even though he was in the house with her. May
711
00:39:57.639 --> 00:40:00.280
not have been aware of the dog that needed water
712
00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:03.760
or food, no matter how you know how much he
713
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:05.159
loved the dog.
714
00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:12.400
The autopsy found that.
715
00:40:12.360 --> 00:40:17.239
There was no food in Gene Hackman's stomach, which means
716
00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:22.559
that he hadn't eaten recently. They said that there was
717
00:40:22.599 --> 00:40:28.880
not evidence of dehydration maybe he was drinking. But missus Hackman,
718
00:40:29.079 --> 00:40:36.480
Betsy Arakawa, was Gene Hackman's caretaker, and so it appears
719
00:40:36.559 --> 00:40:43.519
that she died from this crazy virus primarily coming from
720
00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:46.960
deer mice, but from some other things too.
721
00:40:47.639 --> 00:40:50.000
And I guess that he, being left.
722
00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:55.719
Alone, couldn't take care of himself and didn't feed himself.
723
00:40:55.760 --> 00:40:57.519
I don't know if there was medicine he was supposed
724
00:40:57.559 --> 00:41:00.280
to take that eadn't take. I don't know, but he
725
00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:04.599
appeared that that appears to be why he passed away.
726
00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:06.440
The New York Times as a piece, and I'm not
727
00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:08.159
going to go into it for long, but.
728
00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:14.320
It's entitled a haunting Coda the seven days Gene Hackman's
729
00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:16.440
wife could no longer care for him, and the subhead
730
00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:19.239
is the exact details may never be known, but mister Hackman,
731
00:41:19.360 --> 00:41:22.199
ninety five, with advanced Alzheimer's, was alone for about a
732
00:41:22.199 --> 00:41:26.400
week after his wife and soul care giver died. It's
733
00:41:26.440 --> 00:41:29.119
also I think wors noting that these two were very
734
00:41:29.199 --> 00:41:33.079
very private, right. They were not you know, out and about,
735
00:41:33.159 --> 00:41:35.679
They were not seeking any further fame. They were very
736
00:41:36.119 --> 00:41:39.800
very private. His wife set up his golf games and
737
00:41:39.880 --> 00:41:43.000
she handled his diet because he had bad heart trouble
738
00:41:43.079 --> 00:41:45.599
for many years. They even say in the New York
739
00:41:45.599 --> 00:41:49.039
Times she diluded his wine with soda water. She typed
740
00:41:49.039 --> 00:41:55.079
and edited the novels that he wrote by hand. And boy,
741
00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:58.840
there's a story of the of the two of them together.
742
00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:02.480
And I hadn't seen a picture of him recently. But
743
00:42:02.679 --> 00:42:05.960
you can't tell it's the same person, You can't. It's
744
00:42:06.039 --> 00:42:12.960
just a very, very frail old man walking with a cane.
745
00:42:14.159 --> 00:42:19.239
And just to think that such a wonderful actor, and
746
00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:21.400
I have no reason to think he was anything but
747
00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:25.320
a good person as well. And his wife, thirty years younger,
748
00:42:28.119 --> 00:42:34.599
were found, you know, with their bodies already decomposing, partly
749
00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:35.760
because they were so private.
750
00:42:36.519 --> 00:42:40.599
It's just such a sad end.
751
00:42:41.599 --> 00:42:48.000
And such a surprising end to a terrible story. It's
752
00:42:48.079 --> 00:42:50.039
the kind of thing that could be the you know,
753
00:42:50.079 --> 00:42:55.639
the subject of a CSI plot on television.
754
00:42:55.199 --> 00:42:57.159
You know, some wacky we find these people dead?
755
00:42:57.199 --> 00:42:59.400
How did it happen? And the answer is never that
756
00:42:59.440 --> 00:43:02.800
simple and could end up being like this. Sometimes truth
757
00:43:02.840 --> 00:43:05.800
is even stranger than fiction. Though, thanks for spending a
758
00:43:05.840 --> 00:43:08.119
little time with me, A listener says, for some reason,
759
00:43:08.119 --> 00:43:11.760
I always hear people dying of hantavirus in New Mexico.
760
00:43:12.280 --> 00:43:14.679
There's actually a reason for that, and that is the
761
00:43:14.719 --> 00:43:20.280
primary vector for hantavirus is a little rodent called deer mouse,
762
00:43:20.719 --> 00:43:24.559
and they are you know, it's not like mice respect
763
00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:30.719
state borders or whatever, but the deer mouse is pretty
764
00:43:30.719 --> 00:43:32.360
common in New Mexico.
765
00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:34.199
So there you go.
766
00:43:34.320 --> 00:43:37.000
That's why you hear a lot relatively more about that
767
00:43:37.039 --> 00:43:39.920
than you might than you might expect in New Mexico.
768
00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:43.360
So I probably shouldn't do this, but I'm.
769
00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:44.880
Going to because I just shared a sad story with
770
00:43:44.920 --> 00:43:46.119
you and I'm gonna share another one.
771
00:43:48.159 --> 00:43:50.320
Sorry, Dragon, don't want to bring you down. Now.
772
00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:53.920
I've never heard of this young man named Prince Frederick.
773
00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:59.400
He is the youngest son of Prince Robert and Princess Julie.
774
00:44:00.280 --> 00:44:05.320
Prince Robert of Luxembourg, Prince Julie of Nassau. I've never
775
00:44:05.360 --> 00:44:07.360
heard of this young man, but I just wanted to
776
00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:12.280
share this story with you because it's simultaneously sad and uplifting.
777
00:44:12.440 --> 00:44:16.320
This young man, twenty two years old, just passed away
778
00:44:16.719 --> 00:44:23.679
from a rare genetic condition called POLG mitochondrial disease. His
779
00:44:23.800 --> 00:44:26.679
parents put out a statement with a very heavy heart
780
00:44:26.719 --> 00:44:28.400
that my wife and I would like to inform you
781
00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:32.719
of the passing of our son. This is the part
782
00:44:32.719 --> 00:44:34.119
I wanted to share with you. I'm not just trying
783
00:44:34.159 --> 00:44:35.719
to tell you a sad story. Just tell you a
784
00:44:35.760 --> 00:44:38.639
sad story. So and let me just give credit where
785
00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:40.679
it's due to which outlet has this. This is from
786
00:44:40.719 --> 00:44:45.079
Today from NBC's Today Show. In the statement, Robert recalled
787
00:44:45.079 --> 00:44:47.960
that Frederick, the twenty two year old had just passed away,
788
00:44:48.599 --> 00:44:52.360
had quote called us into his room to speak to
789
00:44:52.440 --> 00:44:56.000
him for one last time on February twenty eighth. He
790
00:44:56.119 --> 00:44:59.280
said that twenty two year old quote found the strength
791
00:44:59.320 --> 00:45:02.880
and courage to say goodbye to his family, including his
792
00:45:02.920 --> 00:45:06.239
brother Alexander, his sister Charlotte, among others. By the way,
793
00:45:06.239 --> 00:45:12.039
in this article, there's a lovely picture of this young man,
794
00:45:13.320 --> 00:45:15.039
you know. In this picture he looks to me to
795
00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:21.519
be somewhere around twenty sort of leaning over and resting
796
00:45:21.559 --> 00:45:24.800
his head on one of the family's dogs while sitting
797
00:45:24.840 --> 00:45:28.039
on kind of a wicker couch, and it's and he's
798
00:45:28.079 --> 00:45:29.599
got his eyes are closed.
799
00:45:29.960 --> 00:45:32.199
He has a smile on his face as.
800
00:45:32.039 --> 00:45:34.559
He leans on the dog, and he has that look
801
00:45:34.599 --> 00:45:37.079
of contentment on his face that maybe you only get
802
00:45:37.119 --> 00:45:38.239
when you're leaning on your dog.
803
00:45:39.840 --> 00:45:43.559
So a little bit more from the Dad.
804
00:45:45.079 --> 00:45:48.920
After gifting each of us with our farewells, some kind,
805
00:45:49.639 --> 00:45:52.239
some kind, some wise.
806
00:45:52.280 --> 00:45:55.239
Some instructive. In true Frederick.
807
00:45:54.920 --> 00:45:59.000
Fashion, he left us collectively with a final, long standing
808
00:45:59.079 --> 00:46:02.800
family joke. Even in his last moments, his humor and
809
00:46:02.840 --> 00:46:06.639
his boundless compassion compelled him to leave us with one
810
00:46:06.760 --> 00:46:11.800
last laugh to cheer us all up. This next part
811
00:46:11.880 --> 00:46:13.079
is the part that really got to me when I
812
00:46:13.159 --> 00:46:15.280
was reading the story. And again, you know, I'm a
813
00:46:15.320 --> 00:46:18.360
parent of two kids who were not that much younger
814
00:46:18.400 --> 00:46:24.119
than Prince Frederick. The Dad continued. Frederick's last question to
815
00:46:24.159 --> 00:46:28.639
me prior to his other remarks was Papa, are you
816
00:46:28.760 --> 00:46:32.760
proud of me? He'd barely been able to speak for
817
00:46:32.880 --> 00:46:36.840
several days, so the clarity of these words was as
818
00:46:36.880 --> 00:46:40.800
surprising as the weight of the moment was profound. The
819
00:46:40.840 --> 00:46:43.199
answer was very easy, and he had heard it oh
820
00:46:43.280 --> 00:46:46.280
so many times, but at this time he needed reassurance
821
00:46:46.280 --> 00:46:49.840
that he had contributed all that he possibly could in
822
00:46:49.920 --> 00:46:53.639
his short and beautiful existence, and that he could now
823
00:46:53.719 --> 00:46:59.960
finally move on. I don't think I can or should
824
00:47:00.239 --> 00:47:03.519
add anything to that, so I won't. We'll be right back.
825
00:47:03.840 --> 00:47:06.119
Mark tok joins us and he's been on the show before,
826
00:47:06.440 --> 00:47:08.719
and his writing partner, John Sweet has been on the
827
00:47:08.719 --> 00:47:09.199
show before.
828
00:47:09.280 --> 00:47:10.800
John was on actually last week.
829
00:47:11.280 --> 00:47:15.159
And these guys both write a lot about national security
830
00:47:15.719 --> 00:47:19.280
and you know, America's strategic interests around the world and
831
00:47:19.719 --> 00:47:20.039
so on.
832
00:47:20.079 --> 00:47:22.199
And we're going to talk about that in a second.
833
00:47:22.599 --> 00:47:25.639
But a moment ago, Mark told me he has a dog,
834
00:47:26.159 --> 00:47:29.639
and I asked him the dog's name, and Mark, you said,
835
00:47:29.639 --> 00:47:30.360
your dog's.
836
00:47:30.159 --> 00:47:30.639
Name is.
837
00:47:33.360 --> 00:47:33.840
Zeppelin.
838
00:47:34.039 --> 00:47:37.840
Zeppelin, And I asked, Mark, is that named for the
839
00:47:37.880 --> 00:47:41.840
band or for the Hindenburg, thinking that the answer was
840
00:47:41.880 --> 00:47:45.400
going to be the band, And the answer, Mark.
841
00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:45.519
Is.
842
00:47:48.840 --> 00:47:52.480
Hindenburg by way of the Zeppelin, which toured the US
843
00:47:52.519 --> 00:47:53.719
in the nineteen twenties.
844
00:47:54.960 --> 00:47:57.440
Okay, elaborate like you did for me, because the story
845
00:47:57.519 --> 00:47:58.400
is so good.
846
00:48:00.159 --> 00:48:00.679
There you go.
847
00:48:01.039 --> 00:48:03.960
My dad, I think it was maybe nineteen thirty something
848
00:48:04.039 --> 00:48:07.760
like that when the grass Uplin was flying.
849
00:48:07.760 --> 00:48:09.599
Over the US coast coast.
850
00:48:09.920 --> 00:48:12.320
It flew over Kansas City, Missouri, when my dad was
851
00:48:12.360 --> 00:48:14.920
a small boy. And my dad was the son of
852
00:48:14.960 --> 00:48:18.079
a World War One fighter pilot, and he himself became
853
00:48:18.119 --> 00:48:21.599
a World War Two aviator, So just a nod to
854
00:48:21.679 --> 00:48:23.360
our aviation heritage.
855
00:48:23.760 --> 00:48:24.119
Love it.
856
00:48:24.239 --> 00:48:26.280
That's such a great story. I'm so glad I asked
857
00:48:26.280 --> 00:48:29.639
you that question. We're gonna spend most of our time
858
00:48:29.880 --> 00:48:32.800
this morning talking about the note that you wrote with
859
00:48:32.960 --> 00:48:37.079
John Sweet about Ukraine, Russia, World War III and all that.
860
00:48:37.159 --> 00:48:39.599
I just want to take one minute and do this
861
00:48:39.679 --> 00:48:42.400
other one first, and then we'll move on.
862
00:48:43.360 --> 00:48:45.239
There's a headline over at NPR.
863
00:48:45.800 --> 00:48:49.559
Trump rebuffed by Iran's leader after sending letter calling for
864
00:48:49.920 --> 00:48:54.760
nuclear negotiation. So President Trump said on TV that he
865
00:48:54.800 --> 00:48:59.480
had sent a letter, right, and then KOLEMANI said what
866
00:48:59.480 --> 00:49:01.639
you would expec him to say back, although they also
867
00:49:01.679 --> 00:49:04.599
said some stuff on x slash Twitter that made it
868
00:49:04.599 --> 00:49:06.199
sound like they're open to a conversation.
