April 1, 2025 • 25 mins
Elon Musk was the largest donor in the 2024 presidential election–and now he’s setting himself up to be the main financier of MAGA candidates. Host Angela Rye takes us to a race in Wisconsin for a Supreme Court seat, where Musk is bribing voters and handing out million-dollar checks in unhinged (and possibly illegal) publicity stunts.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana, Curtis James Jackson (AKA 50 Cent) dropped a video where he endorsed an amendment to the state’s constitution that would have significantly lowered the income tax for the wealthiest people in the state (such as himself). Despite the deceptive nature of some of these amendments and their deliberately misleading names, voters showed up to hand MAGA the L.
Want to ask Angela a question? Subscribe to our YouTube channel to participate in the chat.
Welcome home y’all!
—---------
We want to hear from you! Send us a video @nativelandpod and we may feature you on the podcast.
Watch full episodes of Native Land Pod here on YouTube.
Native Land Pod is brought to you by Reasoned Choice Media.
Thank you to the Native Land Pod team:
Angela Rye as host, executive producer and cofounder of Reasoned Choice Media; Tiffany Cross as host and producer, Andrew Gillum as host and producer, and Lauren Hansen as executive producer; Loren Mychael is our research producer, and Nikolas Harter is our editor and producer. Special thanks to Chris Morrow and Lenard McKelvey, co-founders of Reasoned Choice Media.
Theme music created by Daniel Laurent.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Native lamdpod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Reason Choice Media. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Hello, everybody,
Welcome home, y'all. It is Angela Riie with Native lamppod.
I am your host today. This is a solo pod
on something that is very near and dear to my heart.
(00:21):
It is on people power, particularly when it's time to
go to the polls. As you all know, we look
at November in the general election in this country. There
were a lot of folks who voted, certainly participated, and
there were so many more who stayed home. When you
look at a three way race from November, the entity
(00:42):
that had the greatest victory was the couch. It was
not Kamala Harris, it was not Donald Trump. It was
actually the couch. And so when we talk about the
ways in which we engage in the political process, there's
a holistic view that we should talk about, but often
we talk about it through the lens of voting. There
is something in our democracy, at least the way that
(01:03):
it is right now. Don't know how much longer we'll
have it this way, that when democracy comes to bear
in this country, there are two entities that have the
greatest amount of power around election cycles. It is the people,
those of you who get out and go vote, And
it is also the check the folks who write checks
(01:24):
to candidates. We talked about it at nauseum on the
last Native landpod show. We talked about how much and
actually it was two shows ago we talked about how
much people's checkbooks, entities, corporations packs checkbooks impact the way
that politicians vote on the Senate floor, the House floor,
and all throughout government. And so we know that money
(01:47):
plays an outsized role in politics. And one recent example
of that is rooted in an election that will take
place is taking place currently taking place in Wisconsin today.
It is a Supreme Court election seat where spending records
are broken. They have outspent every other Supreme court race
(02:08):
in that in that in the country, and it is
the most expensive supreme court state Supreme court. Might I add,
because you know, on the federal level they are appointed
by the president, but on a state supreme court it
is supposed to be a nonpartisan entity. But it is
a very hotly contested race between two candidates, uh and
(02:30):
these folks. One is a pretty conservative Republican Brad Schimmel.
He is a I don't even know how to pronounce
this county Wellcousha County judge, Brad Schimmel. And then there's
another candidate who's backed by Democrats. Her name is Susan Crawford,
and it is a hotly contested race. Brad Schimmel's funding
(02:51):
has outpaced Susan crawford spending. And I want to bring
one central figure into this where you might be asking, now,
what does he have to do with the Supreme Court seat.
Let's roll this clip.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Let me first hand out two one million dollar checks
in appreciation. You know, the reason for the checks is
that it's it's really just to get get attention. It's
it's like we need to get attention. And and it's
somewhat inevitably when I do these things, the you know,
the sort of uh it causes the legacy media to
(03:27):
like kind of lose their minds, and and and then
and then they'll they'll run it on every news channel,
and I'm like, I couldn't pay them to the it
would cost like ten times more. Or you know, it's
it's to get the kind of coverage that we get.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
So so I want to play this because it's important
for us to understand. One. This is the same country
where there was a hotly debated conversation around whether or
not it would be a would be breaking the law
in Georgia to give people who are standing in line
(04:06):
bottles of water so they can can continue to stand
in line. Elon Musk has told people that he could
pay twenty dollars per vote, and somehow they figured out
a way to make that be acceptable and not really
be in the public discourse. There have also been conversations
about this million dollar check. So he gave two one
(04:27):
million dollar checks in Wisconsin, so he spent twenty million
dollars from America pack It's twenty two million dollars if
you count these checks. And I just have to say,
it is alarming to me that the Wisconsin Supreme Court,
the very seat that this is about. Right there's a
seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court that sways can sway
(04:48):
the balance of power around redistricting, around many other cases
that are central to the public discourse right now, and
he is offering a million dollars. He said it was
as a gift of gratitude to thank people for their
engagement around this race. But really we know what this is, right,
if black voters matter, if the NAACP IF collective pack,
(05:13):
if any other entity offered a black voter or a
black constituency money for ingratitude, for their support of this race,
for paying attention to this race, and right before the election,
do we really think there would be no conversation about this?
