November 26, 2025 • 35 mins
The John Kobylt Show Hour 2 (11/26) - Lou Penrose fills in for John. Royal Oakes comes on the show to talk about a judge dismissing a case against Pres. Trump in Georgia. More on the judge dismissing a case against Pres. Trump in Georgia. Will Trump be a Thanksgiving conversation? A discussion about affordability in this country.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Can't.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I am six forty.
Speaker 3 (00:02):
You're listening to the John Cobel podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (00:06):
Lou Penrose in for John today. Good to have you
along with us. Happy Wednesday. So this case in Georgia
against Donald Trump is officially dead. A judge everseen the
case has confirmed that it is. It's been tossed out.
So Fulton County District Attorney Fannie willis a swing and amiss.
(00:30):
ABC legal analyst Royal Oaks joins us to fill in
the gaps here.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
The judge effectively said.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
What Royal, Well, yeah, it was kind of more like
a slam of mess. Yeah, but a double play against
the government and in favor of Donald Trump. What the
judge said was that I'm granting the request by the
special prosecutor to dump this thing, saying it would be unproductive.
Presidential immunity might make it hard to go after Donald Trump,
(00:58):
could take five, six, seven years, complex issues, And of
course critics are saying, well, criminal proceedings are often Masthew marathons,
but they're worth it to uphold the law. So you're
abound to see some criticism of this. But isn't an
amazing Lou, I mean it's basically over four. Yeah, he
was convicted on the Stormy Daniels deal, but he got
absolutely no time. The Washington DC and Forida cases were tossed,
(01:18):
and now the fourth case it's also gone.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And this was the only.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
State or and the only legal situation where he stood
for a mug shot.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Right, this is the that's the that's.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
The famous mugshot that Fulton Callym County one and which
I believe is hanging in the White House in the
Oval office.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And now it's Asthmithsonian yet right, I think there's an
amazing backstory that I've read about that picture. Apparently Trump
practiced and rehearsed for a long time to get that
mug shot just exactly right. And you know, people don't
don't have the picture in mind. They were that were
bloviating about it and just go online. But then I
(01:59):
don't know, if you a fan of Kirby Enthusiasm, The
Big Dure, he had a whole episode about Larry David
going down to Georgia, just like in the song, getting
into trouble, getting arrested and his mug shot. Check that
on out online if you haven't seen it. It looks
eerily like Donald Trump. If it weren't weren't for the
(02:19):
thatch of reddish hair on top of the president, you
would say, Larry David and Donald Trump, I never see
you in the same room. Is one of you, superman.
It's a bizarre thing.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
That's hilarious.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Larry David Trump's bold goncle gamer donal Gambon. So, I mean,
so this is striking to be I mean I remember
then former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, you know, years
back during the Biden administration, when Trump was announcing that
he was going to run again, Christy was like, He's
going to be in jail. There's no question about it.
He's going to be in jail. I remember that was
(02:51):
the the conventional wisdom among many, uh you know, in
the know in the beltwayh was, Trump's not going to
survive these charges.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
One of them is going to get him, and he's
in the whiteout.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So, I mean he beat them all.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
He really did. And the amazing thing is when you
look back at twenty twenty three, the year before the election,
the Democrats rolled out and the prosecutors rolled out four
separate indictments timed cleverly every two or three months throughout
the year, and he didn't have to be a brain
surgeon to know, oh, that could easily translate to four
criminal trials in the seven or eight months before the
(03:29):
November twenty twenty four election. And so it was just
teed up beautifully and then remarkably every single one, I mean,
the stormy Daniels in the past. As you know, Luke,
you're running for president and you have thirty four felonies
on your record. Excuse me, I mean it used to
be you couldn't get elected if you were a divorced man.
(03:50):
So now yeah, Instead we have a situation where Trump
easily overcomes the convictions and then boom, boom, boom. The
Florida cases tossed because the Republican appointee Trump appointed Judge
Ellen Cannon in Florida, but she said, I don't think
Jack Smith was appointed legally, So boom, these top secret
documents in the bathroom case is gone. The one thing
(04:11):
I will say, you're gonna see a lot of reporting
that Trump's totally nuclear. There is a tiny chance that
if a Democrat wins the White House in twenty twenty eight,
and if he or she, of course appoints an Attorney
General sympathetic to their causes. That age could say, you
know what, the case against Donald Trump for election interference
in Washington, d c. And whipping the crowd into a
(04:31):
frenzy January sixth, blah blah blah, that was dismissed, put
on hold, but it could be revived because the new
ag could say, you know, the statute limitations. It can't
run while he's in the White House because we can't
throw him, or we can't go after him criminally while
he's in the White House. So there is a remote
chance that there is one more thing that could get
through the radar and get Donald Trump in terms of
(04:53):
one of those four criminal cases, but it probably isn't
gonna happen. I wouldn't go to Vegas and bet on it.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
But sorry.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
So that's the the one lingering out there, a j
six charge, and that would have to occur after he's
out of office, after January of twenty twenty nine. And
that's only if a Democrat wins or a Trump painting Republican,
but somebody that wants to.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
See and pay the price for Yeah, if Liz Cheney
is if Liz Cheney somehow beats Marco Robio and Jdve
answered the presidency. Yeah, I think the Cheney administration just
might go after Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Oh yeah, I think that's a I'm not gonna bet
on that one either.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
The one thing about this though, that well, now we'll
never know the situation in Georgia, right the I mean
I have I have the screenshot on my phone because
just as a statistician and a political scientist, I still
find it amazing. And I know they told us that
Biden carried the state of Georgian twenty twenty, but at
ten o'clock I have the screenshot of CNN and it
(05:54):
is with eighty three percent of the precincts in at
ten o'clock, two million, two hundred and ten thousand, Biden
one million, eight hundred and ninety nine thousand, a three
hundred and eleven thousand vote difference, with eighty three percent reporting,
and Biden won by eleven thousand, seven hundred and seventy
(06:18):
You know which I mean is such as point zero
three five percent of the.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
State statistically, Yeah, and you know that very thing. Plus
the Pennsylvania example is just like, by.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
The way, a state, a state that Obama law a
state that Obama lost twice in two thousand, two thousand
and twelves.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Go ahead, Yeah, I just go to the here's the problem.
The critics are able to say, well, Trump gave it
a shot. He had sixty lawsuits and they were shot
down by every court, including courts where he appointed majority
of the members. And so if there was any there there,
we would have seen it. But obviously a lot of
people have strong suspicions and the doubts.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Lager and now it's gonna go.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
This will now be conspiracy theory in American pop culture,
and it'll be relegated to late night talk radio.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Royal Oaks, thanks so much for coming off with this.
Appreciate the legal analysis. Have yourself a fantastic holiday weekend.
You two.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Thanks there, he goes.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
ABC Legal analyst, Royal Oaks. So the Georgia thing is over.
