May 14, 2025 • 35 mins
-
Middle East Diplomacy and Policy Announcements
- Former President Donald Trump is described as making a historic trip to the Middle East.
- Major announcements include:
- Saudi Arabia planning to invest $1 trillion in the U.S.
- Trump calling for the removal of U.S. sanctions on Syria, citing humanitarian concerns and regional stability.
- Strong rhetoric against Iran, emphasizing no tolerance for nuclear weapons but offering a path to peace.
- Support for Lebanon’s economic development.
-
Criticism of Media Coverage
- The transcript criticizes outlets like MSNBC for their portrayal of the Middle East conflict, particularly regarding Israel and Gaza.
- It accuses mainstream media of bias and anti-Semitism, especially in their framing of Palestinian casualties.
-
Allegations of Economic Data Manipulation
- Claims that the Biden administration fabricated job creation numbers leading up to the 2024 election.
- References to revised data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showing significant overestimations.
- Suggests this was a deliberate attempt to influence the election outcome.
-
Pharmaceutical Reform
- Senator Marsha Blackburn discusses legislation targeting Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs).
- The goal is to reduce drug prices and increase transparency in pharmaceutical pricing.
-
Juvenile Crime and After-School Programs
- Bipartisan legislation proposed to fund after-school programs to reduce juvenile crime and gang recruitment.
- Emphasis on community-based solutions and support for law enforcement.
-
Immigration and Border Security
- Criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of illegal immigration.
- Highlights concerns about gang members and criminals entering the U.S.
- Contrasts media outrage over legal refugee admissions under Trump with silence on illegal immigration under Biden.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Big breaking news to start the show today, and that
includes the Saudi Crown Prince is now saying he is
working to increase Saudi investments in the US to not
one billion, not one hundred billion, but one trillion dollars.
The President United States of America making this historic trip,
(00:22):
saying it's time for US to work with our allies,
and he says it's time for the US to remove
sanctions on Syria as well.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Syrians have endured brutal and crippling sanctions over the past
fourteen years, and it's time to end them, is what President
Trump announced while in Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Quote. I will be ordering the.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Secession of sanctions against Syrian order to give them a
chance at greatness. That is what the President said during
the press conference. Trump said Syrians have seen so much
misery and death during a years long civil war. He
also agreed to end the sanctions against Syria at the
urging of the Saudi Crown prints and the Turkish President
(01:02):
because there needs to be quote more stability in the
region now. The sanctions targeted the Hassad regime and served
as an important function, Trump said, but now it's time
for Syria to shine obviously, as Hasad has fled the
country and is now taking up safe haven in Russia.
The US designated Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism
(01:24):
in nineteen seventy nine, imposed sanctions on the nation in
two thousand and four and in twenty eleven following the
former Syrian president Assad's efforts to end anti government protests.
Sanctions imposed by the United States deprived Syria of access
to global financial systems and added sanctions against the Assad
(01:46):
regime while the Syrian civil war raged for several years now.
The Biden administration in November sanctioned a Syrian conglomerate after
accusing it of using ul revenue to a RAN's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard and COUD forces, as well as Huthi militants
(02:06):
for attacking US forces in the Middle East. Syria has
endured civil war, terrorism attacks, and secretary of warfare that
included the Islamic State taking control of parts of the
nation in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And beyond Western powers.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Afterwards, undertook a bombing campaign to eliminate ISIS and restore
full power to quote Syria. Asad regime lost power in
December when a militia took control of the Syrian capital
of Damascus and other parts of the country. This happened
mainly because the money wasn't flowing in anymore from Russia.
(02:44):
They couldn't handle it because of their war they'd started
and their invasion of Ukraine. Now Syria's new president he
was a former member of al Qaeda, who says he
has reformed his ways just so you know. Yes, it's
complicated in the Middle East, and the fall of Assage
regime prompted the easing of some US sanctions, but not
(03:05):
all of them. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio,
will meet with Syria's new foreign minister in Turkey later
this week. Trump also said to work out details. This
announcement marks the presence first of four days in the
Middle East.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
He's also scheduled to visit the United Air of Emirates
and Qatar.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Now back to what the President had to say at
this visit. At the stop on this this Middle East tour,
Trump also talked about Iran and saying that Iran can
have a much brighter future, but we will never allow
them to threaten America and or our allies. He said this,
making it clear as he's in the middle East. We're
(03:45):
not screwing around.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
But with that said, Iran can have a much brighter future,
but will never allow America and his allies to be
threatened with terrorism or nuclear attack. The choices there is
to make. You want them to be a successful country.
We want them to be a wonderful, safe, great country,
but they cannot have a nuclear weapon.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
This is an.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Offer that will not last forever. The time is right
now for them to choose right now. We don't have
a lot of time to wait.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
We don't have a lot of time to wait. That
is part of the warning. Clearly the President wanted to
make clear as he was doing this visit in the
Middle East.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
The President also talked about our enemies.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yes, there are enemies around the world, and certainly there
are enemies in the Middle East, the President saying this
at the US Saudi Investment Forum in Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, I'm here today not merely to condemn the past
chaos of Iran's leaders, but to offer them a new path,
and a much better path toward a far better and.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
More hopeful future.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
As I've shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past
conflicts and forge new partnerships. For better and more stable world,
even of our differences may be very profound, which obviously
they are in the case of I have never believed
in having permanent enemies. I am different than a lot
of people think. I don't like permanent enemies. But sometimes
(05:19):
you need enemies to do the job, and you have
to do it right.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Enemies get you motivated.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
In fact, some of the closest friends of the United
States of America nations we fought wars against in generation's past,
and now they're our friends and our allies the present
giving a pathway for a future there that even some
of the media are now saying sounds pretty nice.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Fox Business Channel talking about this, saying the present's Middle
East plan is one that we should all embrace.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
The President will never get credit for this, but that
was an amazing speech.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
He threw down.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
The gauntlet where he had to, particularly with Iran, and
at the same time he painted a picture of possibility
for the Middle East. I've never heard any other president
paint I mean, that was truly extraordinary. He made Look
he's such a good salesman. He said to the Middle East,
you want to lead in business and technology and culture
(06:21):
and commerce. Those are the exact words he used. We
will do it with you. We are in a golden age.
