Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, welcome back to the show. You're listening to wrko's
The Hard Truth with John Deaton. I am John Deeton,
and thank you so much for listening. Listen, something big
happened over the week. A bombshell has occurred, got dropped
in the form of a book, and that book is
called Original Sin, and it is the decline of President Biden,
(00:27):
the cover up and the disastrous choice to run again.
That's the name of the book. And it's written by
CNN's Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. And what they do
is they interview about two hundred people who were in
(00:47):
the know, mostly Democrats, they say, who wouldn't tell them
while Biden was running. But now they're all giving up
the tea and they're spilling the beans. And my reaction
to them is on them, Shame on them that if
they knew that the president of the United States was
incapable of being president, then they had a duty. They
(01:11):
took an oath to defend the constitution, to serve America,
and they were a coward and they didn't come out.
But here's what we have to learn, Okay, we have
to learn that you can't trust what these media folks say,
there's a saying on X and it's you don't hate
mainstream media enough. And I'm going to prove to you
(01:33):
why you don't hate mainstream media enough and why you
can't trust what these people say. And we're going to
start with Joe Scarborough, who calls himself a small town
you know, a small government republican conservative. Well, listen to
what he had to say. He basically wanted us to
believe that Joe Biden was the most unique human being
(01:58):
to ever live, that Joe Biden actually improved over time,
that his memory improved over time, that he got better,
the older he got, the better he got. That's what
he wanted us to believe. In fact, he told everyone
to f off if they didn't believe that. Check this out.
This is crazy.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Start your tape right now, because I'm about to tell
you the truth and f you if you can't handle
the truth.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Few if you can't handle the truth, what Joe Scarborough's
going to tell us the truth is? What is the truth?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
This version of Biden is the best Biden ever he
knows so long as it was. In fact, I think
he's better than he's ever been.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
President Biden has a photographic memory, his understanding and mastery
of a master photographic memory. He's better than he's ever been,
the best version to ever live this. Joe Biden a
complicated geopolitical situation.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Remarkable, is sharp, intensely probing and detail oriented and focused.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Jackie you here? Where's Jackie sure stump?
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Be here?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I was sitting, you know, a two feet from him
across the table, and he was, you know, intense.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
It's got trouble walking sometimes, Yeah, so did that dr
he wanted gd war.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
But he's totally focused.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
He's very sharp.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
They say he's sharpened meetings and so on, very lucid.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
Well, very well innfor him. Biden's stately and he comes
with gravitas.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
There hasn't been, as far as I know, a single
claim that Biden made a mistake.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Agism is an issue America.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Wait a minute, now, when you start questioning what your
own eyes are seeing, they're gonna now call you. You know,
you say that you're they call you a racist if
you say that the border needs to be closed. Well, now,
if you see a man who's clearly deteriorating and you
call it in the question, they're gonna say you're an agist. Right,
(03:58):
you're engaging in ages. You're a bigot against older people.
Check it out.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
Americans have a rich history of holding.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
People's physical characteristics against them.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
Okay, you can ask African Americans.
Speaker 7 (04:10):
He's older, that doesn't mean that he is unfit.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
And there's a lot of ages in there.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
Now, this age attack, this obsession by the right, Joe
Biden may not be able to speak for himself the
way that he used to.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
They want to think to take on government if we
get out of line, which they're talking on again about
and that's him lying around.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I think people should be speaking up for Joe Biden.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Americans and reporters in the media are just judging him
by a physical appearance, and it's verbally unfair.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Age is an accent.
Speaker 6 (04:40):
He showed exactly how with it.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
He is.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
A flip side of this coin is that he has
a tremendous amount of wisdom and experience.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Oh they're flipping the script now, Your eyes aren't telling
you the truth. He's actually wiser and smarter than ever
has been before.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Have you heard any concerns from anyone who has met
with President Biden about him seeming a little slower, no more.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
Wild speculation from a bunch of people who have probably
never been in a room with Joe Biden and certainly
don't have medical degrees.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
That I'm aware of.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
If you don't get paid for performance to be president,
you don't The job is not a job of endurance.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
I don't see Donald Trump out bike riding like Joe Biden.
It's the Hillary's email.
Speaker 6 (05:24):
All they have is that he's a he can clear
a dementia bar and that's probably a win.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
The media are not fair, and they're getting less and
less fair, and things are frightening.
Speaker 6 (05:34):
You have.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Wall Street Journal running a horribly sourced piece saying that
Biden is unfit.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Now you got the media attacking the media because one
outlet actually started questioning Biden's mental aware to be as.
Speaker 7 (05:47):
Wall Street Journal report about the president's acuity.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
Shoddy story by the Wall Street Journal questioning Biden's mental fitness.
Wall Street Journal story had a lot of flaws, as
you said, but sinclear.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
They didn't do any original accord, they didn't follow up,
they didn't do any work here.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
This today is hersh Golbert Poland is still he is
not here with us, but he's still being held by
a Mia.
