WEBVTT
00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:04.719
Hey everybody, this is Only Dad's Podcast coming to you on a Sunday, August 9th.
00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:06.400
We got a few topics for you today.
00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:08.720
It's gonna be a good show, so strap in.
00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:16.719
Uh, I think we're gonna start off with the confirmation hearing of attorney general confirmed Todd Blanch.
00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:28.800
Uh, it was he was confirmed yesterday, and a 50 to 49 vote with uh Senator Susan Collins and Alisa Mikowski voting with the Democrats against his confirmation.
00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:41.039
And uh this is you know kind of part of the course once those Republican holdouts came out and were against them because you know there's no degree of separation.
00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:44.479
You you want a degree of separation between your attorney general and the president.
00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:46.159
And why is this controversial?
00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:53.039
Because Todd Blanch was the president's uh former criminal defense attorney, his personal attorney.
00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:58.799
And now you have him coming in and doing the job of an attorney general.
00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:04.640
And we know Pam Bani had that position, but then she got booted out, and now he's consentant confirmed.
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:08.000
Uh Ricky, kind of what are your thoughts on the controversy surrounding it?
00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:09.359
And do you think he's qualified?
00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:10.400
All that jazz.
00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.959
Well, to kind of tie in what we talked about last time, Mitch McConnell didn't vote.
00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:16.239
He wasn't present.
00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.439
So that's an interesting thing because it's not getting better.
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:30.079
Um, and you know, this is a big, you know, let's say, you know, maybe they waited to put the votes off until they knew that they had uh enough, even in the absence of Mitch McConnell.
00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:31.359
But that's a separate topic.
00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:40.480
But it's just interesting that like it's not going away, it's not getting better, um, especially something that's as important to the president as getting his personal defense attorney.
00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:49.439
With that being said, you know, I mean, come on, like it's just like complete impropriety, you know, a defense attorney, it's like it might as well be Giuliani, you know what I mean?
00:01:49.519 --> 00:02:02.000
Like, it's just like people that are on his side, and now, you know, for those of y'all that may not be like too in the weeds of this stuff, an attorney general is supposed to represent the country in terms of prosecuting people.
00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:14.800
So, like, you know, states have it, they're the you know, um uh the solicitor general's office, uh and you know, the attorney generals as well are supposed to be represented the country as a whole.
00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:22.240
So, like when you think about the FBI investigating people, it's gonna be the attorney generals that are gonna be the lawyers prosecuting those people.
00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:35.520
So now you have an individual who was the president's you know, for all intents and purposes, like his fucking you know, little lackey now doing the job that is supposed to be supporting the whole country.
00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:42.960
And the reason why that's crazy is because you have uh uh the uh the a justice department.
00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:54.479
So when I say justice department, I mean the DOJ, I mean uh the FBI, the CIA, all these agencies that are going to be doing his bidding, and now the top official is his.
00:02:54.560 --> 00:03:06.960
Now Pam Bondy had some interesting connections as well, but hers I think were just a little bit more a couple a couple degrees of separation where Todd Blanch just doesn't have it, so he knows where all the skeletons are buried, Todd Blanch.
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.639
And so maybe that's why you know fucking Trump wants him in there.
00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.759
He's like, Hey man, if I go down, you go down, you know everything, you know.
00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:19.680
So like and some notable cases that Todd Blanch represented Trump on was the 2020 election interference case.
00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:21.120
Jeez, okay, that makes sense.
00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:25.919
And and that was you know related to the efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.
00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:31.680
We were all meant that that recording Brad Raffensberger find, you know, 15,000 votes.
00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:35.360
Yeah, and then another one was the classified documents case.
00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:44.479
He represented Trump on what federal charges were brought against Trump by documents in Mar a Lago concerning the illegal retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:49.919
We know we saw the video of those white boxes, that guy moving those white boxes to different rooms.
00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:53.599
Because when he got out of once you leave the government, you're no longer president.
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:59.360
Then you know that that those records are the government's property, you know, that's the people's property, not your personal property.
00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:01.840
And then the New York hush money trial.
00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:11.439
Uh Blanche led Trump's defense in New York State on the alleged mush honey payments and the conviction, which he got convicted of on 34 felony counts.
00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:15.039
So those are some notable cases that Blanche represented Trump on.
00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:33.680
What's what's crazy to me is like, you know, you have this officer of the government who's gonna have just tremendous power, and you have this person who very clearly is in not necessarily in the pocket of the president, but just like so close.
00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:40.079
Like it just removes all non-partisanship from that from that department, from that agency.
00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:51.439
And so, you know, he's gonna go after if he wasn't already, and I'm sure he is already, but if he wasn't already being blatant about going after his political opponents, he's gonna absolutely do that because that's what this person does, the prosecuting attorney.
00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:53.439
They're gonna be going after whoever.
00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:09.279
And it makes sense that you know, if I'm Trump, I'm thinking, okay, I'm gonna go after election interference, I'm gonna use Todd Blanche here, but he's up to speed on the cases, and I'm gonna go after and prosecute the people who I believe erroneously were involved in election fraud.
00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:13.519
And so that that's gonna be crazy for Atlanta because that's been a hot topic for him.
00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:25.279
Is there in Georgia, you know, Tulsa Gabbard was here, I think, a year ago, uh, serving a subpoena to collect these ballot uh information, voter uh voter registration information and full.
00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:27.439
The head of agency had no business on the internet.
00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:29.519
Makes no sense exactly.
00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:30.959
You degrees separating.
00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:34.879
But our next topic, guys, is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool case.
00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:52.000
You know, we remember that the Trump administration said that former Olympic canoeist David Hearn had cut the pool liner, but uh come to find out, prosecutors later said evidence pointed to shoddy rush contractor work, and this was under a no-bid renovation deal, and it wasn't sabotage.
00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:56.879
The Justice Department dropped the case, and Janine Pierrot, the U.S.
00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:00.079
attorney at the time, filed to dismiss the case.
00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:07.600
And you know, Trump was being in the drum of this was about somebody coming in, cutting the pool liner.
00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:13.759
That's why you had some National Guard stationed outside arresting people if they touched the pool liner, they touched the pool, everything.
00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:27.360
And Trump talked about how under previous administration it was just a disgrace that this pool wasn't water wasn't blue, and that just comes from ignorance on his part because that's just you know, that's not how water works.
00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:32.399
And so instead of bidding uh this contract out for everybody, and that's how government works.
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:54.160
You're supposed to, you know, you're supposed to bid it out, and then then you pick the person who wins, and you sometimes you get sealed bids, and then we happen in gut county government all the time and city government, where we'll we've put sealed bids, we'll get all the bids, and they literally can open them till we all open them at the same time, and then we open them and we look at them, and it's usually an executive session.
00:06:54.560 --> 00:07:01.360
And so when you have these contracts, they're supposed to be bidded out on the government website, and everybody can do it, and it wasn't done.
00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:05.680
And be because of that, it showed this guy didn't know what he was doing.
00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:16.160
This and keep in mind, this guy was another one of personals, Trump's guy who rented who was in charge of maintaining his pool at his golf course resort, Mar-a-Lago.
00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:23.040
And it just goes show this guy, it was in over his head, he didn't know what he was doing, but he's like, Oh, maybe get this money from the government.
00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:26.319
This is taxpayer money, this is millions of dollars, this wasn't cheap.
00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:36.639
And so now there's taxpayers are out millions of dollars, and we're left with the empty drain pool that looks like worse than it was before they messed with it.
00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:48.399
Yeah, contractors are weird because you know, you have more experience than me on this whole like bidding stuff, but excuse me.
00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:59.439
Uh, I have a little bit of experience working with contractors and buddy and you know, growing up and stuff, but the way to make money is by doing the work as cheaply as possible, right?
00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:03.199
And then getting paid the most, and whatever the difference is, they keep it.
00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:06.240
And so, not that that's bad, like that's obviously that's just business.
00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:09.600
You know, you gotta sell things for cheaper than what you you know for more than once you buy it.