869
00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:07.360
What do we need to know?
870
00:49:10.480 --> 00:49:13.960
Yeah, there's two things. One, this is Iran doing Iranian
871
00:49:14.039 --> 00:49:18.400
kind of things. This mombastic rhetoric is normal, but I
872
00:49:18.400 --> 00:49:20.199
think you have to take it in context of the
873
00:49:20.239 --> 00:49:23.480
moment they're seeing putin basically, when it comes to Ukraine
874
00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:28.320
getting Trump to capitulate on basically airy negotiating point before
875
00:49:28.360 --> 00:49:30.320
they get to the table. And I think that's what
876
00:49:30.360 --> 00:49:33.320
you're seeing out of Armenian around, which is basically saying
877
00:49:33.440 --> 00:49:36.079
we don't need to negotiate. Why, it's simply hoping that
878
00:49:36.079 --> 00:49:38.960
they're going to get more concessions coming from Trump to
879
00:49:39.000 --> 00:49:40.400
get to a negotiating table.
880
00:49:40.480 --> 00:49:42.199
So a bit of it's kabuki theater.
881
00:49:42.320 --> 00:49:46.719
But I think Kmeni is misunderstanding because whereas Trump may
882
00:49:46.760 --> 00:49:48.079
win and be cutting.
883
00:49:47.719 --> 00:49:48.840
The deal, Israel doesn't.
884
00:49:49.360 --> 00:49:52.079
Israel wants that nuclear program gone, and he's playing in
885
00:49:52.159 --> 00:49:53.199
a little bit different neck.
886
00:49:53.079 --> 00:49:53.599
Of the woods.
887
00:49:54.639 --> 00:49:55.920
Okay, I'm with you on all that.
888
00:49:56.000 --> 00:50:00.559
I would also note that Iran doesn't have air defense anymore.
889
00:50:00.639 --> 00:50:02.679
I mean, they're probably trying to rebuild them, but Israel
890
00:50:02.719 --> 00:50:06.119
did massive damage to the air defenses, and unlike what's
891
00:50:06.159 --> 00:50:09.679
going on with Ukraine, Donald Trump has more than once
892
00:50:10.599 --> 00:50:13.280
appeared to give Israel the green light to do anything
893
00:50:13.320 --> 00:50:17.960
at once with hamas with Iran, with anything. So if
894
00:50:18.360 --> 00:50:22.360
I were Iran, I would think that there's a very
895
00:50:22.400 --> 00:50:26.719
significant chance of an Israeli strike with American backing.
896
00:50:26.840 --> 00:50:29.440
And I don't know how much they fear that. Any
897
00:50:29.480 --> 00:50:30.719
thoughts on that part.
898
00:50:32.880 --> 00:50:34.679
Yeah, Ross, she'd think they would fear it.
899
00:50:34.719 --> 00:50:37.440
I mean, certainly Israel's been sending that signal in many
900
00:50:37.480 --> 00:50:40.239
ways over the last year. They sent it to hamas
901
00:50:40.239 --> 00:50:43.800
they sent it hezebe Llah. They sent it by attacking
902
00:50:43.880 --> 00:50:46.599
Syria and taking out OURGC targets there.
903
00:50:47.079 --> 00:50:47.639
And yet the.
904
00:50:47.599 --> 00:50:51.119
Message still I don't think is fully resonating in Iran.
905
00:50:51.239 --> 00:50:52.880
I think they do believe that they're going to be
906
00:50:52.880 --> 00:50:54.400
able to keep their nuclear program.
907
00:50:54.679 --> 00:50:57.519
They view that in their minds as something existential that
908
00:50:57.599 --> 00:50:59.599
they also view it as something that they want to
909
00:50:59.599 --> 00:51:01.840
be able to frunting Israel with. So I do think,
910
00:51:02.280 --> 00:51:04.559
as you point out, you have two countries that just
911
00:51:04.559 --> 00:51:05.920
started seeing eye to eye.
912
00:51:06.119 --> 00:51:07.960
I can't assure you this Israel is.
913
00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:11.039
Not going to allow Aran to get a nuclear weapon,
914
00:51:11.079 --> 00:51:13.039
or at least be able to deliver it. They're on
915
00:51:13.079 --> 00:51:15.880
the verge of nuclear breakout. So I mean, they're almost there.
916
00:51:16.480 --> 00:51:18.159
But this is going to come to a head sooner
917
00:51:18.159 --> 00:51:19.039
as opposed to later.
918
00:51:19.679 --> 00:51:22.360
I've said on this show, and this is not something
919
00:51:22.400 --> 00:51:25.960
I'm necessarily cheering for, although I think it also wouldn't
920
00:51:25.960 --> 00:51:29.440
break my heart. I've said I expect Israel to attack
921
00:51:29.519 --> 00:51:34.119
Iran this year to try to take out that nuclear capability.
922
00:51:35.159 --> 00:51:37.280
We'll see well, and so you know, as they say,
923
00:51:37.320 --> 00:51:38.159
it's a wild ass.
924
00:51:38.199 --> 00:51:44.440
Guess now it's possible because look, they are already at
925
00:51:44.559 --> 00:51:48.079
nuclear breakout, meaning they have sufficient masks, they've got enough
926
00:51:48.119 --> 00:51:52.599
highly enriched uranium, They've got certainly the capacity to create
927
00:51:52.840 --> 00:51:55.639
ten to twelve nuclear bounds where you get to that
928
00:51:55.719 --> 00:51:58.440
highlyensuranium that said ninety percent HGU.
929
00:51:58.960 --> 00:51:59.599
So they're there.
930
00:51:59.679 --> 00:52:02.079
It's a question of being able to deliver it. That's
931
00:52:02.159 --> 00:52:04.920
just something Bob. And obviously they've not tested it yet,
932
00:52:05.039 --> 00:52:06.880
but he used to say they choose not to test it.
933
00:52:06.920 --> 00:52:08.880
I mean they'd be smart too, because the last thing
934
00:52:08.880 --> 00:52:10.840
you'd want to do is new Israel right and then
935
00:52:10.880 --> 00:52:13.559
have it not go off. But they're getting close and
936
00:52:13.639 --> 00:52:16.800
Israel just strategically cannot allow that to happen. So I
937
00:52:16.840 --> 00:52:19.079
do think it's just a matter of time. You're starting
938
00:52:19.119 --> 00:52:22.320
to see Trump approve different kinds of weapon bombs that
939
00:52:22.480 --> 00:52:25.400
could you know, be effective in terms of penetrating deep
940
00:52:25.480 --> 00:52:28.800
under antance and the other nuclear facilities. So I suspect
941
00:52:28.840 --> 00:52:31.079
it's coming to Again. We won't know until we know,
942
00:52:31.199 --> 00:52:34.239
but I think it's a good bet for you to make.
943
00:52:35.400 --> 00:52:39.800
You and your writing partner John Sweet have a piece
944
00:52:39.840 --> 00:52:44.000
in the UK Daily Mail published yesterday. I believe why
945
00:52:44.119 --> 00:52:47.039
World War three is already here, and how the UK
946
00:52:47.559 --> 00:52:50.679
will need to lead in America's absence as Team Trump
947
00:52:50.760 --> 00:52:55.480
risks losing global conflict to the West's enemies following bust
948
00:52:55.559 --> 00:52:57.960
up with Zelenski and concessions to Putin. All right, that's
949
00:52:57.960 --> 00:53:01.559
a long headline, but it's a very in depth article.
950
00:53:01.639 --> 00:53:03.440
Why don't you just start with what you think are
951
00:53:03.480 --> 00:53:06.800
the key top lines and then we'll dig in.
952
00:53:09.159 --> 00:53:09.440
Sure.
953
00:53:09.599 --> 00:53:11.559
Yeah, John, and I've been arguing for quite a while
954
00:53:11.599 --> 00:53:14.000
that the West has been in an ideological war of
955
00:53:14.039 --> 00:53:18.000
Putin disease making against US, and it's increasingly turning kinetic,
956
00:53:18.559 --> 00:53:20.960
Ukraine being the first spot that it was turning kinetic.
957
00:53:21.440 --> 00:53:24.840
It's also taken on hybrid forms. We've seen sabotage happening
958
00:53:24.880 --> 00:53:28.639
in Europe. They've put bombs aboard or intended these bombs
959
00:53:28.639 --> 00:53:31.880
to get aboard DHL planes that were based in Germany
960
00:53:32.000 --> 00:53:34.280
and the UK that were headed for Canada and the US.
961
00:53:34.880 --> 00:53:36.599
They've been trying to go after the US in a
962
00:53:36.679 --> 00:53:39.079
hybrid kind of way. You've seen it with the cutting
963
00:53:39.119 --> 00:53:41.880
of cables in the Baltic Sea, Chinese even getting in
964
00:53:41.920 --> 00:53:45.239
the act of late doing that, and around Taiwan to
965
00:53:45.280 --> 00:53:47.960
the pingu Islands there where they're cutting internet access.
966
00:53:48.400 --> 00:53:51.000
So in a variety of ways, and there's so.
967
00:53:50.920 --> 00:53:53.000
Many flashpoints we don't have time to cover them all
968
00:53:53.519 --> 00:53:55.440
in a radio interview. But when you're looking at what's
969
00:53:55.440 --> 00:53:58.079
happening to Sehiel in Africa, when you're looking at the
970
00:53:58.119 --> 00:54:01.800
mechanicians that they're doing to China, so to create a
971
00:54:01.920 --> 00:54:05.599
military footprint by creating economic footprint in places like Panama,
972
00:54:06.119 --> 00:54:09.559
the Magellan Straits, you know, by Antarctica, trying to do
973
00:54:09.599 --> 00:54:12.119
a polar c route in the north in the Arctic,
974
00:54:12.719 --> 00:54:15.960
which is why Greenland comes up in Trump's mind. All
975
00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:17.920
of those elements are there. And so what John and
976
00:54:17.960 --> 00:54:21.159
I are saying is that this War War three is here.
977
00:54:21.199 --> 00:54:23.760
It doesn't look like what Hollywood said it would. No
978
00:54:23.920 --> 00:54:28.360
mushroom clouds, no, you know, day after nightmare, radioactive scenarios.
979
00:54:28.559 --> 00:54:31.559
But it's basically wre by a thousand cuts, and that
980
00:54:31.599 --> 00:54:34.079
we've got to recognize that that that's what we're in.
981
00:54:34.159 --> 00:54:36.159
And I'm not quite sure yet. And again I say
982
00:54:36.199 --> 00:54:38.760
to a politically, I don't do politics. I'm not quite
983
00:54:38.800 --> 00:54:40.679
sure that Trump gets that. I think he thinks he's
984
00:54:40.679 --> 00:54:44.000
pivoting it away from Ukraine and that to get to China.
985
00:54:44.760 --> 00:54:48.360
John and I argue that it's all connected. Yeah.
986
00:54:48.000 --> 00:54:55.239
I often say on my show that the most tangled
987
00:54:55.400 --> 00:55:05.079
and complex domestic politics is peopler than the simplest international affairs.
988
00:55:05.199 --> 00:55:11.039
International affairs are so complex, the primary reason being that
989
00:55:11.519 --> 00:55:14.960
countries that are negotiating each other with each other also
990
00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:17.559
have domestic audiences at home that they have to please
991
00:55:17.599 --> 00:55:19.880
and they want to shore up their own power bases
992
00:55:19.960 --> 00:55:22.400
or not get dethroned.
993
00:55:21.920 --> 00:55:24.000
Or killed or in a coup or whatever.
994
00:55:24.519 --> 00:55:29.880
And it just massively adds to the level of complexity.
995
00:55:32.199 --> 00:55:35.800
Yeah, Russia, absolutely, And you've seen this kind of disconnect
996
00:55:35.840 --> 00:55:40.239
also happening at a bilateral basis between the US and
997
00:55:40.400 --> 00:55:42.880
I say bilateral just to be easy about it. In
998
00:55:42.920 --> 00:55:48.239
the European Union, especially with the Baltic States, with Poland.
999
00:55:47.960 --> 00:55:51.000
There is a deep fear and with well founded, right.
1000
00:55:51.039 --> 00:55:54.320
They lived through the Cold War, they lived under Russian suppression.
1001
00:55:54.559 --> 00:55:56.920
There's a deep fear of what Russia can be in
1002
00:55:57.000 --> 00:56:00.920
five years to them. You've got Donald Tusker, Prime Minister
1003
00:56:00.960 --> 00:56:04.119
of Poland, basically saying maybe we need our own nukes.
1004
00:56:04.360 --> 00:56:07.239
I don't think Trump gets the disconnect that he's creating
1005
00:56:07.400 --> 00:56:11.079
with Europe by you know, it's his messaging that's off.
1006
00:56:11.239 --> 00:56:13.199
There are some very valid points to what he's trying
1007
00:56:13.239 --> 00:56:16.559
to do. Absolutely, Europe should be spending more, it should
1008
00:56:16.559 --> 00:56:17.880
be more committed to the defense.