Speaker 7 (06:10):
But a huge part of the Mulla report talks about
Russian disinformation tactics. And one of the things this election
cycle is that Joe Biden is too old to lead,
and so everyone is seizing upon this, and it is
a classic disinformation tactic.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
And then they go back to Russia is planting the
story and planting the seed. Don't listen to your own
eyes or your own ears. Listen. This is one of
the biggest scandals of my lifetime, bar none. And the
reason for that is, look at the outrage that the
(06:46):
Democrats have had over Elon Musk, Elon Musk. They keep yelling,
you see them, Pelosi and Schumer and AOC. They're outraged.
Elon Musk is on a le and look what influence
he has. Well, at least it's out in the open.
The question here is who was in charge while President
(07:09):
Biden was president? Who was in charge? We don't know
who were the unelected people. I told you in a
epis last episode that we live in the corruption era,
and this is an example of the corruption era. Unelected
people addicted to power, who will do and say and
(07:30):
cheat and lie and steal to keep that power. This
is an outrage the reality is Kamala Harris, shame on you,
Nancy Pelosi's shame on you, Chuck Schumer's shame on you.
And you want to know what they're doing now. Chuck
Schumer was interviewed and he was asked about this book,
and he said, Oh, we're just looking for the future.
(07:52):
We're just looking for the future. Now, that's all we're doing.
We're not going to talk about it anymore. They want
to pretend that it didn't happen. And I'm going to
end this segment with just how crazy the media is
and how crazy they flip flop. And it's Jake Tapper himself.
This is the same guy who wrote the book Original
(08:15):
Sin talking about Biden's cover up. Jake Tapper. Listen to
what he had to say about Biden and his obvious
mental issues when Christy nom raised it. Check this out.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
How do you think it makes little kids with starters
feel when they see you make a comment like that.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
It's very clearly a cognitive decline, That's what I'm referring to.
Speaker 7 (08:39):
It makes me uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
You are, It's so amazing, it's so amazing.
Speaker 7 (08:45):
To me that and try and figure out an answer.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Cognitive decline. Do you hear that by Jake Tapper? The
guy who wrote the the wrote the book Original Sin,
who is uncovering this massive cover up, was actually the
guy who was saying that there's no evidence that he's
mentally sharp. He was complicit in the cover up, and
(09:08):
now he's selling books about the cover up. I'm telling you,
we live in an ear where there is no integrity anymore,
and it's one of the reasons why I started this show.
All Right, when we come back, we're gonna have a
special guest, someone who is running for governor wants to
retire more heally and be your next Massachusetts governor. Stay tuned,
(09:31):
come back. The Hard Truth is paid for by the
Deeton Law Firm. I've been representing mezathelium and lung cancer
victims for twenty three years across the Commonwealth. If you
were a loved one been diagnosed with mezathelioma or lung
cancer and we're exposed to asbestos, you contact me at
the Deeton Law Firm. That's Dtonlawfirm dot com. You can
(09:55):
also reach me here at this show at Thehardtruthshow dot com.
That's John at Hartruthshow dot com John at Hard Truthshow
dot com. All Right, so this segment, I'm gonna call
it Trump Watch, because it seems that there's always news
that's driving people crazy, especially on the left. Trump said this,
(10:16):
Trump said that, And many of you know out there
that I haven't been the biggest Trump supporter in the world,
that's for sure, and a lot of people out there
in the Republican Party were disappointed about that about me.
But listen, he's the president of the United States, and
the majority of Americans voted for him. He not only
(10:38):
won the electoral College, but he won the popular vote.
And as an American, as someone who has served his
country and wore the United States Marine Corps uniform, I
have to root for my country. I have to root
for my president to be successful. And so as a
(10:58):
part of this show, we will always be on Trump Watch.
And I have to tell you that's something that is undeniable.
Even people on the left have to concede that this
last week has been historic for the United States and
for President Trump. What's undeniable is the success in the
(11:21):
Middle East. President Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE. This
trip has been monumental. It's been a monumental success. Even
the critics, the people who watched Trump's every single move
and criticize him at every single step, have to admit
(11:42):
that this trip was a success for America, for jobs,
for investments, and if it's good for America, then I'm
going to support it and I'm going to praise it
where that praise is deserved, and he deserves praise for
this Middle East trip. Welcome back to the Hard Truth.
I'm John Deaton. Listen. You could reach the show with
(12:04):
your comments or questions or concerns or even criticisms. Reached
me at John at Hard Truthshow dot com. That's John
at Hard Truthshow dot com. Big update, So the biggest scandal,
arguably of my lifetime politically speaking, has just went down.
Speaker 6 (12:25):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Last time I talked about the book Original Sin that
Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson they wrote about how the
Bidens covered up his health, the leading Democrat politicians covered
up his health, how the media, including Jake Tapper himself,
covered up Biden's health. But we just learned just a
(12:48):
day before the book's official release that Joe Biden comes
out and says that he has stage four prostate cancer.
That has estesized to his bones, that he just got diagnosed.
He skipped stages one, two, and three and went straight
(13:09):
to stage four with metastaisation to the bones. On a
disease like his, is that normally is a slow progressor
which means that as President of the United States, Walter
Reed and all the greatest doctors in the world that
treat our presidents missed this slow progressing form of prostate cancer.