00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:23.839
And so the problem is when you have somebody who is like a known shyster like Trump, a known person who is just kind of like always getting one over on people and takes pride in that, like, oh, that's business and that's the deal, or whatever.
00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:29.360
And then you get someone that's again like loyal to him, somebody who's been in and around him, rubbing elbows with them.
00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:34.320
Oh, he takes care of my pool, like he probably subcontracts that out, you know what I mean?
00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.639
And then he'll just like take credit for it and get the money for it and get the difference.
00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:52.799
Um, but then when it comes to like a real project, something that is seemingly on its face, the same, water and water, but very clearly different, you know, because of the way it's treated and just the sheer scale of it and the depth of it.
00:08:52.960 --> 00:09:00.240
Uh, the filtration system I'm assuming is completely fucking different because it's a pool versus a standing, you know, little baby pond kind of thing.
00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:04.480
Um it's just yeah, it just makes sense that he's just like, oh, I can of course I could do this.
00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:06.080
What it's all the same, it's a pool.
00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:07.840
And it's like, but it's fucking not though.
00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:12.399
Like you're not an expert, you're not competent, you're loyal, and that's the issue.
00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:22.159
I think that that's gonna be remaining with the Trump legacy, at least the second one, is loyalty is the new competence for him.
00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.879
He doesn't really care if you're competent, he just cares if you're loyal.
00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:26.720
See Todd Blanche, you know what I mean?
00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:30.080
Like he doesn't care if you're good or not, he just are you gonna be loyal to me, you know.
00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.279
And that's for all these other people, fucking RFK.
00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:40.879
Um, you know, you could you may have different uh opinions on him or whatever, but very clearly he's towing the line of what Trump wants, right?
00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:47.200
Uh and it goes for all his uh candidacy, cash patel, very clearly not competent, but he's loyal.
00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:53.519
He literally wrote a book about you know calling Trump a king before he was elected or before he was appointed as the director of FBI.
00:09:53.759 --> 00:10:05.120
And again, that's just a that's the new that's the new uh nepotism where it's like nepotism or DEI or whatever you want to call it, where it's like where the merits don't matter.
00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:10.559
And you know, I know a lot of Republican friends that I have uh are annoyed with the DAI stuff.
00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.600
Okay, cool, but like is nepotism any better?
00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.159
Is loyalty hires any better?
00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:21.519
Like we're getting away from competence and we're looking at things that shouldn't fucking matter, but they do.
00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:27.519
And yeah, I just see this as like a disgusting kind of uh loyalty hire.
00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:36.240
And so I'm gonna I'm gonna hit on those points, but the first point I want to hit on what you said was the uh the contracts.
00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:38.080
So, you know, and it and it's how it is.
00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:39.759
So, like that's a good question to ask.
00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:50.240
If you're in a city setting and you're gonna award a contract to a contractor, you a good question to ask is well, are you gonna do the work yourself or are you just gonna subcontract this workout?
00:10:50.320 --> 00:11:03.759
Dude, not nine times out of ten, they're gonna subcontract the workout, and they're not even gonna do it, they're gonna take the money off the top, 20%, whatever the hell off the top, and then bid it and bid it and bid it down to their friends and give it so a subcontract's gonna do the work.
00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:14.080
And by the time you know it's it gets whittled down, it starts, you know, a big piece of bread gets whittled down to a little piece of bread, and then everybody makes money on the top of the way, yeah, every step of the way.
00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:17.440
And that's just kind of on Trump on on contractors.
00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:37.120
But you know, you bring up a good point on the uh the D the DEI hire, and we the way we talk about qualifications because you know, whenever a woman or person of color, like in a proposition like Itanji Brown Jackson, despite having an extraordinary legal resume and serving as a federal judge before being appointed to the Supreme Court, they said that she was a DEI hire.
00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:38.960
Immediately, that was the first thing they said about her.
00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:42.159
That's the first thing they said, and then we you know, look what we're talking about today.
00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:49.360
Todd Blanch went from being Donald Trump's personal criminal defense attorney to being nominated for one of the most powerful positions in the Justice Department.
00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:57.919
And you have the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pulse situation where no bid contract was awarded and the work itself became part of the major controversy.
00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:16.000
So maybe we need to rethink what we mean when we question whether somebody has got a job based on merit, because somehow DEI hire became a phrase reserved for minorities of women, where while political connections, personal loyalty, and no bid contracts don't seem to generate the same outrage.
00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:19.679
If we're serious about merit, then let's be serious about merit across the board.
00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:26.159
Don't question qualifications because of the race or gender, while given the political connections and favoritism of free pass.
00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:27.519
Absolutely, man.
00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:28.720
You you perfect.
00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:29.200
That's it.
00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:30.000
That's the analogy.
00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:42.159
And the reason I bring it up with the EI thing is because you know, I think that's one of the more visceral things that the Republicans, not all Republicans, but like the MAGA type, like they get very passionate about that, right?
00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:43.519
And maybe they should be.
00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:44.399
Like, that's just their opinion.
00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:48.159
It's America, you can't have your opinions, but like let's keep that same energy for this other stuff.
00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:56.399
Like, if you're gonna go to a barber and this person's giving you a haircut, and he only got that job because the dad's the barber, are you gonna trust that dude to give you a haircut?
00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:58.000
You know, unless it's good.
00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:00.480
If the merit's there, if he could do it, I'll say awesome dude.
00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:00.799
Good for you.
00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.039
You probably learned from your dad, you know, all those good things.
00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:04.320
But let's do the merit.
00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:09.440
And in the situation of Todd Blanche and of this pool reflecting thing, especially, it's too late.
00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:10.480
We know the merit's not there.
00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:11.679
Cash for tell, same thing.
00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:12.720
We know the merit's not there.
00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:16.799
So you can't lie to us and say, like, oh, you know, they're they're the best person for the job.
00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:17.600
No, man.
00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:20.159
Like, we know this, you know, we we can see this.
00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:22.000
Uh you know, it's bullshit.
00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:24.320
And you know, American people, you deserve better.
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:28.240
And you know, all we're doing is asking questions and connecting the dots.
00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:40.080
Because, you know, the these kind of these kinds of uh like connections in in the polit political spectrum world, it's kind of too hard to keep up with on a daily basis.
00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:45.039
So I think that's why I like doing this podcast is I try to like distill it down for people to understand it.
00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:52.080
Um, and you know who that's not saying I'm right, these are just opinions, but like I think that these are good uh questions to bring up.
00:13:52.559 --> 00:14:13.919
Yeah, I think in future podcasts, I want to do one on SpaceX and I want it on the Terrafab, and I want to do one uh on the election and kind of following the election because you're you you hit on the point earlier on in the podcast and talking about you know, are they gonna, you know, is it gonna be fee and fair elect updates?
00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:15.840
But our next topic, Ricky.
00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.960
My understanding is you finally paid off your car.
00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:20.480
Uh, congratulations.
00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:24.399
We know this is a long time coming, so kind of take us into that, dude.
00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.360
So, like the car is so for those of you that know, I got it.
00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:33.600
I wanted a Tesla a long time ago when I first heard about him in 17, and I just didn't get it because I just kind of thought I was never gonna be able to get one.
00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:38.879
And then when I got back from deployment in Afghanistan, I had a little extra money, and I was like, you know what, man, I'm gonna buy me a truck.
00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:55.039
And so I went to a fucking uh Silverado and I've you know Hispanic, I love Silverados, I love fucking Chevy's, and I was like, I'm gonna get this fucking Chevy Silverado C71 Trail Boss Edition with the fucking front end leveling kit, like it's gonna be gorgeous, and it was like$70,000, right?
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:59.519
And that's what they they cost, like that's just how expensive a new truck is, and I was gonna be okay with that.
00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:00.320
I was like, Yeah, that's fine.
00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:01.600
I could I I know that.
00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:07.759
Um, but then before I signed that check and before I started like putting pen to paper, I was like, man, that's a lot of fucking money.
00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:10.480
And I was like, for that same price, I could buy two Teslas.