I'm glad now that I say. I bought two Trump
mugshot T shirts. As soon as that mugshot was taken,
the Trump campaign made it into a T shirt, and
I bought two. They were forty seven dollars. Because of
forty seven and so I made two contributions for to
(07:41):
Trump twenty twenty four to get one for me, and
I haven't opened it. I'm gonna keep it as a
I think it'll go up in value unless I can
get it signed. And one I give away as a
gift to my neighbor and he wears it around the
neighborhood and walks the dog and it's hilarious. But now
the Georgia mug shot of Donald Trump is probably the
(08:02):
most valuable thing in American political pop culture. All right,
when we come back, Trump is talking a little bit
about Thanksgiving and affordability and trying to balance two very
separate things.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It is so it is just a complete.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Fact that Thanksgiving dinner, using the same standards as they
use to measure cost, is cheaper today than it was
in the Biden administration, no question about it. But a
majority of Americans don't feel very excited about the economy.
So how does this administration reconcile those two very real emotions.
(08:40):
I'll walk you through it and share with you my
point of view, and you can share yours. Lou Penrose
Info John Coblt on KFI AM six forty live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
You're listening to John Coblt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Lou Penrose info John Belt on the John Cobalt Show.
Thanks for having us along with you. So the criminal
case against Donald Trump in Georgia officially dead.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
The Georgia story is still.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
On my mind, I without being an election denier, and
I don't even think we're allowed to say this anymore.
I think, well, during the Biden administration, the FCC was
cautioning us, those of us on the radio. So yeah, okay,
they tell us that Biden carried the state of Georgia. Okay,
(09:34):
before they shut down voting and sent everybody home. Trump
was up by three hundred and eleven thousand votes with
eighty three percent of the precincts reporting. And the next
day the Trump campaign in Georgia asked for a recount
(09:54):
because they said that Biden had won the state of
Georgia and it was statistically all almost impossible. It is possible,
but it would require a feat of political science that
should result in every government school, like the Kennedy School
(10:17):
of Government and the Georgetown School of Political Science, like
every university that has a political science department, to close
up shop and relocate into Fulton County.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Georgia, because that is how you would election.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I mean it just that should be the headquarters of
understanding campaigns.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
So the Trump campaign asked for a recount, and.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
The first round of recounts by they say Biden won
by thirteen thousand, five hundred and fifty eight votes, and
the Trump campaign asked to recount, and then that margin
of victory reduced to twelve two hundred and eighty four votes.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
So Trump picks up seventeen hundred.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
And seventy nine votes on the first recount, seventeen hundred
and seventy nine votes, like ten percent of the eleven
thousand vote victory that they say Biden won by.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
So the Trump campaign.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Asked for a second round of recount, and that twelve
eighty four was reduced down now to eleven seven seventy nine.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
So from the initial call of the election.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
To when Trump now famously got on the phone and said,
keep the recount going, I only need eleven thousand, seven
hundred and seventy nine votes, it wasn't that he was
asking the Secretary of State to go make up the votes.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
He was saying, we're moving in the right direction.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
A few hours ago, by they say Biden won by
thirteen thousand and five.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Now we're down to eleven seven.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
That's a difference of five eight hundred and eighty nine votes,
thirty one percent of the entire margin of victory. So
why would we stop recounting if I've picked up five
thousand votes of eleven thousand needed? But they stopped, and
(12:05):
they said he was trying to manipulate the Secretary of State,
and the rest is history, and they awarded the state
of Georgia to President Biden, and a Democrat had not
won the state of Georgia. Like forever, like we forget
as like polypsime majors, we still study these things.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
The rest of us forget about these things.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
But we are led to believe that Joe Biden did
better in the state of Georgia than Barack Obama twice.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And we are led to believe.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
That President Biden is more popular with the African American
vote in Fulton County, Georgia than Barack Obama twice. McCain
won Georgia, Romney won Georgia.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Trump won Georgia two thousand and sixty. George W.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Bush won Georgia, and he was running against the guy
who was the senior Senator of Tennessee. Vice President Al
Gore was the senior senator of Tennessee. You know where
Tennessee is right next to Georgia, and he couldn't win it,
but somehow Biden was able to win it. All right, Well,
there you go. There's a little political science history for you.
(13:21):
I just still find it amazing. Speaking of Trump, Okay,
so Trump is trying to juggle these consumer confidence numbers.
It is certain that Thanksgiving tomorrow will cost your host less,
either you or whoever's hosting that Thanksgiving dinner. The price
is certainly down, and Trump is trying to celebrate that.
But at the same time, consumer confidence is down, and
(13:43):
those are two difficult things to reconcile.
Speaker 6 (13:45):
President Trump is translating mixed economic news retail sales up,
consumer confidence down this way. The American Farm Bureau Federation's
accounting finds that a classic Thanksgiving dinner for ten comes
out to about fifty five dollars eighteen cents. That is
five point fifty two a person, and that is down
five percent a person from last year.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
As the Fox News is Peter Doucy, I don't know
about that five to fifty two price tag per serving
that seems low. I've never done this. I've never added
up because there's never one receipt. You got the cost
go receipt, and then people want pies from a certain place,
and then people want buns from a certain place.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So it's too much.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
But I can't imagine you can get away with serving
ten people for five dollars and fifty two cents.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Like a McDonald's value meal is eight dollars like Boston
markets more than that.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
So I get it that Thanksgiving dinner buy and large
for all the belly aching about cost is a pretty
inexpensive meal to provide, like turkey is a very inexpensive bird.
It's it's it's much less expensive now because everybody's buying
it so and they want to make it a lost
lead and get you in the store. So that all
(15:02):
makes sense. But really, for the rest of the year,
it's not all that expensive. And potatoes are not expensive,
they never have been. Green Beans are probably the least
expensive thing in the produce aisle.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
They're available all year, and frozen green beans work. Really.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
The pumpkin pie, unless you go to Costco, is probably
the most expensive thing going on in the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Now, I don't know what you doing for appetizers.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
None of this accounts for booze, so that will always
jack up the cost.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
But the affordability thing is a new.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Discussion, and everybody is saying that's what's going to be
discussed around the Thanksgiving Day table is how America is
just not affordable in the eyes of a lot of
your guests. And what's interesting is, while well, the meal
that you will be eating is more affordable than it
(15:55):
was last year, everything around you will be.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Less affordable, Like the dinner is cheaper.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
The house and the light bill and the electricity and
the gas to go to Grandma's house more expensive.
Speaker 7 (16:11):
The topics of costing of food and other expenses will
most likely be discussed around the Thanksgiving table tomorrow, especially
after a reason Fox News poll found that seventy six
percent of voters view the economy negatively.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yeah, that's bad.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Seventy six percent of and that's Fox view the economy negatively.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Well, can we have a reality check for just a moment.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
And for those with Trump derangement syndrome, hang on for
a second, hear me out. I know you're out there,
and that's fine. You know that I'm a fan of Trump.
