The Benjamin Yount Show-5-12-26-Tom Tiffany and Tyler August on live to react to latest budget deal with Tony Evers

The Benjamin Yount Show-5-12-26-Tom Tiffany and Tyler August on live to react to latest budget deal with Tony Evers

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Huge show today. I don't toot my horn. I don't.
I tend to think that what we do, the conversations
we have, the show that we put on every day.
I like to believe that that speaks for itself. But
today is going to be a huge show. We are

(00:21):
going to talk a lot about this new tax deal.
And I'll tell you right now, there are some things
in here that I really like. No tax on tips,
no tax on overtime. It's a great idea, but there
are some serious questions. We're going to talk with a

(00:41):
second in command for Republicans in the State Assembly, Tyler August.
He's going to join us just after seven point thirty.
We're also waiting to confirm that Tom Tiffany, who's running
for governor, of course, is also going to join us.
I have no idea what he's going to say, but
any time I can talk to the man who should

(01:02):
be the next governor of the state of Wisconsin, you're
damn right, I'm gonna take that opportunity, and we're going
to ask him what he thinks, what he would do
if he was governor, and again, how good of a
deal is this. We're going to talk about iron and
have you seen this thing greg on the internet where

(01:23):
they ask these women would you rather meet a man
or a bear in the woods. This is a thing
between now and the end of the show. Go find
some of these videos, because these these ladies almost I'd
much rather meet the bear. I have a story that
points out you would not much rather meet the bear.
We'll get to all of that. Calls and texts and tweets.

(01:45):
Always welcome the Carpetland USA Flooring Center Talking text line
four one four seven nine nine eleven thirty. And you
know what, I'm going to invite you to share your
talkbacks because if you have a good question, either for
the representative who's going to talk about the details of
this tax deal, or for Tom Tiffany, share it with us.

(02:08):
I have absolutely no problem playing these guys one of
yours great idea. Let's do that. So you know how
to do the talkbacks right, you go to the iHeartRadio app,
look for the Benjamin Yont Show. There's a little microphone
button up in the corner. Click on that and you
are good to go. By the way, yesterday, ate like
a King? Did you good? Ate like a king? Homemade

(02:33):
fried rice for lunch and then homemade pizza for dinner. Wow,
we got the pizza oven out, fired it up first
one of the season, and you gotta you gotta burn
it up to tamp there was there was one point
where one of the pizzas came out a little underdone.
Fix that right away. I'm never putting red sauce on
a pizza again, by the.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Way, Really, that's that's the only way I really like it.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Melt yourself about a tablespoon of butter in the microwave. Okay,
get the minced garlic in a jar, stir that together,
pour that on the crust, raw dough, don't cook it first,
spread that around with a brush, then shred your own
fresh mots. Put that down. I grill a couple of
sweet Italian sausages, topped it off with some basil, salt, pepper,

(03:18):
olive oil. Ninety seconds in the pizza oven. It was
I may never get takeout pizza again. Nice. All you
gotta do is just either have the dough ready or
have two hours to wait for the dough to rise.
So you make this your own dough. Oh yeah, yeah,
three cups of flour, one of the third cups of water.
I'm gonna next time sweeten it with a tablespoon of

(03:40):
honey as opposed to white sugar, packet a yeast little
glug of olive oil. You are off and run, and
I'll tell you and if you use the double zero flour,
that dough is so soft and springy, it is the best.
I'm gonna be four hundred pounds by the time that
the summer ends, because this was what forget about it
and the sticks. Ah oh, We're not just going to

(04:03):
talk about fat Benny's menu. We do have other things
to talk about, including something that I'm a little I'm
a little worried about. I don't want to get an
unplanned two week vacation, so I have to be very
careful as I talk about the culture of fraud. There

(04:26):
are all manners of interviews both from here in this
country and overseas that point out there is a culture
of fraud in Somalia. The basic premise is that the
Somali government is incredibly corrupt in ways that would just

(04:48):
be brazen and embarrassing for Americans. And when you grow
up with a government that is out to get you
and not in the American way, taxation is theft. I mean,
these g really just steal the food ay that's supposed
to go to the people, When that is your reality
for decades, the culture of well I better get mine

(05:11):
while I can flourishes. And I know that we like
to think that once you step foot on Ellis Island,
or step off a plane at JFK, or get off
the bus in Minneapolis, that all of a sudden you
become an American. We know that that's not the case.

(05:36):
People who grew up in a culture of I'd better
steal before I get stolen from don't abandon that simply
because now they live in the United States. America has
a gun culture, France has a culture where people don't
really like to work. The Somalis have a fraud culture.

(05:57):
Ellen Omar and her oh, I don't know what happened
to three million dollars plus all of the fraud that
has already been prosecuted in Minneapolis. In Minnesota shows what
happens when people who have a fraud culture come to
this country and see untold opportunities for fraud. In their mind,

(06:18):
if the government's given the money away, they'd be idiots
not to take it. The evidence in the individual cases
shows a clear pattern, shows an acceptance and shows zero
remorse for fraud. But I'm starting to believe that this

(06:39):
is no longer just a Somali issue. And please understand,
there are plenty of white people who steal from the government,
plenty of people of every color, of every sex. I'm
sure sooner rather than later, the paper in Minneapolis, the
Star Tribune, will write a glowing headline representation first ever

(07:03):
trans native American convicted of stealing millions of dollars from
the federal government. I'm sure that that is coming. But
We're talking about a culture of fraud, and I'm starting
to think that Democrats have a culture of fraud as well.
The Washington Examiner had a piece yesterday that focuses on

(07:26):
Gavin Newsom and the diaper charity that's connected to his
wife and the fact that it appears to be just
a grift. California is creating a new taxpayer funded diaper
program despite one already existing. The Examiner rights, what's the
purpose of this, aside from giving Newsome a new pr opportunity. Well,

(07:49):
the paper rights, it comes down to California's incestuous relationship
between nonprofit NGOs and democratic politics. One of the program,
and it's baby to Baby. One of the two CEOs
is Nora Weinstein, who also sits on the board of
the California Partners Project. The California Partners Project was co

(08:12):
founded by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Gavin Newsom's wife. The governor
has helped his wife's organization rake in millions of dollars
since it was founded all the way back in twenty twenty.
In other words, the Examiner writes, this new diaper program
will funnel millions of dollars through an NGO to run

(08:34):
a place that is close that is headed by a
close ally of Newsom's wife, and therein lies the point.
This charity has nothing to do with diapers. Certainly, ostensibly
it has something to do with diapers, but this is

(08:56):
the second program. Many parents in California already get some
free diapers, and the best that this is going to
do is provide some parents, because of course, this is
targeted only to certain parents. God forbid any government program
be open to everybody. No, no, no, you have to
qualify for checking each of these boxes, and if you

(09:17):
check enough boxes, then we'll give you some free diapers
five weeks worth. And look diapers are expensive. Nobody's gonna
argue that. But the point of the Examiner piece is
that this helps the organization. This helps the people who
run the organization far more than it does the people.

(09:41):
And this is what I mean when I say a
culture of fraud among Democrats. There is an entire industry
of people who are either Democratic politicians themselves again ilhan Omar,
or people who are related to work with, of partners

(10:01):
with good buddies, with supporters of Democrats, who have made
a living by running these sort of scam charities or worse.
Remember what USAID was doing. USAID was spending billions of
dollars and very little of it actually went to help

(10:25):
the people. I know, I've turned it into a punchline,
but they were literally trying to do lesbian sock puppetry
in Afghanistan. There was a couple of million dollars spent
on DEI training in someplace like Serbia. There was was
it Columbia or Venezuela where they had the transcomic book.

(10:50):
The reality of USAID is that it was a jobs
program for grifters on the left. A huge chunk of
the money that was supposed to go to help people
in developing worlds. Instead got spent on a cadre of
offices in Washington, d C. Most of it just paychecks

(11:11):
and pensions and perks, and pretty good paychecks and pensions
and perks. But it's not just the grift at large.
I did a quick Google search for Democrats arrested for fraud,
and I got a laundry list state rep or I'm sorry.