00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:13.440
Because at the time the Teslas were$35,000, if you remember.
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:15.360
That was the cheapest model, that was the entry level.
00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.399
And I was like, I could buy two fucking Teslas for that exact same amount of money.
00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:22.240
And I was like, well, then fuck, I'm just gonna buy me one Tesla, and I'll save literally half the money.
00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:23.679
And it's like fuck it.
00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:30.879
So I went to Atlanta, the fucking test drive a Tesla, fucking fell in love with it, obviously, and I was like, fuck it, I'm gonna pull a trigger on this.
00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:35.279
Ordered it, bought it, it was ready like in you know, two weeks or whatever.
00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:37.440
Um, and I've had it ever since.
00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:41.840
It ended up being a little bit more expensive than 35 because I had negative equity on my trading.
00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:45.360
So I had a Jeep Cherokee, which was like a little small SUV.
00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:46.320
Yeah.
00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:51.519
And if you knew anything about Jeeps, they're fucking expensive for no goddamn reason.
00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:53.840
Uh they just are, and I think it's the name.
00:15:54.000 --> 00:16:05.600
The quality is okay, but I really wanted this fucking SUV because I was in Germany and I needed something with like snow driving ability, and I had just hadn't Tommy the kid, so I was like, I need something bigger.
00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:06.879
So I was like, this is perfect.
00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:09.200
But then I was like, okay, I gotta trade this bitch in.
00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:16.159
Um and I had like 11,000 on negative equity on it again because jeeps are just fucking they're just expensive for the name.
00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:22.720
And so I ended up rolling like$10,000 over from that loan into this loan, so the car came out to be more expensive.
00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:27.840
Uh, but still, you know, I paid off regular, you know, fucking payments here and there.
00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:43.039
And then finally I was like, dude, you know, with this job, this summer job I was getting paid, and I'm like, man, I could save a lot of money, like just have a really healthy bank account, or I can just pay off my fucking car and save money every every month, you know.
00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:50.960
Uh, and then we talked about it off air, and then you were like, Yeah, dude, just pay it off, and then you could lower your interest or your insurance because you won't have to have comprehensive.
00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:52.559
And I was like, Yeah, I can fucking do that.
00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:56.399
And then I had the money in my savings account, and I was looking at it, and it looked nice, you know what I mean?
00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:02.879
When you see a shit ton of money, you're like, I'm just gonna leave it there, and then I was like, but it's but it's over what I need to pay off the car.
00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.759
And I was like, Yeah, but that's gonna leave me like a lot less.
00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:07.599
And I was like, I'm just gonna wait, I'm just gonna wait.
00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:13.119
And I finally I was like, I remember I was about to take a shower one day and I was looking at it, I was like, if I just do it right now, I won't fucking think about it, and I'll just forget it.
00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:14.400
And I was like, I'm just gonna fucking do it.
00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:20.559
And I just did it as fast as I could, and then I fucking closed it, took a shower, and then like the next day I was like, oh shit, it's paid off.
00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:21.519
Like, you know what I mean?
00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:23.599
And so I'm fucking happy as fuck now.
00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:31.440
Um I'll probably won't fill it until next, like next month when I'm supposed to pay for it, you know what I mean?
00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:33.039
And then the money just doesn't come out.
00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:34.799
I'm gonna be like, oh, that's right.
00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.279
Like, I don't have to fucking pay for a car anymore.
00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:44.480
And so what I'm gonna do with that money, I'm gonna put it into Tommy's uh he has uh whatever it's called, 527, 529.
00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:47.759
I can't remember what it's called, but it's like those savings accounts for college.
00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.799
Um I'm gonna put a little bit in there, then I'll put the rest uh somewhere else.
00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:57.680
I don't know if I'm gonna save it or if I'm gonna put it into a fucking stock market just to kind of start building that.
00:17:57.839 --> 00:17:59.839
But yeah, took me a long time, like five.
00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:07.599
So what so your insurance payments, so now I'm sure you change it to liability and right away, like the next day.
00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:09.200
So, like, so what's your new entry?
00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.680
How much you're how much you pay a month now on insurance versus leaning?
00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:15.920
Holy that's one person, one car.
00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:16.480
Okay.
00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.839
And then it went down to like 230 after a little while.
00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:27.759
Um, but because of this ticket still there, um, and then I switched it, and then I got a letter saying, Don't do that.
00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:32.240
You still have a lien on this car, switch it back, or we're gonna have to fucking charge you for insurance.
00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:33.119
I was like, fuck.
00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.000
And so now I'm paying like sixty-five dollars a month.
00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.400
So it went down huge difference, yeah.
00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:42.559
A hundred and whatever, fifty bucks, yeah.
00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:44.480
That's what's 30, yeah.
00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:44.960
Something like that.
00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:47.279
Well, congratulations, I'm proud of you, dude.
00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:48.720
That's a long time coming.
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:54.799
I remember, like for me, you know, when I have a large amount of money in my account, I'll nickel, I'll nickel and dime myself.
00:18:54.880 --> 00:19:08.400
So what I'll do is just immediately pay off a credit card or something, and just I'll I'd much rather be like almost like at a zero balance, yeah, and have a lot of money in my account just because I'm gonna nickel and dime myself.
00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:18.079
I was like, I'll just feel like oh I'm gonna I'm gonna buy this food, I'll go out to you here, I'll go out to you there, I got and so it so ends up happening is I'll just slowly dwindle that that money down.
00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:22.000
So one of the things I've I try to do is just pay off all the debt, like inch.
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.079
I just paid off most of my credit cards now.
00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:30.160
So now I wanted to first get all those zero balance, and now I can focus on paying off the car early.
00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:30.880
So I need to.
00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.400
So like that was quick as fuck.
00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:42.160
Yeah, dude, because I I can't I was a man on a mission, you know, Ubering and shit that time, yeah.
00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:42.880
It was Uber.
00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:48.079
I did a lot of Uber paid for it, and Uber did did it, and uh so I was able to do that.
00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:52.640
But how long did it take for you to get your your title in the mail after you paid it off?
00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:57.759
Probably uh probably like maybe two to three weeks.
00:19:58.079 --> 00:19:58.799
Did you call them?
00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:00.640
Because I I sent like the application on online.
00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:02.000
I never since called him.
00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:02.720
I called him, yeah.
00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:04.799
I didn't say, hey, I want my title.
00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.720
Yeah, and I knew like yesterday.
00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:12.240
So I definitely started that process because I was like, I want this title, I want it quick, and then that helped me.
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:16.480
So as soon as I had that title, it helped me you know sell it pretty fastly because I ended up selling it.
00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:17.279
Of course.
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:21.839
And and I remember I bought mine for 45.
00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:29.119
Yeah, because I waited, I think I could have waited a few more days and I would have got it for like 40.
00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:30.559
I would have got like 42.
00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:31.920
I would have saved another three grand.
00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:34.799
But that's what so I got got on the first one 100.
00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:39.440
I paid 45 for it, and that was believe it or not, a bit of a discount.
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:44.240
And they they gave me uh I think a free year of supercharging.
00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:45.920
Yeah, they gave me a free year of supercharging.
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:47.519
That's why I did the Uber thing.
00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:48.960
Because I was like, oh, I'm gonna make it.
00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.359
I'm I'm gonna make the most out of this situation.
00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:52.000
Absolutely.
00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.559
And so that, but and then but the second Tesla I got, dude, I saved a ton of money.
00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.640
I didn't make the same mistakes I did the first one.
00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:06.000
I remember I did the I have the tax credit was expiring, the$7,500 tax credit that was applied applied at point of sale.
00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.400
So the$7,500, I got that.
00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:12.400
Uh I also got a student discount of a thousand.
00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:12.960
Nice.
00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:14.400
That's$8,500.
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:24.880
And then I got a uh$500 discount because it was a showroom model, so that's$9,000 right off the rip.
00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:29.039
And then I got a discount.
00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:33.039
I didn't get a discount, I got a rebate, uh$2,500.
00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:34.799
Texas one that you were telling me about.