You can have a golden age. There's only one person
on the globe. There's only one person who could give
that speech and do it with that kind of force,
and it was him that was totally extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
You never was talking about the follow through. I can't
wait to see.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
What kind of fallow through comes from this.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Now, don't worry the rest of the press.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
They're going to be angry over the President and what
he had to say today. They're angry about the fact
the President's trying to have peace in the Middle East
and get this job done. The President also saying this
about God. Listen carefully how this will play as well.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
In the Middle East East.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
I believe it.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Is God's job to sit in judgment. My job to
defend America and to promote the fundamental interest of stability, prosperity,
and peace.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
That's what I really want to do.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
I will never hesitate to wield American power if it's
necessary to defend the United States or to help defend
our allies.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
It's pretty clear the President saying the terrorists in the
Middle East, if you think that you can get away
with doing what you were doing during the last four
years the Biden administration. You're flat out wrong. I don't
need permanent enemies. I don't like permanent enemies. But if
you are going to screw with America or American interests, our.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Allies, there will be hell to pay.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
The President also talking more about peace, saying he's ready
to stand and help Lebanon create a future as well
with an economic development.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
My administration stand ready to help Lebanon create a future
of economic development and peace with its.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Neighbors, with its neighbors.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
So you listen to this president and everything that he
just said there, why on earth would anyone in the
media criticize this right Like, why would anybody say this
is a bad thing? Well, MSNBC had no problem attacking
this trip and Israel when they said this moments after
(08:28):
the President was in the Middle East talking about all
these issues.
Speaker 6 (08:32):
Eddie, un spokesperson on Monday, did not mince words. And
I'm going to quote here this is not a natural disaster,
but a human made catastrophe that the world should not allow.
We have seen pictures images of children even today carrying
all their belongings through the rubble, a tiny baby in
a rainbow jumper that was killed by an airstrike, and
(08:54):
then there was a child this is today with one leg,
waiting on crutches just to try to get at a
bit of food. These images are so heartbreaking, so chilling.
They raise the question Hamas, Yes, Hamas is responsible. Israel
has made a decision for the blockade, But what is
the responsibility of other governments? What is the responsibility of
(09:18):
us all when children and innocence are starving to death?
Speaker 7 (09:23):
You know, it's it's a difficult question on a certain
level and an easy answer on another. First, I think
countries across the across the world needs to just simply
live up to international law. What Israel is doing in
relation to Gaza, the blockade that is cutting off food
and water is illegal. It's not sanctioned by international law.
(09:45):
And I think if countries understand that and live up
to the letter of that law and to the intent
of that law, they would hold Israel accountable. I want
to just acknowledge what the Rabbi is doing, what he's written,
and what he's doing. It is important that when you're
with in a particular tradition Chris, that you can bring
the resources of that tradition to bear on the actions
of those who are committed to the same principles and
(10:08):
ideals and faith that you are. So it's within that
tradition that he's bringing the basic tenets of Judaism to
bear on what Israel is doing. And I think that's
really important, and I think it's powerful, and I understand
the risk that he's taken.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
That he's taken.
Speaker 7 (10:22):
I think also for me, I just want to say,
I want to ask a basic question. How many dead
Palestinians are needed for the state of Israel.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
How many dead Palestinians are needed for the state of Israel.
That is the anti Semitic propaganda that MSNBC put out
on their airwaves, not talking about all the dead Israelis
who were killed in the horrific attack, the worse since
the Holocaust on Israel.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
This is what Donald Trump is up.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Against and how evil the media is in some sectors.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
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nine seven to two Patriot. All right, so here's another
story I gotta throw on your radar screen, and it
is one that is going to yet again show you
how corrupt the state sponsored media was it trying to
fix the last election by straight up.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Lying to you.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
New numbers from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics are
now showing eight hundred thousand jobs from last year that
the Biden administration claim they created never even existed. In fact,
the Biden administration routinely lied about job creation and then
(13:37):
would quietly revise them down time and time again. Later on,
the Biden administration and the media lied to all of
our faces.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
And if you don't believe me, let me.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Remind you what Joe Biden said at the White House
right before election day.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Ask him for.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Doing this, mister President, two questions, the first Florida Senator
Marco Rubio.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Today's job support is having faith numbers. What do you
make of that?
Speaker 5 (14:05):
And how worried are you that many Americans are hearing
that the job's numbers aren't real.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Look, I'm gonna be very careful here.
Speaker 8 (14:17):
If you notice anything the mega Republicans don't like they
call fake.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Anything. The job numbers are what the job numbers are,
They're real. They're since here what we are.
Speaker 8 (14:34):
And by the way, just look at how the EU
talks about us, how they like to have an economy
like ours.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
Just talk about the rest of the world looks at
us and what we're doing so well, I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Get we're going now. The President says that. And then
the question we all.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Have to ask is, okay, well, how big was the
lad All right, Well, let's look at now the new
data the Labor Department is now admitting publicly hundreds and
hundreds of thousands of Biden jobs were actually fake, like
they just made up numbers to make you think the
economy was doing better than.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
It actually was.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
The Biden administration, for example, claimed to have added almost
four hundred thousand jobs from July through September of last year,
but new data released this week suggests.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
None of those jobs ever existed.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Despite constantly gas lighting by the mainstream media, Americans knew
the economy was in poor shape, and these latest numbers
are proving it. Month after month, the government, being counters
under former President Biden's published overly optimistic estimates for everything
from job growth to the size of the economy, only
(15:47):
to have those numbers routinely and quietly revised down later.
Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, known as the
BLS produces estimates for the number of non farm payrolls
in the country, as well as revisions for the last
two months estimates under Biden. Listen carefully, okay, these revisions
(16:11):
were abnormal in magnitude and direction, being revised down with
unusual frequency. In other words, they knew they were lying
to you, and they knew that the media would never
tell you the truth. While these monthly job reports are
compiled from a survey of over six hundred thousand businesses,
of which fewer than two hundred thousand are surveyed, each month.