(11:32):
Congressman Shila Kreflis McCormick. Sorry. Sheila indicted in November twenty
twenty five for allegedly stealing five million dollars in FEMA funds.
Prosecutors say that money went to her twenty twenty one
campaign and conspiring to file false tax returns. Congresswoman Christopher

(11:52):
Flanagan from Massachusetts arrested in April of twenty twenty five,
hit with additional charges in May of this year. Prosecutors
say he stole over thirty six thousand dollars from a
trade association to pay for personal items like a clothes
dryer and a personal psychic. Several Georgia Democratic state representatives

(12:13):
were accused of pandemic unemployment fraud. One of them is
already pleaded guilty, and then just the other day, Gerald
Moore from Illinois. He's the deputy assistant district director for
Danny Davis, who's a congressman out of Chicago. This guy
was indicted this month for allegedly fraudulently obtaining COVID nineteen benefits.

(12:41):
I know it's uncomfortable to say, and it's something that
our friends on the left will turn in to. You're
a racist. Do you think all Somali's are fraudsters? I
never said that. I said there is a culture of fraud.
There is a gun culture in America. We look at
guns in a completely different way than almost every other

(13:04):
country on the planet. Again, there's another article at BuzzFeed
this morning, things about America that freak foreign tourists out.
Guns is like second on the list. There is a
gun culture in America. Not every American owns a gun.
Not every American is a gun nut. Not everybody who
owns a gun is the guy who's got a basement

(13:25):
full of them. But there is a gun culture. There
is a fraud culture among Somalis, and it appears that
there is a growing fraud culture among Democrats. When it
happens once it's an incident, it's a crime. When it
happens twice, it's a coincidence. When it happens three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

(13:49):
ninety ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen times, when it
seems to be the point as opposed to a flaw,
a feature, not a flow, then it's not just a
one off. It's not just a few bad apples. Part
of the thing about fraud culture from Somalia and many

(14:11):
other developed countries is there is an acceptance of it.
It is the norm and not the rare occasion. The
record seems to speak for itself. The culture of fraud
among Democrats certainly has acceptance. And look, if this is
the people who are Democrats, elected representatives, friends, family, political supporters,

(14:36):
imagine what they are willing to accept and tolerate from
their voters. Six twenty four. When we come back, quick
look of quick look at headlines, Dave Michael spilt and
check of the forecast. After that, get rid of the
gas tax or leave it alone. A temporary gas tax
holiday is going to do nothing but make drivers mad.

(14:57):
A few months from now, I'm Benjamin Yap News Talk
eleven thirty WISI. We are getting to our conversation about
this tax deal from the governor. Look, there are some
good parts about it, but there are also huge questions.
We'll talk with Tyler August about seven thirty. After that,
Tom Tiffany is gonna join us to talk about the

(15:19):
very same I haven't heard anything or seen anything from
the candidate for governors, so we may get the news first.
We'll get to that coming up, but right now, a
check of news. And Dave Michaels.

Speaker 3 (15:32):
Ben, a man from New berl was seriously injured in
a crash yesterday. Bubby name motorcycle and scuv hang tight,
I got just mentioneering work here.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah you And by the way, the play by play,
there's there's a chord that goes into the back of
the mic, and because everybody grabs it by the back,
it's loose. Dan had this problem yesterday with Eric Tony.
I saw a bunch of texts. It fixed his mic.
Oh with Eric and studio obviously he was if the
market there we go. That's it in breaking news. Hey,

(16:04):
Benjamin Yon show exclusive. Let's send him the bill. We'll
get Josh calls a g office to do it. I'm look,
I'm sure, I'm sure call is more than willing to sue.
We we've blabbed too long. Give me, give me the
rest of this new Berlin wreck and then we'll call
it a dead crash.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
One hundred and sixteenth and Layton. Hopefully he's okay. I
do want to add this bet. The weight is over
in Wakshaw. Wait for what eighteen months after a fire
destroyed Oscar. It's not in Brookfield. People keep saying it's
in Brookfield. I'm sorry, I'm not Jonathan Green, but it's
not Brookfield. It's Blue Out Road. It is in Waukeshaw.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
Okay, it's just just over the interstate Correctfield, but it's
not Brookfield.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
Right anyway, it has reopened that there's soft reopening yesterday,
big fire down.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
To November of the best part of that is and
Oscars is fine, but now it doesn't look like that.
Taco Bell is constantly super super busy. All the construction
trucks will be gone, and I know I can get
my burrito supreme very very quickly and call it a day. Appreciated,
Thanks Dave, Thank you almost called Jason. Thanks Dave Forecast
on the Fox six Weather Experts. Jay, Oh yeah, it's Jay,

(17:15):
don't don't worry I'll screw up the time here? Do
you keep that tradition? Going? Windy today, rain, maybe some
storms for some of us seventy ones. The high today
tomorrow much cooler, fifty six, windy, Thursday looks nice, mostly sunny.
Sky's sixty five degrees forty outside. Right now at six
thirty six on News Talk eleven thirty wisn I knew

(17:37):
something was wrong. I mean, I know our phones are
spotty at best, but we sat here talked for a
half hour. We talked about eaton, which almost always brings
in texts nothing. It was crickets. It was on my end.
I just needed to hit refresh. Oh you've forgot to
refresh the thing. Yeah, you got to refresh it every time, Bud. Sorry,

(17:57):
I should have told you that. So thank you for
being a part of the show. It does make everything better.
Coming up here after the news at seven o'clock, A
one percent chance that the ceasefire holds means there's a
ninety nine percent chance that we're going to start dropping
bombs again. President Trump's patience seems to be running out.

(18:20):
I'm going to give you some Megan Kelly and Victor
Davis Hanson to make that point, but we'll get to
that in a second. Calls, text tweets, yes, please and
thank you. Carpetland USA, Flooring Center talking text line seven
four one four seven nine nine eleven thirty. I don't
know how many times I need to make this point.

(18:40):
People notice gas prices. You notice what you're paying every
time you fill up. I saw a post on Facebook
from one of my kid's former teachers, A died in
the wool liberal said, under Joe Biden, my car held
fifty dollars worth of gas. Now under Donald Trump, it

(19:03):
holds eighty five. Thanks President Trump. I thought it was
a Chuckley line. We'll use that on them again when
the gas prices go down. But we get paid. A
lot of us get paid direct deposit. And I know
that people who are good with money check their payslip

(19:24):
every month and probably print it off and keep it
in a file, and three years later they take it
and get it shredded. But most of us no longer
see what's being taken out of our checks. We don't
realize just how much money we're losing to the government,
but we do notice when the price of the pump
goes up. That is simply put, why so many people

(19:46):
are angry at President Trump? Right now? It's soon going
to be summer vacation season. And I get a text
regularly whenever we talk about gas prices from somebody who's
driving in June and said, Ben, look, gas prices could
come down in April or September or sorry, August or September,
and it's not going to do me any good. I'm
driving to Florida, and let me tell you, as somebody

(20:09):
who used to drive to Florida, there is a huge
difference in making that drive at two dollars in the
thirty five cents a gallon compared to four dollars. We
have thirty five cents.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Again, they're in the Obama era. When they were up
four to thirty nine.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
It was one.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
Thousand dollars, thousand dollars to go back and forth.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
It was crazy. This this last year when we went to
the beach, we drove because gas was cheap enough. It
was cheaper to drive than it was to fly. Even
with the inconvenience of driving. The high price of gas
has lawmakers in many states as well as in Washington, DC,

(20:47):
plus the Trump administration talking about suspending the gas tax.
Let me offer you this piece of advice. Don't do it,
don't I understand the idea. Then we could suspend the
gas tax, and we could bring down the price at
the pump, and that would ease some of the anger. Yes,

(21:11):
but The Hill had one of the stories yesterday citing
support from President Trump. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley says
he's going to introduce legislation to suspend the federal gas tax,
which would save drivers eighteen point four cents per gallon.
Hally's office said. Trump told CBS's White House correspondent in

(21:32):
a phone interview Monday, he wants to suspend the gas
tax for a period of time. I think it's a
great idea, the President said, Yep. We're going to take
off the gas tax for a period of time. When
gas goes down, we'll phase it back in. Yeah. No,
I understand what you want to do. But what you're

(21:55):
really going to do is you're going to guarantee a
spike in the price of gas in a period of time.
We notice when the price of gas rises or falls
eighteen cents, most drivers aren't reading the hill. Most drivers

(22:17):
aren't sitting here spending their mornings listening to us on
the Big Eleven. Most drivers are not going to notice
or understand link the suspension of the gas tax to
a drop in the price at the pump. And then, well,
we now have to roll that gas tax back into
effect and prices are going to jump. They're going to

(22:37):
miss the policy. They're only going to see the gas prices.
And please understand, I'm not saying that most voters, most drivers,
most people are stupid. They're not. They just don't pay
attention to politics. Most people have lives, they've got jobs,
they've got kids, they've got things that they need to do,

(23:01):
and so they're not paying attention to CBS White House
correspondent Nancy Cordez and her phone interview with President Trump.
They're just simply going to notice, oh, gas is nineteen
cents cheaper than it used to be. Cool and so
in September or October or worse November, when prices jump

(23:22):
back up, they're going to be unhappy. You can get
rid of the gas tax, but then we're going to
have a problem paying for roads here in Wisconsin. You
can absolutely get rid of minimum markup. Minimum markup requires
us to sell gas at a higher price than it
would be if there was no guaranteed markup for Quick Trip.