1009
00:56:17.920 --> 00:56:22.199
They need to be is upping there, NATO defense, spending,
1010
00:56:22.239 --> 00:56:23.239
their agreements and the like.
1011
00:56:23.679 --> 00:56:25.599
Very good on that, But the way that he's going
1012
00:56:25.639 --> 00:56:27.599
about it that you know, I may not follow through
1013
00:56:27.599 --> 00:56:30.320
an Article five, I may withdraw from NATO, I may
1014
00:56:30.400 --> 00:56:33.840
reposition truths from Germany into Hungary. All of those kind
1015
00:56:33.880 --> 00:56:36.480
of things are making Europe think he's an unreliable partner
1016
00:56:36.920 --> 00:56:39.280
and that's creating this kind of fear in this disconnect
1017
00:56:39.320 --> 00:56:42.360
that is just playing to Putin's advantage and it's not
1018
00:56:42.480 --> 00:56:45.559
a good thing. And we're seeing this potentially where Putin
1019
00:56:45.639 --> 00:56:47.440
is thinking this is going to result in the US
1020
00:56:47.559 --> 00:56:50.760
and the West capitulating in Ukraine. And then you've got
1021
00:56:50.880 --> 00:56:53.360
China sitting there, and again I apologize for people, because
1022
00:56:53.360 --> 00:56:56.800
this is a web, it's all interconnected. You've got China
1023
00:56:56.880 --> 00:56:58.960
sitting there going, oh, this is great, right because a
1024
00:56:59.000 --> 00:57:01.639
win for Russia is a win for US. So you know,
1025
00:57:01.840 --> 00:57:05.599
definitely you're right to say that It's like there's just
1026
00:57:05.639 --> 00:57:09.039
so many levels to this that it's often tricky. That's
1027
00:57:09.039 --> 00:57:10.840
why I took us two thousand words in the Daily
1028
00:57:10.840 --> 00:57:13.639
Mail in London to try to explain and map out
1029
00:57:14.199 --> 00:57:16.400
just how interconnected all of us is, and that it
1030
00:57:16.440 --> 00:57:17.440
is World War three.
1031
00:57:17.559 --> 00:57:20.119
We're talking with Mark Toth, who, along with his writing
1032
00:57:20.159 --> 00:57:22.760
partner John Sweet, have a piece that is linked on
1033
00:57:22.800 --> 00:57:24.760
my blog, so it's very easy for you to find
1034
00:57:24.880 --> 00:57:26.880
if you go to Rosscominsky dot com the pieces at
1035
00:57:26.880 --> 00:57:30.719
the Daily Mail, the UK website Why World War three
1036
00:57:30.880 --> 00:57:31.599
is already here.
1037
00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:32.880
I'll just mention to.
1038
00:57:35.320 --> 00:57:37.840
Listeners, since I am president at the Bad Analogy Club,
1039
00:57:37.840 --> 00:57:41.199
if you want to think about the complexity of different
1040
00:57:41.320 --> 00:57:44.960
kinds of politics, right trying to figure out domestic politics,
1041
00:57:44.960 --> 00:57:47.960
what's going on in a presidential campaign, for example, it's
1042
00:57:48.079 --> 00:57:51.440
kind of like putting one ball on a pool table
1043
00:57:51.880 --> 00:57:55.360
and hitting it, or you know, rolling it and predicting
1044
00:57:55.440 --> 00:57:56.679
how it will bounce.
1045
00:57:57.039 --> 00:57:59.000
You can predict it pretty well.
1046
00:57:59.079 --> 00:58:01.719
Sometimes it will hit up badass corner and bounce not
1047
00:58:01.840 --> 00:58:03.519
quite how you expected, but mostly you.
1048
00:58:03.440 --> 00:58:04.119
Can predict it.
1049
00:58:04.519 --> 00:58:08.239
Imagine how much more difficult it gets to predict where
1050
00:58:08.280 --> 00:58:09.440
a ball is going to go when you put a
1051
00:58:09.440 --> 00:58:14.000
second ball on the table, and then if you add
1052
00:58:14.039 --> 00:58:17.599
a third, it actually gets to a level of complexity
1053
00:58:17.639 --> 00:58:20.280
that in terms of physics, if you're modeling pool balls,
1054
00:58:20.559 --> 00:58:24.880
is darn close to impossible. And that's kind of why
1055
00:58:25.000 --> 00:58:27.280
international affairs are so difficult.
1056
00:58:27.320 --> 00:58:28.800
Now, Mark, let me play.
1057
00:58:29.280 --> 00:58:30.920
I know you don't do politics, but I'm going to
1058
00:58:30.960 --> 00:58:33.199
play what I will loosely call Trump or a Trump
1059
00:58:33.239 --> 00:58:38.880
supporter here. So I believe, and you just said you believe, Mark,
1060
00:58:39.199 --> 00:58:43.800
that it is in America's interest and probably the world's
1061
00:58:43.840 --> 00:58:46.400
interest for Europe to spend a little bit more on
1062
00:58:46.400 --> 00:58:48.199
their own defense, or more than a little bit, maybe
1063
00:58:48.239 --> 00:58:50.920
a lot more. So I will say to you now,
1064
00:58:51.079 --> 00:58:55.639
playing Trump supporter, there was no way to get them
1065
00:58:55.760 --> 00:58:59.360
to do that. After years of coming to understand that
1066
00:58:59.400 --> 00:59:02.719
the United's dates would always be the sucker and always
1067
00:59:02.760 --> 00:59:05.159
spend all the money. There's no way to get them
1068
00:59:05.199 --> 00:59:08.840
to do that without demonstrating in a way that had
1069
00:59:08.880 --> 00:59:11.239
to be very aggressive, because otherwise they wouldn't believe it
1070
00:59:11.480 --> 00:59:14.079
that they needed to spend more. And that's why we
1071
00:59:14.119 --> 00:59:17.119
need to, you know, so aggressively pull back from being
1072
00:59:17.159 --> 00:59:18.840
the primary supporters of Ukraine.
1073
00:59:21.199 --> 00:59:22.960
Yeah, and Trump could have done that.
1074
00:59:23.360 --> 00:59:26.199
I think my response to that kind of voter would be,
1075
00:59:26.239 --> 00:59:28.920
you have to look at the NATO agreements, the two
1076
00:59:29.000 --> 00:59:32.480
percent cap that are the two percent goal, if you will,
1077
00:59:32.519 --> 00:59:33.960
for GDP's defense spending.
1078
00:59:34.400 --> 00:59:36.280
That was a goal that was not a mandate.
1079
00:59:36.440 --> 00:59:39.280
And so the question is did Trump go back and say, hey,
1080
00:59:39.599 --> 00:59:41.960
let's change this. If you want the US to continue
1081
00:59:42.039 --> 00:59:45.400
to be involved in NATO and the defensive Europe providing
1082
00:59:45.400 --> 00:59:49.320
the nuclear shield, et cetera, then let's make this mandatory.
1083
00:59:49.400 --> 00:59:52.239
Let's come up with the number three five percent that
1084
00:59:52.280 --> 00:59:54.039
we have to get at. And I think those are
1085
00:59:54.079 --> 00:59:56.320
the steps that's missing. That's what Europe, I think, is
1086
00:59:56.360 --> 00:59:57.239
trying to grapple with.
1087
00:59:57.559 --> 00:59:58.400
We didn't see this.
1088
00:59:58.559 --> 01:00:02.239
Instead, we see strong arming, We see the threats of terrorists,
1089
01:00:02.599 --> 01:00:05.400
We see the threats of withdrawing, you know, NATO basis,
1090
01:00:05.440 --> 01:00:08.320
which would be completely self defeating. I mean, unless we
1091
01:00:08.360 --> 01:00:12.320
want to become a naval power in the US, denuding
1092
01:00:12.360 --> 01:00:15.320
ourselves in MEATO air bases, we couldn't do force projection
1093
01:00:15.400 --> 01:00:18.519
around the world. Right now, the US can project porticate
1094
01:00:18.679 --> 01:00:20.880
anywhere in the world in twenty four hours, get it
1095
01:00:20.880 --> 01:00:21.840
any place in the world.
1096
01:00:22.039 --> 01:00:25.920
Huge part of that is because of the NATO basis
1097
01:00:25.920 --> 01:00:28.480
and the logistics operations that are in Europe, in Italy
1098
01:00:28.760 --> 01:00:29.519
and in Germany.
1099
01:00:29.760 --> 01:00:32.199
We couldn't protect Israel to the degree that we are
1100
01:00:32.239 --> 01:00:36.559
without those same basis. The Mediterranean Fleet is based in Italy,
1101
01:00:37.079 --> 01:00:39.639
so you know, kind of that disconnect there.
1102
01:00:39.800 --> 01:00:40.719
I get what you're saying.
1103
01:00:40.800 --> 01:00:43.159
You know that Republican voter is going to be a
1104
01:00:43.159 --> 01:00:46.199
hard push for them to understand. But I think Trump's
1105
01:00:46.239 --> 01:00:48.679
messaging could have gotten what he wanted if he went
1106
01:00:48.760 --> 01:00:50.800
about it in a different way, in a more productive way.
1107
01:00:51.000 --> 01:00:54.280
What he's after Again, we're in agreement. Europe should be
1108
01:00:54.320 --> 01:00:57.280
doing more. This fight is closer to them than us.
1109
01:00:57.400 --> 01:01:00.039
It's in the strategic interest to do it.
1110
01:01:00.199 --> 01:01:00.480
Okay.
1111
01:01:00.559 --> 01:01:05.400
I want you to play the part now of trump
1112
01:01:05.559 --> 01:01:09.760
supporting policy advisor, not just a voter, right. I want
1113
01:01:09.800 --> 01:01:14.800
you to do the best you can to explain how
1114
01:01:15.079 --> 01:01:18.840
Donald Trump's actions regarding Ukraine so far, and this may
1115
01:01:18.880 --> 01:01:21.920
be impossible, but I want you to try, such as
1116
01:01:22.239 --> 01:01:28.119
stopping weapons deliveries and limiting intelligence sharing is a useful
1117
01:01:28.199 --> 01:01:29.880
step toward ending the war.
1118
01:01:33.679 --> 01:01:34.239
Inter Ros.
1119
01:01:34.320 --> 01:01:37.920
I can't because it's not you know, in their minds.
1120
01:01:38.119 --> 01:01:41.440
I'll play the role, but it's in their minds. They're
1121
01:01:41.480 --> 01:01:45.199
thinking that if it can shock Ukraine into capitulating, essentially,
1122
01:01:45.800 --> 01:01:49.119
that they can turn this into a transaction cut their losses.
1123
01:01:49.119 --> 01:01:51.760
They're viewing this as a business deal. They don't see
1124
01:01:51.760 --> 01:01:54.360
a good return and investment, which I disagree with. They
1125
01:01:54.360 --> 01:01:56.840
don't see a good return in investment in Ukraine and
1126
01:01:56.840 --> 01:01:58.960
they simply want to move on and fit it to China,
1127
01:01:59.519 --> 01:02:01.320
get out of it. Makes the money if you can
1128
01:02:01.400 --> 01:02:04.480
with an RAM deal and do that. But the problem
1129
01:02:04.559 --> 01:02:06.360
is they're taking the two by four and they're hitting
1130
01:02:06.400 --> 01:02:08.760
the ally. They're taking their two by four that General
1131
01:02:08.800 --> 01:02:12.639
Kellogg talked about hitting a mule, and they're hitting a
1132
01:02:12.679 --> 01:02:14.960
country that is fighting for the virtues that we as
1133
01:02:14.960 --> 01:02:17.199
a country espouse, freedom, liberty.
1134
01:02:17.320 --> 01:02:20.519
They're a very church going country. It's just a huge miss.
1135
01:02:21.239 --> 01:02:24.039
You know, a view of them here in the US,
1136
01:02:24.119 --> 01:02:26.280
about what they are as a people. They are so
1137
01:02:26.400 --> 01:02:30.480
much more American than most people understand, and they certainly
1138
01:02:30.519 --> 01:02:32.159
are compared to Russia.
1139
01:02:32.280 --> 01:02:33.280
So it's just frustrating.
1140
01:02:33.320 --> 01:02:34.880
So, you know, as much as I'd love to play
1141
01:02:34.920 --> 01:02:37.800
that role, I just can't rationalize it because.
1142
01:02:37.559 --> 01:02:40.360
It's just such a god hoff hole. It's a godofful
1143
01:02:40.400 --> 01:02:41.880
approach by them. It's naive.
1144
01:02:42.280 --> 01:02:45.599
It just doesn't take into a sufficient account the global
1145
01:02:45.639 --> 01:02:48.199
implications to doing that. We can't cut and run from
1146
01:02:48.280 --> 01:02:50.599
Ukraine because if we do, we're only going to face
1147
01:02:50.840 --> 01:02:53.159
a stronger China for it in the end of the Pacific.
1148
01:02:53.360 --> 01:02:54.920
And then one last quick point here.
1149
01:02:55.199 --> 01:02:57.840
If you're cutting and you're ruining these partnerships in Europe,
1150
01:02:58.159 --> 01:02:58.880
why the heck?
1151
01:02:59.280 --> 01:03:01.239
And I have to remember, all right, why radio here?