(13:34):
It's all bs and you know that. Listen. Let me
tell you. You can even look this up on artificial intelligence.
The chances of a healthy eighty year old man getting
stage four prostate cancer that goes into his bones within
six months, the chances of that happening is one in
(13:59):
ten thousand. If you're talking about the general population, you
were me. But he's not the general population. He's the
President of the United States. He has the best healthcare
in the world. Walt to Read is a renown incredible
medical facility. But they want you to believe that in
(14:23):
six months, this otherwise healthy eighty year old man is
now going to die soon. And obviously people are saying,
because of sympathy for Joe Biden, well let's not talk
about it. No, we have to talk about it. I
wish Joe Biden, well, you know, obviously I'm a survivor
(14:46):
of cancer. I represent people who have cancer, so I
understand my heart goes out to him and his family.
But you're the president of the United States, man, and
you had this disease before before you ran for president
in twenty twenty. That's a fact. That's a medical fact.
(15:08):
People say, I'm speculating. No, I'm not speculating. In fact,
let's listen to what Joe Biden said a couple of
years ago, three years ago. Listen to this.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
And because it was a four lane highway that was accessible,
my mother drove us and rather than U stable to
walk and guess what, the first frost, you know what
was happening. You had to put on the windshield wipers
to get literally the oil slick off the window. That's
why I had so damn any other people I grew
(15:41):
up have cancer, and why camp for the longest time,
Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the nation.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
That's why I that's Joe Biden saying, that's why I
and so many others have cancer. That was in on
July twenty twenty two. So he knew he had cancer,
he was being treated for cancer, and that was kept
from all of us. And the real issue here is
(16:12):
who was in charge, who was calling the shots. You know,
the Democrats and the left can complain all they want
about Elon Musk or about Donald Trump, this or that,
but at least you know who's in charge. At least
you know who has influence. We're talking about people that
(16:33):
are unelected bureaucrats sitting back pulling the strings. It certainly
wasn't Joe Biden, and they knew that, and shame on them.
We need an investigation into what happened, who knew what,
where and when? And Joe Biden and the rest of them.
They need to release his medical records because I guarantee
(16:53):
you that in the last ten years there is a
PSA test that is very elevating that is suggestive of
prostate cancer. And I guarantee you they looked into it
after that, and so it is a huge scandal. We
can't let them off the hook, and we've got to
have transparency as we move forward. Okay, And so you
(17:17):
know that's the reality of the situation. My heart goes
out to President Biden, but we're not gonna let him
off the hook. He had a responsibility to the American people.
He let us down, and the people in charge, all
these leading Democrats to Chuck Schumer's, the Nancy Pelosi's, Elizabeth Warren,
all of the people who were watching Biden behind the scenes.
(17:38):
They lied to you. They misled the American people, and
I hope to God that you remember it on election Day.
The Hard Truth is paid for by the Deep And
Law Firm. I've been representing mezathelium and lung cancer victims
for twenty three years across the Commonwealth. If you were
a loved one been diagnosed with mezathelioma or lung cancer
(18:00):
exposed to asbestos, you contact me at the Dton Law Firm.
That's Dtonlawfirm dot com. You can also reach me here
at this show at the Hard Truth Show dot com.
That's John at Hard Truthshow dot com. Listen, let's check
into the Karen Reid's trial. Uh, when I've watched the
(18:20):
first episode of that documentary, I gotta admit I kind
of thought she was guilty. You know, she's not a
very likable person. She had no sympathy, it seemed for
the man that lost his life, who seemed to be
like a good guy, a good cop who you know,
adopted his sister, who dies kids and all of that,
(18:42):
and there just seemed to be this complete lack of
sympathy for the man. Of course, she is on trial
for murder, but after that first episode, I don't know,
I think she did it. Plus she was saying things
like did I hit him? Did I hit him? Could
I hit him? But then when you see the evidence
and you learn more of the story, it is very
(19:05):
difficult to see the government getting a conviction in this case.
I mean, listen, the first mistake that the government did.
And I used to be a federal prosecutor, so I
charged people. The charging decision is a very important decision.
And what the Commonwealth did is they charged this woman
with second degree murder, which requires malice a forethought. It's
(19:31):
a specific intent crime, and it means that you have
to develop the specific intent to do bodily harm to
another human being. And you want to know what is
a defense to a specific intent crime. Intoxication? Voluntary intoxication
is a defense. You can say that I was so drunk,
(19:54):
I didn't know what I was doing, and I was
so drunk that I didn't mean to hurt them. I
didn't mean to hit him, and so why the government
chose second degree murder is beyond me. Had they charged
her with voluntary manslaughter and then tried to plea bargain
it down to involuntary manslaughter, you know, maybe she would
(20:14):
have taken the deal, maybe she wouldn't if. I don't know,
but that was the biggest mistake that the prosecution ever did.
Now listen, there's so much reasonable doubt. In my opinion,
the injuries on the arm looked like dog bites. I
have a dog. I've been a dog lover all my life,
trust me. Those look like dog marks. And then you
(20:37):
learn that the owner, Albert, got rid of his dog
the day after o'keef lost his life. And then you
learn that Albert renovated the basement right away twice, and
then he sowed his house under asking price right away.