(23:45):
And look, I love Quick Trip. I go to Quick
Trip twice a day. Sometimes they've got me. If I
could find a halfway decent trucker hat at Quick Trip,
I'd be wearing that every day. They have a one
of the the sort of yetty knockoff mugs that has
a really neat Wisconsin scape on it. I'd buy that tomorrow.

(24:07):
But minimum markup is Quick Trips issue. It's supposed to
help mom and pop grocery stores, mom and pop gas stations,
but when you have an entire bakery dedicated to just glazers,
you're not a mom and pop. I understand that the
price at the pump is too high. I've been preaching

(24:31):
this for weeks. If we were at two dollars and
forty cents a gallon, no one would care what we
were doing in Iran. We haven't dropped a bomb in
a month. We haven't lost a single American. We lost
a few in the first hours. There was a crash
over western Iraq. We are winning this war, and we'll

(24:53):
talk about that more coming up here after the news
at seven. We are winning this war, But the price
at the pump is making king people question what we're doing.
President Trump is absolutely right to be laser focused on
the price of gas and groceries and homes and cars
and clothes and computers and everything else. But suspending the
gas tax only buys you a few months, a few

(25:17):
weeks of lower gas prices. And the problem is that
once that gas tax goes back into effect, the prices
will jump. An American driver's, American voters, American people. They're
not going to see the policy. They're not going to
appreciate the temporary reprieve. All they are going to know

(25:39):
is that they are paying more for gas. What was
it it was last week? The gas was four to
fifty nine a gallon, four forty nine a gallon up
the street at the quick Trip here on Cleveland, it's
at four twenty seven. Once we settle what's going on

(26:00):
with Iran, once we can deal with this shakeup, once
we start maybe producing a bit more oil, prices are
gonna go down. Victor Davis Hansen was talking about this yesterday,
and I'll play you some Hanson coming up in just
a couple of minutes. But you got to remember that
oil is about ninety five dollars a barrel right now.

(26:21):
When President Trump came into office, it was eighty dollars
a barrel. We really liked two thirty five gas in February,
and we really wanted to get back there. But the
political price for suspending the gas tax, that's unacceptable. Nothing
is going to anger Republicans, Democrats, independent voters than to

(26:48):
see the as the Texter here in the four to
one four puts it, then tax tax price spike in
time for the mid terms. Exactly. If you think people
are angry about the price of gas now here in
the middle of May, just wait to what happens. Wait

(27:08):
to see what happens when gas prices spike almost twenty
cents in September, October or November, when people then actually
can go and do something about it. Win the war,
cripple Iran, bring gas prices down that way, take the
full victory lap, and walk into the midterms with lower

(27:31):
gas prices, not some sort of gimmick that you know
is going to expire and well not save anybody that
much anyway. Six fifty three, when we come back after
the news, we're going to look at the latest in Iran.
The art of the deal versus the art of the steel.
Which one's gonna win out? I'm Benjamin Yond. This is

(27:51):
News Talk eleven thirty Wi SI, and I appreciate it.
I really do. When done right, talk radio is a
personal medium. I'm talking to you. It doesn't matter if
I'm talking to you and you and you and you
and you and you and you. But I'm talking to
you sitting here and talk about the gas tax. Get
one text about the gas tax? Had another text, Hey, Ben,

(28:17):
when's the Fat Benny cookbook coming out? I got a
text on my phone, Ben, I expect in the next
show tomorrow, I want a full segment on your Taco
Bell order. The people need to know. I am so
glad that this is what I don't have to prepare
for a Taco Bell segment. I could just come in

(28:38):
here and start, you know, debating the benefits of the
chilupa versus the Gordida. Maybe one day we'll do it. Hey, Look,
the holidays are coming up, Memorial Days not too far
from here, right? Are you doing a panel for that? Greg?
Are you going to get.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
Part of the opens and closes already?

Speaker 1 (28:56):
Well, remembering twenty twenties.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
Looking back, it's gonna be more tongue. I know it's
memorial there, but it's gonna be more tongue in cheek
this time. Because I was looking at the rundown.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
I love being on those panels. But now that I'm
a big boy talk show, I was.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
Thinking about that too. Because I'm on the big boy product,
I should be able to.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
Get off of that. You should, You should? I mean,
I've been here long enough.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
Hell, I've got those two hosts already cried out loud.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
The way we keep this up, we may get a
truth vacation. As a Texter put it, Welcome back, Benjamin
Yon Show. It is a big show today. Coming up
half hour from now, we're going to talk with State Rep.
Tyler August. He's the second in command for Republicans in
the Assembly. Not everything about this tax deal is a

(29:46):
no go, no tax on tips. Great idea, but no
guarantee that property taxes are not going to continue to skyrocket,
or that schools are going to raise more taxes with referendums.
We will ask the question an hour from now. So

(30:07):
does a half billion plus more for public schools get
us any closer to fully funding I'm going to suspect
not and then eight thirty just confirmed it. Tom Tiffany
he's gonna join us. I know he was on with
Dan yesterday, but I didn't hear him say anything about
this tax deal. We may be the first to get

(30:29):
his reaction to the deal that's on the table that's
coming up. Eight thirty. Your calls, your text your tweets,
they are just as important to the show. Carpetland USA
Flooring Center Talking text line four one four seven nine
eleven thirty. I went to the polymarket website this morning.

(30:50):
I wanted to see what the betting odds are on
the ward around for now. Josh Call hasn't shut that down,
so you can go and you can buy a ad
on the future. Polly Market has the chance of peace
in Iran by the end of this week at one percent.
The chance for peace by the end of the month

(31:12):
slightly better at eighteen percent. The best chance for peace
in Iran, according to the prediction market, is peace by
the end of the year, and even then it's sixty
nine percent. In other words, there's still a thirty percent chance,
according to the prediction markets, that we are going to
be at war with Iran at the end of the year.

(31:36):
Texter here in the four to one four set it
off right, ben. President Trump has maybe four weeks max
to get this war wrapped up. World Cup starts middle
of June. Once that starts, the world's attention is going
to be on the United States. He wants to showcase
the best part of America. Getting gas prices down before

(31:58):
that is going to be a main priority. The President
yesterday made all manners of the headlines. He said, the
ceasefire between the United States and Iran is all but dead.
I'll get to that in a second, but we do
look to be inching closer to once again a hot

(32:19):
war in Iran, and likely soon. The never Trump voices
that are out there certainly don't like that. The New
York Times yesterday filled its Iran coverage with gas prices.
As President Trump said on Monday that the ceasefire in
Iran was on massive life support. Countries around the world
were bracing for prolonged economic woes stemming from high energy prices.

(32:43):
The average price of gasoline in the United States climbed
to four dollars and fifty five cents a gallon, up
more than a dollar fifty since the war began in
late February. India's Prime minister told his citizens on Sunday
to conserve fuel. I really did look to see if
there was any strategjury stories in Times. Zero, zilch, nada,

(33:05):
nothing about our build up, nothing about targets, nothing about
what Iran has left. It was all gas prices, gas prices,
gas prices, gas prices. There is a point to that.
The media narrative is that this war has gone badly
for the United States, and all the Times and the

(33:27):
others have to do is point to the price at
the pump. Meghan Kelly continued her Megan Kelly diom she
all but yesterday said that this is a RAQ three
point zero and that this war in Iran, though it's
only a couple of months old, is already a quagmire.