00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.200
Texas rebate I got from the TCEQ.
00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:37.599
Yeah.
00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:48.079
So that's like almost$12,000 I had off the price of the car for uh and then so I made the most of all the incentives.
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:52.559
I made, and I've always thought about like, man, because obviously the different states have different incentives, they get like$10,000 off.
00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:57.440
And I was just thinking, how do I become a you know a resident of that state to let me qualify for that?
00:21:57.599 --> 00:23:05.279
But come to find out it was here all along, you just kind of got know the work the system and know the different things that are out there available to you and so I was able to do that and it's been kind of uh it's a good experience just knowing the different avenues available to you and I you know I always work I always recommend you guys research you know the cost of owning uh you know ice cars versus electric cars and for me the the decision was easy and I knew I was gonna go back to an electric car when I sold it the first time because you know you look at you think of oil changes you think of all the things you have to do to come that maintain the vehicle and I'm like people are lazy people got a busy lives and they don't want to change the oil they don't want to check the oil levels they don't want to check the water levels and because of that that wear and tear on your engine and it ends up messing up and I was like I don't want to do that I don't want to have to worry about that and so so happens you have to happen to be helping the environment which is an unintended benefit but uh I save actually more money and owning a Tesla than it I have owning a gas vehicle just because of this maintenance.
00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:35.920
Only thing I have is low windshield wiper fluid yes and and then the tires I can do that I can change the tires myself I can air them up things like that but that's uh that's the car guys don't get too much into the weeds but our last topic is gonna be a big announcement here on the podcast I decided to run for mayor of the City of Brian and I announced and it's funny how it happened because I didn't know but the mayor had gone on WTAW.
00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:44.000
So they have these weekly shows where they have a spot designated for a city of Brian person to come and speak and give updates on whatever there needs to be updated.
00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:45.359
That's a normal thing that's no problem.
00:23:45.599 --> 00:24:25.920
But what that was different about this week this weekly update was that the mayor announced that he was running for reelection on air and so I but I didn't I didn't know this I don't I don't listen to it that much and I ended up filing I actually what I ended up doing was making a press release and giving them a day's notice saying that hey I'm gonna file the next day and they ran the story immediately and none of the guy none of the uh pressers showed up because they already ran the story and then come to find out that uh Bobby the mayor filed the same day but I got the I got the the airtime so to speak you know the first one to file so that was pretty exciting.
00:24:26.000 --> 00:25:29.279
But yes I did file and Ricky I know you're looking for somewhere that money to go and it's gonna come right to me because the donations to fund this campaign are needed to be uh are needed but you know one of the one of one of the I guess reasons a lot of a lot of reasons why you decide to run for something but I think the ultimately what it comes down to is you know you gotta you have to be the change you want to see in the world in the community and so that was like I just have if if I want these things to change then I'm gonna have to step up absolutely man I think you uh so I want to reemphasize a couple things for listeners you're running for mayor not like the actual mayor so you know growing up at least in my community and my family and my friends uh you know that level of politicians was always seen as like unobtainable right it was always just like oh we'll never be there and I don't know why we will think that because clearly we could um but it was just kind of there maybe it's because we didn't have enough people in our neighborhood or in our circle that were in those positions already.
00:25:29.680 --> 00:27:09.680
And so one thing I've noticed is you surround yourself with people that are already in those positions which probably helps you you know realizing oh yeah I can fucking do this right just like if you if you go anywhere and you surround yourself with any group of people you're gonna realize well I'm smarter than some of these people or I'm better at this thing than somebody's people um you know we talk about barriers to entry sometimes and I think for politics there's a big barrier to entry because in America at least from my perspective we see politicians as like a a different class of people and that should not be that way right they represent us we we elect them we put them in power it's a public servant right they serve the public and so they are comprised of who we choose to be and so we should see the the political class not as the ruling class but just as the representatives they just represent us and so it took a long way look I think honestly probably not until you you won for council that I really realized I was like oh shit like it's possible you know I mean like they are we don't need to be you know millionaires we don't need to be affluent business owners we don't need to be in tight with we just need to try and you know you didn't win your first one you know you had to try again and that's a big deal yeah so and and so the first time I run Ricky's talking about I ran at large I was literally right out of high school I was 21 it was some years after high school but technically still kind of you know it was kind of close uh and I lost it was at large and I remember you ran you ran before that you ran when you were 18 I think because you won when I was in the army you won't I was and I got voted by the time I actually got sworn in I was 22.
00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:20.640
Yeah yeah so that must have been 2014 that was uh so I got elected in 2013 yeah and I ran in I ran in 2012.
00:27:20.960 --> 00:28:12.319
Okay so the okay because the at large was off cycle for the other ones yeah yeah yeah yeah so uh I lost but I got a good amount of the vote and I used that experience and I got convinced someone put it in my ear like hey why don't you run for single member district I was like oh okay yeah let me do that and I remember the the thing that got me hot was like a pot hole that I wanted to get filled the city wanted to do it I'm like all right well I'm gonna just cast my name and try to do it myself and I did it but so it is a little daunting to run for mayor and it was daunting at the time to run for city council because you know you you're new to this you're not understanding how most things work but you know of course you have class and you talk about it but local isn't really discussed upon you know and it should be because I would say you know local has a greater impact on your life than you know the federal that these elections that you know happened you know way up high.
00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:19.599
So you know it was a good experience I got when I served the first time and it was I came from behind.
00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:35.440
So it was three people running and I barely made the runoff I thought I was going to lose the runoff right off off right because you have to get 50 plus one to avoid a runoff and he had like 49.7 like it was so close that him he almost not had to do the runoff one and went outright.
00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:39.759
So I barely made the runoff and I was coming from behind and I just redoubled my efforts.
00:28:39.839 --> 00:29:35.119
I went door to door I talked to people and they really appreciated and I got in and this time uh I didn't know if I was going to run for mayor until I you know I convinced I got was finished like hey I you don't be afraid to lose that's not why you're running you're running because you want to see change in the community and so I was like yeah I need to do this I'm not the same person I was I'm not as green you know I'm more mature I got more experience and me serving on the board of directors for the appraisal district kind of prepared me to take on that role and so I I I did it and then it's a it's a long you know it's gonna be a long battle from here until election day but I got some you know good people around me and yes having people around you who you know are like minded or you know people who are go getters so to speak does really help.
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:37.440
But I had to put myself in those in those circles.
00:29:37.599 --> 00:30:33.119
I didn't just wait on the sideline like I was actively trying to make a difference and trying to you know make something of myself so that I can get those those connections meet those different people so then I can then just grow because yes that it having people around you who are positive and it does change the outlook and your influence can influence your life and just like you know your friends like you know we you know we've been friends for a very long time since high school because you know we're all like minded we're good people and it just kind of shows you know stands a testament of our friendship because we've been so friends so long but yeah that's the that's the news on the the podcast you know breaking I decided to run for mayor but Ricky before we get out of here you got uh any final thoughts yeah so if someone wanted to support you right so like I got lots of family uh you know friends and Brian so I'm assuming that there's gonna be a website at some point is there gonna be a uh like where would they go?
00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:35.599
Because what you know I close my eyes and I'm just a regular person.
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.799
I'm thinking I want to learn more about what Rafa stands for.
00:30:38.960 --> 00:31:34.000
You know sure of course you know they can go to the Oldland Dads podcast to get an in-depth analysis but if they want to see like the up the upfront kind of thing where there's like a website your face your name your your resume and like what you're thinking is that is that to come yeah so I'm actually working on a site right now uh it's most likely to be ready for tomorrow launching it but it's pena for mayor.com and a way to help is just to follow and like and share my post on Facebook if you have a Facebook I know you don't but maybe the people listening do uh Rafael Pena for mayor of Brian follow me and like and share and that's like really the best way you can and if you want to support you know contribute financially once I have the site up and running that the the domain's already bought is PenyaforMayor.com you go on there we'll have all the information how you can get involved but guys this is the only dads podcast if you have any tips comments or suggestions please reach out to us at only dadspodcast at gmail.com vote for Benya
00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:04.719
Hey everybody, this is Only Dad's Podcast coming to you on a Sunday, August 9th.