1152
01:03:01.400 --> 01:03:04.199
Why the heck is anyone in the end of Pacific
1153
01:03:04.320 --> 01:03:06.519
going to trust any kind of relationship, any kind of
1154
01:03:06.719 --> 01:03:09.880
defense deals you want to cut with them to deter China.
1155
01:03:10.079 --> 01:03:12.920
They may be thinking, well, you know, they turned on Ukraine,
1156
01:03:13.239 --> 01:03:14.960
maybe we need to turn and pivot.
1157
01:03:14.639 --> 01:03:17.599
Ourselves towards China. It just doesn't make sense overall.
1158
01:03:18.400 --> 01:03:19.920
I thought that might be your answer.
1159
01:03:20.280 --> 01:03:23.480
I always try to play devil's advocate and make the
1160
01:03:23.679 --> 01:03:25.760
argument even if I don't agree with it, like I
1161
01:03:25.800 --> 01:03:28.199
did with you on the previous question, I for the
1162
01:03:28.320 --> 01:03:32.360
life of me, cannot find a legitimate reason from a
1163
01:03:33.679 --> 01:03:38.159
national security perspective, even thinking about potential leverage for the
1164
01:03:38.280 --> 01:03:40.599
US to be doing what we're doing right now, it
1165
01:03:40.679 --> 01:03:44.000
seems extremely harmful to not just to our allies, but
1166
01:03:44.079 --> 01:03:47.519
to us. Mark Tothan John Sweet's new piece in the
1167
01:03:47.599 --> 01:03:50.880
UK Daily Mail is why World War three is already here.
1168
01:03:51.679 --> 01:03:53.280
You can easily find it if you go to my
1169
01:03:53.320 --> 01:03:57.280
website at Rosciminski dot com and it's linked there in
1170
01:03:57.440 --> 01:04:01.239
the in the guests section. You can also follow Mark
1171
01:04:01.920 --> 01:04:07.000
on x formerly Twitter at mc t O t H
1172
01:04:07.239 --> 01:04:09.199
like mc talf st L.
1173
01:04:09.719 --> 01:04:11.360
Is that for Saint Louis? What is that for?
1174
01:04:11.920 --> 01:04:13.360
Yep? You got it all right?
1175
01:04:14.400 --> 01:04:17.440
O H M C t O t H s T L.
1176
01:04:17.559 --> 01:04:19.880
Mark, Thanks as always for your time, thought provoking peace.
1177
01:04:19.920 --> 01:04:20.679
Will talk to you again.
1178
01:04:21.920 --> 01:04:22.960
Sounds great, Thanks Ross.
1179
01:04:23.000 --> 01:04:24.440
All right, uh so.
1180
01:04:24.519 --> 01:04:29.599
Let me just comment for a moment on that conversation, literally,
1181
01:04:29.760 --> 01:04:34.599
just do one minute. Here's my my fear here. And
1182
01:04:35.000 --> 01:04:41.280
I realized that this is a kind of a kind
1183
01:04:41.320 --> 01:04:44.440
of projection that well, I shouldn't use the word projection,
1184
01:04:44.599 --> 01:04:49.840
a kind of description that Trump supporters will particularly object to.
1185
01:04:50.199 --> 01:04:51.039
Donald Trump is.
1186
01:04:50.960 --> 01:04:55.360
A man who ran and runs, and his political brand
1187
01:04:56.199 --> 01:04:57.719
is strength.
1188
01:04:58.599 --> 01:05:01.280
It's all about being strong.
1189
01:05:01.639 --> 01:05:04.679
It's part of the reason that he oddly talks so
1190
01:05:04.760 --> 01:05:07.440
frequently about how well he gets along with Vladimir Putin
1191
01:05:07.480 --> 01:05:11.000
and Shijin Ping and Kim Jong un who are all right,
1192
01:05:11.320 --> 01:05:15.159
murderous dictators, but they are strong men. And Trump sees
1193
01:05:15.280 --> 01:05:18.400
himself and wants to be seen as a strong man
1194
01:05:18.480 --> 01:05:23.320
as well. I think it's a rather weird fetishistic thing
1195
01:05:23.400 --> 01:05:26.159
that he does, but anyway, it's all about strength.
1196
01:05:26.320 --> 01:05:26.559
Now.
1197
01:05:26.679 --> 01:05:30.360
As president of the United States, it's really valuable to
1198
01:05:30.360 --> 01:05:34.000
be seen as strong. Joe Biden was seen at best
1199
01:05:34.320 --> 01:05:38.480
as weak and at worst as not even running the country.
1200
01:05:38.960 --> 01:05:41.320
So there's a lot of value to be seen as strong.
1201
01:05:41.360 --> 01:05:46.360
Look at Ronald Reagan, peace through strength. Teddy Roosevelt speak
1202
01:05:46.480 --> 01:05:49.599
softly and carry a big stick, right, It's the old
1203
01:05:49.679 --> 01:05:53.360
version of peace through strength. It's really important to be
1204
01:05:53.440 --> 01:05:56.800
perceived as strong. And so there is a part of
1205
01:05:56.840 --> 01:06:01.199
what Trump is doing there that is useful and ties into.
1206
01:06:00.960 --> 01:06:02.280
America's strategic interest.
1207
01:06:02.320 --> 01:06:05.639
In my fear is that what Donald Trump is doing
1208
01:06:05.760 --> 01:06:11.639
right now regarding Russia and Ukraine is projecting weakness. Is
1209
01:06:11.679 --> 01:06:15.760
this your counting now, or is or is this Missus
1210
01:06:15.760 --> 01:06:17.119
Redbeard's counting?
1211
01:06:17.280 --> 01:06:20.559
This is the way Missus Redbeards counts to vacation. So
1212
01:06:20.639 --> 01:06:22.480
I figured I'd carry that along.
1213
01:06:22.239 --> 01:06:23.199
And help you out.
1214
01:06:23.800 --> 01:06:29.440
So it's three days until my vacation on Friday, and
1215
01:06:29.480 --> 01:06:32.039
today's because you can't Monday.
1216
01:06:31.679 --> 01:06:33.599
Friday because that's the day you leave, and you can't
1217
01:06:33.639 --> 01:06:37.639
count today because today's already started. So Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
1218
01:06:38.199 --> 01:06:39.519
three days until vacation.
1219
01:06:39.800 --> 01:06:43.519
M M, my brain hurts. Uh let me.
1220
01:06:43.920 --> 01:06:45.480
I got so many things I want to talk about,
1221
01:06:45.519 --> 01:06:47.400
but I'm gonna make sure to do this one because
1222
01:06:47.440 --> 01:06:49.400
so many people have texted me and emailed me and
1223
01:06:49.440 --> 01:06:52.639
asked me to talk about it. And that is my
1224
01:06:52.760 --> 01:06:57.800
alma mater, Columbia University, that has had actually a couple
1225
01:06:57.840 --> 01:07:00.920
of big stories over the past few days. There was
1226
01:07:00.920 --> 01:07:05.400
a story late last week about the federal government cutting
1227
01:07:05.440 --> 01:07:09.159
off four hundred million dollars at federal funding the Columbia University.
1228
01:07:09.159 --> 01:07:12.199
And then there's a story that I don't recall whether
1229
01:07:12.400 --> 01:07:15.400
it broke on Friday or over the weekend.
1230
01:07:15.440 --> 01:07:16.679
I think it was over the weekend.
1231
01:07:17.199 --> 01:07:25.559
Yeah, that the Feds arrested a Palestinian activist who's I
1232
01:07:25.599 --> 01:07:28.440
think a graduate student at Columbia, and I think he
1233
01:07:28.480 --> 01:07:30.840
has a green card, not just a student visa, but
1234
01:07:31.119 --> 01:07:33.559
it looks like they're going to revoke not just a
1235
01:07:33.639 --> 01:07:36.159
student visa, but like a green card and kick him
1236
01:07:36.159 --> 01:07:38.599
out of the country. And a bunch of listeners have
1237
01:07:38.639 --> 01:07:40.280
asked me to talk about this since I went to
1238
01:07:40.320 --> 01:07:42.840
that college. I will note later in the week we're
1239
01:07:42.840 --> 01:07:47.880
going to have the absolutely brilliant Eugene Voloch from UCLA
1240
01:07:48.119 --> 01:07:52.400
Law School and Stanford's Hoover Institution talking about some of
1241
01:07:52.440 --> 01:07:53.239
the issues.
1242
01:07:52.920 --> 01:07:55.400
That are raised by these cases.
1243
01:07:55.719 --> 01:07:58.280
So let me just take them, each of them briefly
1244
01:07:58.400 --> 01:08:04.079
in order, and then talk about overarching principle on this. So,
1245
01:08:04.119 --> 01:08:11.320
the Trump administration argued that the Columbia University, and I
1246
01:08:11.360 --> 01:08:16.079
think there's nine others, nine other colleges that they're looking
1247
01:08:16.119 --> 01:08:20.920
at for this same kind of thing, did not do
1248
01:08:21.159 --> 01:08:28.199
enough to prevent violence, harassment, and threats against Jewish students
1249
01:08:28.239 --> 01:08:31.560
at their schools, and did not do enough to protect
1250
01:08:32.039 --> 01:08:35.319
the ability of students, regardless of race, religion, or anything else,
1251
01:08:35.479 --> 01:08:38.640
to attend the classes that they're paying for. And essentially
1252
01:08:38.720 --> 01:08:43.039
the argument is that the way Columbia University and other
1253
01:08:43.159 --> 01:08:46.840
universities that I bet you were going to hear about
1254
01:08:46.960 --> 01:08:51.399
similar penalties against other universities. It wouldn't surprise me if
1255
01:08:51.439 --> 01:08:53.960
we hear some today, right, but I bet it'll be
1256
01:08:54.119 --> 01:08:56.000
very very soon. The top one that comes to my
1257
01:08:56.079 --> 01:08:59.199
mind after Columbia as UCLA, but there's plenty of others
1258
01:08:59.199 --> 01:09:05.199
as well. And Columbia said, you know, at the end
1259
01:09:05.239 --> 01:09:07.079
of last week, oh, we're willing to work with the
1260
01:09:07.119 --> 01:09:10.119
feds and figure out what they need. And obviously the
1261
01:09:10.239 --> 01:09:15.439
only only thing that gets university's attention, because remember, these
1262
01:09:15.560 --> 01:09:20.199
universities are run by by woke leftists, and they have
1263
01:09:20.319 --> 01:09:23.239
created all of these new worthless positions.
1264
01:09:23.239 --> 01:09:24.800
Now that's not fair to worthless people.
1265
01:09:25.159 --> 01:09:29.079
They have created new harmful positions in all of these
1266
01:09:29.199 --> 01:09:35.439
universities with dozens of you know, dean for DEI and
1267
01:09:35.960 --> 01:09:39.840
provost for inclusion and and and so on, all of
1268
01:09:39.880 --> 01:09:43.319
you know, all the vice president for whatever, vice president
1269
01:09:43.359 --> 01:09:47.880
for equity, and it's all it's again, it's it's way
1270
01:09:48.079 --> 01:09:53.199
worse than worthless. It's it's very expensive, and it's intentionally divisive,
1271
01:09:53.279 --> 01:09:58.960
and it's horrible. That said, there's a certain degree to
1272
01:09:59.000 --> 01:10:01.159
which they can do what they want hunt but as
1273
01:10:01.159 --> 01:10:04.319
soon as you are taking federal money, you got the
1274
01:10:04.399 --> 01:10:07.079
risk of having to follow federal rules.
1275
01:10:07.600 --> 01:10:09.119
So Columbia did this stuff.
1276
01:10:09.439 --> 01:10:12.600
The federal government says, we're cutting off four hundred million
1277
01:10:12.640 --> 01:10:15.840
dollars like all of our federal funding, and so that
1278
01:10:15.880 --> 01:10:18.720
could be as I understand it, that could be stuff
1279
01:10:18.720 --> 01:10:21.199
to do with student loans, but primarily stuff to do
1280
01:10:21.239 --> 01:10:25.359
with research. And remember that there's kind of a grift
1281
01:10:25.479 --> 01:10:26.880
going on with the research.
1282
01:10:27.239 --> 01:10:28.840
A lot of these universities that.
1283
01:10:28.920 --> 01:10:32.239
Some you know, let's say a physics professor or whatever,
1284
01:10:32.279 --> 01:10:36.520
will get a research grant for seven million dollars. The
1285
01:10:36.680 --> 01:10:39.680
university will take two or three or four million of
1286
01:10:39.720 --> 01:10:42.439
it and call it overhead, and then the rest goes
1287
01:10:42.479 --> 01:10:45.920
to actually do the research. And anyway, my point is
1288
01:10:46.000 --> 01:10:52.279
these universities, since they're run by woke leftists, nothing will
1289
01:10:52.319 --> 01:10:56.600
get them to move off of their bad behavior except money.
1290
01:10:56.960 --> 01:11:00.600
Even bad publicity only does it a little bit. It's
1291
01:11:00.680 --> 01:11:04.960
mainly money. And the Trump administration realizes that, and so
1292
01:11:05.000 --> 01:11:09.159
they're cutting off this this four hundred million dollars and
1293
01:11:10.000 --> 01:11:12.560
Colombia is gonna have to negotiate with the federal government.