Speaker 4 (33:46):
Remember President Trump said it was going to be four weeks.
Now we get from net Yahoo months and won't get
more specific. Are we going to be perpetually months away
from ending this thing? Just like Iran was perpetually weeks
away from obtaining a nuclear weapon in the years before
Operation Epic Fury. That's what we've dubbed this war. I

(34:07):
mean truly and now who's been saying that they're weeks
away for years now weeks and months at most. This
is sounding like the Iraq war clips that we brought
to you when this war began in March, Dick Cheney,
Don Rumsfeld saying it was just going to be weeks
or months at the outset. Eight years later that war

(34:31):
finally ended. Not to mention ground troops, that more ground troops,
the surge that was Iraq.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
That's Megan Kelly. President Trump didn't speak to her directly,
he didn't name drop her. But the President did yesterday
talk with reporters in the Oval Office about why this
is not a quick, easy, four week war.

Speaker 5 (34:58):
When they say, does he have a player? And yeah,
I have a plan. The plant is very simple. You know,
in war you have to change, you have to be flexible.
You have a lot of plans, but you have to
do different plans in different days.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
But I have a great plan.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
But the plan is.

Speaker 5 (35:11):
They cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they didn't say
that in their letter.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Changes that you've talked about, Inneran, is this still a
leadership that you believe you can negotiate with you ultimately reach.

Speaker 6 (35:26):
Other I think so well.

Speaker 5 (35:27):
You have to you have the moderates and you have
the lunatics.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
And I think the.

Speaker 5 (35:32):
Moderates are more respected. The lunatics want to fight.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
Till the end.

Speaker 5 (35:36):
You know, there will be a very it'll be a
very quick fight. But I call them you have just
like our country. We have lunatics too.

Speaker 6 (35:45):
We have.

Speaker 5 (35:46):
I call them lunatics. I call them stupid people too.
But they are in They have the moderates and dying
to make a deal. And then you have the lunatics.
And I guess they're a little bit afraid of the lunatics.
But uh, and why not.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
Look, President Trump has been clear since day one. Iran
cannot have a nuclear weapon. Every president going back to
Jimmy Carter, has been very clear on the same thing.
No one wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon. President
Trump is the first to have the strength of leadership
to do something about it. He is also correct when

(36:25):
he says in the first part of that answer, the
enemy has a say on the battlefield. You can have
all matters of war plans, you can set up the
Axis and Allies board in the Oval Office and play
with the little plastic army men all you want, but
the enemy gets a say as well, and Iran has

(36:47):
chosen to recover from the first wave of attacks and
continue to say no, we're holding out. The president continues
to hold out hope that there is a way to
settle this war without more bombs. He said he would
much rather talk with the moderates and help them take
control of the country. But the hardliners have spent decades

(37:13):
protecting themselves. This is one of the truths as to
why so many of these Middle Eastern countries don't do
very well when it becomes a shooting war. So much
of the military structure is designed to protect the ruling class,
whether it's the king or the ayatola. Their biggest threat

(37:36):
is not so much their neighbor, but the people in
the country. They're protecting against a coup as opposed to
protecting against an air war from the United States. The
hardliners also know that if they're no longer in power,
they're likely dangling from the end of a news, whether
that's some sort of international war, war crimes tribunal, or

(37:59):
the people of Iran who decide, hey, you killed forty
thousand of us, you gotta go. The hardliners would much
rather die fighting than be strung up by a crane
in the middle of the square in t Iran. The
President understands that. And this is where we get to

(38:20):
the numbers game. One percent chance that this cease fire
holds for.

Speaker 3 (38:26):
The kind agen cease fire remains, its like, it's unbelievably weak.

Speaker 5 (38:32):
I always say I would call it the weakest right now,
after reading that piece of garbage, they said, I didn't
even finish reading it. They said, I'm not going to
waste my time reading it. I would say it's one
of the weakest right now. It's on life support. They
understand these are all medical people, and doctor H's life
support is not a good thing.

Speaker 1 (38:52):
You're great, die pognostic.

Speaker 5 (38:54):
I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support,
where the doctor walks in as as, sir, you'll loved
one as approximately a one percent chance of living.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
A one percent chance of continuing the ceasefire means there
is a ninety nine percent chance that we're going to
stop dropping bombs or start dropping bombs again. One percent
alive means ninety nine percent dead. But we have to
go back to the reason why I included that New

(39:31):
York Times piece. The only pressure President Trump is feeling
is political pressure for the unineteenth million time. If we
were paying two thirty five a gallon for gas, America
would be cheering this war. Most Americans wouldn't care. We've

(39:52):
deployed naval task forces in the Indian Ocean, in the
South China Sea for years. Nobody in the States cared.
Nobody worries about geopolitics. We just don't want to pay
four dollars and twenty seven cents a gallon for gas.
The midterms are the other political pressure, and they are

(40:14):
rapidly approaching again. The Texter who said the President's got
maybe another month of this or there's going to be
real problems. Now, if I wanted to be cravingly political,
I could point out that because of the Democratic failure
on redistricting, there's a better chance that Republicans hold on
to the House. The map decides ninety six percent of

(40:36):
incumbents are reelected. The only way they don't go back
is if their district is redrawn. But the pressure on
Iran is different. It's not whether or not the price
of gas goes through the roof, or the price of
a gallon of milk, or even if they have electricity.

(40:56):
The pressure on Iran is do they continue to be
a modern country? Does President Trump finally make good on
his promise to bomb them back into the Stone age?
President Trump could very very easily wipe that country out
as a functioning country. Blow up bridges, blow up roads,

(41:19):
blow up water treatment plans. He could set them back decades.
Victor Davis Hansen put out another great primer on what's
going on in Iran, and he said, the best hope
for Iran is the kind of continued coverage that we
just heard from Megan Kelly, that we just saw from

(41:42):
the New York Times. Their hope is that the American
people somehow get convinced that this is a quagmire, and
the American people demand a quick end of the war.

Speaker 7 (41:52):
We know what the Iranian strategy is. It feels that
although it's been debanked and it has no foreign currency outlets,
and it can't sell oil, and it's economically squeezed with
a blockade, and it's losing five hundred million a day
and input that hurts the citizens more than it does

(42:14):
the regime. And they can keep going and keep going
because they feel the United States is going to buckle,
and they hold out one thing We don't talk about,
and that is they do have missiles and drones that
are in subterranean caverns they can bring out and use,
not against Israel. They don't seem they think that Israel

(42:36):
has been disowned by the American people. So if they
hit Israel, it won't pressure Donald Trump. It might pressure
Israel to strike back, but they're not as worried about that.
They want to hit the Gulf Council States, Saudi Aba, Oman,
the UAE Kuwait gutter. They want to hit them and
destroy their ability to refine oil, to pump oil.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
Iran believes because of coverage like from the New York
Times and make it Kelly, Iran believes that if it
can just hold out a little longer, it can win.
President Trump yesterday said he threw away Iran's latest peace offer.
They got to keep all of their uranium, They got

(43:23):
to keep the straight. They were going to ask for
billions of dollars in reparations. Iran, for forty seven years,
has done this. They have delayed and delayed and delayed
and delayed. Remember Obama's Iran deal took two years to negotiate.
Iran sees the ticking clock. They understand that Americans are

(43:46):
going to be sick of paying high gas prices very
very soon. They understand the midterms are coming up. They
think that they can outlast President Trump. President Trump is
known for the art of the deal. Iran is known
for the art of the steal. We very soon, in days,
not weeks, could see which one of those is going

(44:08):
to prevail. Seven twenty four when we come back, quick
check of news after that. Tyler August, second in command
for Republicans in the Assembly. What is in this deal?
Is it a good deal? And do they have the
votes to get us well some tax relief. I'm Benjamin Yont.
This is a news talk eleven thirty wisn We are

(44:31):
going to start assigning people walk up music now. This
is going to be a thing when we have guests.
Greg's now asking what's the song you want to be
brought on to. I like this, by the way, and
this is a phenomenal choice. Good morning. It is the
Tuesday morning edition of The Benjamin Yont Show, and this

(44:53):
is the hour or more where we sit and talk
about the biggest story in the state. Yesterday deal between
Governor Evers and Republican leaders in the legislature. It was
a shock at first, more that it finally happened than
it was working. There are some parts of this deal

(45:14):
that I really like. No tax on tips, no tax
on overtime. But there's also a huge question about the
four hundred year veto here to talk about what is
in the deal, what's not in the deal, and what
are the chances that there are enough votes to make
this happen. State Rep. Tyler August he's the second in

(45:34):
command Republicans in the State Assembly. Representative, thank you so
very much for taking some time this morning. Thanks for
joining us.

Speaker 6 (45:41):
All glad to be with you. Ben. Thanks.

Speaker 1 (45:44):
Let me ask the easy question, and it's not a
long question. This lead up is in fact longer than
anything else. Is this deal a good deal for the
taxpayers of Wisconsin.