00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:06.400
We got a few topics for you today.
00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:08.720
It's gonna be a good show, so strap in.
00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:16.719
Uh, I think we're gonna start off with the confirmation hearing of attorney general confirmed Todd Blanch.
00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:28.800
Uh, it was he was confirmed yesterday, and a 50 to 49 vote with uh Senator Susan Collins and Alisa Mikowski voting with the Democrats against his confirmation.
00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:41.039
And uh this is you know kind of part of the course once those Republican holdouts came out and were against them because you know there's no degree of separation.
00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:44.479
You you want a degree of separation between your attorney general and the president.
00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:46.159
And why is this controversial?
00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:53.039
Because Todd Blanch was the president's uh former criminal defense attorney, his personal attorney.
00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:58.799
And now you have him coming in and doing the job of an attorney general.
00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:04.640
And we know Pam Bani had that position, but then she got booted out, and now he's consentant confirmed.
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:08.000
Uh Ricky, kind of what are your thoughts on the controversy surrounding it?
00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:09.359
And do you think he's qualified?
00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:10.400
All that jazz.
00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.959
Well, to kind of tie in what we talked about last time, Mitch McConnell didn't vote.
00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:16.239
He wasn't present.
00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.439
So that's an interesting thing because it's not getting better.
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:30.079
Um, and you know, this is a big, you know, let's say, you know, maybe they waited to put the votes off until they knew that they had uh enough, even in the absence of Mitch McConnell.
00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:31.359
But that's a separate topic.
00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:40.480
But it's just interesting that like it's not going away, it's not getting better, um, especially something that's as important to the president as getting his personal defense attorney.
00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:49.439
With that being said, you know, I mean, come on, like it's just like complete impropriety, you know, a defense attorney, it's like it might as well be Giuliani, you know what I mean?
00:01:49.519 --> 00:02:02.000
Like, it's just like people that are on his side, and now, you know, for those of y'all that may not be like too in the weeds of this stuff, an attorney general is supposed to represent the country in terms of prosecuting people.
00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:14.800
So, like, you know, states have it, they're the you know, um uh the solicitor general's office, uh and you know, the attorney generals as well are supposed to be represented the country as a whole.
00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:22.240
So, like when you think about the FBI investigating people, it's gonna be the attorney generals that are gonna be the lawyers prosecuting those people.
00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:35.520
So now you have an individual who was the president's you know, for all intents and purposes, like his fucking you know, little lackey now doing the job that is supposed to be supporting the whole country.
00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:42.960
And the reason why that's crazy is because you have uh uh the uh the a justice department.
00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:54.479
So when I say justice department, I mean the DOJ, I mean uh the FBI, the CIA, all these agencies that are going to be doing his bidding, and now the top official is his.
00:02:54.560 --> 00:03:06.960
Now Pam Bondy had some interesting connections as well, but hers I think were just a little bit more a couple a couple degrees of separation where Todd Blanch just doesn't have it, so he knows where all the skeletons are buried, Todd Blanch.
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.639
And so maybe that's why you know fucking Trump wants him in there.
00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.759
He's like, Hey man, if I go down, you go down, you know everything, you know.
00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:19.680
So like and some notable cases that Todd Blanch represented Trump on was the 2020 election interference case.
00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:21.120
Jeez, okay, that makes sense.
00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:25.919
And and that was you know related to the efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.
00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:31.680
We were all meant that that recording Brad Raffensberger find, you know, 15,000 votes.
00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:35.360
Yeah, and then another one was the classified documents case.
00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:44.479
He represented Trump on what federal charges were brought against Trump by documents in Mar a Lago concerning the illegal retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:49.919
We know we saw the video of those white boxes, that guy moving those white boxes to different rooms.
00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:53.599
Because when he got out of once you leave the government, you're no longer president.
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:59.360
Then you know that that those records are the government's property, you know, that's the people's property, not your personal property.
00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:01.840
And then the New York hush money trial.
00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:11.439
Uh Blanche led Trump's defense in New York State on the alleged mush honey payments and the conviction, which he got convicted of on 34 felony counts.
00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:15.039
So those are some notable cases that Blanche represented Trump on.
00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:33.680
What's what's crazy to me is like, you know, you have this officer of the government who's gonna have just tremendous power, and you have this person who very clearly is in not necessarily in the pocket of the president, but just like so close.
00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:40.079
Like it just removes all non-partisanship from that from that department, from that agency.
00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:51.439
And so, you know, he's gonna go after if he wasn't already, and I'm sure he is already, but if he wasn't already being blatant about going after his political opponents, he's gonna absolutely do that because that's what this person does, the prosecuting attorney.
00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:53.439
They're gonna be going after whoever.
00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:09.279
And it makes sense that you know, if I'm Trump, I'm thinking, okay, I'm gonna go after election interference, I'm gonna use Todd Blanche here, but he's up to speed on the cases, and I'm gonna go after and prosecute the people who I believe erroneously were involved in election fraud.
00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:13.519
And so that that's gonna be crazy for Atlanta because that's been a hot topic for him.
00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:25.279
Is there in Georgia, you know, Tulsa Gabbard was here, I think, a year ago, uh, serving a subpoena to collect these ballot uh information, voter uh voter registration information and full.
00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:27.439
The head of agency had no business on the internet.
00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:29.519
Makes no sense exactly.
00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:30.959
You degrees separating.
00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:34.879
But our next topic, guys, is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool case.
00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:52.000
You know, we remember that the Trump administration said that former Olympic canoeist David Hearn had cut the pool liner, but uh come to find out, prosecutors later said evidence pointed to shoddy rush contractor work, and this was under a no-bid renovation deal, and it wasn't sabotage.
00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:56.879
The Justice Department dropped the case, and Janine Pierrot, the U.S.
00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:00.079
attorney at the time, filed to dismiss the case.
00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:07.600
And you know, Trump was being in the drum of this was about somebody coming in, cutting the pool liner.
00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:13.759
That's why you had some National Guard stationed outside arresting people if they touched the pool liner, they touched the pool, everything.
00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:27.360
And Trump talked about how under previous administration it was just a disgrace that this pool wasn't water wasn't blue, and that just comes from ignorance on his part because that's just you know, that's not how water works.
00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:32.399
And so instead of bidding uh this contract out for everybody, and that's how government works.
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:54.160
You're supposed to, you know, you're supposed to bid it out, and then then you pick the person who wins, and you sometimes you get sealed bids, and then we happen in gut county government all the time and city government, where we'll we've put sealed bids, we'll get all the bids, and they literally can open them till we all open them at the same time, and then we open them and we look at them, and it's usually an executive session.
00:06:54.560 --> 00:07:01.360
And so when you have these contracts, they're supposed to be bidded out on the government website, and everybody can do it, and it wasn't done.
00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:05.680
And be because of that, it showed this guy didn't know what he was doing.
00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:16.160
This and keep in mind, this guy was another one of personals, Trump's guy who rented who was in charge of maintaining his pool at his golf course resort, Mar-a-Lago.
00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:23.040
And it just goes show this guy, it was in over his head, he didn't know what he was doing, but he's like, Oh, maybe get this money from the government.
00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:26.319
This is taxpayer money, this is millions of dollars, this wasn't cheap.
00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:36.639
And so now there's taxpayers are out millions of dollars, and we're left with the empty drain pool that looks like worse than it was before they messed with it.
00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:48.399
Yeah, contractors are weird because you know, you have more experience than me on this whole like bidding stuff, but excuse me.
00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:59.439
Uh, I have a little bit of experience working with contractors and buddy and you know, growing up and stuff, but the way to make money is by doing the work as cheaply as possible, right?
00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:03.199
And then getting paid the most, and whatever the difference is, they keep it.
00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:06.240
And so, not that that's bad, like that's obviously that's just business.
00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:09.600
You know, you gotta sell things for cheaper than what you you know for more than once you buy it.