(16:33):
But also the BLS also publishes much much more comprehensive
quarterly data called Business Employment Dynamics that come from a
census of over twelve million businesses. Now that's over seventeen
times a sample size of the monthly.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Jobs reports survey.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Now, this is obviously a more accurate database, and it
was just released by the BLS for the third quarter
of last year, which ran from the start of July
through the end of September. So guess what we found
out in massive stark contrast to the monthly jobs reports
before election day showing an increase of four in one
(17:14):
thousand jobs during the third quarter, these numbers, and these
new numbers show a decline of one thousand private sector jobs,
meaning they literally created four hundred thousand jobs that never
existed just to try to win the election.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
You want to talk about, I mean, and I.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Go back to Democrats' obsession with Russian collusion and Ford
interference in our elections.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
We didn't have foreign interference in our election.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
We had the actual government of Joe Biden that said
we're going to influence the election outcome by telling Americans
that four inne thousand jobs were created out of thin.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Air that never were and we knew it wasn't now.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
To be clear, the monthly job reports and the data
do not measure exactly the same thing. Okay, the bed data,
for example, we were talking about a moment ago. And
the BLS also published another data set called the Quarterly
Census of Employment and Wages.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
This is where it gets really good, folks. Each of these.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Reports exclude certain categories of jobs or industries like railroad, government,
self employment, agriculture, etc. That means there can be relatively
small deviations between these labor market X estimates in the
short run, but they trend very well together over time.
In fact, the more comprehensively quarterly data are used to
(18:36):
reevaluate the monthly jobs reports once a year in a
process called the Annual Benchmark. All right, so you ready.
This benchmark just twelve months of job data to make
them as accurate as possible, and always covers a period
from March of one year to March to the following year,
the fiscal year.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
In early twenty.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Twenty five, the BLS published the angual Annual Benchmark figures
for the period from March twenty three to March twenty four.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
The results are staggering a drop of six hundred thousand
non farm payroll jobs. So to be clear, In other words,
the monthly reports had overestimated the number of jobs during
those twelve months of the election year to favor Joe
Biden and Kamwa Harris, and were revised down now by
(19:26):
six hundred thousand jobs. They made up six hundred thousand
jobs that didn't exist. And that's on top of the
individual monthly reports already being revised down throughout the year
long period in question. So the downward revision of the
Biden Harris air jobs data are, by the way, set
(19:46):
to continue from March through June of last year.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
The economy, they want you to.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Believe, added three hundred ninety eight thousand non farm payrolls
according to the monthly reports. Yet the BED data shows
a net loss of one hundred and six see three
thousand private sector jobs for the exact same period. So
add those numbers in you ready. Instead of adding almost
eight hundred thousand jobs during the middle of last year,
(20:12):
the economy actually shrunk in the job market, shedding more
than one hundred and sixty thousand jobs. How did no
when the media cover this? How is it they were
able to get away with this. Now the next annual
benchmark will probably be a retroactive reduction of jobs under
Biden that exceeds this year's a large downward revision. Were
also being warned. So for four years, the Biden administration
(20:37):
and the psychopaths and our government and those in the
state sponsored media kept telling you that we had the
strongest economy in history. Remember when Joe Biden said over
and over again, that's why I played them earlier. Then
they had statistics that were paraded on the news to
convince Americans not to believe their lying eyes or their
empty wallets. Voters, luckily weren't fooled, at least not enough
(20:59):
of them. That's why they gave President Donald Trump an
overwhelming victory in November. He captured not only electoral college,
including every single swing state, but he also got the
popular vote as well.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
And the latest economic data.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Vindicated the American people's judgment that no number of platitudes
from government bureaucrats or deceptive headlines could full families into
believing their finances were in good shape before November, when
they knew they really weren't. For example, economic rhetoric couldn't
paper over the reality that quote, credit card debt exploded
(21:34):
to well over one point two trillion from Americans being
unable to make ends meet in the Biden economy. Trump
was elected to fix our finances and that's why he won,
which were much worse than Biden or the media would
ever admit. So this was all a massive lie, and
now we have the data to prove it. Now, I
(21:56):
wonder how many people are going to go out there
and write stories and be honest, like, hey, we lie
to you, guys, or hey, they lied to you, the
government lied to you, Like it's really bad. I doubt
anybody will, by the way, I doubt any of them will.
That's my gut here, I doubt any of them will.
Joining me is a Senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn Center.
(22:19):
Nice to have you on, and let's start with what
we're seeing with trade, because this is obviously the Democrats
and the media's worst nightmare. They wanted you to believe,
if you're a citizen in this country, that this was
going to destroy your life, that deals weren't going to
get done until next year, as they were saying on
TV just last week on CNN, Oh, this will be
over a year until this stuff gets done. And then
(22:39):
sure enough we see this major announcement with UK followed
up by another major announcement with China.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Donald Trump's getting it done.
Speaker 9 (22:48):
Yes he is. He is delivering results. And when you
have those kind of results, it elevates respect for the
United States of America around the globe. Stand that our
Trade rep is working on twenty more of these tariff
and trade deals, and you know, Ben, that also covers
(23:10):
the non tariff trade barriers in those discussions. And these
are being done in a bilateral manner, a one on one,
which is how the President likes to do it. But
he is proving that he built a vision for what
this country could return to begging and our leadership position
(23:31):
in the world, and he is showing how to make
that happen.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
You look at this president. It's not just on trade deals,
but look at the last week. You had UK trade deal,
China trade deal, then the release of American hostages, the
ceasefire with Indian Pakistan, ceasefire with the Hooties. Oh, and
by the way, we're going to make prescription drug costs
through an executive order much less expensive for Americans. And
giving us favored nation status on these prices. That's just
(23:58):
in a week, Yes it is.
Speaker 9 (24:01):
And of course the MFN issue with the pharmaceuticals is
his way of getting these pharmaceutical companies to the table.
We have five percent of the world's population, but we
represent seventy five percent of pharmaceutical company profits because they're
(24:24):
subsidizing these negotiated prices in other countries. Now also getting
rid of these pharmacy benefit managers, who are the middlemen
between your insurance company and you at the pharmacy counter.
Getting rid of them because they go in there, they
(24:44):
take the rebates, they negotiate what you're going to be
allowed to have. That is why people may be on
a certain pharmaceutical and then all of a sudden three
months into that, six months into it, well there's a
change and they can't have it anymore. They have to
get something that is different, and their physician has said, no,
(25:06):
this is the prescription that you need, and people are
tired of that. So we just left a hearing today
with these pharmacy benefit managers. It is my legislation that
rains them in and will end this practice of them
(25:26):
taking the rebates and driving up the price on consumers.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
It is incredible and now having this change is going
to help all Americans. It should be a non political issue,
but it does seem like the Democratic Party is completely
controlled by big pharma and their investment in each one
of their candidates.