Do we really think there would be no charges pressed? Like,
let's be for real. And I think that that's what
we really have to discuss here. I talked a little
(05:36):
bit about Elon Musk and his paying members of Congress
through campaign contributions who have written articles of impeachment to
oppose judges, to impeach judges who have ruled against the
Trump administration. This is the same type of not just
fraudulent activity, but it is. It looks like extortion, it
(05:59):
looks like bribery, it looks like quid pro quo kind
of behavior. And I'm trying to understand where the great
area for them is when we're talking about water going
to voters and someone just giving blank checks, a million
dollar checks at that to voters and people who are
organizing voters. So that is what I am questioning right now.
(06:22):
So Wisconsin is one thing, but now I want to
turn our attention to another very important race. So Wisc
Consin is going on today. So you all know there
are two congressional seats open in Florida right now, one
vacated by Matt Gates, and I can't think of who
the other one is vacated by. But these two races
are not likely to be closed. I don't think that
(06:43):
Democrats are going to prevail in these races today, but
we'll see. I think that miracles happen every single day.
And if people get out and vote, even in districts
that Trump, you know, won in twenty four by double
digit margins, you know, maybe so that's sick of Matt
Gates and don't want anything like it. I don't know,
(07:03):
but I think that what we have to understand here
is money play a role here as well. These are
very expensive special elections, and people got to get out
the vote and turn out and we'll see what happens.
But I think that it would be truly a miracle
if Florida were to pick up some seats for Democrats
in this special election today. Now that said, there are
(07:28):
miracles that happen sometimes, and I think one of the
latest examples of a miracle happening is in Louisiana this
weekend where there was a special election on four amendments
to the state constitution. So there's someone who decided to
(07:49):
weigh in all four of these constitutional amendments were defeated,
by the way, But there's someone who a lot of
us will recognize, who does a lot of stuff in
terms of putting black people on on air, on TV,
on movies, and film on TV shows, who has business
(08:10):
now in Louisiana, and he was encouraging the black community
and others in Louisiana to vote against their interests.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Let's roll that as election day looms tomorrow, Curtis fifty
cent Jackson throws his support behind Louisiana Amendment two.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
But some question the timing.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
NBC six is Lynn Vance shares our time.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Sorry tonight.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I'm hoping that reporters are smarter than that.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Residents and Tree were taking to social media saying they
received text messages and emails with Curtis fifty cent Jackson
asking them to vote yes for Louisiana. I'm in two.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
I want to see more jobs and prosperity in the
state of Louisiana. This is why I support the amendment too.
On your ballads the side of it.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
But one state representative questions fifty cents timing as well
as others coming out in support of the amendment right
before the election.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
If it's strangers or somebody who've never heard before and
havn't heard how this particular organization feels about it. It's political,
I mean, and we don't have time for that kind
of politicians.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
NBC six has reported on several city council members and
cattle commissioners speaking out against Amendment to. This week, just
like fifty Cents, Shreeport's Chamber of Commerce came out in
support of the amendment.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
It gives teachers permanent pay raise, a doubles senior citizens
tax deduction. This August Stuff.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Representative Phelps says it does much more than what fifty
speaks of in his video. She claims the way the
amendment is written is misleading to voters.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Saturday's election is really really important to the state of
Louisiana because again, we're changing our constitution, things that have
been protected, things that have been best thus far for
the state of Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Lynn Vance, NBC six.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So I was trying to find another video. Hopefully we
can find it before we go off today. But fifty
put up a video and I want the full video
to run. So if we couldn't grab that, you all sorry.
I don't know why I thought that the video I
pulled earlier was that video. But if we can grab
that video instead, and you could just cut me off
(10:33):
and play it while I'm talking, because I do think
it's important for people to see the full remarks from
fifty cent. Now, there were four constitutional amendments on the
ballot this past weekend in Louisiana, and what I think
is important here is that they were championed by their
(10:54):
current governor, who is a Republican governor, Jeff Landry. They
were associated with crime, with the courts, and with finances.