I'm on the Trump train. I'm unabashed about it. I
think what he's doing is right. He's fulfilling every campaign promise,
and I, as a voter, couldn't be happier. But what's
(16:57):
real is real, and that is if if everything is
so unaffordable, then how can we have record flying in
America for Thanksgiving? They will be eighty eighteen million passengers
from yesterday through next Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
That's a record fifty two thousand flights.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Like, if everything's so unaffordable, if gas is so unaffordable,
why is the ten as we speak not moving from
Los Angeles to Palm Springs?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Why is the ninety one just a parking lot because.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Everybody's going out to the desert to celebrate Thanksgiving? And
the fifteen from San Diego out to Palm Springs. My
son just came back from Mammoth. It took him so
long because of the traffic.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
If everything is so.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Unaffordable, why are people in Mammoth? If energy prices are
so unaffordable, why are people traveling in record numbers? So
it's by literal definition affordable because you're doing it, Loupenro,
if of John Cobelt on the John Cobelt Show on
k i AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio apps.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Louke Penrose if John Cobelt, it's good to have you
along with us as we move our way to Thanksgiving
which is scheduled for tomorrow, that everybody's already there or
on the way there, and we're guiding it through. And
stay tuned too i AM six forty for traffic information
and everything else. Talking about the affordability question, there are
(18:35):
two numbers out there that really don't match up. One
is Thanksgiving is certainly more affordable. Prices are down, inflation's
under control, and energy costs are under control, so Thanksgiving
is more affordable. Yet when you ask Americans, they're concerned
about costs.
Speaker 7 (18:56):
Seventy six percent of voters view the economy negative and
see their costs for groceries, utilities, healthcare, and housing have
gone up this year. But with those planning to feed
loved ones, we do have some good news. The average
Thanksgiving dinner for ten people costs about fifty five dollars.
That's a five percent decrease from last year according to
(19:17):
the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
I still question that fifty five dollars for a table
of ten or five fifty two per person. But nevertheless,
it's good news that Thanksgiving is more affordable. It's bad
news that Americans think everything is less affordable. What were
the four categories that she mentioned there, housing, utilities, and healthcare.
(19:39):
There were four things that she said that Americans think
is just too high.
Speaker 7 (19:43):
Negatively, and see their costs for groceries, utilities, healthcare, and housing.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Okay, so let's go through these. Grocery costs are certainly down.
Thanksgiving can't be cheaper if groceries are not cheaper. Not
everything is cheaper, but there are a lot of things
to eat, so buy the things that are cheaper. But
during the Biden administration, I remember during those four years.
Speaker 8 (20:06):
Were the form Those four years were formative for my
oldest because he went from just enjoying steak to learning
how to grill and prepare steak, and he just that
was this thing.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
And so I said, all right, well what we should do.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Let's just you know, eat our way down the butcher
counter and try different cuts of meat, and that was
Those were the bad four years to do that, because
steak prices were just going.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Up and up and up.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
But I do remember watching these steak prices just going
up by two dollars.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
A week, week after week after week. And we have
Sunday dinner at my house.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
It's an Italian thing, so like what's going on at
your house tomorrow for Italians, goes on every Sunday, like
the same amount of people, the same amount of dishes,
not not turkey, but sometimes steak in the time, and
it was becoming a pretty penny because those prices were
just going up and up and up. I go now
to by steak. It is certainly not as high as
(21:07):
it was. They're still too high, but.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
They're not going up week after week after week, so.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Grocery prices are down. The housing thing is a function
of where you want to live.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I have just reached a conclusion.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
I have been listening to discussions from economists and policymakers
and politicians about housing affordability in southern California, and I
have just reached the conclusion that housing was never supposed
to be affordable.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Like that is a function of the demand to live
in this beautiful area.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
If you live in Manhattan Beach. It's not designed to
be affordable. It's designed to be desirable, and that comes
with a price. London is desirable, New York City desirable,
Beverly Hills desirable, people want my Iami desirable.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
People want to live there.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
The demand to live in the same place causes the
price to rise of housing.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
That's just a reality.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Now you can offset that by building more, but can
only build so much along the sand, except in the
palace aides, where nobody wants to build.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Well, they will let people build, But like this, there's.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Only so much beats front property in southern California, and
there's only so much hillside property facing west, so you
can build and build and build, but it isn't going
to be in as high of demand. So housing affordability
is a function of you choosing to pay for very
expensive housing because you can move.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Now.
Speaker 4 (22:44):
The utilities thing and the healthcare thing, that's an interesting one.
I don't know that utilities are expensive in other parts
of the country to the tune of California. California has
driven up the cost of being able to pay the
bills through regulation and and just a very very unhealthy
alliance between lawmakers and lobbyists with the utility companies, and
(23:07):
it's just not working out for us at all. Like
water bills in southern California are way too high and
electric bills in southern California are just way too high.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It's just unnecessary.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
So that's more of a function of political choice than
it is anything else. And then, of course the biggie
is healthcare, and healthcare was supposed to have been resolved
by President Obama, which made it his signature thing. Remember
the Affordable Care Act was called Obamacare, so it's for
(23:43):
half the country.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
It's kind of hard to hear.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
You come to my house for Thanksgiving and bitch about Obamacare.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
It's like, I don't want to hear it. We had
a much better idea.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Take government out of it, privatize it more, have companies
compete for each other, have them compete for your premiums, right,
get into tort.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Reform, which is lawsuit abuse reform, and.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
Really privatize so much of it so there's competition and excellence.
And President Obama said, no, we got to give everybody
government run healthcare because it'll be affordable.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
And it's been a complete disaster.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
So for literally for half the country that thought Obama
was so great at making healthcare affordable, I frankly don't
want to hear from them, And that's going to be
my answer at the Thanksgiving table tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I don't want to hear about it.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
I think things are about as affordable as there ever
going to be. And by the way, there is a
diminishing level of marginal return on prosperity. President Trump can
only take this so far. Now, We've only been in
this presidency.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
For I mean, where are we.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
We are three hundred and nine days into the Trump presidency.
There are eleven hundred and fifty one more more days
of making Democrats crazy and causing liberals to cry. That's
a goodly amount of time to get things on a
good track. But in the three hundred plus days, things
have stabilized. They've stopped spinning out of control. Energy prices
(25:15):
are down, thanksgivings cheaper.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
We're on a roll.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
So we continue going in this direction. Less government, lower taxes,
lower taxes on the millionaires and billionaires too, because they're
the ones that create jobs. More freedom with the personal
responsibility that comes with it. Literally start dismantling entire agencies
(25:40):
in the bureaucracies and get Americans working again in manufacturing jobs,
not these service work jobs where we try and grow
the economy by doing each other's laundry, but actually producing
things in the United States by onshuring and resharing American
manufacturing companies. That's the ticket, that's the direction we're going,
(26:03):
and I guarantee you in over eleven hundred days, this
will be a far more prosperous country. Lou Penrose Info,
John Coblt on KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM sixty.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
Lou Penrose Info. John Cobelt on the John Cobalt Show.