Speaker 6 (45:57):
Absolutely, there's no doubt about it. We've worked on this
for months with the governor. We've gotten the governor to
move off of some of his more liberal positions that
we all know that he has. This is a one
point eight billion dollar deal with right around eighty percent
of it going directly in tax tax relief through many

(46:19):
different vehicles, and then the only investments in spending are
really in special education to take care of our students
who need who need the extra help. So this is
a huge win for conservatives, it's a huge win for taxpayers,
and I'm excited that we finally got something done.

Speaker 1 (46:40):
I want to get into the specifics here in a second,
but first I have to ask, is there any thought,
any strategy to the idea of get a deal now
with Governor Evers as he walks out the door, Because
if say Francesca Hong wins in November, or Democrats sweep

(47:01):
the legislature, their plans for this surplus would be simply
to spend it all, offer no tax relief, and not
give the people of Wisconsin any of their money back.
Is this a situation of it may not be a
perfect deal, but this deal now is better than what
we may get come six months from now.

Speaker 6 (47:23):
Well, I think that no deal is perfect, right, And
there's always a concern with the how the Democrat Party
has become the party of socialists, not even you know,
this isn't your father's Democratic Party, as I tell folks,
and I think everybody knows that now. But you know,
the deal's not perfect, it would certainly be an even
better deal. I mean, I think it's a great deal,

(47:44):
but it would be an even better deal if we
were negotiating this with Governor Tom Tiffany. I still believe
he's going to be the governor in January and we're
going to be able to do some even better, more
long term tax reform to really go back to the
you know, running government the way that we did when
Scott Walker was governor. But we also know that people

(48:05):
out there are hurting. The affordability is the number one
issue on people's minds. Their property taxes last December skyrocketed
because of Tony Evers, and we just we know people
are feeling the pain, and we feel that we can
get some more money back in their pockets to help
with some of this as kind of a stop gap
until we get Tom Tiffany elected and can do some

(48:28):
even bigger Boulder reforms.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
We're talking with State Rep. Tyler August. The deal yesterday announced.
It's going to be six hundred million dollars more for school,
no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, depending if
you're married, maybe up to a six hundred dollars rebate
check from the state of Wisconsin. But Representative as I
got a bunch of texts yesterday and people on Twitter.

(48:51):
Until the four hundred year veto is off the books,
this state's not getting a tax cut. Talk to me
about the guarantees here. Is there anything that's going to
stop property taxes from going up once Act ten goes away.
Is there anything that deals with the four hundred year veto.

Speaker 6 (49:11):
There's nothing in there for the four hundred year veto.
That was something that the governor was not willing to
move on. I know that Tom Tiffany will help us
undo the four hundred year veto. I have every confidence
that he is going to do that. And so this is,
like I mentioned, a kind of a stopgap measure to
get us to where we can have Tom Tiffany be

(49:32):
the governor and then do some of that big bold reform.
The six hundred million into schools, About half of that
is special AD. The other half of it is going
to be counted under the levy limits, So that's not
new spendable dollars for K twelve schools. That's direct property

(49:52):
tax relief that will go into the K twelve system,
So it's not extra spending on schools. It's taking some
of the pressure off of the property taxes.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
Talk to me about that, because this is one tax policy.
As much as I write about state government as many
times as you and I talk, I am not an
accountant or an economist. Explain this because the line from
many schools is the state's not giving us enough money.
We have to go to referendum. We have to raise
property taxes. This three hundred million, half the six hundred

(50:27):
is going to go to buy down. That's the correct word,
property taxes. Is there anything that is going to prevent Milwaukee,
for example, from coming back next year or the year
after and saying, hey, great, we got three hundred million
dollars or our share of three hundred million dollars, but
we've got a fifty six million dollar budget shortfall. We've

(50:51):
got to raise taxes. I think the concern is one
time money. Cool, but this isn't going to fix the
reliance that schools have on property taxes and any future
property tax increases.

Speaker 6 (51:04):
No, I won't. It won't solve the referendum issue. But
I think that when we put when people that were
in office well before, well before I was probably still
in middle school when Levy limits went in went into place,
that was done to start to control the property taxes,
and the referendum piece was put into place so that

(51:24):
the voters and taxpayers had the final say of what
they could afford and if the school district would was
selling a good product to them in their local district
and said but we need we need some more money
to be able to do it. Then voters can approve
that and raise taxes on themselves, or as we've seen
in many communities, they can say no, that that's too rich,

(51:46):
we can't afford that, go back to the drawing board
and figure out how to operate the school within the
levy limits. So I think so that will still be
the same taxpayers will still be in charge of if
their school gets to spend more money than what the
levee limits allow. This is just simply putting some money
into the formula to start to try and control some

(52:09):
of the increases that we've seen with the four hundred
year veto. But it's also important for people to understand
that this takes some of the pressure off, but it
does not stop the four hundred year veto from continuing,
which is why it's so important that we continue to
talk about that four hundred year veto make voters aware

(52:29):
of what will continue to happen in the future if
we don't get a governor in office that will that
is willing to reverse that four hundred year veto and
actually budget responsibly. In Madison, I'm going.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
To talk when we come back from the news at
eight about are we ever going to fully fund our skills?
What does fully fund mean? Does three hundred million for
the tax levee, three hundred million for special ed bring
us any closer? What would you say about that question?
Does this bring us any closer to fully funding our schools?

(53:03):
And when people like Francesco Hong or cal de Royce
talk about fully funding, what does that mean to you?

Speaker 6 (53:11):
Well, when they say fully funding, they want a blank check.
That is not what I consider fully funding. But Democrats,
they have since my time in office, have always said
we need more, we need more, we need more. And
when you ask them, okay, then what's the number? What
number can we get to for K twelve schools that

(53:32):
you will say is enough and schools are fully funded?
They never give you an answer. It's because they don't
have one. They want a blank check. There are many
Democrats out there, including my own opponent here in Walworth County.
That's talking about eliminating the levy limits completely, which would
mean that school districts could raise taxes without even going

(53:54):
to the taxpayers and asking their permission to do it
be a referendum, They could just do it. Well. Those
are the dangers that we're up against this November. If
Democrats seize control of government in Madison, the property tax
bump that everybody just saw in December that they struggled
to pay will look like a good deal compared to

(54:16):
what the Democrats will do.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
Look no doubt. I'm already practicing my summer circuit speeches
for If you like what's going on in Illinois or
California or Minnesota, vote for Francesca Hong. If you want
to keep Wisconsin Wisconsin, vote for Tom tiffany representative. I
got two questions, and the first one is relatively easy
and super selfish. Am I going to get this six

(54:39):
hundred dollars? Are there any income limits? Does everybody get this?
Or do I make too much money to get six
hundred back? Six hundred dollars back from the state.

Speaker 6 (54:47):
Everybody who pays income tax in Wisconsin at least ninety
percent of their income in Wisconsin will receive will receive
this surplus rebate because we don't think that it's right
that only people who made up to a certain amount
of money should qualify for this when everybody has helped
create the surplus by paying too much in taxes. So

(55:10):
that's why we want to issue it back to everyone,
because everyone paid that paid in should get should get
their money back. And so we were not willing to
go down the route, the road of of income caps.
We don't think that that's right. And so everybody who's
everybody who's involved, is everybody who pays taxes is gonna

(55:32):
is going to see some of this benefit.

Speaker 1 (55:34):
That's good news because because I'm going to get a
new pair of shoes, I will let you get out
on this question. And I think that that going forward
votes tomorrow, this may be the biggest question. Do you
have the votes for this? Has the governor done a
vote count? Can Republicans pass this on their own? You
had the Democratic leader in the Senate yesterday said you

(55:56):
didn't think this is even a deal. Do do you
have the votes in Madison to approve this tax deal?
Assembly and or Senate.

Speaker 6 (56:07):
Our caucus is ready to move forward with this. We
we had a great conversation about it over the last
couple of days. Our members understand how important this is
to get this money back to the people who overpaid
be all these different tax cuts in the plan. So
the I think, I think it's very telling how angry
legislative Democrats are at the at their own governor for

(56:31):
cutting this deal. And I think that that shows that
we are in the right place policy wise and politically.
With the Democrat Party in disarray, with their divisive with
their divisive governor primary. Now they're now they can't even
agree with a with a very common sense deal that
their own governor cut with us. So they are in
complete this array on the other side of the aisle

(56:53):
right now. But we are going to be able to
move this thing forward tomorrow and out of the State
Assembly tomorrow morning.