00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:23.839
And so the problem is when you have somebody who is like a known shyster like Trump, a known person who is just kind of like always getting one over on people and takes pride in that, like, oh, that's business and that's the deal, or whatever.
00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:29.360
And then you get someone that's again like loyal to him, somebody who's been in and around him, rubbing elbows with them.
00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:34.320
Oh, he takes care of my pool, like he probably subcontracts that out, you know what I mean?
00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.639
And then he'll just like take credit for it and get the money for it and get the difference.
00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:52.799
Um, but then when it comes to like a real project, something that is seemingly on its face, the same, water and water, but very clearly different, you know, because of the way it's treated and just the sheer scale of it and the depth of it.
00:08:52.960 --> 00:09:00.240
Uh, the filtration system I'm assuming is completely fucking different because it's a pool versus a standing, you know, little baby pond kind of thing.
00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:04.480
Um it's just yeah, it just makes sense that he's just like, oh, I can of course I could do this.
00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:06.080
What it's all the same, it's a pool.
00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:07.840
And it's like, but it's fucking not though.
00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:12.399
Like you're not an expert, you're not competent, you're loyal, and that's the issue.
00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:22.159
I think that that's gonna be remaining with the Trump legacy, at least the second one, is loyalty is the new competence for him.
00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.879
He doesn't really care if you're competent, he just cares if you're loyal.
00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:26.720
See Todd Blanche, you know what I mean?
00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:30.080
Like he doesn't care if you're good or not, he just are you gonna be loyal to me, you know.
00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.279
And that's for all these other people, fucking RFK.
00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:40.879
Um, you know, you could you may have different uh opinions on him or whatever, but very clearly he's towing the line of what Trump wants, right?
00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:47.200
Uh and it goes for all his uh candidacy, cash patel, very clearly not competent, but he's loyal.
00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:53.519
He literally wrote a book about you know calling Trump a king before he was elected or before he was appointed as the director of FBI.
00:09:53.759 --> 00:10:05.120
And again, that's just a that's the new that's the new uh nepotism where it's like nepotism or DEI or whatever you want to call it, where it's like where the merits don't matter.
00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:10.559
And you know, I know a lot of Republican friends that I have uh are annoyed with the DAI stuff.
00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.600
Okay, cool, but like is nepotism any better?
00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.159
Is loyalty hires any better?
00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:21.519
Like we're getting away from competence and we're looking at things that shouldn't fucking matter, but they do.
00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:27.519
And yeah, I just see this as like a disgusting kind of uh loyalty hire.
00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:36.240
And so I'm gonna I'm gonna hit on those points, but the first point I want to hit on what you said was the uh the contracts.
00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:38.080
So, you know, and it and it's how it is.
00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:39.759
So, like that's a good question to ask.
00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:50.240
If you're in a city setting and you're gonna award a contract to a contractor, you a good question to ask is well, are you gonna do the work yourself or are you just gonna subcontract this workout?
00:10:50.320 --> 00:11:03.759
Dude, not nine times out of ten, they're gonna subcontract the workout, and they're not even gonna do it, they're gonna take the money off the top, 20%, whatever the hell off the top, and then bid it and bid it and bid it down to their friends and give it so a subcontract's gonna do the work.
00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:14.080
And by the time you know it's it gets whittled down, it starts, you know, a big piece of bread gets whittled down to a little piece of bread, and then everybody makes money on the top of the way, yeah, every step of the way.
00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:17.440
And that's just kind of on Trump on on contractors.
00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:37.120
But you know, you bring up a good point on the uh the D the DEI hire, and we the way we talk about qualifications because you know, whenever a woman or person of color, like in a proposition like Itanji Brown Jackson, despite having an extraordinary legal resume and serving as a federal judge before being appointed to the Supreme Court, they said that she was a DEI hire.
00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:38.960
Immediately, that was the first thing they said about her.
00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:42.159
That's the first thing they said, and then we you know, look what we're talking about today.
00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:49.360
Todd Blanch went from being Donald Trump's personal criminal defense attorney to being nominated for one of the most powerful positions in the Justice Department.
00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:57.919
And you have the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pulse situation where no bid contract was awarded and the work itself became part of the major controversy.
00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:16.000
So maybe we need to rethink what we mean when we question whether somebody has got a job based on merit, because somehow DEI hire became a phrase reserved for minorities of women, where while political connections, personal loyalty, and no bid contracts don't seem to generate the same outrage.
00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:19.679
If we're serious about merit, then let's be serious about merit across the board.
00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:26.159
Don't question qualifications because of the race or gender, while given the political connections and favoritism of free pass.
00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:27.519
Absolutely, man.
00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:28.720
You you perfect.
00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:29.200
That's it.
00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:30.000
That's the analogy.
00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:42.159
And the reason I bring it up with the EI thing is because you know, I think that's one of the more visceral things that the Republicans, not all Republicans, but like the MAGA type, like they get very passionate about that, right?
00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:43.519
And maybe they should be.
00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:44.399
Like, that's just their opinion.
00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:48.159
It's America, you can't have your opinions, but like let's keep that same energy for this other stuff.
00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:56.399
Like, if you're gonna go to a barber and this person's giving you a haircut, and he only got that job because the dad's the barber, are you gonna trust that dude to give you a haircut?
00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:58.000
You know, unless it's good.
00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:00.480
If the merit's there, if he could do it, I'll say awesome dude.
00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:00.799
Good for you.
00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.039
You probably learned from your dad, you know, all those good things.
00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:04.320
But let's do the merit.
00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:09.440
And in the situation of Todd Blanche and of this pool reflecting thing, especially, it's too late.
00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:10.480
We know the merit's not there.
00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:11.679
Cash for tell, same thing.
00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:12.720
We know the merit's not there.
00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:16.799
So you can't lie to us and say, like, oh, you know, they're they're the best person for the job.
00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:17.600
No, man.
00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:20.159
Like, we know this, you know, we we can see this.
00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:22.000
Uh you know, it's bullshit.
00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:24.320
And you know, American people, you deserve better.
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:28.240
And you know, all we're doing is asking questions and connecting the dots.
00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:40.080
Because, you know, the these kind of these kinds of uh like connections in in the polit political spectrum world, it's kind of too hard to keep up with on a daily basis.
00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:45.039
So I think that's why I like doing this podcast is I try to like distill it down for people to understand it.
00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:52.080
Um, and you know who that's not saying I'm right, these are just opinions, but like I think that these are good uh questions to bring up.
00:13:52.559 --> 00:14:13.919
Yeah, I think in future podcasts, I want to do one on SpaceX and I want it on the Terrafab, and I want to do one uh on the election and kind of following the election because you're you you hit on the point earlier on in the podcast and talking about you know, are they gonna, you know, is it gonna be fee and fair elect updates?
00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:15.840
But our next topic, Ricky.
00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.960
My understanding is you finally paid off your car.
00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:20.480
Uh, congratulations.
00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:24.399
We know this is a long time coming, so kind of take us into that, dude.
00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.360
So, like the car is so for those of you that know, I got it.
00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:33.600
I wanted a Tesla a long time ago when I first heard about him in 17, and I just didn't get it because I just kind of thought I was never gonna be able to get one.
00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:38.879
And then when I got back from deployment in Afghanistan, I had a little extra money, and I was like, you know what, man, I'm gonna buy me a truck.
00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:55.039
And so I went to a fucking uh Silverado and I've you know Hispanic, I love Silverados, I love fucking Chevy's, and I was like, I'm gonna get this fucking Chevy Silverado C71 Trail Boss Edition with the fucking front end leveling kit, like it's gonna be gorgeous, and it was like$70,000, right?
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:59.519
And that's what they they cost, like that's just how expensive a new truck is, and I was gonna be okay with that.
00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:00.320
I was like, Yeah, that's fine.
00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:01.600
I could I I know that.
00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:07.759
Um, but then before I signed that check and before I started like putting pen to paper, I was like, man, that's a lot of fucking money.
00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:10.480
And I was like, for that same price, I could buy two Teslas.
00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:13.440
Because at the time the Teslas were$35,000, if you remember.