Americans are hitting the road in record numbers, and if
you're on the road right now, you are well aware
of the amount of volume in front of you. We'll
talk with News Nations National correspondent Alex Capaio and also
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who this week famously
(26:45):
said stop going to the airport looking like a slob
in your pajamas and your slippers.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
He has doubled down on this civility campaign we'll share
it with you. That's all coming up following the news
at three.
Speaker 9 (26:58):
Hey, Lou, I think you kind of answered your question
about the affordability already. It's the macro effect overall. It's
not the trip to Grand Laws for Thanksgiving. That's not
where it is. It's the overall picture of healthcare is
more expensive, Inflation is now rising.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
You know, housing is expensive.
Speaker 9 (27:17):
All these things are more expensive and they are affecting
the bottom line.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I appreciate the call.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
See this is why you cannot double major in politics
and economics.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Explain me again the macro effect.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
So you can't afford to live, pay your healthcare premiums
and eat, but you can't afford to fill up your
car with gas and go sit sit in traffic on
the ninety one like if it were, if it were truly,
I get it that everything's expensive. First off, the inflation thing.
(27:53):
Coca Cola was five cents in the fifties when Richie
Cunningham went to Arnold's Diner with Pop seeing Ralph Mouth right,
five cents. It's not five cents today. You don't expect
to pay five cents for it as like inflation made
Coca cola unaffordable.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
It's gone up pretty much.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Don't even think about buying it at the McDonald's drive
through without using the app. So everything goes up in price,
but so does everything else, Like your salary also goes up.
Now you can make arguments that my wage is in
keeping up with the things I need like housing and on.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
That, I would agree with you.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
But everything's always going to go up in price, and
they go up at a reasonable rate, and they were
going up really high during the Biden administration and not
as fast now under the Trump administration. So that's better.
You got to give that credit. You've got to give this.
The Trump economy deserves credit. Whether you love him or
hate him, whether you have Trump arrangement syndrome or not,
(28:56):
you are lying to yourself and you're being intellectually dishonest
if you do not give this economy, and the president
sets the tone for economic conditions, if you're not going
to give him credit this holiday dinner, like if you're
the one at the Thanksgiving dinner bitching about the conditions
(29:16):
of the country, you're wrong. The country is in much
better shape than it was.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Could it be better? Sure, we're working on getting it better.
I for one.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
I am thrilled that we are seeing the reasuring of
American manufacturing. Like every time Trump has a press conference,
every time Trump has a world leader in the Oval Office,
whether it's the guy from Japan talking about manufacturing toyotas
in the United States or one of the guys from
Saudi Arabia talking about bringing chip manufacturing to the United States.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Trump is constantly working with other.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
Nations to reshure manufacturing here in the United States. That
provides Americans with very good jobs, very stable jobs, right.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Because they don't want to pay the tariff, and I
don't blame them.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
So they have done the math and said, you know what,
if I could get Trump to reduce that tariff, you know,
take away that forty five percent tariff from imports from
Saudi Arabia, that.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Would be great.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
And if I have to move the factory at least
during his administration to Cleveland, Ohio, then I will. And
Trump comes back with sure, move it to Cleveland, Ohio,
and I'll reduce it down to fifteen percent, and then
we get tariff revenue, and they reshore the part of
the industry like that's smart, That's a smart way to
(30:38):
run the country. And that's a smart way to give
Americans opportunities for more income. And that's what he's doing
and it's working. So I don't want to hear about
this macroeconomic theory of yours that you know your healthcare
is going up. First off, Republicans tried and Obama won
(30:59):
that argument.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Everybody wanted Obama he was reelected.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
Romney had a much better plan in twenty twelve for
affordability of healthcare premiums.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
He did it in Massachusetts. It's called Romney Care, and it.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
Worked better there for people that have had little means
but didn't want to go on government wealth government healthcare.
Here in California, we insist on giving medical to illegals
to the tune of nine billion dollars. So don't come
to me and bitch about your health care costs. If
you voted for Obama or you are in favor of
(31:37):
giving medical.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
To illegals, that's what happens. The rest of us have
to pay for it.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
But there's no question that the economy is doing very well.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Have you seen the Dow Jones industrial average.
Speaker 4 (31:52):
I mean, I know that not everybody has investments in
the stock market. I get it, but it is still
a barometer. It's an economic indicator. Certainly, if the stock
market were tanking, everybody would say Trump sucks, his economy
is terrible, even though the same few amount of people
have money invested in the stock market, because it's an
economic indicator, all right. It's every day setting records, like
(32:16):
by the hundreds. It's up seven hundred points, it's up
eight hundred points, it's up four hundred points. When was
the last time you remember the Dow Jones industrial leverage
hitting record highs and at the same time inflation staying low,
and at the same time gold is through the roof
four thousand dollars at Troy ounce.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
I sold all my gold jewelry.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
When it was two thousand dollars and I had there
was fourteen carrot crosses and crucifixes and Italian horns and
things I got at my baptism, right, I sold two
thousand dollars an ounce to sell it.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
I walked out of that. I went down to the
Saint Vincent Jewelry Exchange.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
In Los Angeles, walked out of there with a house
payment from stuff in my sock drawer. Now it's at
four thousand dollars an ounce. Precious metals repe When was
the last time you remember precious metals gold, silver being
up at the same time that the Dow Jones is
setting records.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
And real estate is up. So things are hot.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
There's no denying it, and there's no way around it.
The only thing that's costing your money now are your vegetables.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
So the appetizers at Thanksgiving tomorrow will be the most
expensive thing. The carbs are down, the turkey's down, but
the veggies will put you in the poorhouse.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
So your carbi things like your stuffing and your roles
are down nine and fourteen percent, respectively, and then your
fresh veggies and your sweet potatoes are up significantly sixty
one percent. For the veggie tray, don't invite me over
if you're getting a vegie trays or appetizer.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Yeah, so don't go with the veggie tray. Go with
the chips and the hummus. That's the way to go.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
My wife found a way to put cottage cheese in
the magic bullet and add fresh dill or mint or both,
and you got a protein rich dip that is better
than any dip I've ever tasted. Just cottage cheese in
the magic bullet. You would never have thought to do it.
It makes it into a thin dip. Then you add
the deal and there you go.
Speaker 10 (34:19):
Don't invite me over if you're getting a veggie transer
appetizer and thirty seven percent for the sweet potatoes. Now,
why can it be that the cost is down for
the third year in a row. If we know that
food at home prices, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
are up two point seven percent since last fall. Well,
experts think it has to do with the bird. Well,
(34:40):
wholesale prices for the turkey have surged seventy five percent
since last year because of the highly pathogenic avian flu.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
That's right, So the wholesale bird is up, but the retail.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Is down, so they can get you getting the carrots
and the celery, which you should leave on the counter,
all right, Lou Penrose, if a John Colebelt on KFI
AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
Hey, you've been listening to the John Cobalt Show podcast.