(20:57):
Why you got to start asking yourself that, and then
you ask why did he just stay in the house
when a fellow cop was dead or at least near
death on his lawn, And why when you look at
O'Keefe and the fact that he didn't have certain clothing
on that looks like someone who would be in the inside.
(21:20):
Why didn't they go in that house. Why didn't they
do fingerprinting, Why didn't they look for blood spatter evidence
or any of that. None of that took place. That
all leads jurors to think that there's reasonable doubt. Even
if you don't like the defendant, right, you have to
ask yourself, are you prepared to send this person to
prison potentially for the rest of their life or for
(21:43):
twenty five years? And so when you look at Jim
McCabe and her inconsistencies, and you look at the fact
that the Alberts and the way they acted, I mean,
why would the man and I'm talking about Albert after
he gets rid of the dog, after he changes his base,
after he sells his house, he also drives, and he
(22:04):
destroys his phone and the sim card. That is not
behavior of innocent people. It is behavior of someone's consciousness
of guilt, you know. So I have a very difficult
time imagining the government is going to get a conviction
(22:25):
of Karen Reid in this case. And here we are
in the middle of the case, and what does the
government have to do? They have to go to the
judge and say, oops, you know this timeline that we
set out that we opened the case about, that we
told the jurors was the accurate timeline. Well, now we
have to alter that timeline, and all of that's falling
(22:46):
apart on the part of the government and so and
then just this last day some issue came up and
the judge spent the entire day or morning talking to
each juror because of some issue that we're gonna learn
about soon. So listen, this case is falling apart fast
for the government. I will be absolutely shocked. And let
(23:09):
me tell you something. When the jurors write a judge
who is presiding over the case a note that says,
can you stop sustaining all of the objections of the
prosecutor because we think it's unfair to the defense and
plus we want to hear what these witnesses have to say.
(23:31):
That's a juror signaling to you that they're on the
defense side and they think that this defendant isn't getting
a fair trial by the judge. So you know, that's
my update for now. If something changes, I'll let you know,
but you can write it down right now. The real
question is will this be a full acquittal where twelve
(23:54):
jurors agreed to not guilty, or will it be another
hung jury. I'll let you know as we move forward.
All right, folks, welcome back to the Hard Truth with
John Deton. I got a very special guest with me.
This man hopes to be the next governor of Massachusetts
and retire Governor Morri Heally Brian Shortsleeve. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
Brother, Hey John. Great to be on Marine and thanks
for your service.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Absolutely. First thing I have to say is, oohrah, devil dog.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
I gotta tell you I saw your commercial, you know,
on when you announced Brian and An. As soon as
I saw that young, hard charge and handsome marine serving
this country in that uniform, I gotta tell you, it
tugged at my heart. So thank you for your service,
Thank you for being you.
Speaker 6 (24:43):
And I went to Offshore candidate school the summer nineteen
ninety four. As I recall, though we didn't know each
other then and we were there at the same time.
So marines get the job done first in last out.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
No excuses, no absolutely, and it's a small world because
we didn't know each other back then, but we were
in Quantico Virginia in training. So listen. Obviously I told
the audience on here on WRKO that you're running for governor.
They probably know that. So the first thing I want
to do instead of me getting into your bio and
(25:13):
you don't got to tell us why you're running for
governor yet. We'll get back to that later. But who
is Brian Shortsleeve? Why don't you tell us? Introduce yourself
to the audience.
Speaker 6 (25:21):
Well, John, Look, I'm a marine first of all, spent
four years as an officer of the Marine Corps after college.
I'm also a businessman, and I believe that we need
a businessman in the corner office.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
Of this state.
Speaker 6 (25:32):
Businessmen like you and I. We live in the real world.
We got to balance budgets. We know how to create jobs.
You know how to build jobs, and I believe that
is desperately needed in the corner office right now in Massachusetts.
And then finally, I'm a father of three young boys,
and I care a lot about their future. I want
them to grow up and I want them to build
their families and face their dreams and build companies like
(25:55):
I have, and I want them to do it in Massachusetts.
And I really fear if we don't get state on
a different track and send more. Heally packing that our
kids and grandkids aren't going to have the same opportunities.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
That we have.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Right well, how old are your kids?
Speaker 6 (26:10):
I've got a sixth grader, and eighth grader and a
ninth grader, and they're great guys, and you know, they
love Massachusetts and they love their lives here, and I
just want to make sure that you know that they're
going to be here the rest of their life.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
As you know, I mean.
Speaker 6 (26:24):
There's five hundred people a week leaving Massachusetts right now.
We got to turn that around, and we got to
turn this back into the growth state it once was.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yeah, Brian, why and we know you served in the Marines,
and thank you for your service. Once you give us
a little snapshot of your post Marine Corps service, what
you've been doing before you decided that you're going to
be our next governor.