Speaker 1 (56:59):
What about Senate.

Speaker 6 (57:01):
It's been talking with Leader lem Me you and he's
confident that he's gonna have the votes tomorrow afternoon, and
so we'll send it over to him tomorrow afternoon and
we'll continue talking to Devin, but I am I'm confident
that he's gonna be able to pull it together.

Speaker 1 (57:14):
Can the governor put any votes on this. I mean,
I know he's not very popular. Are they going to
cross Diane Hesselbein?

Speaker 6 (57:22):
That remains to be seen. You know, it'll be it'll
be interesting to watch and see who's actually the leader
of the Democrat Party. Like I said, they they are
in complete disarray. They're angry at each other, and we'll
have to just watch. Sit back and get the popcorn
ready and see and see how they're gonna how they're
gonna operate tomorrow, which remains to be seen.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
Representive, I appreciate it. Thanks so very much for taking
some time. Thank you for joining us here on the
Benjaminancio on New's Talk eleven thirty w Eison. We'll talk
to you. We'll talk to you soon, maybe next week,
after we see how this falls out. Thanks so very much.

Speaker 6 (57:58):
Sounds great. Thanks a lot.

Speaker 1 (58:01):
It always comes down to the vote count, and I'm
going to be interested in the Senate. I've had two
or three people text me during that interview. Hey, Ben,
watch the votes in the Senate. If you are a
Democrat in the Wisconsin Senate, do you cross the woman
who is going to be in charge of your party
next year? Or do you cross the governor who's going

(58:23):
to be playing pickleball. If you are a Republican, do
you cross your leader who's done nothing for you, or
do you vote your district Steve Nass yesterday said he's
a no on this, and all it takes is one
or two other Republicans. We will see. By the way,
we're going to talk with Tom Tiffey coming up just
after eight thirty. We're going to get his thoughts and

(58:44):
what he is going to tell lawmakers about what he
thinks of the deal. I'm Benjamin you out there's a
news talk eleven thirty w Why I said, I gotta
go back to my notes. Absolutely, a good deal, a
huge win, takes the pressure off, and a stop gap
till we elect Tom Tiffany. I'm gonna write the story

(59:09):
at mcgiver as soon as I get off the air
here about the vote count and how this likely is
going to come down to Democrats in the state Senate.
We're going to talk with Tom Tiffany himself coming up
about a half hour from now. I don't know that
I have seen his thoughts on this. We may actually
break a little bit of news just by simply asking, Hey,

(59:32):
what do you think we'll get to that coming up
just after eight to thirty calls, text tweets, yes, please
and thank you. The Carpetland USA Flooring Center talking text
lines four one, four, seven, nine, nine, eleven thirty. I'm
on X at eleven thirty. Greg's on x at Gregory
John and you need to follow us as a pair
because Greg reposts my stuff, I repost his stuff. It's

(59:56):
we are Twitter famous among ourselves.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
Well, and then I've got the station's account too that
I repost on the station's account three followers.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
Yeah, that was one of I'll get to the fully
funding schools thing here in a second. But I got
invited years and years ago when I worked at the
old Watchhok and we were out at some sort of training.
They love to do these, get everybody to gather at
some hotel and we'd spend a weekend just wasting time.

(01:00:26):
But this one was coordinated with some sort of online
conservative Bright Bart Awards, maybe, I want to say. And
because I'm one of the few people in the building
who could read out loud, it was my job to
be the off stage MC and I had to introduce everybody.

(01:00:46):
And there was a young woman who we worked with
who handled social media stuff. She didn't give me the
line you're supposed to give the MC a line in
how to introduce you. She never did. So I introduced ego.
You may know her for being Twitter famous. You may
know her for trying to sing all the time, Please
welcome to the stage. She was not a fan of

(01:01:08):
that introduction. So calling someone Twitter famous is absolutely the
insult that it is meant to be. But you can
follow along on Twitter or x as it is now called.
I'm there at eleven thirty. In addition to looking for
pictures of Sophie Rain yesterday, the OnlyFans model my Internet

(01:01:34):
search is the Huffington Post, the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC,
and now the Wisconsin Public Education Network. If you didn't
know better, just based on my Internet search history, you
would think I am a flaming liberal. I had to
go to the website for the Public Education Network because

(01:01:56):
I wanted to confirm my suspicion. I was betten dollars
to donuts that they make no mention of what fully
funding Wisconsin public schools is. And I was right. If
you go and you look at their website, there is
not a single mention of money they talk about they

(01:02:19):
want more funding what the constitution says about funding. But
you will never see a dollar sign five dollars more,
ten dollars more, fifteen hundred dollars more, nine billion dollars more.
There is no dollar sign at least in the public
parts of the world. I'm sure if you go search
through some research, they'll have something, but there is no

(01:02:42):
dollar sign assigned to what fully funding our public schools means. Now,
I know that you're already up to date on every
board member for the Public Education Network, but broadly it
is a pro public school group. There are lots of teachers'
union people who run it, lots of teachers, lots of

(01:03:05):
former school board members. They got a bunch of UW
people on there. In other words, they hate school choice
and they think that whatever a teacher wants, a teacher
should get. They all say they want to fully fund
public schools in Wisconsin. Here's the mission statement. Wisconsin students

(01:03:26):
deserve thriving public schools that are fully and fairly funded.
Our state constitution requires us, or requires us, to provide
an education that is uniform as practicable in every public school.
This means equitably matching our funding to our students' needs,
something that the state has failed to deliver. I gotta

(01:03:51):
get rid of this call now. If you don't read
code words, if you're not up to date on what
every code word means, you would read that and say, cool,
you know what, we should be able to match our students' needs.
But again, what does that mean. We just talked with

(01:04:15):
State Rep. Tyler August. This tax deal that's on the
table going to be voted on tomorrow has six hundred
million dollars for schools. Half of that is going to
go to schools to buy down property taxes. It's not
direct into the classroom funding, but it is money for
public schools. The other half three hundred million is going

(01:04:38):
to go to special ed. There are a lot of
special ed kids in Wisconsin schools. Not because and please
don't take this as an insult, not because there has
been a spike in kids in wheelchairs or with cerebral palsy.
Schools are starting to label a lot of kids special ed.

(01:04:59):
Some behavior are issued special ed. So there has been
a spike in the special ed population. And this is
also a way to bring back more federal money. There's
a whole little daisy chain of Oh, but schools have
made it clear, Look, we need more help with special education.
This plan would do it. I don't have a problem

(01:05:22):
with that. We need to make sure that all kids
can get an education. We've agreed on public schools as
a community, and I don't think that we should say, well, yeah,
you kids just don't get as good because we don't
get special ed match. I could sit here and spend

(01:05:44):
twenty minutes making the case for special education funding. But again,
the big picture number is six hundred million dollars. Is
that enough to fully fund our schools? I asked Will
Flanders over at the Wisconsin Institute for Law on Liberty,
because he writes about schools and school funding all the time.

(01:06:07):
He and Quentin Claibon over at IRG, two guys who
I trust just one hundred percent. They know public education
funding backwards and forwards, and so I asked the obvious question,
does this half billion plus more get us any closer

(01:06:29):
to fully funding? He, like me, is not optimistic. These
six hundred million dollars, he writes, brings state aid for
education to nearly nine point five billion dollars for next year.
One would hope that this deal gets school districts to

(01:06:50):
back off on claims that they are underfunded, but given
their track record of never being able to say any
figure is sufficient, we won't hold old our breath. Nine
and a half billion dollars. That's just the state's portion

(01:07:12):
of school funding. You've also got local money, and you've
got federal money. Now DPI zone numbers, and I made
sure to go and get dpi's numbers because I had
a school board official angrily tell me we're not spending
that much money on kids in Wisconsin. Yeah, the average,

(01:07:34):
according to the Department of Public Instruction, is seventeen four
hundred dollars per kit. Tuition at a UW school outside
of Madison is ten grand or under. You got to
generally double that for a dorm room and food and
fees and all of that stuff. But we are spending

(01:07:56):
essentially enough to send a kid to UW c stout
every year per kid for K through twelve education letters, numbers,
coloring tie your shoes all the way up to algebra one.
We're spending university money on public elementary school and high
school kids. In places like Milwaukee, that number is closer

(01:08:21):
to twenty five thousand. Again, that is a full freight
year room and board, dorm room, Bucky Badger tickets. That's
what it cost to go to UW Madison. Yet public
school managers here say it's not enough. Our state superintendent
made that clear yesterday with her reaction to this tax deal.