You can always hear the show live on KFI AM
six forty from one to four pm every Monday through Friday,
and of course anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
Can't.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I am six forty.
Speaker 3 (00:02):
You're listening to the John Cobel podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (00:06):
Lou Penrose in for John today. Good to have you
along with us. Happy Wednesday. So this case in Georgia
against Donald Trump is officially dead. A judge everseen the
case has confirmed that it is. It's been tossed out.
So Fulton County District Attorney Fannie willis a swing and amiss.
(00:30):
ABC legal analyst Royal Oaks joins us to fill in
the gaps here.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
The judge effectively said.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
What Royal, Well, yeah, it was kind of more like
a slam of mess. Yeah, but a double play against
the government and in favor of Donald Trump. What the
judge said was that I'm granting the request by the
special prosecutor to dump this thing, saying it would be unproductive.
Presidential immunity might make it hard to go after Donald Trump,
(00:58):
could take five, six, seven years, complex issues, And of
course critics are saying, well, criminal proceedings are often Masthew marathons,
but they're worth it to uphold the law. So you're
abound to see some criticism of this. But isn't an
amazing Lou, I mean it's basically over four. Yeah, he
was convicted on the Stormy Daniels deal, but he got
absolutely no time. The Washington DC and Forida cases were tossed,
(01:18):
and now the fourth case it's also gone.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And this was the only.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
State or and the only legal situation where he stood
for a mug shot.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Right, this is the that's the that's.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
The famous mugshot that Fulton Callym County one and which
I believe is hanging in the White House in the
Oval office.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And now it's Asthmithsonian yet right, I think there's an
amazing backstory that I've read about that picture. Apparently Trump
practiced and rehearsed for a long time to get that
mug shot just exactly right. And you know, people don't
don't have the picture in mind. They were that were
bloviating about it and just go online. But then I
(01:59):
don't know, if you a fan of Kirby Enthusiasm, The
Big Dure, he had a whole episode about Larry David
going down to Georgia, just like in the song, getting
into trouble, getting arrested and his mug shot. Check that
on out online if you haven't seen it. It looks
eerily like Donald Trump. If it weren't weren't for the
(02:19):
thatch of reddish hair on top of the president, you
would say, Larry David and Donald Trump, I never see
you in the same room. Is one of you, superman.
It's a bizarre thing.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
That's hilarious.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Larry David Trump's bold goncle gamer donal Gambon. So, I mean,
so this is striking to be I mean I remember
then former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, you know, years
back during the Biden administration, when Trump was announcing that
he was going to run again, Christy was like, He's
going to be in jail. There's no question about it.
He's going to be in jail. I remember that was
(02:51):
the the conventional wisdom among many, uh you know, in
the know in the beltwayh was, Trump's not going to
survive these charges.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
One of them is going to get him, and he's
in the whiteout.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So, I mean he beat them all.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
He really did. And the amazing thing is when you
look back at twenty twenty three, the year before the election,
the Democrats rolled out and the prosecutors rolled out four
separate indictments timed cleverly every two or three months throughout
the year, and he didn't have to be a brain
surgeon to know, oh, that could easily translate to four
criminal trials in the seven or eight months before the
(03:29):
November twenty twenty four election. And so it was just
teed up beautifully and then remarkably every single one, I mean,
the stormy Daniels in the past. As you know, Luke,
you're running for president and you have thirty four felonies
on your record. Excuse me, I mean it used to
be you couldn't get elected if you were a divorced man.
(03:50):
So now yeah, Instead we have a situation where Trump
easily overcomes the convictions and then boom, boom, boom. The
Florida cases tossed because the Republican appointee Trump appointed Judge
Ellen Cannon in Florida, but she said, I don't think
Jack Smith was appointed legally, So boom, these top secret
documents in the bathroom case is gone. The one thing
(04:11):
I will say, you're gonna see a lot of reporting
that Trump's totally nuclear. There is a tiny chance that
if a Democrat wins the White House in twenty twenty eight,
and if he or she, of course appoints an Attorney
General sympathetic to their causes. That age could say, you
know what, the case against Donald Trump for election interference
in Washington, d c. And whipping the crowd into a
(04:31):
frenzy January sixth, blah blah blah, that was dismissed, put
on hold, but it could be revived because the new
ag could say, you know, the statute limitations. It can't
run while he's in the White House because we can't
throw him, or we can't go after him criminally while
he's in the White House. So there is a remote
chance that there is one more thing that could get
through the radar and get Donald Trump in terms of
(04:53):
one of those four criminal cases, but it probably isn't
gonna happen. I wouldn't go to Vegas and bet on it.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
But sorry.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
So that's the the one lingering out there, a j
six charge, and that would have to occur after he's
out of office, after January of twenty twenty nine. And
that's only if a Democrat wins or a Trump painting Republican,
but somebody that wants to.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
See and pay the price for Yeah, if Liz Cheney
is if Liz Cheney somehow beats Marco Robio and Jdve
answered the presidency. Yeah, I think the Cheney administration just
might go after Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Oh yeah, I think that's a I'm not gonna bet
on that one either.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
The one thing about this though, that well, now we'll
never know the situation in Georgia, right the I mean
I have I have the screenshot on my phone because
just as a statistician and a political scientist, I still
find it amazing. And I know they told us that
Biden carried the state of Georgian twenty twenty, but at
ten o'clock I have the screenshot of CNN and it
(05:54):
is with eighty three percent of the precincts in at
ten o'clock, two million, two hundred and ten thousand, Biden
one million, eight hundred and ninety nine thousand, a three
hundred and eleven thousand vote difference, with eighty three percent reporting,
and Biden won by eleven thousand, seven hundred and seventy
(06:18):
You know which I mean is such as point zero
three five percent of the.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
State statistically, Yeah, and you know that very thing. Plus
the Pennsylvania example is just like, by.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
The way, a state, a state that Obama law a
state that Obama lost twice in two thousand, two thousand
and twelves.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Go ahead, Yeah, I just go to the here's the problem.
The critics are able to say, well, Trump gave it
a shot. He had sixty lawsuits and they were shot
down by every court, including courts where he appointed majority
of the members. And so if there was any there there,
we would have seen it. But obviously a lot of
people have strong suspicions and the doubts.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Lager and now it's gonna go.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
This will now be conspiracy theory in American pop culture,
and it'll be relegated to late night talk radio.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Royal Oaks, thanks so much for coming off with this.
Appreciate the legal analysis. Have yourself a fantastic holiday weekend.
You two.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Thanks there, he goes.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
ABC Legal analyst, Royal Oaks. So the Georgia thing is over.
