February 9, 2025 • 48 mins
Recorded February 9, 2025
In this episode, Jennifer and Jamie discuss various political topics, including Elon Musk's growing influence in government, the implications of political appointments, and the recent decision by Nippon Steel regarding US Steel. They also delve into the complexities of tariffs, the impact of social media on political discourse, and the ongoing debate about censorship in the arts. The conversation wraps up with a light-hearted discussion on sports conspiracy theories and the potential for scripted games.
@briantylercohen @MarcoRubio @DonaldJTrumpforPresident
SOURCES https://www.youtube.com/@briantylercohen https://x.com/NoLieWithBTC https://x.com/elonmusk https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2025-02-09/elon-musk-dodges-doge-scrutiny-while-expanding-his-power-in-washington https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/trumps-2024-picks-for-his-cabinet-and-administration-so-far https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2025-02-07/trump-announces-nippon-steel-is-dropping-u-s-steel-acquisition-new-reciprocal-tariffs https://apnews.com/article/trump-kennedy-center-board-chairman-firings-21cd0018c6e9f591d59becea8573d8c0
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Context Setting 01:25 Elon Musk's Role in Government 03:49 Concerns Over Government Efficiency 07:56 Political Appointments and Their Implications 11:17 Trump's Cabinet Selections 14:08 Impact of Appointments on Policy 18:19 Japan's Steel Investment and National Security 21:25 Understanding Reciprocal Tariffs 23:29 Effects of Tariffs on Everyday Americans 24:36 Fuel Prices and Policy Changes 26:14 Social Media News and Political Commentary 28:14 Censorship and Artistic Expression 32:54 Cultural Institutions and Political Influence 38:15 Sports Conspiracy Theories 46:59 Closing Thoughts and Future Discussions
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:43):
Here we go, Steelers, here we go.
No, wrong day, wrong day.
well, we are still gonna represent today.
We're out of it, but we, next year.
it's a great idea to do a podcast tonight for those people who are sitting on the couchand not wanting, not wanting to watch the game and, but forced to watch two mediocre teams
(01:11):
go at it and, um, that everybody hates.
So, you know, so hopefully you're on the couch, maybe watching the game and have the gameon in the background, but watching reasonable arguments, news and nonsense as well.
All right.
So in today's episode, we are breaking down some of the biggest political bombshells thatare making headlines right now.
(01:33):
We have Elon, who is dodging scrutiny while expanding his influence in Washington.
Trump, who is building his new cabinet, shaking up the steel industry, and now he's takingcontrol of America's most famous cultural institution.
So what does this mean for you?
Stick around as we break it down in maybe just in a way that might make sense.
(01:54):
All right, Jamie, so here it is.
So we have Elon, who, you know, he's X, he's Tesla, he's SpaceX, he's, you know, he's abillionaire, think he, world's richest man, I think he dropped out of college.
And so now he is heading up the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.
(02:21):
And but what does that actually mean to us?
So
think it's important to know that he's doing this on behalf of the President of the UnitedStates.
He's volunteering, so he doesn't have, quote, an official role, but he is working onbehalf of the President of the United States like millions of other federal employees and
(02:41):
volunteers.
Well, I mean, does it like should we be concerned on the fact that, you know, he is abillionaire and he has access to all the government information that he's getting?
the argument is, and hopefully, you know, there's some level of, you know, an NDA that hecan't then take all this information and use it for his business, right?
(03:07):
That's the fear.
And they could allay, you know, allay that fear by just announcing that, hey, he cannotuse any of this information for his own personal businesses or benefit.
And they haven't...
idea, right?
Yeah, just show the NDA and be like, he's liable if anything happens and all of that.
(03:33):
So maybe that is the best idea.
Yeah, you know, this isn't the first time that a president has come in under saying theywere going to balance the budget.
We've talked about before the last time all 12 appropriation bills were passed on time was1997.
the budget was balanced that year.
And then the last time the budget was balanced was 2001.
(03:53):
So Bill Clinton and Al Gore had an initiative called the National Performance Review.
The only difference was it fell under the vice president.
So Al Gore quote, led the review, but during those eight years, they should shed Clinton,Gore Democrats shed 426,000 federal employees during their two terms in office.
(04:17):
So this is not unheard of it's, you know, I would encourage people.
I just got off, just got finished doing this.
went to LinkedIn and I typed in USAID.
That's it.
Let me see employees from USAID and.
Listen, there's a lot of good people who work at USAID, but if you start looking at theirprevious employment, there's a few out of the 10 or 12 people I looked at, one was a
(04:42):
career service USAID person.
