Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Let's get right to it. Second hour of the Morning
Show with Preston Scock in Morning Friends Show fifty five sixties. OSEA,
I'm Preston, and this for those of you that never
listen to the third hour because of work, you are
getting a treat because joining us in the second hour
this month is the president of the James Madison Institute.
He is doctor Bob McClure. Doctor McClure. How are you
(00:25):
a friend.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm doing fantastic, my friend. How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I'm a little angry because you know. Let me remind
you and our listeners of something that Congresswoman Kat Cammick
said to us last week. She said, the Democrat Party
is the opposition to getting things done. The US Senate
is the enemy. And I feel like those words are
(00:51):
pretty appropriate to what is going on in the US
Senate as it relates to the Save Act right now.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, this is not rocket science right in terms of
getting the Save Act passed and the for your listeners,
it is simply a bill that would become last signed
by Donald Trump. The House has already passed twice that
would require proof of citizenship in a form of ID
(01:19):
to vote in federal elections. That's it. It's very simple.
We have to use ID and you know this press
and for everything. If I want to sign up my
grandson for t ball, we need an ID getting on
a plane getting prescription medicines. And so there's no reason
not to do this. And you don't have to nuke
the filibuster, no, which is you know, somehow all of
(01:41):
a sudden become this holy you know, shrine of what
we can and can't do. Just go back to the
old days of using the regular phil buster, the talking filibuster,
and then you vote, you vote for Kloture, then you vote,
and you get it done.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I'm disappointed that John Thune who keeps saying, oh, we're
going to bring it to a vote, We're going to
bring it to a vote. And now they're using the
Democrats holding up funding for DHS as the reason for
not getting the Save Act. But Bob, this is one
of those rare times in American political recent history, maybe
the last four or five decades, where you have a
(02:21):
bill that is almost universally approved by Democrats, Republicans, Independents, whites, blacks, Latinos,
you name it. It enjoys eighty three percent favorability, but
they won't get it done. What is going on up there?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I mean, who can divine the hearts of men? As
this Psalmist says. But the reality is is that you
have these swamp And this was always a concern is
Thune remember Rick Scott ran, a couple of other folks ran.
This was always this concern of Thuon being too swappy
(03:02):
for leadership in the Senate. And this is what unfortunately
Republicans tend to do. They run and run and run.
We're going to get rid of Obamacare, We're going to
reduce spending, We're going to pass the Save Act, and
then when they get there, they don't get it done.
And this is a perpetual problem with the Republican Party. Somehow,
(03:26):
the Democrats don't seem to have that problem. Whether they
lose fifty five seats, which they did after they passed Obamacare.
They are focused on what they want to get done,
which is traditionally big government, socialism, call it what you want,
and they they're willing to sacrifice the altar of their principles.
(03:48):
And this was a concern of John Tuon. I mean,
for Mike Johnson to get it passed in the House
with that smaller majority and soon can't just go back
to the talking filibuster. Make those lazy senators stand up
and talk hour after hour after hour, and then vote.
It's not that.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Hard, well, and I would take it one step further, Bob.
Let them talk and defend stopping the Save Act when
eighty three percent of this country wants it, and then
use everything that they said in your campaign ads.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Right, that's exactly right. I mean they the Republicans, the
Democrats have given the Republicans a massive opportunity for the
midterm elections. Let's just set aside the principle which is incredibly,
incredibly important, the most important thing if we're just talking
raw politics what Trump did at the State of the Union
when he said stand for our country or or you know,
(04:42):
illegal aliens? Which is it? That is a commercial clip
run over over and over on loop. The same can
be said, as you just said, Preston, the more they talk,
the more the left looks foolish. So let them talk more,
not left.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Let's first take the segment to talk about the session
in general. As we are wrapping up sort of maybe
what what is your what is your grade for where
we are how they've done, what's gotten done, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Speaking of not getting some getting things done. This session
has unfortunately kind of so far been, you know, more
of a nothing burger. The Senate and the House can't
seem to get on the same page in terms of priorities.
The governor's leading on the property tax issue. We're going
(05:36):
to come back for a special session for that. Redistricting
will come back for a special session for that. But
Floridians and your listeners are worried about the cost of living.
I mean, we're worried about the cost of living and
that is primarily housing, insurance, the cost of groceries, in
(05:59):
those kinds of things. And what, unfortunately we're seeing is
that our legislature is not moving boldly to get these
things done. The future of AI some people, you know,
people are nervous about that. What does that mean for
our state? Where do we go as a state? And so, sure,
we're going to do something on property taxes and redisteresting,
(06:22):
but people are worried about the cost of living precedent
and that's what has to be addressed, and so far
it's been minimal. Unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
I have a theory that I won't spend any time
on here today, but I have a theory that that
you know, it speaks to this. But but doctor McClure,
you've spent decades following the Florida legislature. Why is it
that this particular session, and you could argue even last session,
(06:53):
but why are they why is it gummed up? What's
what's been the cause the root cause of the problem here?
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, I would say that probably in the House, in
the Senate, you've had different priorities in terms of what
things needed, what each leader wanted to get done. And
so last year it was, you know, the unfortunately the
Speaker was trying to roll back a number of the
(07:25):
property insurance reforms that had been put in place, and
the Senate just wasn't going to do that. They just
were not going to do that, and rightfully so, frankly,
but we've been clear with the Speaker that we don't
agree with him on that. That was last year. The
rural renaissance for rural counties. I mean, Preston, you know,
(07:47):
we're in Tallahassee, but if you drive ten minutes in
any direction, you're in a rural community here. All across
the northern half and north central part of the state,
and there are structure needs, there are broadband needs, there
are you know, things that these rural communities need, and
that is a high priority for Senator Albritton. It's not
(08:10):
for the House. And those are just and they can't
seem to get on the same page to get it done.