I'm glad now that I say. I bought two Trump
mugshot T shirts. As soon as that mugshot was taken,
the Trump campaign made it into a T shirt, and
I bought two. They were forty seven dollars. Because of
forty seven and so I made two contributions for to
(07:41):
Trump twenty twenty four to get one for me, and
I haven't opened it. I'm gonna keep it as a
I think it'll go up in value unless I can
get it signed. And one I give away as a
gift to my neighbor and he wears it around the
neighborhood and walks the dog and it's hilarious. But now
the Georgia mug shot of Donald Trump is probably the
(08:02):
most valuable thing in American political pop culture. All right,
when we come back, Trump is talking a little bit
about Thanksgiving and affordability and trying to balance two very
separate things.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It is so it is just a complete.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Fact that Thanksgiving dinner, using the same standards as they
use to measure cost, is cheaper today than it was
in the Biden administration, no question about it. But a
majority of Americans don't feel very excited about the economy.
So how does this administration reconcile those two very real emotions.
(08:40):
I'll walk you through it and share with you my
point of view, and you can share yours. Lou Penrose
Info John Coblt on KFI AM six forty live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
You're listening to John Coblt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Lou Penrose info John Belt on the John Cobalt Show.
Thanks for having us along with you. So the criminal
case against Donald Trump in Georgia officially dead.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
The Georgia story is still.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
On my mind, I without being an election denier, and
I don't even think we're allowed to say this anymore.
I think, well, during the Biden administration, the FCC was
cautioning us, those of us on the radio. So yeah, okay,
they tell us that Biden carried the state of Georgia. Okay,
(09:34):
before they shut down voting and sent everybody home. Trump
was up by three hundred and eleven thousand votes with
eighty three percent of the precincts reporting. And the next
day the Trump campaign in Georgia asked for a recount
(09:54):
because they said that Biden had won the state of
Georgia and it was statistically all almost impossible. It is possible,
but it would require a feat of political science that
should result in every government school, like the Kennedy School
(10:17):
of Government and the Georgetown School of Political Science, like
every university that has a political science department, to close
up shop and relocate into Fulton County.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Georgia, because that is how you would election.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I mean it just that should be the headquarters of
understanding campaigns.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
So the Trump campaign asked for a recount, and.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
The first round of recounts by they say Biden won
by thirteen thousand, five hundred and fifty eight votes, and
the Trump campaign asked to recount, and then that margin
of victory reduced to twelve two hundred and eighty four votes.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
So Trump picks up seventeen hundred.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
And seventy nine votes on the first recount, seventeen hundred
and seventy nine votes, like ten percent of the eleven
thousand vote victory that they say Biden won by.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
So the Trump campaign.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Asked for a second round of recount, and that twelve
eighty four was reduced down now to eleven seven seventy nine.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
So from the initial call of the election.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
To when Trump now famously got on the phone and said,
keep the recount going, I only need eleven thousand, seven
hundred and seventy nine votes, it wasn't that he was
asking the Secretary of State to go make up the votes.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
He was saying, we're moving in the right direction.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
A few hours ago, by they say Biden won by
thirteen thousand and five.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Now we're down to eleven seven.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
That's a difference of five eight hundred and eighty nine votes,
thirty one percent of the entire margin of victory. So
why would we stop recounting if I've picked up five
thousand votes of eleven thousand needed? But they stopped, and
(12:05):
they said he was trying to manipulate the Secretary of State,
and the rest is history, and they awarded the state
of Georgia to President Biden, and a Democrat had not
won the state of Georgia. Like forever, like we forget
as like polypsime majors, we still study these things.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
The rest of us forget about these things.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
But we are led to believe that Joe Biden did
better in the state of Georgia than Barack Obama twice.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And we are led to believe.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
That President Biden is more popular with the African American
vote in Fulton County, Georgia than Barack Obama twice. McCain
won Georgia, Romney won Georgia.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Trump won Georgia two thousand and sixty. George W.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Bush won Georgia, and he was running against the guy
who was the senior Senator of Tennessee. Vice President Al
Gore was the senior senator of Tennessee. You know where
Tennessee is right next to Georgia, and he couldn't win it,
but somehow Biden was able to win it. All right, Well,
there you go. There's a little political science history for you.
(13:21):
I just still find it amazing. Speaking of Trump, Okay,
so Trump is trying to juggle these consumer confidence numbers.
It is certain that Thanksgiving tomorrow will cost your host less,
either you or whoever's hosting that Thanksgiving dinner. The price
is certainly down, and Trump is trying to celebrate that.
But at the same time, consumer confidence is down, and
(13:43):
those are two difficult things to reconcile.
Speaker 6 (13:45):
President Trump is translating mixed economic news retail sales up,
consumer confidence down this way. The American Farm Bureau Federation's
accounting finds that a classic Thanksgiving dinner for ten comes
out to about fifty five dollars eighteen cents. That is
five point fifty two a person, and that is down
five percent a person from last year.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
As the Fox News is Peter Doucy, I don't know
about that five to fifty two price tag per serving
that seems low. I've never done this. I've never added
up because there's never one receipt. You got the cost
go receipt, and then people want pies from a certain place,
and then people want buns from a certain place.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So it's too much.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
But I can't imagine you can get away with serving
ten people for five dollars and fifty two cents.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Like a McDonald's value meal is eight dollars like Boston
markets more than that.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
So I get it that Thanksgiving dinner buy and large
for all the belly aching about cost is a pretty
inexpensive meal to provide, like turkey is a very inexpensive bird.
It's it's it's much less expensive now because everybody's buying
it so and they want to make it a lost
lead and get you in the store. So that all
(15:02):
makes sense. But really, for the rest of the year,
it's not all that expensive. And potatoes are not expensive,
they never have been. Green Beans are probably the least
expensive thing in the produce aisle.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
They're available all year, and frozen green beans work. Really.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
The pumpkin pie, unless you go to Costco, is probably
the most expensive thing going on in the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Now, I don't know what you doing for appetizers.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
None of this accounts for booze, so that will always
jack up the cost.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
But the affordability thing is a new.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Discussion, and everybody is saying that's what's going to be
discussed around the Thanksgiving Day table is how America is
just not affordable in the eyes of a lot of
your guests. And what's interesting is, while well, the meal
that you will be eating is more affordable than it
(15:55):
was last year, everything around you will be.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Less affordable, Like the dinner is cheaper.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
The house and the light bill and the electricity and
the gas to go to Grandma's house more expensive.
Speaker 7 (16:11):
The topics of costing of food and other expenses will
most likely be discussed around the Thanksgiving table tomorrow, especially
after a reason Fox News poll found that seventy six
percent of voters view the economy negatively.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yeah, that's bad.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Seventy six percent of and that's Fox view the economy negatively.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Well, can we have a reality check for just a moment.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
And for those with Trump derangement syndrome, hang on for
a second, hear me out. I know you're out there,
and that's fine. You know that I'm a fan of Trump.