1294
01:11:12.600 --> 01:11:14.079
Basically they say, what do you need us to do
1295
01:11:14.119 --> 01:11:15.920
in order to get the money back? And then some
1296
01:11:15.960 --> 01:11:19.000
of this may go to court, where it wouldn't surprise
1297
01:11:19.079 --> 01:11:22.199
me if Colombia or some other university says they're trying
1298
01:11:22.239 --> 01:11:25.920
to violate our constitutional rights as a provision of getting this,
1299
01:11:26.159 --> 01:11:28.680
of getting this money back. But bottom line is, the
1300
01:11:28.680 --> 01:11:30.840
federal government doesn't have to give any money to Colombia,
1301
01:11:30.840 --> 01:11:34.760
and they're if they're forced to honor existing contracts, and
1302
01:11:34.800 --> 01:11:37.479
that would be okay, right. I do believe in honoring
1303
01:11:37.520 --> 01:11:40.520
existing contracts. That does not mean that the federal government
1304
01:11:40.600 --> 01:11:42.960
needs to then give any future contracts to Columbia or
1305
01:11:42.960 --> 01:11:48.079
any other school that the federal government believes is violating
1306
01:11:48.199 --> 01:11:53.000
federal civil rights. This is the key violating federal civil rights.
1307
01:11:53.039 --> 01:11:53.279
Now.
1308
01:11:53.399 --> 01:11:58.640
The other case is this SOB named Mahmoud Khalil, who
1309
01:11:58.840 --> 01:12:05.520
is a Palestinian pro terrorist anti Israel organizer at Columbia University.
1310
01:12:05.760 --> 01:12:10.359
He is he has been arrested. Apparently he's gonna you know,
1311
01:12:10.399 --> 01:12:13.960
they want to deport him, and.
1312
01:12:15.479 --> 01:12:17.159
Someone from the government and.
1313
01:12:17.119 --> 01:12:19.880
I'm quoting from the Associated Press signaled the arrest was
1314
01:12:19.920 --> 01:12:23.640
directly connected to Khalil's role in the protests at Columbia,
1315
01:12:23.680 --> 01:12:28.720
alleging he quote led activities aligned to Hummas, a designated
1316
01:12:28.840 --> 01:12:33.960
terrorist organization. So they showed up at his apartment on
1317
01:12:34.039 --> 01:12:34.680
Saturday night.
1318
01:12:35.159 --> 01:12:36.119
They arrested him.
1319
01:12:36.600 --> 01:12:39.159
They threatened to arrest his wife, but she's an American
1320
01:12:39.199 --> 01:12:44.319
citizen who's eight months pregnant and now it looks like
1321
01:12:44.359 --> 01:12:46.479
they're going to try to deport the guy. I'm sure
1322
01:12:46.520 --> 01:12:49.119
all of this will go to we'll go to court. Now,
1323
01:12:49.119 --> 01:12:54.600
here's my overarching principle on the thing. Somewhere there's a line,
1324
01:12:54.640 --> 01:12:58.560
and this is generally for judges to decide. Somewhere there's
1325
01:12:58.600 --> 01:13:02.760
a line where somebody crosses from protected free speech into
1326
01:13:03.000 --> 01:13:09.560
unprotected violence, true threats, harassment, blocking of people from being
1327
01:13:09.560 --> 01:13:11.760
able to go to classes that they've paid for, and
1328
01:13:11.840 --> 01:13:16.199
that sort of thing. If there is something that is,
1329
01:13:16.720 --> 01:13:19.960
you know, around the line, hard to tell whether it's
1330
01:13:20.039 --> 01:13:24.039
protected speech or whether it's that other stuff. In the
1331
01:13:24.159 --> 01:13:26.960
United States of America, we should default.
1332
01:13:26.640 --> 01:13:28.279
To treating in his protected speech.
1333
01:13:28.960 --> 01:13:32.680
We do not want the government saying in close cases,
1334
01:13:33.159 --> 01:13:36.000
we're going to call you a criminal or we're going
1335
01:13:36.079 --> 01:13:37.800
to throw you out of the country. I realize there
1336
01:13:37.800 --> 01:13:39.920
are different issues when it comes to somebody who's here
1337
01:13:40.079 --> 01:13:42.000
on a tourist visa or a student visa, and the
1338
01:13:42.000 --> 01:13:44.600
government has a lot more leeway to throw people out.
1339
01:13:44.760 --> 01:13:45.720
I get that, But as.
1340
01:13:45.680 --> 01:13:49.520
A general matter, going beyond just people who are here
1341
01:13:49.600 --> 01:13:54.159
on visas, we got to be very very careful. I
1342
01:13:54.359 --> 01:13:58.760
don't know whether what this guy did falls closely enough
1343
01:13:58.760 --> 01:14:02.520
into material support for terrorism and terrorists that he should
1344
01:14:02.560 --> 01:14:05.960
be deported. I don't know it is possible. I simply
1345
01:14:06.039 --> 01:14:09.079
don't know enough about what he did. What I am
1346
01:14:09.119 --> 01:14:14.439
saying is we need to be very very careful. Do remember,
1347
01:14:14.560 --> 01:14:18.039
in case you're wondering this, if you are an immigrant
1348
01:14:18.239 --> 01:14:22.399
to the United States of America, even an illegal immigrant,
1349
01:14:22.399 --> 01:14:25.000
although this guy is a legal immigrant, actually a permanent
1350
01:14:25.079 --> 01:14:27.640
resident with a green card. But even if you are
1351
01:14:27.680 --> 01:14:32.399
an illegal immigrant, the First Amendment protects you. It is
1352
01:14:32.520 --> 01:14:36.520
not only for citizens, and we shouldn't want it to be.
1353
01:14:36.800 --> 01:14:38.880
I can't tell that one on the air. Oh you
1354
01:14:38.920 --> 01:14:40.840
want to keep your job, right, Yeah? Yeah, I definitely
1355
01:14:41.039 --> 01:14:42.960
I can't. I can't tell that one on the air.
1356
01:14:43.479 --> 01:14:45.720
Let's talk about Tesla for a minute. This is kind
1357
01:14:45.720 --> 01:14:46.479
of an interesting thing.
1358
01:14:47.000 --> 01:14:51.319
It's it's the intersection of business and politics, which in
1359
01:14:51.359 --> 01:14:52.720
a more interesting way than usual.
1360
01:14:52.800 --> 01:14:54.920
And by the way, I say this, as.
1361
01:14:54.840 --> 01:14:57.960
The stock market is collapsing today. The Dow was down
1362
01:14:58.039 --> 01:15:01.439
six hundred and sixty points and on a percentage basis
1363
01:15:01.479 --> 01:15:03.439
is down a lot more than that, and the NASDAK
1364
01:15:03.520 --> 01:15:05.439
on a percentage basis down a lot more than that.
1365
01:15:05.520 --> 01:15:08.880
Nasag's down three and a half percent, right, almost seven
1366
01:15:08.960 --> 01:15:12.319
hundred points on the NASDAC. And I have no idea
1367
01:15:12.319 --> 01:15:15.479
where the day will end up. Again, you never know.
1368
01:15:15.520 --> 01:15:17.880
The last hour is usually interesting on big days like this.
1369
01:15:18.000 --> 01:15:20.399
I continue, I continue to think the stock market's in
1370
01:15:20.439 --> 01:15:21.000
a lot of trouble.
1371
01:15:21.640 --> 01:15:22.880
In fact, how about this.
1372
01:15:22.880 --> 01:15:24.439
I'm just gonna mention this quickly, and then I'll go
1373
01:15:24.439 --> 01:15:27.920
to this Tesla think the working with my you know,
1374
01:15:28.039 --> 01:15:31.359
investment people, they said, you know, we're probably in the
1375
01:15:31.359 --> 01:15:34.279
next couple of weeks gonna start, you know, buying, because
1376
01:15:34.319 --> 01:15:35.960
I sold a bunch of stuff about.
1377
01:15:35.760 --> 01:15:37.399
A month ago thinking that this was coming.
1378
01:15:37.760 --> 01:15:41.319
And I said, you know what, there might be a bounce,
1379
01:15:41.359 --> 01:15:43.479
but don't buy anything without asking me.
1380
01:15:43.640 --> 01:15:44.920
I'm just not interested.
1381
01:15:45.000 --> 01:15:48.560
I think that if President Trump stays on this on
1382
01:15:48.600 --> 01:15:51.960
this path, that the damage that's been done to the
1383
01:15:51.960 --> 01:15:54.720
stock market so far is just the beginning. And I'm
1384
01:15:55.000 --> 01:15:58.359
I already I still own stock, so it's not like anyway,
1385
01:15:58.439 --> 01:16:01.439
I said, don't buy anything yet, so we'll see what happens.
1386
01:16:01.520 --> 01:16:02.800
Let me talk about this Tesla thing.
1387
01:16:03.279 --> 01:16:05.680
So if you look at a chart of Tesla stock,
1388
01:16:06.039 --> 01:16:08.079
it hit a high of about four hundred and eighty
1389
01:16:08.920 --> 01:16:12.279
or almost four hundred and ninety dollars a share in
1390
01:16:12.279 --> 01:16:15.159
the in the middle of December. So this is after
1391
01:16:15.279 --> 01:16:19.399
President Trump won the election, and when it was becoming clear.
1392
01:16:19.640 --> 01:16:20.800
I mean, it was already clear.
1393
01:16:20.600 --> 01:16:23.359
That Trump and Musk were close, but it was becoming
1394
01:16:23.439 --> 01:16:26.840
clear that Musk was going to be even more actually
1395
01:16:26.960 --> 01:16:30.000
involved in government and closer to Trump on a day
1396
01:16:30.039 --> 01:16:31.600
to day basis than people had thought.
1397
01:16:31.720 --> 01:16:35.439
And a lot of people started believing that this was
1398
01:16:35.479 --> 01:16:36.680
going to mean good things.
1399
01:16:36.479 --> 01:16:40.800
For Tesla because it would mean that Trump wouldn't do
1400
01:16:40.960 --> 01:16:43.680
things that could hurt the electric car business, that could
1401
01:16:43.760 --> 01:16:47.119
hurt Trump's business. Right, why would Trump hurt his first buddy,
1402
01:16:47.119 --> 01:16:51.800
as they began calling Elon Musk. So that was again
1403
01:16:52.600 --> 01:16:56.079
almost four hundred and ninety dollars a year, and as
1404
01:16:56.119 --> 01:16:59.279
I speak to you now, right just two and a
1405
01:16:59.279 --> 01:17:02.840
half months later, the stock has lost more than half
1406
01:17:02.920 --> 01:17:07.079
its value and is down to two hundred and thirty
1407
01:17:07.439 --> 01:17:11.560
dollars a share, which is roughly where it was hanging
1408
01:17:11.600 --> 01:17:16.800
out in the in the months before the election. It's
1409
01:17:17.319 --> 01:17:20.239
still a little bit above where it was let's say
1410
01:17:20.680 --> 01:17:21.359
a year ago.
1411
01:17:21.640 --> 01:17:23.079
A year ago was more like.
1412
01:17:22.960 --> 01:17:24.520
One hundred and eighty dollars a share, and it's two
1413
01:17:24.600 --> 01:17:27.600
hundred and thirty dollars a share now, but still it's
1414
01:17:27.640 --> 01:17:30.960
lost about half its value, and that's a that's a
1415
01:17:31.039 --> 01:17:35.000
remarkable thing. I mean, the market cap of the company
1416
01:17:35.439 --> 01:17:39.439
has gone from something close to one and a half
1417
01:17:39.960 --> 01:17:45.479
trillion dollars to seven hundred and twenty one billion dollars,
1418
01:17:45.520 --> 01:17:48.960
which is still enormous, But for a company that size
1419
01:17:49.000 --> 01:17:51.279
to lose half its value is a remarkable thing. Now,
1420
01:17:51.319 --> 01:17:53.840
why I spent a little time with you the other
1421
01:17:53.920 --> 01:17:59.439
day talking about how they are their sales are declining
1422
01:17:59.640 --> 01:18:03.439
in Europe by a lot because he jumped into making
1423
01:18:03.479 --> 01:18:07.720
comments about European politics, supporting some parties that are perceived
1424
01:18:07.720 --> 01:18:09.880
as far right. You might call them some other way,
1425
01:18:10.039 --> 01:18:12.439
but that's how they're perceived, and lots of people in
1426
01:18:12.479 --> 01:18:14.479
Europe are saying, geez, I don't want to I don't
1427
01:18:14.520 --> 01:18:16.479
want to buy stuff from a guy who's supporting the
1428
01:18:16.520 --> 01:18:19.239
far right. So sales in Germany, for example, are down
1429
01:18:19.239 --> 01:18:23.000
something like seventy six percent. And that's so it's not
1430
01:18:23.079 --> 01:18:24.840
just the lost sales, it's the fact that they can't
1431
01:18:24.840 --> 01:18:27.199
sell the carbon credits that they're not earning because they're
1432
01:18:27.239 --> 01:18:28.159
not selling the cars.
1433
01:18:28.680 --> 01:18:30.239
Then here in the United States.
1434
01:18:30.239 --> 01:18:32.359
And there's actually part of this was was right here
1435
01:18:32.359 --> 01:18:34.479
in uh right here in Colorado.