Speaker 9 (25:46):
Well, it does appear to be that way, and when
you look at it, I think that it's easy to
see why people feel that. But reigning in the PBMs,
I'm telling you that I've gotten a lot bipartisan support
on my legislation. It is moving through Finance Committee.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
It brings me down a little bit when you say PBMs.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
I want people to understand it because it seems complicated,
especially if you don't know. So can you explain exactly
how this legislation would work. I think it's important.
Speaker 9 (26:15):
Absolutely. When Bill Clinton was in office and they were
looking at trying to nationalize healthcare, and of course we
had the version of hillary Care in Tennessee, which was Tencare,
they came up with this idea that they would have
a pharmacy benefit manager who would work between the pharmaceutical
(26:36):
company and the insurance company and the patient. And what
they would do for the insurance company is go to
the pharmaceutical companies and negotiate prices. Well. As the rebates
got bigger, these PBMs got bigger, and they started saying
to the insurance companies, hey, we'll take the rebate and
(26:58):
we will split it with you. Well, the poor patient,
those of us that are going to the pharmacy counter.
We're still playing the full note on this. And it's
why you've seen cops go up. It's also why you've
seen some prescriptions be disallowed by your insurance plan. Why
(27:19):
were they doing that because the PBM says, Okay, let's
go over here to another company with a similar pharmaceutical
and let's do business there because we get a bigger rebate.
So it becomes a profit motive motive and it puts
profit at the center and not the patient at the center.
(27:43):
So my legislation would require them to move these PBMs
to a service fee and it would be a flat rate.
And also it requires them to use any willing pharmacy.
Now intend see we've had one hundred and twenty pharmacies
(28:04):
close over the last decade. These are independent pharmacies. Many
times it is the only healthcare access point in some
of our rural or underserved communities, and the PBMs have
driven them out of business because they will not put
(28:24):
them in the formulary. We've had research from the Tennessee
Department of Commerce and Insurance that shows even one of
the PBMs in our state elevated the price on five
hundred and fifty different drugs, did what they call spread
pricing to the tune of thirty million dollars and been
(28:46):
also refused to pay these pharmacies within the seven day
pay period. So it makes it hard for these independent
and small pharmacies to do business. My legislation would do
would be to end that and say any pharmacy that
is willing to participate with a plan, you have got
(29:09):
to let them into that plan and let them provide
for those patients. And it would cap the fee. That
would mean they can't get that rebate. It would cap
them at a service fee and disallow the rebate.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
So what does this look like moving forward?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
And what are people that are listening to advocate for
who do they need to be calling.
Speaker 9 (29:33):
Well, what they need to do is be contacting some
of the House members and encourage them to support it.
They need to be contacting their senators to support pharmacy
benefit manager reconstruction and reform. And you know, as I said,
we're raining them in. I would like to remove them
(29:56):
as a part of the marketplace. We don't need the
middleman and on this, and we don't need somebody unelected
bureaucrats who are out here changing what people can have
access to when their physician has already told them what
they need to be taking.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Great point.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I want to ask you finally about something else you're
focusing on right now, and it deals with after school programs.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 9 (30:23):
Yes, indeed, this is a legislation that Catherine Cortes Masto
and I started pushing forward last year, didn't get it
across the finish line. This would be a grant program
that's the Department of Defense for after school programs in
communities so that kids have somewhere to go in the
(30:45):
afternoon before parents get home from work. What we have
learned is that with juvenile crime, the bulk of that,
the majority of it is committed between two o'clock in
the afternoon and six o'clock. That's when they're out of
school and mom and dad are not home from work.
And then we've also found that that is when gangs
(31:07):
are recruiting these kids to be members of gangs. Now,
we have some cities like Memphis who have seen an
astronomical increase in juvenile crime, and this is why Senator
Cortes Masco and I decided to do this bill and
to do these grants so that community organizations churches, boys
(31:32):
and girls clubs, thinks of that nature, can have sports
and science, stem arts, tutoring, mentoring programs in the afternoon
where kids can participate in these programs and not be
approached by these gang members who are trying to recruit
(31:52):
them to carry out carjackings and smash and grabs and robberies.
These gangs members know that if you get a juvenile
who is going to juvenile court, they're probably not going
to keep them. The penalties and the sentences are going
to be much lighter, and then they recruit these individuals
(32:14):
into gangs and it drives up the crime rate. And
in areas many cities we've seen the crime rate and
the juvenile crime rate increase as much as twenty to
two hundred percent. So this is something that as we've
looked at how we address this issue with the gangs,
(32:34):
with juvenile crime, that we think this will be a help.
Last year, when we had this pushed forward, the Memphis
City Council did a resolution supporting this initiative. This is
a bipartisan initiative. We think it is a step in
the right direction. It helps support law enforcement, and it
(32:56):
helps support children and families with programs that we would
be able to make available at no cost to families.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
It's incredible.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Final question for you, and I know you got to go,
but I want to get it deals with this issue.
Are you surprised at just the amount of hypocrisy from
the media and the left. They looked the other way
as masses of men crossed illegally all over the globe
in the US everywhere for the last four years under
the Biden administration, literally millions coming in. And now the
(33:32):
media is furious that Donald Trump has allowed a fuse
and this is no exaggeration a few dozen South Africans
to come to the US legally as refugees. But they
said nothing about Arizona, for example, or Texas or New
Mexico when it was being overrun by thousands of African
aliens crossing illegally every day.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
In December of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 9 (33:56):
The hypocrisy is it is a stand and when you
look at the fact that ICE has been working in
Tennessee and around Middle Tennessee, and my understanding is they
have had about one hundred and forty apprehensions and detentions.