As you all can see from the clip before. They
packaged things in very unique ways, and I think we
have to be mindful of how things are communicated to
(11:16):
us when they are on ballots. You know, we are
told like I remember in Washington State when they were
challenging affirmative action work. Connorly was a black Republican who
was going around throughout the country with Pete Wilson in
California when they did Proposition two on nine, and we
(11:36):
followed behind them and before Michigan on something called Initiative
two hundred. Well, they called Initiative two hundred on the
Washington State ballot the Civil Rights Amendment. If you're not
reading the fine print right, you are going to assume
that the thing called the Civil Rights Amendment is not
about to take away your opportunity and access to higher education,
(11:58):
to contracts. And that's not what you're thinking is going
to happen. But that is exactly what happened in Washington State.
And I would say that in Louisiana it's no different.
But what happened here is nothing short of a miracle
because voters came out in droves. There was a thirty
seven percent increase in black voter turnout, which was significant
(12:22):
and very well could have made the difference. I'm gonna
check really quick, do we have that fifty cent video
or do I need to keep going? Okay, we don't
have it. So these are the four amendments that I
that I want to call to your attention. Making it
easier to charge minors as adults. That was one of them.
The other amendment was liquidating education trust funds to support
(12:47):
permanent teacher pay raises. This would have liquidated trust funds
to pay off two billion dollars in public school system debt,
and then they would use the savings on interest payments
to boost teacher salaries by two thousand dollars a year.
It's not necessarily permanent and not necessarily the type of
(13:10):
rays you want to see as a teacher, especially when
it ends up impacting your retirement and other things that
reduce savings for teachers. It said it received some bipartisan support,
but that the real issue is that there was significant
(13:30):
amounts of transparency lacking when you're talking about taking savings
and different education funds. There was also this idea to
restructure the court system. The Louisiana legislature was seeking to
broaden power of specialty courts handling cases like veterans affairs,
(13:54):
drug abuse, and only ensuring that those cases went to
specific judicial districts. And so there were a number. I'm
trying to see, Oh there was something else, I miss one.
I miss one. There was a tax reform measure, and
that is the one that fifty Cent has been so
(14:15):
vocal about so I want to make sure now that
we go to this fifty cent video so you can
see that sometimes when it comes to what is in
our best interest, our skin folk don't always move like
kim folk. Let's roll that fifty cent video.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
You might know me as fifty cent. I have a
special message for the people in Louisiana. As you may
have heard, I'm now a proud Louisiana property and business
owner working hard to bring film and television industry back
to Louisiana. I'm working because I have an opportunity to
use my influence and make real change in the communities.
I want to see more jobs and prosperity in the
(14:49):
state of Louisiana. This is why I support the amendment too.
On your balance the side of there, you should too.
Don't let anyone confuse you about the amendment too. It
gives teachers permanent pay raise, It doubles senior citizens tax
deduction is all good stuff. Voting and fatal Amendment two
makes common sense and this is a bipartisan effort. Every
(15:11):
Louisiana State Senate Democrat voting to get the Amendment too
on the ballot. This one is about the people coming together.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So yes, this is something where you know, you listen
to it on its face, an increase for teachers, you know,
making taxes more affordable for folks, tax deductions for citizens
over sixty five. There are all these things any here
that sound very, very favorable. But the challenge comes in
(15:42):
when it's it's not always what it says on its face.
It's also what you have to read between the lines.
And I think that I think that what we what
we have to understand is it is always work to
be civically engaged, you have to understand what is all
(16:02):
at stake. And I think that while this is the
first opportunity for Louisiana's to demonstrate to the governor, look, bro,
were not on your side like that, and they've done
that not by voting down amendments that he suggests supported
to the Constitution. The other thing that I think is
important and worth noting is he was recently in a
(16:23):
press conference with Speaker Mike Johnson, who is who represents Louisiana,
but he's also the Speaker of the House of the
United States Congress. He was in this press conference with him,
and he's essentially saying that there's not broad support, but
that they are banking on low voter turnout. Y'all be
(16:44):
very concerned and wary of people who are banking on
people not showing up. That's not what democracy is supposed
to be about. When we talk about people power. The
power of the people is not in the smallness of numbers.
The power of the people is when a majority of
us feel like we're seen enough in the process to
continue to participate. So what I think is important here
(17:07):
again is that two thirds of Louisiana's voted down these amendments.