1436
01:18:34.520 --> 01:18:35.800
I think it was up in Loveland.
1437
01:18:36.079 --> 01:18:38.880
There was a lady back starting at the end of
1438
01:18:39.000 --> 01:18:42.520
January who was going to a Tesla car lot up
1439
01:18:42.560 --> 01:18:48.119
in Loveland, Colorado and fire bombing it, right Molotov cocktails,
1440
01:18:48.399 --> 01:18:51.760
you know, on the vehicles, on the charging stations, on stuff.
1441
01:18:51.760 --> 01:18:54.199
She was spray painting the word Nazi, and she was
1442
01:18:54.439 --> 01:18:56.960
and she was scribbling, you know, the F word Musk
1443
01:18:57.039 --> 01:19:01.800
and all this stuff. And it's it's not just the damage,
1444
01:19:01.840 --> 01:19:04.600
the physical damage to a particular property that's not all
1445
01:19:04.600 --> 01:19:08.279
that much money. It's that there are a lot of people,
1446
01:19:08.439 --> 01:19:10.600
especially those on the political left, who have been the
1447
01:19:10.640 --> 01:19:14.199
primary buyers of electric vehicles, who now see Elon Musk
1448
01:19:14.239 --> 01:19:16.079
as the enemy and they're not gonna buy anymore.
1449
01:19:16.399 --> 01:19:18.720
And Tesla stock is getting crushed.
1450
01:19:19.000 --> 01:19:22.399
And this look, I'm not I'm neither foreign nor against
1451
01:19:22.439 --> 01:19:25.520
what it's just it is what it is. You know,
1452
01:19:25.640 --> 01:19:28.000
Musk is doing what he's doing. Other people are reacting
1453
01:19:28.079 --> 01:19:30.319
the way they're reacting. I'm not here to cheer it
1454
01:19:30.359 --> 01:19:32.920
on or bemoan it, but I am pointing it out.
1455
01:19:33.359 --> 01:19:38.039
And this is a fairly massive penalty that Elon Musk
1456
01:19:38.079 --> 01:19:41.359
seems to be paying for having gotten very involved, not
1457
01:19:41.439 --> 01:19:44.319
just with Donald Trump, but with European politics as well.
1458
01:19:44.960 --> 01:19:46.439
Let's go straight.
1459
01:19:46.119 --> 01:19:49.560
To our KOA Common Spirit Health hotline where oh I
1460
01:19:49.600 --> 01:19:53.000
am joined for my first time speaking with him on
1461
01:19:53.119 --> 01:19:57.880
KOA State Senator Byron Pelton. I want to say it's
1462
01:19:57.880 --> 01:20:01.479
Senate District one, but I could be so. Byron, Welcome
1463
01:20:01.520 --> 01:20:06.279
and please tell listeners what your district number you represent
1464
01:20:06.399 --> 01:20:09.000
and what the geographical boundaries of your district are.
1465
01:20:10.479 --> 01:20:13.960
You are correct? It is the Senate District one, and
1466
01:20:14.079 --> 01:20:18.279
it is the majority of Well County, all the way
1467
01:20:18.359 --> 01:20:21.359
up to the eastern edge of Greeley and all the
1468
01:20:21.359 --> 01:20:23.119
way down to lot Buoy and all the way up
1469
01:20:23.159 --> 01:20:26.279
to the state line. I even have Severance and Eton
1470
01:20:26.359 --> 01:20:28.960
in that area and all and then it goes all
1471
01:20:29.000 --> 01:20:34.439
the way over to Logan, Philip Sedgwick, Ema, Washington and
1472
01:20:34.960 --> 01:20:36.399
Morgan Counties is.
1473
01:20:36.359 --> 01:20:37.239
Who I represent?
1474
01:20:37.720 --> 01:20:42.039
Very good? All right, So northern northeastern Colorado, right and.
1475
01:20:42.000 --> 01:20:45.880
It's basically six of the top ten ag producing counties
1476
01:20:45.880 --> 01:20:46.359
in the state.
1477
01:20:47.079 --> 01:20:49.319
Wow, all right, you know what, As long as you
1478
01:20:49.359 --> 01:20:52.560
mentioned that, let me ask you something that I wasn't
1479
01:20:52.600 --> 01:20:56.880
planning on asking you, but are you thinking anything or
1480
01:20:57.039 --> 01:21:03.039
hearing anything from your ag reducing constituents so far regarding
1481
01:21:04.119 --> 01:21:10.119
the China's announcement of retaliatory tariffs against US agriculture products,
1482
01:21:10.279 --> 01:21:13.119
and just generally what they're thinking of this potential trade
1483
01:21:13.159 --> 01:21:17.039
war because Trump keeps talking about farmers. Yeah.
1484
01:21:17.159 --> 01:21:21.279
No, I haven't heard anything about anything yet, and it
1485
01:21:21.439 --> 01:21:26.359
just started today with the tariff. Yeah, and I haven't
1486
01:21:26.359 --> 01:21:29.079
heard anything. I know that there are folks out there
1487
01:21:29.079 --> 01:21:31.840
that are a little worried, but so far, they really
1488
01:21:31.960 --> 01:21:34.000
like what he's doing, and I think that it's going
1489
01:21:34.079 --> 01:21:36.479
to be I think it's going to be Okay, all.
1490
01:21:36.439 --> 01:21:38.319
Right, Well, we'll see how it all plays out.
1491
01:21:38.359 --> 01:21:40.000
I think part of as I mentioned earlier on the
1492
01:21:40.039 --> 01:21:42.000
show before you got here, I think part of the
1493
01:21:42.039 --> 01:21:46.119
reason that China is picking tariffs on those products is
1494
01:21:46.159 --> 01:21:49.199
I think they're aiming at Trump supporters. So we'll see
1495
01:21:49.199 --> 01:21:50.119
how it all plays out.
1496
01:21:50.960 --> 01:21:51.319
Okay.
1497
01:21:51.399 --> 01:21:55.079
I saw your name mentioned in a story about an
1498
01:21:55.079 --> 01:21:58.359
interesting bill. It's a little bit nerdy and kind of legalistic,
1499
01:21:58.399 --> 01:21:59.920
but I think it's fascinating.
1500
01:22:00.119 --> 01:22:01.600
Denver is that headline is.
1501
01:22:01.920 --> 01:22:06.880
Colorado Measure Colorado Measure to repeal part of farm Workers'
1502
01:22:07.159 --> 01:22:09.640
Rights Bill clears Senate.
1503
01:22:09.800 --> 01:22:12.239
So can you please explain this issue to us?
1504
01:22:12.920 --> 01:22:18.199
Yeah, So twenty one the General Assembly past Senate Bill
1505
01:22:18.319 --> 01:22:21.680
eighty seven, which said that a key service provider, and
1506
01:22:21.720 --> 01:22:28.520
a key service provider is anybody in healthcare, a government official,
1507
01:22:29.279 --> 01:22:35.159
religious institutions, anything that it can be used to help.
1508
01:22:35.279 --> 01:22:40.960
Folks that are in the doing labor for farms are
1509
01:22:41.039 --> 01:22:45.079
allowed to walk on private property without permission to get
1510
01:22:45.119 --> 01:22:51.640
access to the workers. The Supreme Court has issued that
1511
01:22:51.880 --> 01:22:55.399
as that is not correct. If you walk on somebody's
1512
01:22:55.399 --> 01:23:00.880
property that without permission, it is a taking. And that
1513
01:23:01.119 --> 01:23:05.359
is a Supreme Court case by Theeder Point Nursery versus
1514
01:23:05.399 --> 01:23:08.800
Hat sid And it was in California that they did that,
1515
01:23:09.000 --> 01:23:11.279
and the Supreme Court ruled that that's a taking. So
1516
01:23:11.399 --> 01:23:14.640
that's what we did is we just changed that part
1517
01:23:14.640 --> 01:23:18.319
of the law that said now private property rights are
1518
01:23:18.359 --> 01:23:25.000
protected and nobody can walk on your property without permission
1519
01:23:25.159 --> 01:23:27.840
unless there's housing. But there's housing, that's a different thing.
1520
01:23:27.960 --> 01:23:31.279
But so far, that was the biggest thing that we
1521
01:23:31.279 --> 01:23:34.760
were attacking was the private property rights, just people walking
1522
01:23:34.840 --> 01:23:36.760
on property without asking for permission.
1523
01:23:37.359 --> 01:23:41.479
And it sounds like this has a bipartisan support. A
1524
01:23:41.520 --> 01:23:44.199
few people voted against it, but it looks like it's
1525
01:23:44.239 --> 01:23:45.319
a bipartisan thing.
1526
01:23:45.600 --> 01:23:46.880
What are you hearing?
1527
01:23:47.119 --> 01:23:49.199
I realized, they don't convince you, and they don't convince
1528
01:23:49.239 --> 01:23:53.279
me either. But what would be an argument against changing
1529
01:23:53.319 --> 01:23:56.439
the part of a law that the Supreme Court has
1530
01:23:56.479 --> 01:24:00.239
already ruled that an identical law is unconstitutional.
1531
01:24:00.600 --> 01:24:04.960
Because they feel like that this law didn't go as
1532
01:24:04.960 --> 01:24:07.600
far as the Colorado law, so they feel like it
1533
01:24:07.640 --> 01:24:08.760
should be fathered.
1534
01:24:08.399 --> 01:24:11.439
With the California law right or the California law right.
1535
01:24:11.720 --> 01:24:11.960
Yeah.
1536
01:24:12.800 --> 01:24:14.880
Interesting, Okay, So.
1537
01:24:16.279 --> 01:24:21.159
Isn't it remarkable that anybody ever said that, you know,
1538
01:24:21.199 --> 01:24:24.279
as long as there's farm workers on some agricultural property,
1539
01:24:24.600 --> 01:24:28.399
than anybody who is defined as a key service provider
1540
01:24:28.600 --> 01:24:30.760
can just go on to that property even if the
1541
01:24:30.760 --> 01:24:34.199
private even if the property owner doesn't doesn't want them there.
1542
01:24:34.720 --> 01:24:37.239
I mean, it does strike me it's pretty nuts to
1543
01:24:37.279 --> 01:24:37.720
begin with.
1544
01:24:39.000 --> 01:24:41.359
Well, and that was the biggest discussion about it. That
1545
01:24:41.439 --> 01:24:44.359
was the biggest problem with the bill in twenty one
1546
01:24:44.680 --> 01:24:48.159
was that exact part, because you know, they were entrenching
1547
01:24:48.239 --> 01:24:51.520
on private property rights and the fact that two weeks
1548
01:24:51.600 --> 01:24:55.279
after the bill assigned the Supreme Court ruled on that,
1549
01:24:55.640 --> 01:24:57.880
and it's taken us this long to get it fit,
1550
01:24:58.359 --> 01:25:02.960
and that to me is just crazy in itself. Ross
1551
01:25:03.039 --> 01:25:04.800
is that you should have fixed it right away.
1552
01:25:04.880 --> 01:25:09.640
Well, look, so I'm going to offer a slight correction.
1553
01:25:09.800 --> 01:25:11.199
We'll also agreeing with you.
1554
01:25:11.479 --> 01:25:15.399
The Supreme Court ruling in Cedar Point Nursery came out
1555
01:25:15.439 --> 01:25:20.199
two days before police signed the bill into law, so
1556
01:25:20.239 --> 01:25:22.520
he Polus already knew or should have known it was
1557
01:25:22.600 --> 01:25:26.760
unconstitutional and signed it anyway. But still the main point is, yeah,
1558
01:25:26.880 --> 01:25:30.760
signed in twenty twenty, it's been unconstitutional since it was
1559
01:25:30.920 --> 01:25:35.119
signed four years ago, and they're just getting into it now,
1560
01:25:35.159 --> 01:25:38.560
which is which is pretty nuts. Do you want to
1561
01:25:38.600 --> 01:25:40.159
add anything on that? Are you ready to move on
1562
01:25:40.199 --> 01:25:41.039
to the next stuff?
1563
01:25:42.079 --> 01:25:43.520
Now, let's move on to the next step.
1564
01:25:43.640 --> 01:25:46.159
Okay. One of the cool things, folks, if you go to.
1565
01:25:46.079 --> 01:25:50.680
The state Legislature's website at LEGLG dot Colorado dot gov,
1566
01:25:50.960 --> 01:25:54.600
you can look up state legislators and you can see
1567
01:25:54.600 --> 01:25:57.800
what bills they are sponsoring. So I want to ask
1568
01:25:57.880 --> 01:26:01.800
you quickly, Byron, about the top three bills on the
1569
01:26:01.840 --> 01:26:03.760
list for you. And I'm just going to.
1570
01:26:03.800 --> 01:26:06.159
Go from the bottom working up.
1571
01:26:07.119 --> 01:26:12.920
Senate bill on modifying Pea's board. I've talked about this
1572
01:26:13.039 --> 01:26:15.800
briefly on the show, but explain the issue and tell
1573
01:26:15.880 --> 01:26:18.760
us whether you think it's going to pass.
1574
01:26:19.239 --> 01:26:23.000
The fact that PARA is not transparent is a big deal.