Speaker 6 (26:43):
Right well, I got commission back in ninety five, deployed
to Bosnia on a peacekeeping mission with NATO and ninety seven,
then over the Persian Gulf with fifteenth Marine Expeditionary Unit
in ninety eight. The when I got out of the
Marine Carps went straight back to Harvard Business School. I
always was interested in business, always wanted to own my
own company, really had a passion for entrepreneurship. So when
(27:03):
I got out of business school, I've spent most of
the last twenty years of my life working with small companies,
helping them become big companies. So we at M thirty
three Growth are a firm that invest capital in smaller
companies to help them scale up and grow.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
It's a great part of the economy, John.
Speaker 6 (27:19):
You know, in Massachusetts, sixty percent of the people that
work in the state work for small businesses.
Speaker 5 (27:24):
It's one hundred percent of the growth in this day.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
And I'm talking small businesses with you know, twenty to
thirty employees that are in niche markets, trying to scale up,
trying to grow, trying to get medium sized or get big.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
We do.
Speaker 6 (27:37):
And I've always, you know, loved the entrepreneur world and
really enjoyed my time in the private sector.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
You know, you've been talking already about the private sector.
So I want to share something with you on screen.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
Do you see that, Well, tell you, John, it's a stunning,
stunning chart you're showing me.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
And can you just so the audience. Obviously on YouTube
they can see this, but on on WRK, our audience,
what is this chart showing?
Speaker 6 (28:03):
This chart shows private sector job growth or lost over
the last twelve months.
Speaker 5 (28:10):
And what this chart shows is that Massachusetts.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Is dead last, dead last in America right now on
private sector job growth. In fact, over the past year,
per this chart, we've lost twelve thousand private sector jobs
in this state. Let me tell you why the private
sector is so important, John, The private sector is what
drives growth.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
The private sector is what drives innovation.
Speaker 6 (28:33):
If you want to know if a state is a
good place to do business, look at private.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
Sector job growth.
Speaker 6 (28:39):
If companies are growing and people are coming, it's a
good place to do business. If your private sector is
shrinking as it is in Massachusetts, what it means is
it's not a place that people want to come and
do business. And I would say this is the result
of Governor Healey's failed policies. You know, since taking office,
Heally ran in twenty two on the largest taxing cre
(29:00):
in state history, which passed. Since that time, she's proposed
numerous new taxes just this year, to include a tax
on candy, a tax on prescription drugs, tax on security corporations,
even an end to the charitable deduction, which is effectively
a tax on charity. So when I look at all
those failed policies, it's a combination of driving up cost
(29:22):
driving up expense for small business.
Speaker 5 (29:24):
If you talk to small business owners, they'll tell.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
You their number one issue is taxes and their number
one two issue is the cost of electricity. And under
Healey's sailed policies, our electricity bills are up almost thirty
percent over the past year, and most of that growth
is not due to the cost of the core electricity.
It's due to all the state mandated fees that Heally
and her team have jammed into your electricity bills. So
(29:47):
when it comes to getting our private sector growing again,
we got to cut taxes. We got to cut fees,
including those state mandative fees, and we got to get
state spending under control so our private sector can begin
to grow again.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
You know I've did. I pay attention to Governor Healey
and her behavior and her post and things like that,
and I don't know if it's a coincidence. You may
have an opinion on it, Brian, But since you announced
your candidacy, I've seen this kind of pivot from Mara
Healey where all of a sudden she's acting or trying
(30:23):
to act fiscally responsible. And so I've got to ask you,
how do you convince voters that this is pre tend
this is election kind of time. Ay, I got to
pivot and try to act more common sense and that
we're not going to see Heay three point zero if
she's reelected.
Speaker 6 (30:40):
Well, John, I announced my candidacy on Monday, and I
got up Tuesday morning to see Governor Healey announced that
she was going to start cutting back those state mandated
fees on your electricity bill, and she acknowledged, she acknowledged failure.
She acknowledged it was a failed policy. She acknowledged it's
driven up costs. She also acknowledged that there's not much
evidence to demonstrate that there are outcomes related with the
(31:01):
dollars that are being spent. I'm a businessman, I understand
return on investment. I would go through every single line
out of on our state budget to include those state fees,
and if we're not getting a return, they shouldn't be there.
On Wednesday, she also announced a hiring freeze, and this
was this is a governor that just three months ago
announced another four billion dollars of new spending and five
(31:25):
new taxes. Her heer admission on Wednesday that the state
needs to reign in expenses. The state needs to position
itself for a different outlook and revenue. I think it's
another acknowledgment of failure. I mean, since Heally took a hupice,
he is spending over a billion dollars more on the
state payroll. The Boston Globe reported she's hired over three
(31:46):
thousand employees. She's also spending, as of last count, three
million dollars a day on the migrant crisis. That's another
billion dollars a year, a billion here, a billionaire.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
It adds up, and the.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
Result is that we've got state government has grown almost
twenty percent since the day she took office, yet our
private sector has shrunk. And this is the you are
showing right now on the screen the Boston Globe calling
for a wake up for fiscal sobriety and talking about
the fact that Governor Heally, since the day she took office,
has done nothing other than ramp up state spending, ramp
(32:20):
up hiring, ramp up spending on migrants, and also ramp
up your utility bill, and the result of that has
been a really marked decline in our private sector of
vitality here to the tune of twelve thousand jobs over
the last year.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah, explain to me. And you see this in the
federal government as well. In Massachusetts. The public government service
should not be your highest growing sector. Would you agree
with that?