The amendment to which was also voted down, this is
the one that fifty cent was talking about supporting. Says
it would have lowered the maximum income tax rate the
state could enact, and restricted annual state budget increases, and
(17:31):
would have made it more difficult to enact new tax breaks. Allegedly,
but it would have moved hundreds of millions of dollars
in tax revenue from state savings into Louisiana's general fund,
and that is where Governor Landry and state legislators legislators
could spend that money more easily. That does not mean
(17:52):
that's in the best interest of taxpayers. So with that,
I want to pause here and get any questions or
comments to react to. I think the thing that is
most pressing to me is Louisiana is a place where
we can look at it as a recent victory. I
think the victory is and the fact that the people
spoke up for themselves, they participated. Of course, we want
(18:14):
to see voter participation rates going up. Wisconsin, Mississippi, and
Florida have an opportunity today. It is an election day
in this country, and I think this is why we
often talk about they're not every two years, they're not
every four years. There are special elections all the time
that impact your daily life in more ways than some
(18:34):
of these major elections. And that doesn't mean to choose
to pick or pick and choose between which one you're
going to participate in. It actually means making sure that
you participate in all of them, and that you know
what's coming up. I didn't say, and I want to
make sure I get to that too. Today Mississippi has
on its ballot It's a municipal primary where local leaders
(18:58):
decide on policies like public safety, housing, and education. And
that's what is at stake here. So we want to
make sure that we're paying attention to what is happening
on the ground in Mississippi today too. So with that, Lolo,
you have any questions comments, Oh, maybe she's not on Okay,
(19:23):
so I gotta read it. So what are the Dems
or others going to do about this? Okay, I don't
know what this is, but I'm gonna tell you what
I'm gonna do about this. I am going to make
sure that every opportunity I have to tell y'all about
what's going on, I do that. So we are in
unique times. We are in a time where I think
(19:46):
more more of us than not are concerned about what
our future looks like and what is at stake, And
so I want us to continue to engage even while
we are thinking about if our votes actually matter, if
they are gaming the system. When you look at someone
cutting a million dollar checks like Elon Musk and Wisconsin
(20:08):
for a Supreme Court race in the state, you gotta
wonder why is it so important that they would try
to pay people to think their way right? That is
what is really really important. We got to think through
that in Mississippi. I want to go back to this
really quick today is a primary, so it's the primary
(20:28):
for mayor. It is the primary. My friend Choqui Lamamba
is the current mayor, aldermen, councilman and more for the
next four years. This is the primary. Polls opened in
Mississippi at seven am and they close at seven pm Central.
Any voter that's in line by seven pm can still
cast their ballots. So make sure that you all get
(20:50):
out to vote in Mississippi today. We did talk about
those Florida races already, but I'm gonna go back into
the Florida polls for today and what we who's on
the ballot. These are people who are running to replace uh,
Matt Gates and Michael Waltz. That's who it is. These
(21:14):
are in two GOP you know, heavily leaning districts right now.
Why this is so important is because Democrats hold two
hundred and thirteen seats. There are two recent vacancies, of course,
one being after the death of Sylvester Turner from Houston, Texas.
(21:38):
And then Republicans have two hundred and eighteen seats, which
is the the minimum needed to keep the majority. And
so these two seats today in Matt Gates Old District
which is the first congressional district in Florida is there's
(21:59):
two candidates running. One is Republican Jimmy Patronis and then
Democrat Gave Vallomont. Valamont is a gun control activist. And
then there's Congressional District six, which is Mike Waltz's old seat.
There are there's a Republican state Senator Randy Fine, who
(22:20):
is running for that seat, and then Democrat Josh Well
who's a public school educator. And so these are again
there're Republican districts, but it's important for us to understand
that again, things can change. I know that some folks
were surprised to see the results in Louisiana. Somebody asked
(22:44):
about the Corey Booker philibuster. I will tell y'all as
a teaser. We're going to talk about this on the
podcast tomorrow. But I do want to know if you
all think that Elon Musk is playing too heavy handed,
like he got Doge and everything that Doge is doing,
including making some massive mistakes in the federal government, he
is benefiting significantly from Doje's overreach with the number of
(23:07):
contracts that he has in the federal government. And he's
taking that same outsized influence that he used to the
tune of two hundred million plus dollars with the America
pack I believe is how much they spent. Maybe two
ninety I think it was. I put it in my substack. Oh,
I got to say about my substack. But just hold that,
hold that thought. You hold that thought for me. We
(23:28):
have him playing an outsize role in the federal government
with the election in November, paying all that money into
the process and making sure that he wrote his ticket
to be able to run the Trump administration, which he
is doing through an agency that is not congressionally approved.
DOJE is not congressionally approved, y'all. That's something they made up. Okay. Now,
(23:52):
the other thing that I want you to understand is
he's taking that same outsize influence into the Supreme Court
contest in Wisconsin today. They have spent so much money
on this race, y'all. We gotta pay attention to these
things at some point if we don't stand up and say,
you cannot continue to write your checks and think that
(24:15):
your checks are as meaningful as our votes. And the
only way we can do that is as a collective.
So tomorrow we will talk about Corey Booker's filibuster, why
is it too little, too late? We will talk about
if it's if all the senators need to be joining in.
We will talk about what the House can do. I
talk about in my new substack post. It's my first one.
(24:37):
I hope y'all subscribe. Angela t Rye. Tea is for
Teresa Angela t Rye on substack. Please subscribe today. Know
that I took a moment to really think about what
we needed to do differently in this very important time.