I'm on the Trump train. I'm unabashed about it. I
think what he's doing is right. He's fulfilling every campaign promise,
and I, as a voter, couldn't be happier. But what's
(16:57):
real is real, and that is if if everything is
so unaffordable, then how can we have record flying in
America for Thanksgiving? They will be eighty eighteen million passengers
from yesterday through next Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
That's a record fifty two thousand flights.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Like, if everything's so unaffordable, if gas is so unaffordable,
why is the ten as we speak not moving from
Los Angeles to Palm Springs?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Why is the ninety one just a parking lot because.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Everybody's going out to the desert to celebrate Thanksgiving? And
the fifteen from San Diego out to Palm Springs. My
son just came back from Mammoth. It took him so
long because of the traffic.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
If everything is so.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Unaffordable, why are people in Mammoth? If energy prices are
so unaffordable, why are people traveling in record numbers? So
it's by literal definition affordable because you're doing it, Loupenro,
if of John Cobelt on the John Cobelt Show on
k i AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio apps.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Louke Penrose if John Cobelt, it's good to have you
along with us as we move our way to Thanksgiving
which is scheduled for tomorrow, that everybody's already there or
on the way there, and we're guiding it through. And
stay tuned too i AM six forty for traffic information
and everything else. Talking about the affordability question, there are
(18:35):
two numbers out there that really don't match up. One
is Thanksgiving is certainly more affordable. Prices are down, inflation's
under control, and energy costs are under control, so Thanksgiving
is more affordable. Yet when you ask Americans, they're concerned
about costs.
Speaker 7 (18:56):
Seventy six percent of voters view the economy negative and
see their costs for groceries, utilities, healthcare, and housing have
gone up this year. But with those planning to feed
loved ones, we do have some good news. The average
Thanksgiving dinner for ten people costs about fifty five dollars.
That's a five percent decrease from last year according to
(19:17):
the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
I still question that fifty five dollars for a table
of ten or five fifty two per person. But nevertheless,
it's good news that Thanksgiving is more affordable. It's bad
news that Americans think everything is less affordable. What were
the four categories that she mentioned there, housing, utilities, and healthcare.
(19:39):
There were four things that she said that Americans think
is just too high.
Speaker 7 (19:43):
Negatively, and see their costs for groceries, utilities, healthcare, and housing.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Okay, so let's go through these. Grocery costs are certainly down.
Thanksgiving can't be cheaper if groceries are not cheaper. Not
everything is cheaper, but there are a lot of things
to eat, so buy the things that are cheaper. But
during the Biden administration, I remember during those four years.
Speaker 8 (20:06):
Were the form Those four years were formative for my
oldest because he went from just enjoying steak to learning
how to grill and prepare steak, and he just that
was this thing.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
And so I said, all right, well what we should do.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Let's just you know, eat our way down the butcher
counter and try different cuts of meat, and that was
Those were the bad four years to do that, because
steak prices were just going.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Up and up and up.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
But I do remember watching these steak prices just going
up by two dollars.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
A week, week after week after week. And we have
Sunday dinner at my house.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
It's an Italian thing, so like what's going on at
your house tomorrow for Italians, goes on every Sunday, like
the same amount of people, the same amount of dishes,
not not turkey, but sometimes steak in the time, and
it was becoming a pretty penny because those prices were
just going up and up and up. I go now
to by steak. It is certainly not as high as
(21:07):
it was. They're still too high, but.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
They're not going up week after week after week, so.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Grocery prices are down. The housing thing is a function
of where you want to live.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I have just reached a conclusion.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
I have been listening to discussions from economists and policymakers
and politicians about housing affordability in southern California, and I
have just reached the conclusion that housing was never supposed
to be affordable.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Like that is a function of the demand to live
in this beautiful area.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
If you live in Manhattan Beach. It's not designed to
be affordable. It's designed to be desirable, and that comes
with a price. London is desirable, New York City desirable,
Beverly Hills desirable, people want my Iami desirable.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
People want to live there.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
The demand to live in the same place causes the
price to rise of housing.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
That's just a reality.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Now you can offset that by building more, but can
only build so much along the sand, except in the
palace aides, where nobody wants to build.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Well, they will let people build, But like this, there's.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Only so much beats front property in southern California, and
there's only so much hillside property facing west, so you
can build and build and build, but it isn't going
to be in as high of demand. So housing affordability
is a function of you choosing to pay for very
expensive housing because you can move.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Now.
Speaker 4 (22:44):
The utilities thing and the healthcare thing, that's an interesting one.
I don't know that utilities are expensive in other parts
of the country to the tune of California. California has
driven up the cost of being able to pay the
bills through regulation and and just a very very unhealthy
alliance between lawmakers and lobbyists with the utility companies, and
(23:07):
it's just not working out for us at all. Like
water bills in southern California are way too high and
electric bills in southern California are just way too high.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It's just unnecessary.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
So that's more of a function of political choice than
it is anything else. And then, of course the biggie
is healthcare, and healthcare was supposed to have been resolved
by President Obama, which made it his signature thing. Remember
the Affordable Care Act was called Obamacare, so it's for
(23:43):
half the country.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
It's kind of hard to hear.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
You come to my house for Thanksgiving and bitch about Obamacare.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
It's like, I don't want to hear it. We had
a much better idea.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Take government out of it, privatize it more, have companies
compete for each other, have them compete for your premiums, right,
get into tort.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Reform, which is lawsuit abuse reform, and.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
Really privatize so much of it so there's competition and excellence.
And President Obama said, no, we got to give everybody
government run healthcare because it'll be affordable.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
And it's been a complete disaster.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
So for literally for half the country that thought Obama
was so great at making healthcare affordable, I frankly don't
want to hear from them, And that's going to be
my answer at the Thanksgiving table tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I don't want to hear about it.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
I think things are about as affordable as there ever
going to be. And by the way, there is a
diminishing level of marginal return on prosperity. President Trump can
only take this so far. Now, We've only been in
this presidency.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
For I mean, where are we.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
We are three hundred and nine days into the Trump presidency.
There are eleven hundred and fifty one more more days
of making Democrats crazy and causing liberals to cry. That's
a goodly amount of time to get things on a
good track. But in the three hundred plus days, things
have stabilized. They've stopped spinning out of control. Energy prices
(25:15):
are down, thanksgivings cheaper.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
We're on a roll.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
So we continue going in this direction. Less government, lower taxes,
lower taxes on the millionaires and billionaires too, because they're
the ones that create jobs. More freedom with the personal
responsibility that comes with it. Literally start dismantling entire agencies
(25:40):
in the bureaucracies and get Americans working again in manufacturing jobs,
not these service work jobs where we try and grow
the economy by doing each other's laundry, but actually producing
things in the United States by onshuring and resharing American
manufacturing companies. That's the ticket, that's the direction we're going,
(26:03):
and I guarantee you in over eleven hundred days, this
will be a far more prosperous country. Lou Penrose Info,
John Coblt on KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM sixty.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
Lou Penrose Info. John Cobelt on the John Cobalt Show.