1575
01:26:23.199 --> 01:26:26.119
That's what we're doing, is we're making sure that we
1576
01:26:26.520 --> 01:26:29.640
hold the board accountable to make sure that they have
1577
01:26:29.880 --> 01:26:32.000
term limits. Is an eight year or it's the two
1578
01:26:32.199 --> 01:26:36.119
four year terms, so they spend an entirety of eight years.
1579
01:26:36.399 --> 01:26:38.520
Then they have to sit out a term before they
1580
01:26:38.520 --> 01:26:41.520
could run again. But that's a big thing. And the
1581
01:26:41.560 --> 01:26:44.560
fact that they have to be transparent at the board
1582
01:26:44.640 --> 01:26:48.760
meetings to local government standards, which means they have to
1583
01:26:48.880 --> 01:26:52.000
post their agenda, they have to post stuff online, they
1584
01:26:52.079 --> 01:26:55.720
have to post their salary, who's making what, what's making
1585
01:26:55.760 --> 01:26:58.119
your learning that sort of thing, just like we did
1586
01:26:58.119 --> 01:27:02.279
in local government. I'm a former county missioner. Our citizens
1587
01:27:02.359 --> 01:27:04.960
kept us very honest and we had to be transparent,
1588
01:27:05.279 --> 01:27:07.800
and that's what needs to be with PARA too, especially
1589
01:27:07.880 --> 01:27:11.439
when we're talking about retirement benefits and that sort of thing.
1590
01:27:11.600 --> 01:27:14.960
Systems from me trying to tell my dad and trying
1591
01:27:14.960 --> 01:27:18.439
to figure out from the website what his payments were
1592
01:27:18.439 --> 01:27:20.439
going to be to be a seventy two year old
1593
01:27:20.800 --> 01:27:23.439
go have a school bus for thirty five years. Single parent.
1594
01:27:23.560 --> 01:27:25.800
Dad took care of me and my brother, and he
1595
01:27:25.920 --> 01:27:29.159
deserves those retirement business that's and he deserves to know
1596
01:27:29.760 --> 01:27:30.399
what they are.
1597
01:27:30.880 --> 01:27:33.880
On the Colorado General Assembly website, I see you listed
1598
01:27:33.920 --> 01:27:37.319
as the primary sponsor, and it looks like the second
1599
01:27:37.359 --> 01:27:39.760
sponsor is a Democrat, which makes me think this thing
1600
01:27:39.800 --> 01:27:41.039
has a chance of passing.
1601
01:27:41.520 --> 01:27:42.359
How is that looking?
1602
01:27:43.640 --> 01:27:46.920
Yeah, we so far, every single one of the committees
1603
01:27:46.920 --> 01:27:50.640
we venture it's been unanimous because everybody hear at the
1604
01:27:51.199 --> 01:27:53.640
and I have to tell you, Ross Para did do
1605
01:27:53.680 --> 01:27:56.239
a really good job. They did work with us because
1606
01:27:56.279 --> 01:27:58.399
they know that they have some problems as well when
1607
01:27:58.439 --> 01:28:01.800
it comes to perception and transparency. So they did work
1608
01:28:01.840 --> 01:28:05.640
with us to make sure that I'm not saying that
1609
01:28:05.680 --> 01:28:08.800
they like everything, but they did concede to a lot.
1610
01:28:08.680 --> 01:28:09.199
Of the stuff.
1611
01:28:09.439 --> 01:28:11.239
Very good. I'm glad. I'm glad to hear that.
1612
01:28:11.279 --> 01:28:14.960
I don't want to bash them if they are being cooperative,
1613
01:28:15.000 --> 01:28:17.760
and I agree with you completely that there's a real issue.
1614
01:28:17.760 --> 01:28:21.880
I remember when Walker Stapleton was state treasurer and on
1615
01:28:21.960 --> 01:28:24.800
the PARA board and trying to find out certain kinds
1616
01:28:24.840 --> 01:28:27.640
of information about the investments that Peril was holding and
1617
01:28:27.680 --> 01:28:30.359
said he couldn't find out, and he was state treasurer
1618
01:28:30.399 --> 01:28:32.680
and on the board. So as you know, there's been
1619
01:28:32.680 --> 01:28:34.279
a problem for a long time because that's.
1620
01:28:34.119 --> 01:28:35.560
Ancient history for a lot of people.
1621
01:28:35.640 --> 01:28:37.760
All right, let's move on to a couple other bills
1622
01:28:38.560 --> 01:28:42.199
you are you are sponsoring. Let me do this one
1623
01:28:42.760 --> 01:28:47.960
claims against construction professionals. So is this the construction defect
1624
01:28:48.000 --> 01:28:48.720
reform bill?
1625
01:28:50.319 --> 01:28:54.079
It's kind of the construction defector fon. What happened was
1626
01:28:54.159 --> 01:28:58.039
is that the Colorado o'd Hills Court ruled in Applebee
1627
01:28:58.119 --> 01:29:02.600
versus dots. I think it's DOSSI suit suit Key structural engineers.
1628
01:29:03.239 --> 01:29:09.520
And what they did is they they maybe it how
1629
01:29:09.520 --> 01:29:15.000
should I put it? They held independent dudio care is
1630
01:29:15.079 --> 01:29:19.880
owned only to the subsequent purchasers and not the first homeowners.
1631
01:29:20.359 --> 01:29:23.079
So we have to and they asked for the legislators
1632
01:29:23.520 --> 01:29:27.119
to clarify that in statute. So that is what we're
1633
01:29:27.119 --> 01:29:30.199
trying to do here, because we're trying to clarify the
1634
01:29:30.239 --> 01:29:34.199
construction professionals all and independent duty of care to both
1635
01:29:34.239 --> 01:29:38.039
the original and subsequent residential home purchasers.
1636
01:29:38.119 --> 01:29:40.880
Okay, so that's out of the This is kind.
1637
01:29:40.680 --> 01:29:44.520
Of an olive branch ross to to the to the
1638
01:29:44.520 --> 01:29:47.039
construction defects bills that are going on in the House
1639
01:29:47.119 --> 01:29:50.640
right now. And here we're working this one out. Let's
1640
01:29:50.640 --> 01:29:53.439
see if we can work that other stuff out as well.
1641
01:29:53.760 --> 01:29:57.600
Okay, so the bigger bill about construction defect reform is
1642
01:29:57.640 --> 01:29:59.520
starting in the House, and you started this one in
1643
01:29:59.520 --> 01:29:59.960
the Senate.
1644
01:30:01.079 --> 01:30:03.319
That's correct, Yeah, okay, And.
1645
01:30:03.239 --> 01:30:05.920
Do you expect that the bigger construction defect bill will
1646
01:30:06.159 --> 01:30:08.479
will go anywhere? Obviously the state has a huge problem
1647
01:30:08.479 --> 01:30:11.960
and this needs to be reformed. But those trial attorneys
1648
01:30:12.760 --> 01:30:15.800
have almost as much control over Democrats as the teachers
1649
01:30:15.880 --> 01:30:16.319
unions do.
1650
01:30:17.760 --> 01:30:20.119
I would would I would agree with that. I will
1651
01:30:20.159 --> 01:30:23.279
say that I worked I work in construction. I've worked
1652
01:30:23.279 --> 01:30:25.920
in construction for twenty eight years, and we were putting
1653
01:30:26.000 --> 01:30:29.000
up condos like crazy in the early nineties, and then
1654
01:30:29.039 --> 01:30:31.760
all of a sudden they just dried up, and I
1655
01:30:31.840 --> 01:30:33.800
wondered what it was. And now that I know the
1656
01:30:33.880 --> 01:30:36.720
history of construction defects are farm now I know exactly
1657
01:30:36.760 --> 01:30:39.159
what it was when they changed all the laws, and
1658
01:30:39.720 --> 01:30:42.199
I would agree with you. I mean, last year, the
1659
01:30:42.239 --> 01:30:47.359
construction defects. Debate was long and arduous, and we do
1660
01:30:47.479 --> 01:30:49.840
need to walk a fine line here where people need
1661
01:30:49.880 --> 01:30:52.960
to be held accountable for bad construction work, because you know,
1662
01:30:53.359 --> 01:30:57.000
there's bad actors out there, but not everybody's bad actors.
1663
01:30:57.239 --> 01:31:00.760
You know, not everybody is. So you just need to
1664
01:31:00.760 --> 01:31:03.159
walk a fine line where we can find the perfect
1665
01:31:03.159 --> 01:31:06.279
balance of making sure that we can still build these homes,
1666
01:31:06.279 --> 01:31:10.119
where it's not too cost prohibitive, and people can still
1667
01:31:10.199 --> 01:31:12.960
hold the other people accountable for bad and shotty work.
1668
01:31:13.359 --> 01:31:17.800
We're talking with State Senator Byron Pelton represents Colorado State
1669
01:31:17.880 --> 01:31:22.279
Senate District one that includes much of Weld County, as
1670
01:31:22.319 --> 01:31:26.239
well as Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, and youba Ema Counties.
1671
01:31:26.560 --> 01:31:29.800
He's also the minority Caucus chair for the Republicans.
1672
01:31:29.520 --> 01:31:32.079
In the state Senate. Okay, one more.
1673
01:31:31.920 --> 01:31:35.399
Bill with you, And this one comes clearly from your
1674
01:31:35.399 --> 01:31:37.319
own personal experience, and it's.
1675
01:31:37.119 --> 01:31:38.399
Not something I would have thought of.
1676
01:31:39.000 --> 01:31:41.279
And you've got a bill, Senate Bill one sixty five
1677
01:31:41.640 --> 01:31:47.119
about licensure of electricians. So tell us why you care
1678
01:31:47.439 --> 01:31:48.840
and then tell us what's in this bill.
1679
01:31:50.279 --> 01:31:53.119
Well, part of the reason is is two years ago
1680
01:31:53.239 --> 01:31:56.560
I had an email from the Independent Electrical Contractors and said, hey,
1681
01:31:57.000 --> 01:31:59.239
if there's anybody looking for work, please go up to
1682
01:31:59.279 --> 01:32:02.399
the Lestern Slow because there's not enough people to wire
1683
01:32:02.479 --> 01:32:05.680
in solar panels over there. So we came up with
1684
01:32:05.720 --> 01:32:08.960
an idea to say, well, if the solar panel technicians
1685
01:32:08.960 --> 01:32:11.439
are doing the same work that we're doing, why don't
1686
01:32:11.439 --> 01:32:14.279
we get them licensed so then that way they can
1687
01:32:14.399 --> 01:32:16.640
go ahead and wire up their own stuff because there's
1688
01:32:16.680 --> 01:32:19.800
not enough of us electricians to go around to wire
1689
01:32:20.000 --> 01:32:23.600
every single one of those solar panels that are going
1690
01:32:23.640 --> 01:32:26.399
on top of homes. That's the big that's the big
1691
01:32:26.439 --> 01:32:29.159
crux of it. And you know it's it's going to
1692
01:32:29.279 --> 01:32:33.039
be creating more jobs in the state of Colorado, and
1693
01:32:33.079 --> 01:32:34.960
that was one of the things that we wanted to do.
1694
01:32:35.279 --> 01:32:38.159
And I don't I don't care for green energy rock.
1695
01:32:38.239 --> 01:32:40.279
I'm not a big big fan of it. But if
1696
01:32:40.279 --> 01:32:42.800
it's here, we might as well get these people licensed
1697
01:32:43.079 --> 01:32:46.279
so they can just keep working away and and and
1698
01:32:46.399 --> 01:32:48.760
have good jobs when they do it. So that's why
1699
01:32:49.000 --> 01:32:49.840
that's why we did it.
1700
01:32:49.880 --> 01:32:52.119
Okay, and you're an electrician by training.
1701
01:32:53.079 --> 01:32:56.039
Yeah, I'm a mass electrician. I served three years in
1702
01:32:56.119 --> 01:32:58.960
the military where I was electrician mate on a ship,
1703
01:32:59.479 --> 01:33:02.600
and then after that I wired houses up in the
1704
01:33:02.920 --> 01:33:06.159
Ruineforts Valley for fifteen years, and then I moved down
1705
01:33:06.199 --> 01:33:09.199
to the Eastern Planes and been working out there ever since.
1706
01:33:09.239 --> 01:33:10.800
It was a massive electrician all.
1707
01:33:10.760 --> 01:33:14.640
Right, And I'm going to try to overly simplify your bill,
1708
01:33:14.720 --> 01:33:16.319
but I just want to make sure I'm getting the
1709
01:33:16.359 --> 01:33:18.680
gist of it. It seems to me what you're saying
1710
01:33:18.960 --> 01:33:22.600
is that people who are doing the kinds.
1711
01:33:22.239 --> 01:33:24.920
Of work that electricians.
1712
01:33:24.119 --> 01:33:28.479
Would normally be doing, like wiring up solar panels that
1713
01:33:28.560 --> 01:33:32.479
don't require an electricians license, necessarily should be able to
1714
01:33:32.520 --> 01:33:36.520
get credit for that kind of work toward getting an
1715
01:33:36.560 --> 01:33:37.760
electricians license.
1716
01:33:37.840 --> 01:33:38.319
Is that right?
1717
01:33:39.479 --> 01:33:41.800
That is correct? That is exactly what it's going to
1718
01:33:41.840 --> 01:33:42.159
be doing.