They were there for 25 years and out of the other 11, nine, nine were from the Obamaadministration and they're still there.
And they started out doing whatever for political in the Obama administration.
And then they continued this and there were two, it's going to get past 11 or 12 becausethere were several of them.
(05:07):
Three, I think who were, worked for former members of Congress.
And you've heard me say before, this is the political consultant and former staff members,you know, foreign travel act.
And so they, you know, they work for a member of Congress and you know, everybody knowsthat, Hey, if I've got a lapse in employment, I can go over to USAID.
I can travel, I can get paid.
(05:29):
You know, most of these folks are, you know, are single.
They're not family folks with kids.
And so they, they go and spend a couple of years in, you know, the Pacific Rim or SouthAmerica or Africa or wherever.
And you're you're getting all in the weeds because I'm not talking about those kind ofpeople.
What I'm talking about is how like, how does his involvement, you know, because people are
(05:55):
scared of the information that is obviously going to be shared.
How does his involvement in this affect him in the private sector?
So he has these companies and things like that.
So is there any kind of, what's the word I'm looking for, conflict of interest there?
(06:16):
Musk can probably go buy any of this information on the third party market anytime hewants.
Most of this information is likely out there.
Most of it's out there.
this is, but what is unprecedented in this doge, the Department of Government Efficiency,is that the transparency.
(06:42):
They are finding things out and just putting it out there and just saying, here's what'sbeing, this money is being spent on.
out, but we don't know if they're putting out everything, right?
They're putting out the things that are gonna be the most impact where people are gonna belike, you gotta be kidding me.
The Democrats are now wanting to fight everybody on the streets and they're doing thatshock value, right?
(07:05):
So should Americans be afraid of what is not being shown?
I don't think so.
think they're laying the thing, I think they're laying it open for everybody to see.
I mean, I have friends who are Republicans who've been laid off from USAID and they'vebeen at their five, 10, 12 years.
(07:30):
And so these aren't bad people.
Nobody's saying they're bad people.
Nobody's saying they're doing anything illegal.
It's just time to review.
the functions of these agencies and whether they're meeting the goals of America.
And it's grown too big and we're going broke as a country and so we have to reel in money.
(07:52):
So what should the American people be looking for as this situation keeps developing?
I think you're going to see them march through more and more departments.
you know, when they get over to the department of defense, I read right before we came onthat the department of defense spent $1 billion with a B, billion dollars to audit their
(08:16):
expenses.
I don't know, you know, that's a huge organization.
I don't have their budget number in front of me, but a billion dollars to audit them seemsextremely wasteful.
And so I think you're going to see a lot of those types of things, just coming out of,know, Democrats are a little upset because, know, it's coming on the heels of a Democrat
(08:40):
presidency.
So of course there's more Democrats over at USAID than there were because as people wereflying out of the Biden administration last fall, they all know they can land at USAID.
So there's a lot of people over there who've been there three months, six months, maybeeight months, who are just Biden administration officials who wanted someplace to land.
(09:01):
and weighed out the Trump administration.
And now they're out of a job.
Yeah, and I just had a thought and I just lost it.
So that may come back to me because I completely forgot what I was going to say, but itwas a good point, but I forget.
I know it was a good point.
All right.
So every president builds their team, right?
(09:22):
So you have every administration, my understanding, this is really my first year payingattention to any of this, but my understanding is that every time a new president is
elected, he then can build his entire team.
from I'm assuming what would be considered the floor, the ground up.
And is that correct in the way that I say that?
(09:45):
government service employees who are lifelong quote public servants, you know, and we lookat the USAID stuff and we know that some of those employees are political operatives who
just happen to be stay in a government agency for 10 or 12 years.
But the process, what you're talking about, I think, are cabinet level positions that haveto be confirmed by the US Senate.
(10:14):
And so the US Senate has its own rules like Roberts Rules of Order, their own rules ofprocedure.
And so I'm not an expert on the US Senate rules of procedure, for this conversation, it'sjust not as simple as Roberts Rules.
They get more complicated than that.
So these cabinet positions are the people that will be involved with him daily, let's say,his immediate team.
(10:39):
So Marco Rubio, Pam Bondi, the Secretary of the Interior, know, the people you're seeingcome before the US Senate and being interviewed.
Those are those folks.
Now you certainly have levels below that who are hired.
And some of those employees, you know, or board members, like if you're appointed to theboard of Amtrak, that needs US Senate confirmation.
(11:04):
So if you're...
I worked with Jerry Paul, you know, a few years back and he was the director of the USNuclear Regulatory Commission.
That needs US Senate confirmation.
So that's the person that takes care of all the nuclear sites, right?