Speaker 6 (32:47):
You know, government doesn't create jobs, doesn't drive innovation. The
private sector drives into invasion. Entrepreneurs drive innovation. Mori Heely
has no one to blame but herself or out of
control state spending and skyrocketing costs. She has no one
to blame for herself for the cost of the migro crisis.
And this acknowledgment Wednesday that we've got to batten down
(33:10):
the hatches and get state spending under controls is Frankly,
it's a dollar late, it's a dollar short. Over the
past two and a half years, Governor Heally's increased.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
The state budget by ten billion dollars annually.
Speaker 6 (33:22):
That's an enormous, enormous amount of spending and there's no
amount of revenue, frank that's ever going to catch up
with it. What you see is it's crowding out the
private sector. People are leaving Massachusetts, Students are leaving Massachusetts.
Speaker 5 (33:33):
Businesses are leaving Massachusetts. But it doesn't have to be
that way.
Speaker 6 (33:36):
If we cut taxes, we cut fees, and we get
spending under control, we can get this day grown again
the way it was for most of the twenty ten
to twenty twenty time frame.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
You've described yourself as a businessman. You've obviously been in
the private sector, you obviously very successful individual. What's the
steps you would take? I know you just outlined, like,
do you think you can get these businesses to come
back because they are leaving Massachusetts.
Speaker 6 (34:02):
Well, let me tell you, Massachusetts needs a rescue mission, John,
and it's going to take a marine to take back
Beacon Hill. I'm an optimist. Look, I'm in the venture
capital business. I'm always betting on the future. So I
believe we can turn things around. Businesses are telling us
while they're why they are leaving. They're telling us, and
they're telling us they're leaving because taxes are too high,
because electricity is too high, because the regulatory burden is
(34:25):
too high, and because unemployment insurance UI is too high.
Speaker 5 (34:28):
Those are things we.
Speaker 6 (34:29):
Can absolutely address it. If I was governor day one,
a governor shorts Leave across the board would be looking
at cutting taxes to get small business moving again, create
a better environment to work here, cutting fees, including all
those fees you see on your utility build but then
most importantly, getting spending under control. This is a state
(34:49):
with an outlook in revenue growth that probably is the
one to two percent per year range.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
That's what the likely revenue outlook is.
Speaker 6 (34:57):
Yet we've got a state budget growing at eight or
nine percent, and the result is that heally has been
consistently proposing new taxes to fund these spending plans. And
the result of that is it crowds out the private
sector and it makes it a place too expensive to
do business. So I think we can bring back a
lot of people. We can bring back a lot of businesses.
It wasn't too long ago that we were the fastest
(35:17):
growing state in the Northeast. It wasn't too long ago
that we led in terms of new business creation. But
we've got to get refocused on the cost of doing business.
We have to make Massachusetts affordable again for families and
for businesses. If we do that, we'll bring people back
and we'll bring businesses back.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
All right, Now we're going to go to break, but
let me tell you. I'm going to ask the You've
been talking a lot, Brian about your Marine Corps service,
so I'm going to ask you when we come back
from break. What did you learn the Marines that you
think basically gives you the necessary leadership skills to turn
Massachusetts around when we come back. All right, thank you
for listening. We're back at the hard truth with John
(35:58):
Dee and I have Brian shore Sleeve running to be
your next governor of Massachusetts. Let me ask you. Obviously
I'm biased. Everybody knows I'm a marine, You're a marine.
You're my brother before I even met you, because you
wore the greatest fighting force uniform ever in the world.
But what did you learn, Brian in the Marine Corps
(36:22):
that you think translates to leadership in government?
Speaker 6 (36:27):
Well, John, Marines are the first in to the last out.
They get the job done, no excuses. So it's really
my experience as a marine.
Speaker 5 (36:35):
That shaped who I am and how I think.
Speaker 6 (36:38):
The most important lessons I learned about about life and
about leadership I learned in the Marine Corps. The core
values of the Marine Corps Honor, honor, courage, and commitment.
Marines are taught to work together as a team to
accomplish a mission. In my case, you know, my mission
was to go to Bosnia with marines to execute an
aerial reconnaissance plan to support the US Army. When I
(36:59):
went to the Persian golf, who was to support fifteenth MUW.
I believe when it comes to state government, it's going
to take a mission oriented marine get to get into
that corner office and really go to work on the
reform that is required. What I don't see from the
current governor is a plan.
Speaker 5 (37:17):
All right.
Speaker 6 (37:18):
As a marine, you have a plan, you execute it.
My mission day one. If I was Governor Shortsleeve, we
would be focused on cutting taxes, cutting fees, getting spending
under control. That's what we would do. We would wake
up every morning and think about it. We would go
to bed every night and think about it. I think
with that level of intensity and focus, which what you
get as a marine, you can get the job done.
(37:38):
Reforming government is hard work, you know, Driving reform and.