(34:16):
These are individuals that are gang members, Trende are Agua
MS thirteen, which we have declared as a country that
these are foreign terrorist organizations. You've got murderers, rapists, child rapists, pedophiles,
child predators that are included in these numbers. And the
(34:37):
Democrats are out here saying don't lock them up, don't
deport them, and trying to say these people who have
illegally entered the country, trying to act as if they
have constitutional rights that citizens have when they have illegal
(35:00):
entered the country with is a crime. And then they
have committed crime against our fellow Tennesseeans and have robbed
people of their property or who have dangered them or
injured them. Are in the child rapist you know, trying
(35:20):
to defend these people. I haven't talked to many folks
that want these people living in their neighborhoods. They are
criminals and they want them off the street. They want
to see them locked up, and they don't want them
back in their neighborhoods.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Amen to that center. Always a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
I appreciate you coming on and we will certainly keep
people update on this legislation you're working on.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Well done, you got it.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Take care by now, make sure you share this podcast
with your family and friends, put it up on social
media wherever you are, and we appreciate you listening every day.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
We'll see you back here tomorrow
Big breaking news to start the show today, and that
includes the Saudi Crown Prince is now saying he is
working to increase Saudi investments in the US to not
one billion, not one hundred billion, but one trillion dollars.
The President United States of America making this historic trip,
(00:22):
saying it's time for US to work with our allies,
and he says it's time for the US to remove
sanctions on Syria as well.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Syrians have endured brutal and crippling sanctions over the past
fourteen years, and it's time to end them, is what President
Trump announced while in Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Quote. I will be ordering the.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Secession of sanctions against Syrian order to give them a
chance at greatness. That is what the President said during
the press conference. Trump said Syrians have seen so much
misery and death during a years long civil war. He
also agreed to end the sanctions against Syria at the
urging of the Saudi Crown prints and the Turkish President
(01:02):
because there needs to be quote more stability in the
region now. The sanctions targeted the Hassad regime and served
as an important function, Trump said, but now it's time
for Syria to shine obviously, as Hasad has fled the
country and is now taking up safe haven in Russia.
The US designated Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism
(01:24):
in nineteen seventy nine, imposed sanctions on the nation in
two thousand and four and in twenty eleven following the
former Syrian president Assad's efforts to end anti government protests.
Sanctions imposed by the United States deprived Syria of access
to global financial systems and added sanctions against the Assad
(01:46):
regime while the Syrian civil war raged for several years now.
The Biden administration in November sanctioned a Syrian conglomerate after
accusing it of using ul revenue to a RAN's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard and COUD forces, as well as Huthi militants
(02:06):
for attacking US forces in the Middle East. Syria has
endured civil war, terrorism attacks, and secretary of warfare that
included the Islamic State taking control of parts of the
nation in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And beyond Western powers.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Afterwards, undertook a bombing campaign to eliminate ISIS and restore
full power to quote Syria. Asad regime lost power in
December when a militia took control of the Syrian capital
of Damascus and other parts of the country. This happened
mainly because the money wasn't flowing in anymore from Russia.
(02:44):
They couldn't handle it because of their war they'd started
and their invasion of Ukraine. Now Syria's new president he
was a former member of al Qaeda, who says he
has reformed his ways just so you know. Yes, it's
complicated in the Middle East, and the fall of Assage
regime prompted the easing of some US sanctions, but not
(03:05):
all of them. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio,
will meet with Syria's new foreign minister in Turkey later
this week. Trump also said to work out details. This
announcement marks the presence first of four days in the
Middle East.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
He's also scheduled to visit the United Air of Emirates
and Qatar.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Now back to what the President had to say at
this visit. At the stop on this this Middle East tour,
Trump also talked about Iran and saying that Iran can
have a much brighter future, but we will never allow
them to threaten America and or our allies. He said this,
making it clear as he's in the middle East. We're
(03:45):
not screwing around.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
But with that said, Iran can have a much brighter future,
but will never allow America and his allies to be
threatened with terrorism or nuclear attack. The choices there is
to make. You want them to be a successful country.
We want them to be a wonderful, safe, great country,
but they cannot have a nuclear weapon.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
This is an.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Offer that will not last forever. The time is right
now for them to choose right now. We don't have
a lot of time to wait.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
We don't have a lot of time to wait. That
is part of the warning. Clearly the President wanted to
make clear as he was doing this visit in the
Middle East.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
The President also talked about our enemies.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yes, there are enemies around the world, and certainly there
are enemies in the Middle East, the President saying this
at the US Saudi Investment Forum in Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, I'm here today not merely to condemn the past
chaos of Iran's leaders, but to offer them a new path,
and a much better path toward a far better and.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
More hopeful future.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
As I've shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past
conflicts and forge new partnerships. For better and more stable world,
even of our differences may be very profound, which obviously
they are in the case of I have never believed
in having permanent enemies. I am different than a lot
of people think. I don't like permanent enemies. But sometimes
(05:19):
you need enemies to do the job, and you have
to do it right.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Enemies get you motivated.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
In fact, some of the closest friends of the United
States of America nations we fought wars against in generation's past,
and now they're our friends and our allies the present
giving a pathway for a future there that even some
of the media are now saying sounds pretty nice.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Fox Business Channel talking about this, saying the present's Middle
East plan is one that we should all embrace.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
The President will never get credit for this, but that
was an amazing speech.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
He threw down.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
The gauntlet where he had to, particularly with Iran, and
at the same time he painted a picture of possibility
for the Middle East. I've never heard any other president
paint I mean, that was truly extraordinary. He made Look
he's such a good salesman. He said to the Middle East,
you want to lead in business and technology and culture
(06:21):
and commerce. Those are the exact words he used. We
will do it with you. We are in a golden age.
You can have a golden age. There's only one person
on the globe. There's only one person who could give
that speech and do it with that kind of force,
and it was him that was totally extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
You never was talking about the follow through. I can't
wait to see.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
What kind of fallow through comes from this.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Now, don't worry the rest of the press.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
They're going to be angry over the President and what
he had to say today. They're angry about the fact
the President's trying to have peace in the Middle East
and get this job done. The President also saying this
about God. Listen carefully how this will play as well.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
In the Middle East East.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
I believe it.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Is God's job to sit in judgment. My job to
defend America and to promote the fundamental interest of stability, prosperity,
and peace.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
That's what I really want to do.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
I will never hesitate to wield American power if it's
necessary to defend the United States or to help defend
our allies.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
It's pretty clear the President saying the terrorists in the
Middle East, if you think that you can get away
with doing what you were doing during the last four
years the Biden administration. You're flat out wrong. I don't
need permanent enemies. I don't like permanent enemies. But if
you are going to screw with America or American interests, our.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Allies, there will be hell to pay.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
The President also talking more about peace, saying he's ready
to stand and help Lebanon create a future as well
with an economic development.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
My administration stand ready to help Lebanon create a future
of economic development and peace with its.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Neighbors, with its neighbors.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
So you listen to this president and everything that he
just said there, why on earth would anyone in the
media criticize this right Like, why would anybody say this
is a bad thing? Well, MSNBC had no problem attacking
this trip and Israel when they said this moments after
(08:28):
the President was in the Middle East talking about all
these issues.