So I have five ways to meet the moment. It
is in my substack. I hope you'll check it out.
(24:58):
I hope you'll weigh in with way you think we
should be meeting the moment. What I know is that
we can't continue to require of our leaders what we
are not willing to do ourselves, and so let us
lean into what it means to meet the moment. But
first make sure you lean into subscribe on our page
at Native lampod on YouTube, and make sure you also
subscribe and download our podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
(25:22):
We are a partnership with Reason Choice and iHeart Media,
and we're so grateful for your support. As we say
every single week and on our solo pods, Welcome home, y'all.
(25:47):
Native Lamppod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Reason Choice Media. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Native lamdpod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Reason Choice Media. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Hello, everybody,
Welcome home, y'all. It is Angela Riie with Native lamppod.
I am your host today. This is a solo pod
on something that is very near and dear to my heart.
(00:21):
It is on people power, particularly when it's time to
go to the polls. As you all know, we look
at November in the general election in this country. There
were a lot of folks who voted, certainly participated, and
there were so many more who stayed home. When you
look at a three way race from November, the entity
(00:42):
that had the greatest victory was the couch. It was
not Kamala Harris, it was not Donald Trump. It was
actually the couch. And so when we talk about the
ways in which we engage in the political process, there's
a holistic view that we should talk about, but often
we talk about it through the lens of voting. There
is something in our democracy, at least the way that
(01:03):
it is right now. Don't know how much longer we'll
have it this way, that when democracy comes to bear
in this country, there are two entities that have the
greatest amount of power around election cycles. It is the people,
those of you who get out and go vote, And
it is also the check the folks who write checks
(01:24):
to candidates. We talked about it at nauseum on the
last Native landpod show. We talked about how much and
actually it was two shows ago we talked about how
much people's checkbooks, entities, corporations packs checkbooks impact the way
that politicians vote on the Senate floor, the House floor,
and all throughout government. And so we know that money
(01:47):
plays an outsized role in politics. And one recent example
of that is rooted in an election that will take
place is taking place currently taking place in Wisconsin today.
It is a Supreme Court election seat where spending records
are broken. They have outspent every other Supreme court race
(02:08):
in that in that in the country, and it is
the most expensive supreme court state Supreme court. Might I add,
because you know, on the federal level they are appointed
by the president, but on a state supreme court it
is supposed to be a nonpartisan entity. But it is
a very hotly contested race between two candidates, uh and
(02:30):
these folks. One is a pretty conservative Republican Brad Schimmel.
He is a I don't even know how to pronounce
this county Wellcousha County judge, Brad Schimmel. And then there's
another candidate who's backed by Democrats. Her name is Susan Crawford,
and it is a hotly contested race. Brad Schimmel's funding
(02:51):
has outpaced Susan crawford spending. And I want to bring
one central figure into this where you might be asking, now,
what does he have to do with the Supreme Court seat.
Let's roll this clip.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Let me first hand out two one million dollar checks
in appreciation. You know, the reason for the checks is
that it's it's really just to get get attention. It's
it's like we need to get attention. And and it's
somewhat inevitably when I do these things, the you know,
the sort of uh it causes the legacy media to
(03:27):
like kind of lose their minds, and and and then
and then they'll they'll run it on every news channel,
and I'm like, I couldn't pay them to the it
would cost like ten times more. Or you know, it's
it's to get the kind of coverage that we get.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
So so I want to play this because it's important
for us to understand. One. This is the same country
where there was a hotly debated conversation around whether or
not it would be a would be breaking the law
in Georgia to give people who are standing in line
(04:06):
bottles of water so they can can continue to stand
in line. Elon Musk has told people that he could
pay twenty dollars per vote, and somehow they figured out
a way to make that be acceptable and not really
be in the public discourse. There have also been conversations
about this million dollar check. So he gave two one
(04:27):
million dollar checks in Wisconsin, so he spent twenty million
dollars from America pack It's twenty two million dollars if
you count these checks. And I just have to say,
it is alarming to me that the Wisconsin Supreme Court,
the very seat that this is about. Right there's a
seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court that sways can sway
(04:48):
the balance of power around redistricting, around many other cases
that are central to the public discourse right now, and
he is offering a million dollars. He said it was
as a gift of gratitude to thank people for their
engagement around this race. But really we know what this is, right,
if black voters matter, if the NAACP IF collective pack,
(05:13):
if any other entity offered a black voter or a
black constituency money for ingratitude, for their support of this race,
for paying attention to this race, and right before the election,
do we really think there would be no conversation about this?