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:15.360
That was the cheapest model, that was the entry level.
00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.399
And I was like, I could buy two fucking Teslas for that exact same amount of money.
00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:22.240
And I was like, well, then fuck, I'm just gonna buy me one Tesla, and I'll save literally half the money.
00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:23.679
And it's like fuck it.
00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:30.879
So I went to Atlanta, the fucking test drive a Tesla, fucking fell in love with it, obviously, and I was like, fuck it, I'm gonna pull a trigger on this.
00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:35.279
Ordered it, bought it, it was ready like in you know, two weeks or whatever.
00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:37.440
Um, and I've had it ever since.
00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:41.840
It ended up being a little bit more expensive than 35 because I had negative equity on my trading.
00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:45.360
So I had a Jeep Cherokee, which was like a little small SUV.
00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:46.320
Yeah.
00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:51.519
And if you knew anything about Jeeps, they're fucking expensive for no goddamn reason.
00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:53.840
Uh they just are, and I think it's the name.
00:15:54.000 --> 00:16:05.600
The quality is okay, but I really wanted this fucking SUV because I was in Germany and I needed something with like snow driving ability, and I had just hadn't Tommy the kid, so I was like, I need something bigger.
00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:06.879
So I was like, this is perfect.
00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:09.200
But then I was like, okay, I gotta trade this bitch in.
00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:16.159
Um and I had like 11,000 on negative equity on it again because jeeps are just fucking they're just expensive for the name.
00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:22.720
And so I ended up rolling like$10,000 over from that loan into this loan, so the car came out to be more expensive.
00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:27.840
Uh, but still, you know, I paid off regular, you know, fucking payments here and there.
00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:43.039
And then finally I was like, dude, you know, with this job, this summer job I was getting paid, and I'm like, man, I could save a lot of money, like just have a really healthy bank account, or I can just pay off my fucking car and save money every every month, you know.
00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:50.960
Uh, and then we talked about it off air, and then you were like, Yeah, dude, just pay it off, and then you could lower your interest or your insurance because you won't have to have comprehensive.
00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:52.559
And I was like, Yeah, I can fucking do that.
00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:56.399
And then I had the money in my savings account, and I was looking at it, and it looked nice, you know what I mean?
00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:02.879
When you see a shit ton of money, you're like, I'm just gonna leave it there, and then I was like, but it's but it's over what I need to pay off the car.
00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.759
And I was like, Yeah, but that's gonna leave me like a lot less.
00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:07.599
And I was like, I'm just gonna wait, I'm just gonna wait.
00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:13.119
And I finally I was like, I remember I was about to take a shower one day and I was looking at it, I was like, if I just do it right now, I won't fucking think about it, and I'll just forget it.
00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:14.400
And I was like, I'm just gonna fucking do it.
00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:20.559
And I just did it as fast as I could, and then I fucking closed it, took a shower, and then like the next day I was like, oh shit, it's paid off.
00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:21.519
Like, you know what I mean?
00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:23.599
And so I'm fucking happy as fuck now.
00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:31.440
Um I'll probably won't fill it until next, like next month when I'm supposed to pay for it, you know what I mean?
00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:33.039
And then the money just doesn't come out.
00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:34.799
I'm gonna be like, oh, that's right.
00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.279
Like, I don't have to fucking pay for a car anymore.
00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:44.480
And so what I'm gonna do with that money, I'm gonna put it into Tommy's uh he has uh whatever it's called, 527, 529.
00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:47.759
I can't remember what it's called, but it's like those savings accounts for college.
00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.799
Um I'm gonna put a little bit in there, then I'll put the rest uh somewhere else.
00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:57.680
I don't know if I'm gonna save it or if I'm gonna put it into a fucking stock market just to kind of start building that.
00:17:57.839 --> 00:17:59.839
But yeah, took me a long time, like five.
00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:07.599
So what so your insurance payments, so now I'm sure you change it to liability and right away, like the next day.
00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:09.200
So, like, so what's your new entry?
00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.680
How much you're how much you pay a month now on insurance versus leaning?
00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:15.920
Holy that's one person, one car.
00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:16.480
Okay.
00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.839
And then it went down to like 230 after a little while.
00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:27.759
Um, but because of this ticket still there, um, and then I switched it, and then I got a letter saying, Don't do that.
00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:32.240
You still have a lien on this car, switch it back, or we're gonna have to fucking charge you for insurance.
00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:33.119
I was like, fuck.
00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.000
And so now I'm paying like sixty-five dollars a month.
00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.400
So it went down huge difference, yeah.
00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:42.559
A hundred and whatever, fifty bucks, yeah.
00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:44.480
That's what's 30, yeah.
00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:44.960
Something like that.
00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:47.279
Well, congratulations, I'm proud of you, dude.
00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:48.720
That's a long time coming.
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:54.799
I remember, like for me, you know, when I have a large amount of money in my account, I'll nickel, I'll nickel and dime myself.
00:18:54.880 --> 00:19:08.400
So what I'll do is just immediately pay off a credit card or something, and just I'll I'd much rather be like almost like at a zero balance, yeah, and have a lot of money in my account just because I'm gonna nickel and dime myself.
00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:18.079
I was like, I'll just feel like oh I'm gonna I'm gonna buy this food, I'll go out to you here, I'll go out to you there, I got and so it so ends up happening is I'll just slowly dwindle that that money down.
00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:22.000
So one of the things I've I try to do is just pay off all the debt, like inch.
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.079
I just paid off most of my credit cards now.
00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:30.160
So now I wanted to first get all those zero balance, and now I can focus on paying off the car early.
00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:30.880
So I need to.
00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.400
So like that was quick as fuck.
00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:42.160
Yeah, dude, because I I can't I was a man on a mission, you know, Ubering and shit that time, yeah.
00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:42.880
It was Uber.
00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:48.079
I did a lot of Uber paid for it, and Uber did did it, and uh so I was able to do that.
00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:52.640
But how long did it take for you to get your your title in the mail after you paid it off?
00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:57.759
Probably uh probably like maybe two to three weeks.
00:19:58.079 --> 00:19:58.799
Did you call them?
00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:00.640
Because I I sent like the application on online.
00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:02.000
I never since called him.
00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:02.720
I called him, yeah.
00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:04.799
I didn't say, hey, I want my title.
00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.720
Yeah, and I knew like yesterday.
00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:12.240
So I definitely started that process because I was like, I want this title, I want it quick, and then that helped me.
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:16.480
So as soon as I had that title, it helped me you know sell it pretty fastly because I ended up selling it.
00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:17.279
Of course.
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:21.839
And and I remember I bought mine for 45.
00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:29.119
Yeah, because I waited, I think I could have waited a few more days and I would have got it for like 40.
00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:30.559
I would have got like 42.
00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:31.920
I would have saved another three grand.
00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:34.799
But that's what so I got got on the first one 100.
00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:39.440
I paid 45 for it, and that was believe it or not, a bit of a discount.
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:44.240
And they they gave me uh I think a free year of supercharging.
00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:45.920
Yeah, they gave me a free year of supercharging.
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:47.519
That's why I did the Uber thing.
00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:48.960
Because I was like, oh, I'm gonna make it.
00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.359
I'm I'm gonna make the most out of this situation.
00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:52.000
Absolutely.
00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.559
And so that, but and then but the second Tesla I got, dude, I saved a ton of money.
00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.640
I didn't make the same mistakes I did the first one.
00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:06.000
I remember I did the I have the tax credit was expiring, the$7,500 tax credit that was applied applied at point of sale.
00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.400
So the$7,500, I got that.
00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:12.400
Uh I also got a student discount of a thousand.
00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:12.960
Nice.
00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:14.400
That's$8,500.
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:24.880
And then I got a uh$500 discount because it was a showroom model, so that's$9,000 right off the rip.
00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:29.039
And then I got a discount.
00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:33.039
I didn't get a discount, I got a rebate, uh$2,500.
00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:34.799
Texas one that you were telling me about.
00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.200
Texas rebate I got from the TCEQ.