Americans are hitting the road in record numbers, and if
you're on the road right now, you are well aware
of the amount of volume in front of you. We'll
talk with News Nations National correspondent Alex Capaio and also
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who this week famously
(26:45):
said stop going to the airport looking like a slob
in your pajamas and your slippers.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
He has doubled down on this civility campaign we'll share
it with you. That's all coming up following the news
at three.
Speaker 9 (26:58):
Hey, Lou, I think you kind of answered your question
about the affordability already. It's the macro effect overall. It's
not the trip to Grand Laws for Thanksgiving. That's not
where it is. It's the overall picture of healthcare is
more expensive, Inflation is now rising.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
You know, housing is expensive.
Speaker 9 (27:17):
All these things are more expensive and they are affecting
the bottom line.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I appreciate the call.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
See this is why you cannot double major in politics
and economics.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Explain me again the macro effect.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
So you can't afford to live, pay your healthcare premiums
and eat, but you can't afford to fill up your
car with gas and go sit sit in traffic on
the ninety one like if it were, if it were truly,
I get it that everything's expensive. First off, the inflation thing.
(27:53):
Coca Cola was five cents in the fifties when Richie
Cunningham went to Arnold's Diner with Pop seeing Ralph Mouth right,
five cents. It's not five cents today. You don't expect
to pay five cents for it as like inflation made
Coca cola unaffordable.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
It's gone up pretty much.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Don't even think about buying it at the McDonald's drive
through without using the app. So everything goes up in price,
but so does everything else, Like your salary also goes up.
Now you can make arguments that my wage is in
keeping up with the things I need like housing and on.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
That, I would agree with you.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
But everything's always going to go up in price, and
they go up at a reasonable rate, and they were
going up really high during the Biden administration and not
as fast now under the Trump administration. So that's better.
You got to give that credit. You've got to give this.
The Trump economy deserves credit. Whether you love him or
hate him, whether you have Trump arrangement syndrome or not,
(28:56):
you are lying to yourself and you're being intellectually dishonest
if you do not give this economy, and the president
sets the tone for economic conditions, if you're not going
to give him credit this holiday dinner, like if you're
the one at the Thanksgiving dinner bitching about the conditions
(29:16):
of the country, you're wrong. The country is in much
better shape than it was.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Could it be better? Sure, we're working on getting it better.
I for one.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
I am thrilled that we are seeing the reasuring of
American manufacturing. Like every time Trump has a press conference,
every time Trump has a world leader in the Oval Office,
whether it's the guy from Japan talking about manufacturing toyotas
in the United States or one of the guys from
Saudi Arabia talking about bringing chip manufacturing to the United States.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Trump is constantly working with other.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
Nations to reshure manufacturing here in the United States. That
provides Americans with very good jobs, very stable jobs, right.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Because they don't want to pay the tariff, and I
don't blame them.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
So they have done the math and said, you know what,
if I could get Trump to reduce that tariff, you know,
take away that forty five percent tariff from imports from
Saudi Arabia, that.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Would be great.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
And if I have to move the factory at least
during his administration to Cleveland, Ohio, then I will. And
Trump comes back with sure, move it to Cleveland, Ohio,
and I'll reduce it down to fifteen percent, and then
we get tariff revenue, and they reshore the part of
the industry like that's smart, That's a smart way to
(30:38):
run the country. And that's a smart way to give
Americans opportunities for more income. And that's what he's doing
and it's working. So I don't want to hear about
this macroeconomic theory of yours that you know your healthcare
is going up. First off, Republicans tried and Obama won
(30:59):
that argument.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Everybody wanted Obama he was reelected.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
Romney had a much better plan in twenty twelve for
affordability of healthcare premiums.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
He did it in Massachusetts. It's called Romney Care, and it.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
Worked better there for people that have had little means
but didn't want to go on government wealth government healthcare.
Here in California, we insist on giving medical to illegals
to the tune of nine billion dollars. So don't come
to me and bitch about your health care costs. If
you voted for Obama or you are in favor of
(31:37):
giving medical.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
To illegals, that's what happens. The rest of us have
to pay for it.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
But there's no question that the economy is doing very well.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Have you seen the Dow Jones industrial average.
Speaker 4 (31:52):
I mean, I know that not everybody has investments in
the stock market. I get it, but it is still
a barometer. It's an economic indicator. Certainly, if the stock
market were tanking, everybody would say Trump sucks, his economy
is terrible, even though the same few amount of people
have money invested in the stock market, because it's an
economic indicator, all right. It's every day setting records, like
(32:16):
by the hundreds. It's up seven hundred points, it's up
eight hundred points, it's up four hundred points. When was
the last time you remember the Dow Jones industrial leverage
hitting record highs and at the same time inflation staying low,
and at the same time gold is through the roof
four thousand dollars at Troy ounce.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
I sold all my gold jewelry.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
When it was two thousand dollars and I had there
was fourteen carrot crosses and crucifixes and Italian horns and
things I got at my baptism, right, I sold two
thousand dollars an ounce to sell it.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
I walked out of that. I went down to the
Saint Vincent Jewelry Exchange.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
In Los Angeles, walked out of there with a house
payment from stuff in my sock drawer. Now it's at
four thousand dollars an ounce. Precious metals repe When was
the last time you remember precious metals gold, silver being
up at the same time that the Dow Jones is
setting records.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
And real estate is up. So things are hot.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
There's no denying it, and there's no way around it.
The only thing that's costing your money now are your vegetables.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
So the appetizers at Thanksgiving tomorrow will be the most
expensive thing. The carbs are down, the turkey's down, but
the veggies will put you in the poorhouse.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
So your carbi things like your stuffing and your roles
are down nine and fourteen percent, respectively, and then your
fresh veggies and your sweet potatoes are up significantly sixty
one percent. For the veggie tray, don't invite me over
if you're getting a vegie trays or appetizer.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Yeah, so don't go with the veggie tray. Go with
the chips and the hummus. That's the way to go.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
My wife found a way to put cottage cheese in
the magic bullet and add fresh dill or mint or both,
and you got a protein rich dip that is better
than any dip I've ever tasted. Just cottage cheese in
the magic bullet. You would never have thought to do it.
It makes it into a thin dip. Then you add
the deal and there you go.
Speaker 10 (34:19):
Don't invite me over if you're getting a veggie transer
appetizer and thirty seven percent for the sweet potatoes. Now,
why can it be that the cost is down for
the third year in a row. If we know that
food at home prices, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
are up two point seven percent since last fall. Well,
experts think it has to do with the bird. Well,
(34:40):
wholesale prices for the turkey have surged seventy five percent
since last year because of the highly pathogenic avian flu.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
That's right, So the wholesale bird is up, but the retail.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Is down, so they can get you getting the carrots
and the celery, which you should leave on the counter,
all right, Lou Penrose, if a John Colebelt on KFI
AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
Hey, you've been listening to the John Cobalt Show podcast.
You can always hear the show live on KFI AM
six forty from one to four pm every Monday through Friday,
and of course anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
The John Kobylt Show News
Host
John Kobylt
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