Speaker 6 (08:32):
Eddie, un spokesperson on Monday, did not mince words. And
I'm going to quote here this is not a natural disaster,
but a human made catastrophe that the world should not allow.
We have seen pictures images of children even today carrying
all their belongings through the rubble, a tiny baby in
a rainbow jumper that was killed by an airstrike, and
(08:54):
then there was a child this is today with one leg,
waiting on crutches just to try to get at a
bit of food. These images are so heartbreaking, so chilling.
They raise the question Hamas, Yes, Hamas is responsible. Israel
has made a decision for the blockade, But what is
the responsibility of other governments? What is the responsibility of
(09:18):
us all when children and innocence are starving to death?
Speaker 7 (09:23):
You know, it's it's a difficult question on a certain
level and an easy answer on another. First, I think
countries across the across the world needs to just simply
live up to international law. What Israel is doing in
relation to Gaza, the blockade that is cutting off food
and water is illegal. It's not sanctioned by international law.
(09:45):
And I think if countries understand that and live up
to the letter of that law and to the intent
of that law, they would hold Israel accountable. I want
to just acknowledge what the Rabbi is doing, what he's written,
and what he's doing. It is important that when you're
with in a particular tradition Chris, that you can bring
the resources of that tradition to bear on the actions
of those who are committed to the same principles and
(10:08):
ideals and faith that you are. So it's within that
tradition that he's bringing the basic tenets of Judaism to
bear on what Israel is doing. And I think that's
really important, and I think it's powerful, and I understand
the risk that he's taken.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
That he's taken.
Speaker 7 (10:22):
I think also for me, I just want to say,
I want to ask a basic question. How many dead
Palestinians are needed for the state of Israel.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
How many dead Palestinians are needed for the state of Israel.
That is the anti Semitic propaganda that MSNBC put out
on their airwaves, not talking about all the dead Israelis
who were killed in the horrific attack, the worse since
the Holocaust on Israel.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
This is what Donald Trump is up.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Against and how evil the media is in some sectors.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
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Speaker 1 (11:01):
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(12:48):
call you make. Patriot Mobile dot com slash ferguson or
nine seven to two Patriot. All right, so here's another
story I gotta throw on your radar screen, and it
is one that is going to yet again show you
how corrupt the state sponsored media was it trying to
fix the last election by straight up.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Lying to you.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
New numbers from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics are
now showing eight hundred thousand jobs from last year that
the Biden administration claim they created never even existed. In fact,
the Biden administration routinely lied about job creation and then
(13:37):
would quietly revise them down time and time again. Later on,
the Biden administration and the media lied to all of
our faces.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
And if you don't believe me, let me.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Remind you what Joe Biden said at the White House
right before election day.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Ask him for.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Doing this, mister President, two questions, the first Florida Senator
Marco Rubio.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Today's job support is having faith numbers. What do you
make of that?
Speaker 5 (14:05):
And how worried are you that many Americans are hearing
that the job's numbers aren't real.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Look, I'm gonna be very careful here.
Speaker 8 (14:17):
If you notice anything the mega Republicans don't like they
call fake.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Anything. The job numbers are what the job numbers are,
They're real. They're since here what we are.
Speaker 8 (14:34):
And by the way, just look at how the EU
talks about us, how they like to have an economy
like ours.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
Just talk about the rest of the world looks at
us and what we're doing so well, I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Get we're going now. The President says that. And then
the question we all.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Have to ask is, okay, well, how big was the
lad All right, Well, let's look at now the new
data the Labor Department is now admitting publicly hundreds and
hundreds of thousands of Biden jobs were actually fake, like
they just made up numbers to make you think the
economy was doing better than.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
It actually was.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
The Biden administration, for example, claimed to have added almost
four hundred thousand jobs from July through September of last year,
but new data released this week suggests.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
None of those jobs ever existed.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Despite constantly gas lighting by the mainstream media, Americans knew
the economy was in poor shape, and these latest numbers
are proving it. Month after month, the government, being counters
under former President Biden's published overly optimistic estimates for everything
from job growth to the size of the economy, only
(15:47):
to have those numbers routinely and quietly revised down later.
Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, known as the
BLS produces estimates for the number of non farm payrolls
in the country, as well as revisions for the last
two months estimates under Biden. Listen carefully, okay, these revisions
(16:11):
were abnormal in magnitude and direction, being revised down with
unusual frequency. In other words, they knew they were lying
to you, and they knew that the media would never
tell you the truth. While these monthly job reports are
compiled from a survey of over six hundred thousand businesses,
of which fewer than two hundred thousand are surveyed, each month.
(16:33):
But also the BLS also publishes much much more comprehensive
quarterly data called Business Employment Dynamics that come from a
census of over twelve million businesses. Now that's over seventeen
times a sample size of the monthly.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Jobs reports survey.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Now, this is obviously a more accurate database, and it
was just released by the BLS for the third quarter
of last year, which ran from the start of July
through the end of September. So guess what we found
out in massive stark contrast to the monthly jobs reports
before election day showing an increase of four in one
(17:14):
thousand jobs during the third quarter, these numbers, and these
new numbers show a decline of one thousand private sector jobs,
meaning they literally created four hundred thousand jobs that never
existed just to try to win the election.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
You want to talk about, I mean, and I.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Go back to Democrats' obsession with Russian collusion and Ford
interference in our elections.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
We didn't have foreign interference in our election.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
We had the actual government of Joe Biden that said
we're going to influence the election outcome by telling Americans
that four inne thousand jobs were created out of thin.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Air that never were and we knew it wasn't now.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
To be clear, the monthly job reports and the data
do not measure exactly the same thing. Okay, the bed data,
for example, we were talking about a moment ago. And
the BLS also published another data set called the Quarterly
Census of Employment and Wages.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
This is where it gets really good, folks. Each of these.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Reports exclude certain categories of jobs or industries like railroad, government,
self employment, agriculture, etc. That means there can be relatively
small deviations between these labor market X estimates in the
short run, but they trend very well together over time.