Do we really think there would be no charges pressed? Like,
let's be for real. And I think that that's what
we really have to discuss here. I talked a little
(05:36):
bit about Elon Musk and his paying members of Congress
through campaign contributions who have written articles of impeachment to
oppose judges, to impeach judges who have ruled against the
Trump administration. This is the same type of not just
fraudulent activity, but it is. It looks like extortion, it
(05:59):
looks like bribery, it looks like quid pro quo kind
of behavior. And I'm trying to understand where the great
area for them is when we're talking about water going
to voters and someone just giving blank checks, a million
dollar checks at that to voters and people who are
organizing voters. So that is what I am questioning right now.
(06:22):
So Wisconsin is one thing, but now I want to
turn our attention to another very important race. So Wisc
Consin is going on today. So you all know there
are two congressional seats open in Florida right now, one
vacated by Matt Gates, and I can't think of who
the other one is vacated by. But these two races
are not likely to be closed. I don't think that
(06:43):
Democrats are going to prevail in these races today, but
we'll see. I think that miracles happen every single day.
And if people get out and vote, even in districts
that Trump, you know, won in twenty four by double
digit margins, you know, maybe so that's sick of Matt
Gates and don't want anything like it. I don't know,
(07:03):
but I think that what we have to understand here
is money play a role here as well. These are
very expensive special elections, and people got to get out
the vote and turn out and we'll see what happens.
But I think that it would be truly a miracle
if Florida were to pick up some seats for Democrats
in this special election today. Now that said, there are
(07:28):
miracles that happen sometimes, and I think one of the
latest examples of a miracle happening is in Louisiana this
weekend where there was a special election on four amendments
to the state constitution. So there's someone who decided to
(07:49):
weigh in all four of these constitutional amendments were defeated,
by the way, But there's someone who a lot of
us will recognize, who does a lot of stuff in
terms of putting black people on on air, on TV,
on movies, and film on TV shows, who has business
(08:10):
now in Louisiana, and he was encouraging the black community
and others in Louisiana to vote against their interests.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Let's roll that as election day looms tomorrow, Curtis fifty
cent Jackson throws his support behind Louisiana Amendment two.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
But some question the timing.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
NBC six is Lynn Vance shares our time.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Sorry tonight.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I'm hoping that reporters are smarter than that.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Residents and Tree were taking to social media saying they
received text messages and emails with Curtis fifty cent Jackson
asking them to vote yes for Louisiana. I'm in two.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
I want to see more jobs and prosperity in the
state of Louisiana. This is why I support the amendment too.
On your ballads the side of it.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
But one state representative questions fifty cents timing as well
as others coming out in support of the amendment right
before the election.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
If it's strangers or somebody who've never heard before and
havn't heard how this particular organization feels about it. It's political,
I mean, and we don't have time for that kind
of politicians.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
NBC six has reported on several city council members and
cattle commissioners speaking out against Amendment to. This week, just
like fifty Cents, Shreeport's Chamber of Commerce came out in
support of the amendment.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
It gives teachers permanent pay raise, a doubles senior citizens
tax deduction. This August Stuff.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Representative Phelps says it does much more than what fifty
speaks of in his video. She claims the way the
amendment is written is misleading to voters.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Saturday's election is really really important to the state of
Louisiana because again, we're changing our constitution, things that have
been protected, things that have been best thus far for
the state of Louisiana.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Lynn Vance, NBC six.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So I was trying to find another video. Hopefully we
can find it before we go off today. But fifty
put up a video and I want the full video
to run. So if we couldn't grab that, you all sorry.
I don't know why I thought that the video I
pulled earlier was that video. But if we can grab
that video instead, and you could just cut me off
(10:33):
and play it while I'm talking, because I do think
it's important for people to see the full remarks from
fifty cent. Now, there were four constitutional amendments on the
ballot this past weekend in Louisiana, and what I think
is important here is that they were championed by their
(10:54):
current governor, who is a Republican governor, Jeff Landry. They
were associated with crime, with the courts, and with finances.
As you all can see from the clip before. They
packaged things in very unique ways, and I think we
have to be mindful of how things are communicated to
(11:16):
us when they are on ballots. You know, we are
told like I remember in Washington State when they were
challenging affirmative action work. Connorly was a black Republican who
was going around throughout the country with Pete Wilson in
California when they did Proposition two on nine, and we
(11:36):
followed behind them and before Michigan on something called Initiative
two hundred. Well, they called Initiative two hundred on the
Washington State ballot the Civil Rights Amendment. If you're not
reading the fine print right, you are going to assume
that the thing called the Civil Rights Amendment is not
about to take away your opportunity and access to higher education,
(11:58):
to contracts. And that's not what you're thinking is going
to happen. But that is exactly what happened in Washington State.
And I would say that in Louisiana it's no different.
But what happened here is nothing short of a miracle
because voters came out in droves. There was a thirty
seven percent increase in black voter turnout, which was significant
(12:22):
and very well could have made the difference. I'm gonna
check really quick, do we have that fifty cent video
or do I need to keep going? Okay, we don't
have it. So these are the four amendments that I
that I want to call to your attention. Making it
easier to charge minors as adults. That was one of them.