(01:08:41):
The deal is a positive first step in the right direction.
This investments of down payment on what Wisconsin kids need
and deserve. I hope the momentum continues, she wrote. Students
should not have to resort to suing the state to
receive stable funding for public education. I hope today mark's
beginning of continued partnership and progress. Wisconsin's children are counting

(01:09:05):
on it. Nine and a half billion dollars from the
state alone is not enough, according to our state superintendent.
A half billion more is not enough, according to our
state superintendent. How much is enough? Now? I'm willing to
give you. I'm willing to grant you. I'm willing to

(01:09:27):
stipulate for our lawyerly friends that figuring out school funding
is hard. If it were easy, lawmakers would have done
it years ago. Lawmakers are really good at the easy things.
They're not so good at the things that are hard.

(01:09:47):
And you're gonna have to deal with property taxes and
state funding and school choice and open enrollment competition. Fixing
school funding is a very, very difficult thing. But one
thing is abundantly clear when we talk about school funding.
More money is not the answer for what is wrong

(01:10:08):
in our public schools. If it was just a case
of give me five thousand dollars more, give me ten
thousand dollars more, give me a million dollars more, and
we can fix it, the state of Wisconsin would have
done that years ago. Milwaukee Public Schools, which again spend

(01:10:29):
twenty five thousand dollars per kid, is one of the
top ten school district spenders in the state of Wisconsin
lock to Flambeau, for some reason, is the biggest spender.
MPs is among the top twenty five school spenders in
the nation, not top twenty five percent, top twenty five, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, aum, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,

(01:10:57):
twenty twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, twenty
five one of the top spenders in the country. Yet
Milwaukee Public Schools have the worst racial learning gap in
America ninety five percent of black fourth graders in Milwaukee
public schools cannot solve a basic word problem. They can

(01:11:20):
barely read, they can barely do math, they can barely write,
and yet they spend more than almost every other school
district in the state. More to the point, taxpayers just
gave MPs a quarter billion dollars more, and if the
test scores are accurate, mpsfell even further behind. The reality

(01:11:45):
is that money for schools doesn't mean better students. The
results don't improve the more money you spend. What improves
is quality of life for the teachers, the administrators, the
lunch ladies, the school nurses. They get bigger paychecks, they
get better pensions, they get zero health, zero cost health

(01:12:05):
benefits for everyone who works in the school district. Act
ten is only going to make that worse. Wisconsin is
going to spend nine and a half billion dollars on
public schools this year. Local taxpayers will probably spend maybe
about the same. Then throw in a couple of hundred

(01:12:26):
million dollars from the federal government. In other words, we're
going to spend about twenty billion dollars on education in
the state of Wisconsin. And all we have to show
for it is that two thirds of the kids in
our state can barely read, barely write, barely do math
at grade level. And that's a c all we are

(01:12:48):
hearing from our friends on the left. All we are
hearing from every single Democratic candidates we need to fully
fund our schools. Instead of talking about that, asking that
question what is fully fund, maybe we should start asking
for basic results, basic reading, basic math, basic writing. When

(01:13:11):
when you can start to produce basic results in our classroom,
then we can talk about fully funding. But until we
get even to basic in our schools, more money isn't
going to fix the problems. A twenty five. When we
come back Tom tiffany governor candidate on the Republican side,

(01:13:32):
we're going to ask him about fully funding schools and
what he thinks of this tax deal. I'm Benjamin Yon
News Talk leven thirty W I said eight thirty three
on a lawnmower Tuesday morning. You guys can hear the
mower in the background. Let me tell you how how
much better my focus is when I'm welcome back Benjamin

(01:13:55):
Yon Show. Thank you so very much making us a
part of your morning. We have been talking about this
tax deal Republican leaders at the Capitol have apparently cut
with Governor Evers goes up for a vote tomorrow and
nothing is guaranteed. About an hour ago, State Rep. Tyler August,
second in command for Republicans the Assembly, joined us and

(01:14:18):
said it's a huge win. It is a win for
the taxpayers in the state of Wisconsin. According to August,
now here to join us, and I think for the
first time share his reaction to this proposal is Tom Tiffany,
the Republican governor or Republican candidate. Sorry, sorry, Congressman. I'm
putting the victory already as a guarantee, the Republican candidate

(01:14:41):
for governor here in Wisconsin. And thank you so very
much for taking the time and joining us this morning.

Speaker 8 (01:14:47):
Yeah, Ben, like how you're thinking forward to the first
Tuesday in November.

Speaker 1 (01:14:52):
I've got to train myself not to let me ask
the easy and obvious question, when did you first hear
about this deal, that it was a done deal? And
I think what everybody is waiting to hear. What are
your thoughts about the plan that's on the table headed
before lawmakers tomorrow.

Speaker 8 (01:15:11):
Yeah, so you know this has been banned about for months,
but The first I heard about.

Speaker 6 (01:15:17):
It was.

Speaker 8 (01:15:19):
The majority of Leader Lemahu contacted me on Saturday and
we talked about it a little bit, but as far
as the details, it wasn't until late afternoon last night
that I really was informed in some of the details.

Speaker 7 (01:15:32):
In the bill.

Speaker 1 (01:15:34):
What do you think of this?

Speaker 8 (01:15:38):
I would not vote for it. I think that Governor
Evers has failed the people the state of Wisconsin once again.
I mean, remember, he's got the ultimate authority here. The
governor in the state of Wisconsin had the most powerful
vetoil pen perhaps of any governor in the states. And
plus with the Evers the market line decision, which gave

(01:15:58):
him even more executive of authority. I mean, he really
has unrivaled authority amongst governors across the country. And he
could have put in here the repeal of the four
hundred year property tax increase, and he did not. All
he wanted in there for the relief was a sugar
high for a year.

Speaker 1 (01:16:17):
Now.

Speaker 8 (01:16:18):
I understand why Republicans may support this because they're at
least getting something and being in a tough position with
an executive that has so much power, some of it
given to them by the to the governor, by the
State Supreme Court. I get it why they would want
to take a victory here, but we need long term

(01:16:40):
systemic tax relief here in Wisconsin, and it starts by
repealing the four hundred year property tax increase, which, by
the way, remember when Governor Evers told us to deal
with it. I mean that's how he views the taxpayer's money.
It's ours in Madison, and we'll give you a little
bit for a year. We should have long term systemic relief.

Speaker 1 (01:17:05):
There are some things in this plan that I don't mind.
First of all, I'll always take six hundred bucks special
education money, Okay. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime.
That's a President Trump idea. There are things here that
we'll appeal to conservative or Republican voters. What is it,

(01:17:27):
specifically that you don't like and how do you defend
against the attacks that you said no to giving taxpayers
their money. You said no to no tax on tips,
no tax on overtime.

Speaker 8 (01:17:40):
Make no doubt about it. I want the money returned
to the taxpayers of the state of Wisconsin. But elect
me in November and you'll get far more than this.
We will end the four hundred year property tax increasement.
We'll get control of your utility bills that have went
up two billion dollars under Governor Ebers. I think about

(01:18:01):
the livestock citing our livestock inspection fee where Governor Eavers
proposed raising it from four hundred and fifty dollars to
seven thousand dollars. Now they settled for a little bit less,
but it was a huge increase. So they're nickel and
diming the taxpayers of the state of Wisconsin, and then
they want to give them a little bit of money back.
And this is ultimately where I have the objection. They

(01:18:21):
give people a little bit of money back temporarily, but
it is not long term, and the taxpayers of the
state of Wisconsin should expect to have tax relief, including
property tax relief, that continues not just this year, but
for the foreseeable future, so life can be affordable in
our state. If we're going to make Wisconsin a great

(01:18:42):
state once again, then we got to give the taxpayers
of the state of Wisconsin more of their money back,
and it needs to be for the long term.

Speaker 1 (01:18:51):
We're talking with Congressman Tom Tiffany, he's running for governor.
The Republican candidate in the race. I would not vote
for this. I think think Greg's already thrown that up
as the first quote out of this interview. This is
the first time that we're hearing from Tom Tiffany saying
he doesn't think this is a good deal. Maybe now

(01:19:13):
they'll actually mention me when they write this up in
the Journal Sentinel, though I imagine it'll just be said
to a conservative talk show host. Let me press a
little bit more on this. You would not vote for this.
What are you telling Republican lawmakers in Madison who are
going to vote on this tomorrow. What is the message
that you want them to hear, Because we just heard

(01:19:36):
Tyler August say, Hey, the Assembly's got this wrapped up.
Senate maybe not. But what do you tell lawmakers who
have to push that button to vote tomorrow?