In fact, the more comprehensively quarterly data are used to
(18:36):
reevaluate the monthly jobs reports once a year in a
process called the Annual Benchmark. All right, so you ready.
This benchmark just twelve months of job data to make
them as accurate as possible, and always covers a period
from March of one year to March to the following year,
the fiscal year.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
In early twenty.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Twenty five, the BLS published the angual Annual Benchmark figures
for the period from March twenty three to March twenty four.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
All Right.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
The results are staggering a drop of six hundred thousand
non farm payroll jobs. So to be clear, In other words,
the monthly reports had overestimated the number of jobs during
those twelve months of the election year to favor Joe
Biden and Kamwa Harris, and were revised down now by
(19:26):
six hundred thousand jobs. They made up six hundred thousand
jobs that didn't exist. And that's on top of the
individual monthly reports already being revised down throughout the year
long period in question. So the downward revision of the
Biden Harris air jobs data are, by the way, set
(19:46):
to continue from March through June of last year.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
The economy, they want you to.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Believe, added three hundred ninety eight thousand non farm payrolls
according to the monthly reports. Yet the BED data shows
a net loss of one hundred and six see three
thousand private sector jobs for the exact same period. So
add those numbers in you ready. Instead of adding almost
eight hundred thousand jobs during the middle of last year,
(20:12):
the economy actually shrunk in the job market, shedding more
than one hundred and sixty thousand jobs. How did no
when the media cover this? How is it they were
able to get away with this. Now the next annual
benchmark will probably be a retroactive reduction of jobs under
Biden that exceeds this year's a large downward revision. Were
also being warned. So for four years, the Biden administration
(20:37):
and the psychopaths and our government and those in the
state sponsored media kept telling you that we had the
strongest economy in history. Remember when Joe Biden said over
and over again, that's why I played them earlier. Then
they had statistics that were paraded on the news to
convince Americans not to believe their lying eyes or their
empty wallets. Voters, luckily weren't fooled, at least not enough
(20:59):
of them. That's why they gave President Donald Trump an
overwhelming victory in November. He captured not only electoral college,
including every single swing state, but he also got the
popular vote as well.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
And the latest economic data.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Vindicated the American people's judgment that no number of platitudes
from government bureaucrats or deceptive headlines could full families into
believing their finances were in good shape before November, when
they knew they really weren't. For example, economic rhetoric couldn't
paper over the reality that quote, credit card debt exploded
(21:34):
to well over one point two trillion from Americans being
unable to make ends meet in the Biden economy. Trump
was elected to fix our finances and that's why he won,
which were much worse than Biden or the media would
ever admit. So this was all a massive lie, and
now we have the data to prove it. Now, I
(21:56):
wonder how many people are going to go out there
and write stories and be honest, like, hey, we lie
to you, guys, or hey, they lied to you, the
government lied to you, Like it's really bad. I doubt
anybody will, by the way, I doubt any of them will.
That's my gut here, I doubt any of them will.
Joining me is a Senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn Center.
(22:19):
Nice to have you on, and let's start with what
we're seeing with trade, because this is obviously the Democrats
and the media's worst nightmare. They wanted you to believe,
if you're a citizen in this country, that this was
going to destroy your life, that deals weren't going to
get done until next year, as they were saying on
TV just last week on CNN, Oh, this will be
over a year until this stuff gets done. And then
(22:39):
sure enough we see this major announcement with UK followed
up by another major announcement with China.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Donald Trump's getting it done.
Speaker 9 (22:48):
Yes he is. He is delivering results. And when you
have those kind of results, it elevates respect for the
United States of America around the globe. Stand that our
Trade rep is working on twenty more of these tariff
and trade deals, and you know, Ben, that also covers
(23:10):
the non tariff trade barriers in those discussions. And these
are being done in a bilateral manner, a one on one,
which is how the President likes to do it. But
he is proving that he built a vision for what
this country could return to begging and our leadership position
(23:31):
in the world, and he is showing how to make
that happen.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
You look at this president. It's not just on trade deals,
but look at the last week. You had UK trade deal,
China trade deal, then the release of American hostages, the
ceasefire with Indian Pakistan, ceasefire with the Hooties. Oh, and
by the way, we're going to make prescription drug costs
through an executive order much less expensive for Americans. And
giving us favored nation status on these prices. That's just
(23:58):
in a week, Yes it is.
Speaker 9 (24:01):
And of course the MFN issue with the pharmaceuticals is
his way of getting these pharmaceutical companies to the table.
We have five percent of the world's population, but we
represent seventy five percent of pharmaceutical company profits because they're
(24:24):
subsidizing these negotiated prices in other countries. Now also getting
rid of these pharmacy benefit managers, who are the middlemen
between your insurance company and you at the pharmacy counter.
Getting rid of them because they go in there, they
(24:44):
take the rebates, they negotiate what you're going to be
allowed to have. That is why people may be on
a certain pharmaceutical and then all of a sudden three
months into that, six months into it, well there's a
change and they can't have it anymore. They have to
get something that is different, and their physician has said, no,
(25:06):
this is the prescription that you need, and people are
tired of that. So we just left a hearing today
with these pharmacy benefit managers. It is my legislation that
rains them in and will end this practice of them
(25:26):
taking the rebates and driving up the price on consumers.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
It is incredible and now having this change is going
to help all Americans. It should be a non political issue,
but it does seem like the Democratic Party is completely
controlled by big pharma and their investment in each one
of their candidates.
Speaker 9 (25:46):
Well, it does appear to be that way, and when
you look at it, I think that it's easy to
see why people feel that. But reigning in the PBMs,
I'm telling you that I've gotten a lot bipartisan support
on my legislation. It is moving through Finance Committee.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
It brings me down a little bit when you say PBMs.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
I want people to understand it because it seems complicated,
especially if you don't know. So can you explain exactly
how this legislation would work. I think it's important.