The other amendment was liquidating education trust funds to support
(12:47):
permanent teacher pay raises. This would have liquidated trust funds
to pay off two billion dollars in public school system debt,
and then they would use the savings on interest payments
to boost teacher salaries by two thousand dollars a year.
It's not necessarily permanent and not necessarily the type of
(13:10):
rays you want to see as a teacher, especially when
it ends up impacting your retirement and other things that
reduce savings for teachers. It said it received some bipartisan support,
but that the real issue is that there was significant
(13:30):
amounts of transparency lacking when you're talking about taking savings
and different education funds. There was also this idea to
restructure the court system. The Louisiana legislature was seeking to
broaden power of specialty courts handling cases like veterans affairs,
(13:54):
drug abuse, and only ensuring that those cases went to
specific judicial districts. And so there were a number. I'm
trying to see, Oh there was something else, I miss one.
I miss one. There was a tax reform measure, and
that is the one that fifty Cent has been so
(14:15):
vocal about so I want to make sure now that
we go to this fifty cent video so you can
see that sometimes when it comes to what is in
our best interest, our skin folk don't always move like
kim folk. Let's roll that fifty cent video.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
You might know me as fifty cent. I have a
special message for the people in Louisiana. As you may
have heard, I'm now a proud Louisiana property and business
owner working hard to bring film and television industry back
to Louisiana. I'm working because I have an opportunity to
use my influence and make real change in the communities.
I want to see more jobs and prosperity in the
(14:49):
state of Louisiana. This is why I support the amendment too.
On your balance the side of there, you should too.
Don't let anyone confuse you about the amendment too. It
gives teachers permanent pay raise, It doubles senior citizens tax
deduction is all good stuff. Voting and fatal Amendment two
makes common sense and this is a bipartisan effort. Every
(15:11):
Louisiana State Senate Democrat voting to get the Amendment too
on the ballot. This one is about the people coming together.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So yes, this is something where you know, you listen
to it on its face, an increase for teachers, you know,
making taxes more affordable for folks, tax deductions for citizens
over sixty five. There are all these things any here
that sound very, very favorable. But the challenge comes in
(15:42):
when it's it's not always what it says on its face.
It's also what you have to read between the lines.
And I think that I think that what we what
we have to understand is it is always work to
be civically engaged, you have to understand what is all
(16:02):
at stake. And I think that while this is the
first opportunity for Louisiana's to demonstrate to the governor, look, bro,
were not on your side like that, and they've done
that not by voting down amendments that he suggests supported
to the Constitution. The other thing that I think is
important and worth noting is he was recently in a
(16:23):
press conference with Speaker Mike Johnson, who is who represents Louisiana,
but he's also the Speaker of the House of the
United States Congress. He was in this press conference with him,
and he's essentially saying that there's not broad support, but
that they are banking on low voter turnout. Y'all be
(16:44):
very concerned and wary of people who are banking on
people not showing up. That's not what democracy is supposed
to be about. When we talk about people power. The
power of the people is not in the smallness of numbers.
The power of the people is when a majority of
us feel like we're seen enough in the process to
continue to participate. So what I think is important here
(17:07):
again is that two thirds of Louisiana's voted down these amendments.
The amendment to which was also voted down, this is
the one that fifty cent was talking about supporting. Says
it would have lowered the maximum income tax rate the
state could enact, and restricted annual state budget increases, and
(17:31):
would have made it more difficult to enact new tax breaks. Allegedly,
but it would have moved hundreds of millions of dollars
in tax revenue from state savings into Louisiana's general fund,
and that is where Governor Landry and state legislators legislators
could spend that money more easily. That does not mean
(17:52):
that's in the best interest of taxpayers. So with that,
I want to pause here and get any questions or
comments to react to. I think the thing that is
most pressing to me is Louisiana is a place where
we can look at it as a recent victory. I
think the victory is and the fact that the people
spoke up for themselves, they participated. Of course, we want
(18:14):
to see voter participation rates going up. Wisconsin, Mississippi, and
Florida have an opportunity today. It is an election day
in this country, and I think this is why we
often talk about they're not every two years, they're not
every four years. There are special elections all the time
that impact your daily life in more ways than some
(18:34):
of these major elections. And that doesn't mean to choose
to pick or pick and choose between which one you're
going to participate in. It actually means making sure that
you participate in all of them, and that you know
what's coming up. I didn't say, and I want to
make sure I get to that too. Today Mississippi has
on its ballot It's a municipal primary where local leaders
(18:58):
decide on policies like public safety, housing, and education. And
that's what is at stake here. So we want to
make sure that we're paying attention to what is happening
on the ground in Mississippi today too. So with that, Lolo,
you have any questions comments, Oh, maybe she's not on Okay,
(19:23):
so I gotta read it. So what are the Dems
or others going to do about this? Okay, I don't
know what this is, but I'm gonna tell you what
I'm gonna do about this. I am going to make
sure that every opportunity I have to tell y'all about
what's going on, I do that. So we are in
unique times. We are in a time where I think
(19:46):
more more of us than not are concerned about what
our future looks like and what is at stake, And
so I want us to continue to engage even while
we are thinking about if our votes actually matter, if
they are gaming the system. When you look at someone
cutting a million dollar checks like Elon Musk and Wisconsin
(20:08):
for a Supreme Court race in the state, you gotta
wonder why is it so important that they would try
to pay people to think their way right? That is
what is really really important. We got to think through
that in Mississippi. I want to go back to this
really quick today is a primary, so it's the primary
(20:28):
for mayor. It is the primary. My friend Choqui Lamamba
is the current mayor, aldermen, councilman and more for the
next four years. This is the primary. Polls opened in
Mississippi at seven am and they close at seven pm Central.