Speaker 5 (37:41):
Public agency is hard work. I've done it.
Speaker 6 (37:43):
I spent two years driving a really aggressive reform program
for Governor Baker back at the TEA that delivered the
lowest operating spence in decades, the first balanced budget in
more than ten years.
Speaker 5 (37:55):
I know how to do it. I know how hard
it is.
Speaker 6 (37:57):
I used to put my flatjacket and helmet on every
morning to go and do that job. At tell you what,
after two years, we had reformed systems, we had stripped
waste out, we had rebid contracts, we had restructured contracts,
we had streamlined headcount, and that operation was had the
first balance budget and in a decade. We can do
it in state government. But it takes a businessman mindset
(38:21):
and outsider perspective and a marine's determination to drive reform
and state government because there's a lot of internal forces
in state government that want to retain the status quo.
And generally my experience of state government is it's a
very large and insular, sort of slow moving bureaucracy. So
it takes a marine to challenge that bureaucracy and get
(38:42):
things moving.
Speaker 5 (38:43):
I know I can, I know I can do well.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
I got to disagree with you on one thing that
you said. You said that more Healy doesn't have a plan,
but I think her plan is to lately is to
reverse course action on everything she's done. I'm sure you've
noticed it as well. Well.
Speaker 6 (39:00):
I got in the race on Monday, John and I
called for cutting taxes, and I called for cutting fees,
and I called for reducing those state mandated utility bill
fees that you see, and I called for reducing state spending.
So just this week on Tuesday, more Heey completely reversed
course on her failed policies around energy, and she announced
(39:21):
that we need to cut those fees back, when you
need take those state managed fees off of your bill.
She acknowledged that many of them probably are not generating
a return, but they're costing people a lot of money.
Speaker 5 (39:32):
They're killing affordability.
Speaker 6 (39:34):
And on Wednesday she announced the state hiring freeze, which
I would say is.
Speaker 5 (39:39):
Too little, too late.
Speaker 6 (39:39):
I mean, this is a governor that has hired three
thousand people and increased the state payroll by over a
billion dollars is now waking up to a hiring freeze.
What it tells you is these policies are not working.
These policies have been a failure, and a governor Shortsleeve
would be moving the other direction, which is to start
to really restain spending, cut taxes, cut fees, and we've
(40:00):
got to get Massachusetts back to the point where it's
a competitive market, where we're bringing companies into the state.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
You know, I'm sitting here and I'm listening to you, Brian,
and you know, you make a strong case. You're obviously
a marine, You're likable, you have this business sector. You
sort of matter of fact ly, you're a formidable opponent.
And so I'm already sitting here thinking what's she going
to do to attack this guy? And I think all
(40:27):
she's going to do is play the Trump card. So
what's your strategy to overcome that? And do you think
the Trump factor is an issue more?
Speaker 6 (40:35):
Heally loves to complain about the current president, John, but
she didn't do very well under the previous president either.
Look at her record since twenty twenty three, most of
that time Joe Biden was president, and her record has
been a record of failure. It's a record of failure
around the economy, it's a record of failure around affordability,
and it's a record of failure in terms of containing
(40:55):
state spending. I mean, the state budget has skyrocket. It's
completely uns sustainable. I believe this issue race. This race
is going to be about the future of Massachusetts. This
race is not about Washington, d C. It's not about
the present. It's about the future of this state and
more heally, we do everything she can to talk about
anything other than her record since the day she took
(41:16):
office in January twenty three, which I would argue is
the most anti business record we've seen in decades. I mean,
this is a state that was the fastest growing state
in the Northeast for much of the twenty tens, the
twenty twenties. You just showed me a chart showing that
over the past twelve months we've actually lost private sector
jobs in this date if you go back to January
(41:38):
twenty twenty three, that's two and a half years. If
Massachusetts was just keeping track with the national growth and jobs,
we would have added eighty five thousand private sector jobs
just keeping track with growth. Economy's growing, the world's growing.
Speaker 5 (41:52):
Yet here we.
Speaker 6 (41:52):
Are and over since the day she took office, the
growth in our private sector jobs has been minus five thousand.
So we've lost lost five thousand jobs over two and
a half years. Just in Q one, and this came
out in the Globe this week, the Massachusetts economy contracted
by one point one percent.
Speaker 5 (42:09):
That's four times the national average. Think about that.
Speaker 6 (42:12):
In Q one of this year, our economy contracted at
four times the national average.
Speaker 5 (42:17):
Why is it? It's lagging job growth.
Speaker 6 (42:20):
Lagging job growth is the reason that we're trailing the economy.
Speaker 5 (42:24):
The rest of the world is growing, jobs are growing.
Speaker 6 (42:26):
Yet since the day she took office almost two and
a half years ago, instead of adding eighty five thousand jobs,
we've lost five thousand. And that's not a record that
she can run on. So I imagine she'll focus on national
issues in Washington, d c. And she'll focus on political
grand standing. I'm going to focus on what's right for
the people of Massachusetts and getting our economy back on
track and getting our private sector economy growing again.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
Let me ask you, how do you tackle the immigration
problem here in Massachusetts?