All the nuclear weapons, all the nuclear sites and all the nuclear power plants.
So there's very important positions that go through this US Senate confirmation.
(11:28):
And then there are positions that are high level political appointees who are hired,like...
The communications director for the secretary of state doesn't need us Senateconfirmation, right?
So it's decision-making, normally decision-making positions that, that are us Senateconfirmation.
(11:50):
And so, yes, the short answer is yes, Trump get, should get to pick them.
It's unprecedented not to choose like Robert F.
Kennedy.
This it's, expected that he will probably be voted on next week and, and gain secretary ofhealth and human services.
And there's some debate about whether or not he will reach the necessary votes to beconfirmed, but it's, it's usually when somebody is not confirmed, it surrounds personal
(12:17):
issues.
Like we saw with Matt Gates when he was appointed for attorney general, it's usually notpolitical.
They usually allow like you can be, you know, look at, look at the U S Senate confirmationfor the Biden administration.
I mean, it's a, you know,
the Kennedy Arts performing thing that we're gonna get to later.
(12:38):
Yeah, so we've seen, I've even watched some of the Senate hearings and these people goingthrough their interviews and things like that.
So what does, and we'll specifically talk about Trump, but what does he consider when he'spicking these people?
You know, I think after his first administration and having misfires like swamp, swamp,appointees like, like Bolton and I, you know, who ended up not being loyal.
(13:14):
think, I think he, I think he values the ability to get the job done and loyalty.
Those two things I think are what he is.
Hey there.
It's I don't even know how he knows he was sleeping somewhere.
He's like, Oh, I know.
So how does so these
(13:38):
The Democrats obviously raise concerns about these people.
And is it normally just because of kind of like the Elon thing of what they're gonna findout or that they're gonna have pushback?
Like why do they become so up in arms?
Most of this has to do with positioning for the 2026 election.
(13:59):
Has very little to do with confirming or not confirming.
Now they're voting against them because they're in a position where there is nobipartisanship from the Democrat side.
If you go back through the last 16 years, the only bipartisanship is when Republicans gottalked into working with Democrats.
(14:20):
Democrats have held the line and told Republicans constantly,
to go pouncing and so my partisanship is dead as far as Democrats are concerned and Idon't expect them to join and being part of the solution on any of these issues.
And these, so these people won't stay after Trump's gone.
(14:40):
Yeah, they're Trump appointees.
They, they usually resign with a new administration, even if the new administration isRepublican.
if a Republican wins president, it's, it's common practice for them to submit theresignation to, the president.
And then the president can deny the re the resignation, say, I'd like for you to stay onor thank you very much.
(15:00):
I'm going to point my own person.
Okay.
So how might these appointments impact the implementation of Trump's policy agendas?
Well, they're all appointed to carry out President Trump's agenda.
That's where the loyalty comes in.
And so, are you qualified and are you loyal?
(15:22):
Are you going to, you know, and that's one of the things that's interesting when all ofthese folks, all these Democrats ask every single one of these Republican folks who either
going to be confirmed or not, they always ask them this one question and it is,
Do you, will you listen to career bureaucrats if they disagree with the president of theUnited States?
(15:48):
And now what we've learned through Doge is that most of these career bureaucrats, not allof them, but some of them for sure, some of them who've raised, gone up through the ranks
and are in very high positions, aren't career bureaucrats at all.
They're political appointees who have stayed there long enough to become career.
bureaucrats, so to speak.
(16:09):
And so it's a loaded question.
And they know it's a loaded question.
most of these folks have, everybody practices their confirmation hearings.
They go through the process of what they might be asked and are prepared to answer.
Certainly that basic question that they've been asking every single person they'veinterviewed.
(16:33):
Okay.
So how do these appointments reflect like a broader dynamic between the two parties?
I mean, is it something that has there been, has there ever been a time where a, and wecan, we can use Trump, but like, and I didn't watch all the hearings, but has there been a
time during this process where the Democrats are like, yes, we definitely approve of youbeing in one of these positions.
(17:01):
Okay.
passed 99 to zero.
There's certain, now it is common practice that if a US Senator is being confirmed, theSenate sticks with their own regardless of party.
So Rubio was kind of a, you know, the one foot putt as Donald Trump likes to say.
And, you know, but he certainly is qualified.
(17:23):
I mean, I don't think there's a better...
more experienced person in foreign relations in the US Senate than Marco Rubio, if not inthe country.
So he's definitely qualified for the position and he's loyal to President Trump.
And we saw that when he went to Panama and Panama decided to on their own, decided to kindof pull back from Chinese involvement in the Panama Canal.