Speaker 8 (01:19:47):
Yeah, the choice is theirs. I mean, we all get elected,
and we're big boys and girls, and we have to
make decisions whether we're going to vote for stuff. And
there's good short term relief in this bill. I understand
why some people would vote for. What I'm saying is
that if you want long term releaeve, just hang on
a few months here and we will deliver long term

(01:20:07):
relief because there's going to be more spending. Remember the
spending and the bill is going to be there for
the foreseeable future. That's not one time money that is
going to be there permanently. So we need to make
sure and do stuff that is going to give caspayers
back their money permanently. And by the way, if Governor Ebs,

(01:20:29):
I mean this, it takes two to tango in this.
Don't just it isn't just about Republicans here. This is
being sold as a bipartisan solution. So let's make it bipartisan.
Governor Ebs, get some Democrats to vote for this. Bipartisan
by definition is Republicans and Democrats may vote for it,

(01:20:50):
they may vote against it. I remember governors like Walker
and Doyle and Thompson, they would make sure if this
was they're one of their important bills they wanted to
get done, they would make sure that it gets done.
Governor Hebers needs to turn some Democrats out to vote
for this if he wants it done. By the way,

(01:21:11):
the leading contenders like Francesca Hong, they are not going
to vote for this, but they're voting for it for
the exact opposite reason that I don't support it. They
want to keep the money in Madison. I want to
return the money to the people of the state of
Wisconsin and every penny of it.

Speaker 1 (01:21:30):
It was odd because you and f word Franny, as
we have taken the callinger here on this show, the
two of you agree on hardly anything, if anything at all.
But all of a sudden, Francesca Hong and Kelder Roy's
and Mandela Barnes and so many of these other radical
Democrats who often flirt with socialism, if not outright embrace it,

(01:21:54):
they continue to sound like conservative fiscal republicans. They don't
like this deal, but your point is correct. They don't
like it for the opposite reasons. What does it tell
you when conservatives and far left Democrats take a look
at this proposal and both say, yeah, this isn't it

(01:22:16):
to me? When you have people who are on opposite
sides of the political spectrum both pointing out how bad
of a deal it is, that's a hint that it's
a bad deal.

Speaker 8 (01:22:26):
And so it's the classic horseshoe where you know it
comes together, but it is for opposite reasons here they
want that money. I mean, think about cal de Royce.
Do you think she wants to return money full of
the state of Wisconsin. Not a chance. I mean, think
about Francesca Hangs already. What was her proposal, like a
seventeen percent income tax in the state of Wisconsin. I

(01:22:47):
mean it would make us, I believe, the highest tax state,
perhaps in the free world. And so they want to
keep the money in Madison. This is the classic Madison math.
We're going to give you a little bit of money now,
but you're not going to get long term relief. And
I remember a decade ago when we were giving people

(01:23:08):
long term relief. We were getting our state so it
was one of the top ten states to do business
here in America. We have now fallen to the bottom ten.
And this is part of the reason. And so let's
return the money to the people of state of Wisconsin.
And by the way, we need to return the money
in a lot of different ways. Utility bills I mentioned earlier,

(01:23:28):
two billion dollar increase that needs to end, and the
incredible amount of red tape that people have to jump through.
I mean, we need to reduce regulations. We need to
make Wisconsin more affordable, and that means getting Madison off
the back of taxpayers here in the state of Wisconsin.

Speaker 1 (01:23:50):
It is a short term deal that we could get
no long term relief, and if Democrats sweep in November,
ever going to get such a good deal. Again. I'll
let you get out on that simple question. How do
you square that with voters who may say, hey, look,
six hundred bucks is six hundred bucks and not having

(01:24:11):
property tax relief this year is good enough. How do
you square you know, a bird in the hand versus
two in the bush.

Speaker 8 (01:24:19):
Because if they take complete control, just look at Minnesota,
they're going to take all that money back. That's six
hundred dollars that you got, They're going to take it
back next year, and it'll be one of the first
things they do. We've seen it in Minnesota, you've seen
it in Virginia. And remember, like with a four hundred
year property tax increase, that is going to do that

(01:24:41):
little bit of tax on a property tax relief that's
in this bill, that's gone next year and for the
next three hundred and ninety nine years.

Speaker 1 (01:24:50):
And when Act ten ends, the property taxes are going
to spike. And Wisconsin Democrats are are not giving up
their tax and spend and spend and spend spend plans. Congressman,
I wish we had more time, but we got to
get to the break. We will see you this weekend
at the convention. I what's just what's the theme this weekend?
What are you going to be telling Republican voters.

Speaker 8 (01:25:13):
Oh, we're going to provide leadership for Republicans to win
here in Wisconsin because we have the right message. I mean,
you see people like Kurt Banks, Dad and Francesca Hong
in this race who are full crazy progressives. We're going
to bring common sense to the people in the state
of Wisconsin, and that includes making sure that they get
to keep more of their hard earned money because they'll

(01:25:36):
spend it better than Madison. Hey, one other point, if
I got a real quick minute here, absolutely, remember the
budget went from ninety nine billion to one hundred and
fourteen billion in the last budget last year.

Speaker 1 (01:25:49):
Remember Ben mm hm.

Speaker 8 (01:25:50):
So when they're saying we're just going to give you
a little bit of their money back, just remember what
they did last what Ebers did with the budget last year.
He raised it fifteen percent, fifteen billion dollars. There's plenty
of money in Madison. They do not have a revenue problem.
They have a spending problem. Let's return the money to
the people of state of Wisconsin, because you know they

(01:26:13):
will take it. Left me as your next governor, We're
going to return the money to the good people of
STATEA was done.

Speaker 1 (01:26:18):
Tom Tiffany, find him on x find him on Twitter. Congressman,
thank you so very much for taking the time. Thanks
for joining us here today.

Speaker 8 (01:26:27):
Pretty joining.

Speaker 1 (01:26:29):
We spend as much, if not more per year in
our state budget than the state of Illinois. Illinois has
twice the number of people. Tom Tiffany's not wrong. There
is no revenue problem in Madison. It is a spending problem.

Speaker 6 (01:26:47):
You know what.

Speaker 1 (01:26:47):
I was going to talk about bears in the woods
doing bears in the woods thing, but instead I want
to ask I want to answer this question from Doug
up in wind Lake. I'll do that when we come back.
I'm Benjamin Yont. This is News Talk leven thirty w
I said a bunch of people retweeting about apparently we
do have listeners here on the Benyont Big Boy Radio Experience.

(01:27:10):
Welcome back. Thank you so very much. I was gonna
end with something laughable about bears in the woods, but
I like this text from Doug over in wind Lake.
I said up. Somebody had to correct me, Ben, wind
Lake is over, not up. Look, anything north of Lisbon
Avenue is up, and anything north of Mechwan's up north

(01:27:32):
in my world, so west, Yeah, it's I Look, geography
is not my strong suit. I'm just a public education kid.
But Doug asks does passing this current financial package damage
Tom Tiffany's chance at winning the governorship. No, it doesn't.

(01:27:53):
The knock that I have heard from Trump voters on
Tom Tiffany is they don't like that he's mister Night.
They don't like the you bet you commercial. I think
it's a great introductory commercial. If Tom Tiffany stands up
to what everyone's going to call establishment Republicans in Madison,

(01:28:16):
that sharpens his bona fides with the Trump voters out
state who he needs to win. Tom Tiffany is going
to work with a Republican legislature if he's elected. Tyler
August said during our interview there that look, this is
a stop gap till we can get Tom Tiffany elected
an end the four hundred year veto. What this does

(01:28:38):
to calm some of Doug's worries is this makes Tom
Tiffany look like a fighter. It is Tom Tiffany against Madison,
not just against Tony Evers, not just against Francesca Hong,
but against Madison. That's the thing that Trump voters want.
And that's what this opposition that, by the way, we

(01:29:00):
were the first to report on, that's what that provides.
I'm sure we're gonna hear more about this all day long.
We'll talk about some of this again tomorrow, but we
are out of time. Thank you. You guys really did
make this a great show. Thank you so very much.
I am Ben. This is our show on news Talk
eleven thirty. Wis