00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:37.599
Yeah.
00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:48.079
So that's like almost$12,000 I had off the price of the car for uh and then so I made the most of all the incentives.
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:52.559
I made, and I've always thought about like, man, because obviously the different states have different incentives, they get like$10,000 off.
00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:57.440
And I was just thinking, how do I become a you know a resident of that state to let me qualify for that?
00:21:57.599 --> 00:23:05.279
But come to find out it was here all along, you just kind of got know the work the system and know the different things that are out there available to you and so I was able to do that and it's been kind of uh it's a good experience just knowing the different avenues available to you and I you know I always work I always recommend you guys research you know the cost of owning uh you know ice cars versus electric cars and for me the the decision was easy and I knew I was gonna go back to an electric car when I sold it the first time because you know you look at you think of oil changes you think of all the things you have to do to come that maintain the vehicle and I'm like people are lazy people got a busy lives and they don't want to change the oil they don't want to check the oil levels they don't want to check the water levels and because of that that wear and tear on your engine and it ends up messing up and I was like I don't want to do that I don't want to have to worry about that and so so happens you have to happen to be helping the environment which is an unintended benefit but uh I save actually more money and owning a Tesla than it I have owning a gas vehicle just because of this maintenance.
00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:35.920
Only thing I have is low windshield wiper fluid yes and and then the tires I can do that I can change the tires myself I can air them up things like that but that's uh that's the car guys don't get too much into the weeds but our last topic is gonna be a big announcement here on the podcast I decided to run for mayor of the City of Brian and I announced and it's funny how it happened because I didn't know but the mayor had gone on WTAW.
00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:44.000
So they have these weekly shows where they have a spot designated for a city of Brian person to come and speak and give updates on whatever there needs to be updated.
00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:45.359
That's a normal thing that's no problem.
00:23:45.599 --> 00:24:25.920
But what that was different about this week this weekly update was that the mayor announced that he was running for reelection on air and so I but I didn't I didn't know this I don't I don't listen to it that much and I ended up filing I actually what I ended up doing was making a press release and giving them a day's notice saying that hey I'm gonna file the next day and they ran the story immediately and none of the guy none of the uh pressers showed up because they already ran the story and then come to find out that uh Bobby the mayor filed the same day but I got the I got the the airtime so to speak you know the first one to file so that was pretty exciting.
00:24:26.000 --> 00:25:29.279
But yes I did file and Ricky I know you're looking for somewhere that money to go and it's gonna come right to me because the donations to fund this campaign are needed to be uh are needed but you know one of the one of one of the I guess reasons a lot of a lot of reasons why you decide to run for something but I think the ultimately what it comes down to is you know you gotta you have to be the change you want to see in the world in the community and so that was like I just have if if I want these things to change then I'm gonna have to step up absolutely man I think you uh so I want to reemphasize a couple things for listeners you're running for mayor not like the actual mayor so you know growing up at least in my community and my family and my friends uh you know that level of politicians was always seen as like unobtainable right it was always just like oh we'll never be there and I don't know why we will think that because clearly we could um but it was just kind of there maybe it's because we didn't have enough people in our neighborhood or in our circle that were in those positions already.
00:25:29.680 --> 00:27:09.680
And so one thing I've noticed is you surround yourself with people that are already in those positions which probably helps you you know realizing oh yeah I can fucking do this right just like if you if you go anywhere and you surround yourself with any group of people you're gonna realize well I'm smarter than some of these people or I'm better at this thing than somebody's people um you know we talk about barriers to entry sometimes and I think for politics there's a big barrier to entry because in America at least from my perspective we see politicians as like a a different class of people and that should not be that way right they represent us we we elect them we put them in power it's a public servant right they serve the public and so they are comprised of who we choose to be and so we should see the the political class not as the ruling class but just as the representatives they just represent us and so it took a long way look I think honestly probably not until you you won for council that I really realized I was like oh shit like it's possible you know I mean like they are we don't need to be you know millionaires we don't need to be affluent business owners we don't need to be in tight with we just need to try and you know you didn't win your first one you know you had to try again and that's a big deal yeah so and and so the first time I run Ricky's talking about I ran at large I was literally right out of high school I was 21 it was some years after high school but technically still kind of you know it was kind of close uh and I lost it was at large and I remember you ran you ran before that you ran when you were 18 I think because you won when I was in the army you won't I was and I got voted by the time I actually got sworn in I was 22.
00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:20.640
Yeah yeah so that must have been 2014 that was uh so I got elected in 2013 yeah and I ran in I ran in 2012.
00:27:20.960 --> 00:28:12.319
Okay so the okay because the at large was off cycle for the other ones yeah yeah yeah yeah so uh I lost but I got a good amount of the vote and I used that experience and I got convinced someone put it in my ear like hey why don't you run for single member district I was like oh okay yeah let me do that and I remember the the thing that got me hot was like a pot hole that I wanted to get filled the city wanted to do it I'm like all right well I'm gonna just cast my name and try to do it myself and I did it but so it is a little daunting to run for mayor and it was daunting at the time to run for city council because you know you you're new to this you're not understanding how most things work but you know of course you have class and you talk about it but local isn't really discussed upon you know and it should be because I would say you know local has a greater impact on your life than you know the federal that these elections that you know happened you know way up high.
00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:19.599
So you know it was a good experience I got when I served the first time and it was I came from behind.
00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:35.440
So it was three people running and I barely made the runoff I thought I was going to lose the runoff right off off right because you have to get 50 plus one to avoid a runoff and he had like 49.7 like it was so close that him he almost not had to do the runoff one and went outright.
00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:39.759
So I barely made the runoff and I was coming from behind and I just redoubled my efforts.
00:28:39.839 --> 00:29:35.119
I went door to door I talked to people and they really appreciated and I got in and this time uh I didn't know if I was going to run for mayor until I you know I convinced I got was finished like hey I you don't be afraid to lose that's not why you're running you're running because you want to see change in the community and so I was like yeah I need to do this I'm not the same person I was I'm not as green you know I'm more mature I got more experience and me serving on the board of directors for the appraisal district kind of prepared me to take on that role and so I I I did it and then it's a it's a long you know it's gonna be a long battle from here until election day but I got some you know good people around me and yes having people around you who you know are like minded or you know people who are go getters so to speak does really help.
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:37.440
But I had to put myself in those in those circles.
00:29:37.599 --> 00:30:33.119
I didn't just wait on the sideline like I was actively trying to make a difference and trying to you know make something of myself so that I can get those those connections meet those different people so then I can then just grow because yes that it having people around you who are positive and it does change the outlook and your influence can influence your life and just like you know your friends like you know we you know we've been friends for a very long time since high school because you know we're all like minded we're good people and it just kind of shows you know stands a testament of our friendship because we've been so friends so long but yeah that's the that's the news on the the podcast you know breaking I decided to run for mayor but Ricky before we get out of here you got uh any final thoughts yeah so if someone wanted to support you right so like I got lots of family uh you know friends and Brian so I'm assuming that there's gonna be a website at some point is there gonna be a uh like where would they go?
00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:35.599
Because what you know I close my eyes and I'm just a regular person.
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.799
I'm thinking I want to learn more about what Rafa stands for.
00:30:38.960 --> 00:31:34.000
You know sure of course you know they can go to the Oldland Dads podcast to get an in-depth analysis but if they want to see like the up the upfront kind of thing where there's like a website your face your name your your resume and like what you're thinking is that is that to come yeah so I'm actually working on a site right now uh it's most likely to be ready for tomorrow launching it but it's pena for mayor.com and a way to help is just to follow and like and share my post on Facebook if you have a Facebook I know you don't but maybe the people listening do uh Rafael Pena for mayor of Brian follow me and like and share and that's like really the best way you can and if you want to support you know contribute financially once I have the site up and running that the the domain's already bought is PenyaforMayor.com you go on there we'll have all the information how you can get involved but guys this is the only dads podcast if you have any tips comments or suggestions please reach out to us at only dadspodcast at gmail.com vote for Benya