(17:51):
Now, do you think there would ever be a time when they would appoint somebody through andas a, I don't want to say as a test, but almost as a way to screw things up?
You know, I don't think anybody who has spent their life in government, you know, wedisagree, know, Democrats and Republicans disagree.
(18:18):
You know, we start looking at some of the things Democrats have done and you could arguethat Democrats want to see America fail because it's no other explanation for some of the
bizarre things that they are promoting.
But for the most part, you know, my experience with Democrats and those
who are in elected office, everybody wants America to succeed.
(18:40):
It's how we succeed.
And who benefits during that succeeding?
And so Obama and Biden pushed these Green New Deals because those are generally Democratdonors, right?
so, but they've been proven bad for America, bad for policy, bad for the economy, bad forenergy policy, bad for national security.
(19:05):
But they push those things anyway and they think they're right.
They honestly think they're right.
So, you know, I don't blame somebody.
You know, hadn't, I was on a podcast recently.
We were talking about AOC.
think it was Grumbly's fired up and they're like, Hey, we appreciate AOC's passion.
She believes she's right.
She's just not, but you know, she's fighting for what she believes is right.
(19:28):
And that's why we have, you know, the loyal opposition party in this country.
And, you know, it'll swing both ways in the next four or eight years where Republicanswill need to be the loyal opposition.
And, and right now the Democrats are.
Okay, so our next subject is, so President Trump announced that Japan's Nippon, is itNipon?
(19:54):
Nippon?
Nippon?
you know, those, those things don't roll off the Southern tongue, baby.
So I, know, the, yeah.
So I would call it Nipon, but I don't know.
Has decided to forego its bid to purchase US Steel.
Now, of course, this is born and raised Pittsburgh.
So this is, you know, something I think about too.
(20:18):
No, no, no.
Yeah, we're in deep sorrow.
Yeah.
but instead they are opting to invest heavily in the company.
This move, I guess, comes alongside the administration's plan to implement the reciprocaltariffs on countries that impose tariffs on US goods.
(20:39):
So what was the original plan for the Japan Steel Company to acquire US Steel?
And why was it controversial just for the, I mean, is it just for the simple fact becausenow there's a Japanese company
in the US making steel.
that?
No, I don't know that it's that, but US Steel has historically, at least for the last 100,110 years, been seen as a major player in foreign policy and protecting our country,
(21:12):
right?
And so in national security.
we're, you know, to hand that over to a, not hand it over, to sell it to a foreigncountry, you know, I think what,
both, seems like Biden and Trump kind of agreed on this one.
You know, Biden is the one who delayed the sale and it sounded like Trump agreed or atleast kind of endorsed this heavy investment in US deal versus buying it.
(21:42):
And so it could end up being the best of both worlds.
it is a national, the national security issue, I think, but it also is kind of maybehaving a global influence.
like Nippon from Japan will help US Steel better compete in around the world againstChinese Steel.
(22:06):
Okay.
How are Republicans and Democrats reacting to the decision?
So, you know, is it is it a relief that they're not buying it, even though they areinvesting in it?
Like I said, I haven't seen that much, I haven't seen that much really rhetoric fromeither side.
I think most people think that this probably landed in probably the best place it can withthe heavy investment from Japan versus an outright ownership.
(22:35):
But I really haven't seen, I think the fact that Joe Biden is the one who stopped the saleand then Donald Trump endorsed this heavier investment versus buying it.
And then.
Nippon and US Steel came to this agreement.
I think it's kind of one of those negotiation tactics that I think both sides are kind oflike, would we rather US Steel be on its own?
(22:57):
Sure, but they are their own company and they have the right to kind of do what they can.
There's a little bit of government oversight because of the national security issue, but Ithink we probably ended up where people are as happy as they can be.
Okay, so let's talk about tariffs.
So what are reciprocal tariffs and how do they work?
(23:21):
boy.
yeah.
So that's kind of what, you know, that's what happened with Canada and Mexico is, youknow, Donald Trump said, Hey, we're going to close the border.
We're not taking any more of this fentanyl and you know, we're, tired of, protectingeveryone.
Right?
Like it's, we're paying too much.
We're going in debt.
You know, nobody else is helping us pay off our debt.
(23:43):
Right.
And, and so we have to.
have some level of responsibility to our children and grandchildren and, and at least tryto balance the budget.
If not, you know, try to pay down some of this debt.
And, know, so Donald Trump said, Hey, listen, we're going to, you know, have a 25 % tariffon Canada to 25%.
(24:07):
So they come back and say, yeah, we're going to do it too.
You know, they're going to have a reciprocal tariff.