1719
01:33:42.840 --> 01:33:47.880
Okay, My last question for you is do you have
1720
01:33:48.159 --> 01:33:53.000
any knowledge or opinion that you want to share with
1721
01:33:53.119 --> 01:33:57.680
us as to whether Senate Bill three, the anti gun bill,
1722
01:33:58.319 --> 01:34:01.840
is likely to become I realize it looks like it's
1723
01:34:01.880 --> 01:34:04.159
finished the Senate. It's over in the House now, so
1724
01:34:04.279 --> 01:34:06.399
you may be less in touch with that. But are
1725
01:34:06.399 --> 01:34:07.279
you hearing anything?
1726
01:34:08.600 --> 01:34:11.560
Well, what I'm hearing is that they're working on amendments
1727
01:34:11.640 --> 01:34:15.680
to bring up to the to the committee. I think
1728
01:34:16.119 --> 01:34:20.520
it's this week if I remember right, and and I
1729
01:34:20.560 --> 01:34:24.159
think it will become law. It's it's ridiculous because I
1730
01:34:24.199 --> 01:34:27.560
don't know how it becomes law with all the money
1731
01:34:27.600 --> 01:34:31.399
that they're going to be spending in CPW to have
1732
01:34:31.520 --> 01:34:34.479
to get a license to buy a gun. You know,
1733
01:34:34.560 --> 01:34:37.039
I don't have to get a license to speak free speech,
1734
01:34:37.079 --> 01:34:39.279
and I don't have to get a license to to
1735
01:34:39.359 --> 01:34:43.920
make sure that nobody enters my domain without a warrant.
1736
01:34:44.000 --> 01:34:46.880
And I mean, I just it's just pretty frustrating. But
1737
01:34:46.920 --> 01:34:49.119
I think it will. I think it has a good
1738
01:34:49.239 --> 01:34:50.319
chance of becoming law.
1739
01:34:50.479 --> 01:34:53.359
Ross I'll say I have I have lots and lots
1740
01:34:53.399 --> 01:34:57.399
of problems with that bill. One of my biggest problems
1741
01:34:57.439 --> 01:35:00.479
with it is that in the process of having to
1742
01:35:00.520 --> 01:35:03.399
ask permission, you have to ask the sheriff for the
1743
01:35:03.399 --> 01:35:05.640
sheriff to give you permission to take the class that
1744
01:35:05.680 --> 01:35:07.159
you need to take to be able to buy the gun,
1745
01:35:07.439 --> 01:35:10.920
and the sheriff can refuse to give you that permission
1746
01:35:11.399 --> 01:35:17.279
if the sheriff believes that your past behavior makes you
1747
01:35:17.319 --> 01:35:19.399
potentially a risk in the future, even if you were
1748
01:35:19.399 --> 01:35:22.560
never convicted of anything, and that troubles me a lot.
1749
01:35:24.000 --> 01:35:26.279
That troubles me a lot too. I don't think you
1750
01:35:26.279 --> 01:35:30.279
should have to ask permission to exercise your rights. I
1751
01:35:30.399 --> 01:35:33.039
have a big I have. I'm really hoping that this
1752
01:35:33.199 --> 01:35:36.560
reachable Supreme Court and they strike it down because I
1753
01:35:36.560 --> 01:35:38.399
don't think you should be able to have to ask
1754
01:35:38.439 --> 01:35:42.640
permission anywhere to exercise your rights.
1755
01:35:43.079 --> 01:35:46.800
State Senator Byron Pelton, Senate District one, Minority Caucus Chair
1756
01:35:46.840 --> 01:35:49.079
for Republicans in the Colorado State Senate. Good to talk
1757
01:35:49.079 --> 01:35:50.439
to you, Thanks for your time.
1758
01:35:51.159 --> 01:35:52.960
Thank you, Ross, and sorry, we'll be able to make
1759
01:35:53.000 --> 01:35:53.520
it down there.
1760
01:35:54.039 --> 01:35:55.960
That's okay, Join me in studio next time.
1761
01:35:57.119 --> 01:35:58.079
All right, sound good?
1762
01:35:58.119 --> 01:35:58.479
All right?
1763
01:35:58.520 --> 01:36:01.760
Thanks Byron. Okay, very good. I'm gonna switch gears and
1764
01:36:02.239 --> 01:36:02.880
do something.
1765
01:36:02.920 --> 01:36:05.640
You know. I've done some politics, I've done some economics,
1766
01:36:05.640 --> 01:36:07.680
I've done some war. I've done some sad stories.
1767
01:36:08.159 --> 01:36:12.680
I'm gonna do another human interest story that is not sad,
1768
01:36:12.840 --> 01:36:15.039
even though it is about a guy who recently passed away.
1769
01:36:15.039 --> 01:36:17.479
I promise you it's not a sad story. It's actually
1770
01:36:17.479 --> 01:36:20.279
a fascinating story. And I first heard it I was
1771
01:36:20.520 --> 01:36:23.720
when I was listening to BBC News, and then I
1772
01:36:23.760 --> 01:36:26.319
went to read about this guy's actually from Australia. His
1773
01:36:26.399 --> 01:36:31.039
name is his name is James Harrison, and he passed
1774
01:36:31.039 --> 01:36:34.039
away at the age of eighty eight. But it's a remarkable,
1775
01:36:34.399 --> 01:36:38.159
really remarkable story. He's often referred to as the man
1776
01:36:38.239 --> 01:36:39.560
with the Golden Arm.
1777
01:36:40.800 --> 01:36:44.439
And so apparently this guy, when.
1778
01:36:44.239 --> 01:36:49.199
He was young, like fourteen, had some major surgery. It
1779
01:36:49.239 --> 01:36:52.800
was either lung removal or lung transplant, whichever it was.
1780
01:36:52.840 --> 01:36:56.399
He had this major surgery and it required him to
1781
01:36:56.439 --> 01:37:00.359
get lots and lots of transfusions. And people think that
1782
01:37:00.439 --> 01:37:06.239
those transfusions changed his body, so that it changed the
1783
01:37:06.319 --> 01:37:09.920
kind of blood his own body made. And there's only
1784
01:37:10.319 --> 01:37:14.119
a few people, a relatively small number of people whose
1785
01:37:14.800 --> 01:37:20.560
blood includes something called anti D. And it's not vitamin D.
1786
01:37:21.319 --> 01:37:24.640
It's it's it's a particular kind of protein. Now, why
1787
01:37:24.680 --> 01:37:30.199
does this become a thing. On rare occasion, a woman
1788
01:37:30.359 --> 01:37:35.159
can have, uh, be pregnant, have a fetus in her
1789
01:37:35.800 --> 01:37:38.920
and the in terms of blood type, you know, we
1790
01:37:39.000 --> 01:37:42.239
talk about you know, be positive or a negative, so
1791
01:37:42.279 --> 01:37:47.279
that positive or negative represents a particular aspect of blood.
1792
01:37:47.319 --> 01:37:51.960
The reesis marker and that I guess it is sometimes
1793
01:37:51.960 --> 01:37:54.840
called D. Actually in the in the literature.
1794
01:37:54.880 --> 01:38:02.560
Now, if the if the mom is a positive and
1795
01:38:03.279 --> 01:38:08.560
the fetus is a negative, you can get a situation
1796
01:38:08.920 --> 01:38:13.880
where the mom's body starts attacking the infant the fetus
1797
01:38:14.159 --> 01:38:19.880
and can kill the fetus unless the mom gets blood
1798
01:38:20.159 --> 01:38:25.520
that has this antid that stops the chemicals from the
1799
01:38:25.560 --> 01:38:29.079
mom's body that would be attacking the baby. Not very
1800
01:38:29.079 --> 01:38:33.560
many people's blood produces this anti d but this guy,
1801
01:38:34.000 --> 01:38:40.039
James Harrison, his body did, and he donated blood from
1802
01:38:40.079 --> 01:38:43.199
the time he was a teenager until the time he
1803
01:38:43.279 --> 01:38:45.760
passed away recently at the age of eighty eight. He
1804
01:38:45.920 --> 01:38:51.279
donated blood every two weeks, every two weeks for over
1805
01:38:51.439 --> 01:38:57.800
seventy years, and he is credited because of these blood
1806
01:38:57.840 --> 01:39:02.039
donations with having saved the lives of more than two
1807
01:39:02.760 --> 01:39:09.000
million babies. It is just a remarkable, remarkable story. Over
1808
01:39:09.039 --> 01:39:15.000
two million babies by donating blood more than eleven hundred times.
1809
01:39:15.279 --> 01:39:19.359
If you can imagine that, Hi, Mandy, Hello, what's up
1810
01:39:19.399 --> 01:39:20.119
with the sport coat?
1811
01:39:22.279 --> 01:39:24.079
I put on a short sleeve shirt and I was like, Eh,
1812
01:39:24.119 --> 01:39:26.359
it's a little chili outside short sleeve shirt.
1813
01:39:26.359 --> 01:39:29.199
So this is my hedge, my head against the chill.
1814
01:39:29.840 --> 01:39:31.960
Are you trying to look like a college professor do
1815
01:39:32.119 --> 01:39:33.359
I I don't have patches.
1816
01:39:33.079 --> 01:39:33.680
On my elbows.
1817
01:39:34.319 --> 01:39:36.520
That's all you're missing, I know, but you know, that
1818
01:39:36.680 --> 01:39:37.239
was the weekend.
1819
01:39:37.520 --> 01:39:39.439
It was fantastic. I flew to date No High and
1820
01:39:39.479 --> 01:39:42.520
spent it with my grandad. Nice say Thisyeah, everything you've
1821
01:39:42.560 --> 01:39:46.560
heard about grandchildren being superior to your actual children, ndred
1822
01:39:46.560 --> 01:39:50.760
per accurate. No, there's not even any comparison. And I
1823
01:39:50.840 --> 01:39:53.319
happen to have two of the sweetest grandsons in the
1824
01:39:53.359 --> 01:39:54.399
history of grandsons.
1825
01:39:54.439 --> 01:39:57.000
And we had the best time for two days.
1826
01:39:57.239 --> 01:40:00.840
We bought guns that shoot with big noises, cake pops.
1827
01:40:00.960 --> 01:40:02.880
It was just a wonderful weekend.
1828
01:40:03.319 --> 01:40:04.319
That's fantastic.
1829
01:40:04.479 --> 01:40:08.319
I saw a Pinewood Derby, you know with the little cars. Yeah,
1830
01:40:08.359 --> 01:40:09.960
we did that. It was a great weekend.
1831
01:40:10.439 --> 01:40:12.560
How old are the grandkids who are over there are.
1832
01:40:12.600 --> 01:40:15.079
Eight and about to turn seven this weekend?
1833
01:40:15.159 --> 01:40:17.680
Fabulous ages, I know so much.
1834
01:40:17.800 --> 01:40:20.960
First, I trust me on that that has never had
1835
01:40:21.039 --> 01:40:22.079
true words been spoken.
1836
01:40:22.119 --> 01:40:22.960
What do you got coming up?
1837
01:40:23.359 --> 01:40:25.520
We're gonna do well. First of all, I'm an idiot.
1838
01:40:25.640 --> 01:40:28.079
I thought today my show was preempted at twelve thirty
1839
01:40:28.079 --> 01:40:30.199
because of CU basketball, when it's just preempted at too
1840
01:40:30.359 --> 01:40:32.000
rot Oh, so we're gonna.
1841
01:40:31.840 --> 01:40:32.880
Talk a little bit I have.
1842
01:40:33.159 --> 01:40:34.359
You're going to make it up as you go along.
1843
01:40:34.479 --> 01:40:34.640
Yeah.
1844
01:40:34.640 --> 01:40:37.119
I had a couple of interesting conversations with younger people
1845
01:40:37.199 --> 01:40:40.680
who are not Trump fans over the weekend, and the
1846
01:40:40.680 --> 01:40:46.640
things that they believe are sometimes stunningly wrong, and it's
1847
01:40:46.720 --> 01:40:49.840
kind of interesting to know that they are holding these
1848
01:40:50.000 --> 01:40:55.199
deeply held beliefs that are simply inaccurate. Like the Trump
1849
01:40:55.479 --> 01:40:58.319
They all think that Trump tax cuts only benefited millionaires
1850
01:40:58.359 --> 01:41:00.560
and millionaire right, So I said them the tax rates.
1851
01:41:01.479 --> 01:41:02.159
I was like, here you go.
1852
01:41:02.239 --> 01:41:04.159
I'm sure you guys are all smart. You want to
1853
01:41:04.199 --> 01:41:06.640
know the answer. Here's the tax rates before and after.
1854
01:41:07.239 --> 01:41:10.199
And it's undeniable who they benefit, which is pretty much everyone.
1855
01:41:10.319 --> 01:41:12.239
There's only two brackets that have got no help at all.
1856
01:41:12.520 --> 01:41:17.239
Mine well, and actually many people in higher brackets did
1857
01:41:17.279 --> 01:41:20.239
get a break unless they lived in high tax states
1858
01:41:20.239 --> 01:41:26.399
and then they can't deduct the Alright, we're late already, everybody.
1859
01:41:26.479 --> 01:41:28.760
Stick around for Mandy's fabulous stuff and things.