And those are just two examples. I also think Preston,
and I think you would agree with me. Iron sharpens Iron.
There is nothing but the Republican Party in charge, and
so the tendency is human nature. It's not just the
(08:30):
Republican Party that if you're not being challenged and sharpened,
you kind of go off in these different directions instead
of focusing on the job at hand. And in this case,
it's to make life more affordable for Floridians and reduce
the cost of living for everyday Floridians.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Joining US Doctor Bob McClure with the James Madison Institute
will continue our discussion to any lawmaker aid listening to
the program, I'll just simply say I don't want to
ever hear about a speaker's priority or a Senate president's priority.
I want you to talk about what the people's priorities
are and set yourselves to the side for the sake
(09:16):
of you know, the citizens will elect you. Just say
it back with doctor Bob McClure of the James Madison
Institute and doctor McClure, since we're on a slightly different
hour here than normal, just reset for everybody. The James
Madison Institute, it's purpose, it's mission.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Well, the James Madison Institute is Florida's oldest and largest
think tank. And people say all the time, what's the
think tank? We focus on good public policy and advanced
ideas preston that help everyday Americans and every day Floridians.
So what does that look like. We have a set
of principles that we believe make our state in our
(10:06):
country a better place to work and live. And those
principles are limited government, free markets, personal responsibility, and the
protection of people's private property, whether that be literal property
or money or stuff. And so we don't do social issues,
(10:27):
we don't do Second Amendment. It is primarily the tax,
regulatory environment, education, healthcare, election reform. We do a ton
on election reform, all of these different issues, AI and
the future of tech in this country. All of these
issues Preston. We believe that if you limit the role
(10:49):
of government in our daily lives, you get higher quality
of life at a lower cost, and you give Floridians
the chance to use their version of the American dream.
And so that's what the James Madison Institute is. We're
about to celebrate our fortieth year in Florida, but we're
(11:09):
based in Tallahassee, but we are statewide. We are probably
do eighty to ninety different events around the state. We're
in DC all the time because Florida's congressional delegation and
the state itself is so critically important to the future
of the country. And then the last thing we do
is everybody else wants to be like Florida. And so
(11:30):
we work in other states, whether it be education in Missouri,
or voter id in Arizona, or healthcare in South Carolina.
They call us and say, hey, help us become more
like Florida. So the James Madison Institute has the opportunity
to do that as well. It's a three legged stool
for us.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
It leads perfectly to what we may or may not.
I mean, there's no guaranteeing when it comes to elected
officials whether we'll actually get anything done. But is there
is there likely to get to some progress done on
property tax with a special session?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah? I do. I think he'll get something done. I
think the pressure has been building to get something done.
I think for there, again we go back to what's
the right thing to do and what is good for
one's political career, And we talked about that with Save Act.
In this case, they don't do anything on property taxes,
(12:34):
or they do kind of minimal cuts around the edges
and whatnot, it would be a disaster for many political
careers over there in that legislature. And rightfully so, I
think the governor has done a really really interesting thing.
He has laid out what he wants. He hasn't laid
out specifics, but he's laid out clearly what he wants,
(12:55):
and he's building pressure on the legislature and then he's saying, now,
go and do it. So what does that look like
that I don't know, and I don't think anybody can predict,
but they're going to have to do something significant, whether
it's put something on the ballot, pass something in the legislature,
whatever the case may be, because you can't have this
(13:17):
build up this kind of political pressure to go big
and then not do anything, And I think that's really
kind of an interesting strategy on the part of the governor.
Is not his first rodeo, and so that's what he's done.
They're going to come back. There are so many different proposals.
We're just gonna have to see what they decide.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I would bet tell me if you concur that whatever
they do will have to be a stare stepped gradual
process that takes a period of time to kind of
get counties and cities used to working without property tax
revenue and doing it in graduated form, is that maybe
the best likelihood I.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Would say that it is. I think that my concern
with anything that's done is that the cities and the
counties will simply cast shift. They'll raise taxes in other areas,
and it won't It'll be it'll be a big hole
in the bucket. So sure, let's cut property taxes, but
(14:20):
then we raise taxes in other areas to make up
for the difference. The key for us at the James
Madison Institute President is you've got to reduce spending. The
simplest thing to do, in my opinion, is what we
call a Levey cap and that is that you rule
you you know, local government, not all not rural communities,
(14:40):
but most of these communities that have you know, decent
sized municipalities have been surfing the wave of property values
the last twenty years. In Florida, they never reduce the
milage rate. They say, oh, we didn't raise your taxes,
but they don't reduce the mility rate. And so the
simplest thing to do, and this is what we think
needs to happen, is don't get into the oh we're
(15:02):
gonna do this for veterans, or we're gonna raise your tax,
your home set exemption. It'll be ten years from now.
Just cap what people can spend. Roll it back to
twenty twenty two or twenty twenty one. I don't care.
Cap what local municipalities can spend. Cap it hard, cap
and then say we index it to inflation and population growth.
(15:22):
That helps places that doesn't. I mean, then a place
like Madison County knows what they have to work with.
They can spend as much as they had in twenty
is they spent in twenty twenty two. We'll call your
county where Naples is, which is you know fifty times bigger.
They also know, but they can have a budget that
they can manage, and you can't cost shift. These local
(15:43):
governments are not going to put up with this. I mean,
you see it with the teachers unions. I mean they
just can't handle still choice. So it's a long winded
answer to your question. But a levy cap that just
caps what they can spend on an annual basis and
then indexes. It is the way, the simplest and best
way to go for Floridians.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
We'll talk again next month, doctor McClure, Thanks so much
for the time.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Thanks for having me, my friend. Talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Alrighty, doctor Bob McClure, President James Madison Institute, my guest,