Speaker 5 (42:54):
You know, who would have known that Massachusetts is a
border state.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (42:58):
Here, we are well into two and a half years
into her time as governor, and per the facts that
she put out this past week, we're still spending three
million dollars a day on the migrant crisis. It's about
five hundred million over the first nine months of the
year and direct shelter. It's another eighty million in the
home base program of forty million in temporary shelter.
Speaker 5 (43:21):
That's three million dollars a day.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
John.
Speaker 6 (43:22):
For that amount of money, about a billion dollars a year,
you could give every city in town in this state
seven million dollars a local aid. And there's a lot
that cities and towns could do with that local aid
for their police department, for their schools.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
And we've seen two hospitals fail, you know, in Shoba
Valley Medical Center in central mass where I'm near. It's
one of the two hospitals that was if something happened
to my family that I would use. That one's gone.
Dorchester Carne Hospital in Dorchester closed in Moray. Healey's position was,
there's nothing we can do about it. That her hands
(43:57):
are tied. Yet you just said, what was that figure?
Seven million to each town.
Speaker 5 (44:02):
We're spending right now? Three million dollars a day. That's
a billion dollars a year.
Speaker 6 (44:06):
With a billion dollars a year, you could give every
city in town in this state seven million dollars in
local aid.
Speaker 5 (44:12):
We're for what we're spending. So it's a question of priorities.
My priority as governor.
Speaker 6 (44:16):
Would be delivering for the people of Massachusetts. My priority
would be Massachusetts citizens. It would be cities, towns, and
be local aid. More, Healey's priority continues to be funding
a migrant crisis, which she could have worked quickly early on,
like a year two years ago. She could have reformed
the shelter system. She could have reformed the rules around
(44:38):
the shelter law. I mean, the shelter law came in
in nineteen eighty three under government caucus. It was designed
for American citizens, generally women from battered families need a
temporary shelter. Everyone agrees with that that's a good policy.
It was never designed for what it's being used for now.
Yet More, Heally consistently has refused to make the big,
(44:58):
bold reform. She's also not doing universal background checks. If
we were doing universal background checks and folks in the system,
we'd be picking up people that have been convicted of
crimes in other countries.
Speaker 5 (45:09):
We don't do that. You know, she's doing cory checks.
Speaker 6 (45:12):
So I believe in a variety of ways that it's
been too little, too late.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
You know, I when I asked you about the Trump issue,
and she's going to try to tie you and the
Republican brand of Trump Trump Trump. You made that incredible
good point that how is Massachusetts doing when Biden was
president of her part?
Speaker 5 (45:34):
And the answer is John not so good? All right,
not so good. Go back to January of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 6 (45:39):
That's two and a half years. The state's lost five
thousand private sector jobs. It should have gained ninety thousand.
So I would say Heally's record was as bad from
January eighth of twenty twenty three to November twenty four
as it's been since then.
Speaker 5 (45:53):
It's time for a new governor.
Speaker 6 (45:54):
It's time to put a businessman in the corner office
that understands how to balance a budget, understands you live
in the real world, knows what it takes to create
jobs and build jobs, and can be out there rolling
out a red carpet for businesses to come here. You know,
back in the old days, we used to have something
called the Business Development Pipeline in Massachusetts. Governor Baker used
to talk about it. It was all the companies that wanted
(46:16):
to come here. You probably remember that companies like ge
It's a long list, and be talking about negotiating with incentives.
You don't hear much about the business development pipeline in
Massachuset anymore because there isn't one, John, businesses are leaving,
they're not coming here, and you're going to need a
businessman in the corner office to turn that around.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
Listen, we got about two minutes left on this segment.
Thank you for being here. You know, give us the
elevator pitch. Why should the voters start being excited about
the idea of not just getting rid of more heally,
but of Governor Shortsleeve.
Speaker 5 (46:50):
Well, businessman, I'm a father, I'm a marine.
Speaker 6 (46:52):
I can drive the change we need in the state
to get us growing again. We can get our private
sector moved again. We can bring companies here. We can
reverse the flow of people out of the state. And
this is a state that you know, we love. I
got three young boys. I want them to grow up
here and raise their their families here and build businesses here.
Speaker 5 (47:10):
I know we can do that.
Speaker 6 (47:11):
But it's going to take someone with my backgrounds as
a private sector of business builder and marine to get
the job done.
Speaker 5 (47:17):
So please, if you're interested in supporting me, join me.
I'd love to help.
Speaker 6 (47:20):
My website is www dot brianshortsleeve dot com. We're getting
a great response out there and I look forward to
meeting many of your listeners in person over the coming
over the coming months.
Speaker 1 (47:31):
Give that one more time.
Speaker 6 (47:33):
It's www dot Brian shortsleeve dot com and we would
love your love, your help. Join us in the in
the in the mission and say mission for Massachusetts, a
mission to make the state more affordable, mission to get
the state grown again.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
Thank you Governor, I mean Brian, Thank you Marine, thank
you for taking the time.
Speaker 5 (47:50):
Brother Well, thank you John. Good luck with the show.
Great to see you today and I'll see you soon.