Speaker 9 (26:15):
Absolutely. When Bill Clinton was in office and they were
looking at trying to nationalize healthcare, and of course we
had the version of hillary Care in Tennessee, which was Tencare,
they came up with this idea that they would have
a pharmacy benefit manager who would work between the pharmaceutical
(26:36):
company and the insurance company and the patient. And what
they would do for the insurance company is go to
the pharmaceutical companies and negotiate prices. Well. As the rebates
got bigger, these PBMs got bigger, and they started saying
to the insurance companies, hey, we'll take the rebate and
(26:58):
we will split it with you. Well, the poor patient,
those of us that are going to the pharmacy counter.
We're still playing the full note on this. And it's
why you've seen cops go up. It's also why you've
seen some prescriptions be disallowed by your insurance plan. Why
(27:19):
were they doing that because the PBM says, Okay, let's
go over here to another company with a similar pharmaceutical
and let's do business there because we get a bigger rebate.
So it becomes a profit motive motive and it puts
profit at the center and not the patient at the center.
(27:43):
So my legislation would require them to move these PBMs
to a service fee and it would be a flat rate.
And also it requires them to use any willing pharmacy.
Now intend see we've had one hundred and twenty pharmacies
(28:04):
close over the last decade. These are independent pharmacies. Many
times it is the only healthcare access point in some
of our rural or underserved communities, and the PBMs have
driven them out of business because they will not put
(28:24):
them in the formulary. We've had research from the Tennessee
Department of Commerce and Insurance that shows even one of
the PBMs in our state elevated the price on five
hundred and fifty different drugs, did what they call spread
pricing to the tune of thirty million dollars and been
(28:46):
also refused to pay these pharmacies within the seven day
pay period. So it makes it hard for these independent
and small pharmacies to do business. My legislation would do
would be to end that and say any pharmacy that
is willing to participate with a plan, you have got
(29:09):
to let them into that plan and let them provide
for those patients. And it would cap the fee. That
would mean they can't get that rebate. It would cap
them at a service fee and disallow the rebate.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
So what does this look like moving forward?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
And what are people that are listening to advocate for
who do they need to be calling.
Speaker 9 (29:33):
Well, what they need to do is be contacting some
of the House members and encourage them to support it.
They need to be contacting their senators to support pharmacy
benefit manager reconstruction and reform. And you know, as I said,
we're raining them in. I would like to remove them
(29:56):
as a part of the marketplace. We don't need the
middleman and on this, and we don't need somebody unelected
bureaucrats who are out here changing what people can have
access to when their physician has already told them what
they need to be taking.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Great point.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I want to ask you finally about something else you're
focusing on right now, and it deals with after school programs.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 9 (30:23):
Yes, indeed, this is a legislation that Catherine Cortes Masto
and I started pushing forward last year, didn't get it
across the finish line. This would be a grant program
that's the Department of Defense for after school programs in
communities so that kids have somewhere to go in the
(30:45):
afternoon before parents get home from work. What we have
learned is that with juvenile crime, the bulk of that,
the majority of it is committed between two o'clock in
the afternoon and six o'clock. That's when they're out of
school and mom and dad are not home from work.
And then we've also found that that is when gangs
(31:07):
are recruiting these kids to be members of gangs. Now,
we have some cities like Memphis who have seen an
astronomical increase in juvenile crime, and this is why Senator
Cortes Masco and I decided to do this bill and
to do these grants so that community organizations churches, boys
(31:32):
and girls clubs, thinks of that nature, can have sports
and science, stem arts, tutoring, mentoring programs in the afternoon
where kids can participate in these programs and not be
approached by these gang members who are trying to recruit
(31:52):
them to carry out carjackings and smash and grabs and robberies.
These gangs members know that if you get a juvenile
who is going to juvenile court, they're probably not going
to keep them. The penalties and the sentences are going
to be much lighter, and then they recruit these individuals
(32:14):
into gangs and it drives up the crime rate. And
in areas many cities we've seen the crime rate and
the juvenile crime rate increase as much as twenty to
two hundred percent. So this is something that as we've
looked at how we address this issue with the gangs,
(32:34):
with juvenile crime, that we think this will be a help.
Last year, when we had this pushed forward, the Memphis
City Council did a resolution supporting this initiative. This is
a bipartisan initiative. We think it is a step in
the right direction. It helps support law enforcement, and it
(32:56):
helps support children and families with programs that we would
be able to make available at no cost to families.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
It's incredible.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Final question for you, and I know you got to go,
but I want to get it deals with this issue.
Are you surprised at just the amount of hypocrisy from
the media and the left. They looked the other way
as masses of men crossed illegally all over the globe
in the US everywhere for the last four years under
the Biden administration, literally millions coming in. And now the
(33:32):
media is furious that Donald Trump has allowed a fuse
and this is no exaggeration a few dozen South Africans
to come to the US legally as refugees. But they
said nothing about Arizona, for example, or Texas or New
Mexico when it was being overrun by thousands of African
aliens crossing illegally every day.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
In December of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 9 (33:56):
The hypocrisy is it is a stand and when you
look at the fact that ICE has been working in
Tennessee and around Middle Tennessee, and my understanding is they
have had about one hundred and forty apprehensions and detentions.
(34:16):
These are individuals that are gang members, Trende are Agua
MS thirteen, which we have declared as a country that
these are foreign terrorist organizations. You've got murderers, rapists, child rapists, pedophiles,
child predators that are included in these numbers. And the
(34:37):
Democrats are out here saying don't lock them up, don't
deport them, and trying to say these people who have
illegally entered the country, trying to act as if they
have constitutional rights that citizens have when they have illegal
(35:00):
entered the country with is a crime. And then they
have committed crime against our fellow Tennesseeans and have robbed
people of their property or who have dangered them or
injured them. Are in the child rapist you know, trying
(35:20):
to defend these people. I haven't talked to many folks
that want these people living in their neighborhoods. They are
criminals and they want them off the street. They want
to see them locked up, and they don't want them
back in their neighborhoods.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Amen to that center. Always a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
I appreciate you coming on and we will certainly keep
people update on this legislation you're working on.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Well done, you got it.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Take care by now, make sure you share this podcast
with your family and friends, put it up on social
media wherever you are, and we appreciate you listening every day.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
We'll see you back here tomorrow
Host
Ben Ferguson
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