Any voter that's in line by seven pm can still
cast their ballots. So make sure that you all get
(20:50):
out to vote in Mississippi today. We did talk about
those Florida races already, but I'm gonna go back into
the Florida polls for today and what we who's on
the ballot. These are people who are running to replace uh,
Matt Gates and Michael Waltz. That's who it is. These
(21:14):
are in two GOP you know, heavily leaning districts right now.
Why this is so important is because Democrats hold two
hundred and thirteen seats. There are two recent vacancies, of course,
one being after the death of Sylvester Turner from Houston, Texas.
(21:38):
And then Republicans have two hundred and eighteen seats, which
is the the minimum needed to keep the majority. And
so these two seats today in Matt Gates Old District
which is the first congressional district in Florida is there's
(21:59):
two candidates running. One is Republican Jimmy Patronis and then
Democrat Gave Vallomont. Valamont is a gun control activist. And
then there's Congressional District six, which is Mike Waltz's old seat.
There are there's a Republican state Senator Randy Fine, who
(22:20):
is running for that seat, and then Democrat Josh Well
who's a public school educator. And so these are again
there're Republican districts, but it's important for us to understand
that again, things can change. I know that some folks
were surprised to see the results in Louisiana. Somebody asked
(22:44):
about the Corey Booker philibuster. I will tell y'all as
a teaser. We're going to talk about this on the
podcast tomorrow. But I do want to know if you
all think that Elon Musk is playing too heavy handed,
like he got Doge and everything that Doge is doing,
including making some massive mistakes in the federal government, he
is benefiting significantly from Doje's overreach with the number of
(23:07):
contracts that he has in the federal government. And he's
taking that same outsized influence that he used to the
tune of two hundred million plus dollars with the America
pack I believe is how much they spent. Maybe two
ninety I think it was. I put it in my substack. Oh,
I got to say about my substack. But just hold that,
hold that thought. You hold that thought for me. We
(23:28):
have him playing an outsize role in the federal government
with the election in November, paying all that money into
the process and making sure that he wrote his ticket
to be able to run the Trump administration, which he
is doing through an agency that is not congressionally approved.
DOJE is not congressionally approved, y'all. That's something they made up. Okay. Now,
(23:52):
the other thing that I want you to understand is
he's taking that same outsize influence into the Supreme Court
contest in Wisconsin today. They have spent so much money
on this race, y'all. We gotta pay attention to these
things at some point if we don't stand up and say,
you cannot continue to write your checks and think that
(24:15):
your checks are as meaningful as our votes. And the
only way we can do that is as a collective.
So tomorrow we will talk about Corey Booker's filibuster, why
is it too little, too late? We will talk about
if it's if all the senators need to be joining in.
We will talk about what the House can do. I
talk about in my new substack post. It's my first one.
(24:37):
I hope y'all subscribe. Angela t Rye. Tea is for
Teresa Angela t Rye on substack. Please subscribe today. Know
that I took a moment to really think about what
we needed to do differently in this very important time.
So I have five ways to meet the moment. It
is in my substack. I hope you'll check it out.
(24:58):
I hope you'll weigh in with way you think we
should be meeting the moment. What I know is that
we can't continue to require of our leaders what we
are not willing to do ourselves, and so let us
lean into what it means to meet the moment. But
first make sure you lean into subscribe on our page
at Native lampod on YouTube, and make sure you also
subscribe and download our podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
(25:22):
We are a partnership with Reason Choice and iHeart Media,
and we're so grateful for your support. As we say
every single week and on our solo pods, Welcome home, y'all.
(25:47):
Native Lamppod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Reason Choice Media. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Tiffany Cross
Andrew Gillum
Angela Rye
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!