And, and as we talked about in the past podcast,
You know, one of the podcasts I was on was an international economist and he, you know,argued that, well, they're going to run out of goods to send us long before we send the
(24:28):
goods to them.
And it's going to end up hurting their economies more.
Certainly, tariffs are not helpful to an economy.
nearly all economists agree that tariffs are inflationary and a form.
I don't think.
It's a form of tax on the end user because the end user, this case, American consumers,end up paying more.
(24:52):
then, you you start looking at the amount that we produce and send across the northernborder to Canada, southern border to Mexico.
And, you know, they're a little bit more dependent on us.
You know, so we just, you know.
That's a reciprocal tariff.
So now we're back at the, we're back, we brought both those countries in to negotiate andyou know, I expect that we'll have a favorable outcome.
(25:20):
So the news stories are, and my next question was, is how could these tariffs impacteveryday Americans?
But I'm reading where eggs are more expensive than they have been, gas is now going backup.
Is this because of these tariffs that are being put in place?
Well, the eggs are due, my understanding is eggs are due to the bird flu.
(25:43):
And so there's just too many chickens are dying.
And, you know, so they're having trouble replacing the chickens fast enough to, produceenough eggs.
I'll have to ask Wilton Simpson when I'm in Tallahassee next week, cause he's an eggfarmer.
but that's the, that's the thought, you know, is that
(26:05):
You know, certainly as gas goes down, goods and services become cheaper because you know,your people are not paying as much.
You know, we, we face this, we had a pool guy.
Well, he moved to Northport and he wasn't going to drive up to Sarasota.
Right.
It's just like, I'm going to, I'm moving to Northport.
I'm going to have clients down there.
I'm not, I'm not driving because it's just too expensive for me to drive and sustain mybusiness.
(26:31):
And so, and I refuse to do chemicals in the pool as you.
And so, I did spend all day today up on the roof doing manual labor.
So.
even believe you worked that into today.
lord have mercy.
(26:52):
so hard on the roof from the hurricane.
Where were you at?
Okay, so then you were talking about fuel prices.
Yes, you know, that's gonna take, I don't think a super long time, but by summer, I thinkwe'll start to see relief in fuel prices, because it does take a little while to start
generating these new policies that end up.
(27:14):
in affecting the American consumers.
So we are going to start producing more oil.
I do not believe it has to do with tariffs.
We're going to start doing more in the pipeline.
when President Trump says, hey, we're going to start drilling for oil up in Alaska andthis little piece of dirt that nobody knows even how to get to, it's going to take a while
(27:35):
to get there, create the pipeline and pump oil there.
That's not something that's going to happen immediately.
Right.
Are there any historical examples of when these tariffs were were either working or reallybackfired?
I don't know any offhand.
mean, we had, you know, the, I don't know that the oil embargo of the late seventies underJimmy Carter were tariff related.
(28:04):
It was more OPEC related in my, I think, but is my recollection, but I would have to, Ididn't really look up that specific question to give you a historical perspective on that.
Okay.
All right.
So you know that I love to take my news from social media.
I actually did some research today on other things, but I do want to stick to my socialmedia news.
(28:29):
So on January 22nd, on X, a post was done by No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen.
And he is listed as one of the most viewed independent progressive political hosts onYouTube, which I did look up in independent progressive because I had no idea what that
was.
(28:50):
And it is apparently someone who has no affiliation to either side.
Right.
But has progressive views.
but has progressive views.
And according to every post that I've seen of this guy, he has definitely picked a side.
So the post that I am talking about today is he had that Trump just terminated the chairof the Kennedy Center and installed himself as the new chair.
(29:18):
He says he will now be dictating the institution's art and culture and says it mustreflect what he chooses.
So digging into this deeper, I read that the Kennedy Center is aware of this, that,
Trump did say this, they have no official communications with the White House about this.
(29:39):
They do know that some members of the board have received termination notices from theadministration.
But then it comes down to really the trans community.
So one of the, it's the president of the CUMITI who says, is about who gets to exist inpublic spaces and whose stories
(30:04):
get to be told on America's stages.
She says, banning an entire art form is a censorship, plain and simple.
Americans don't have to agree on everything, but we should be able to speak our minds andperform our art without bans, retaliation, or intimidation.
So that made me curious to kind of dig a little bit further.
(30:24):
I found on, I know, I know.
I found on February 7th, 2024, there was a show,
done at the Kennedy Center that was it was called Dragtastic Dress Up LGBTQ plus youth inunder 18.
and their parents caregivers are invited to come learn the history of drag and watch theseincredible performers strut their stuff in costumes were encouraged.
(30:55):
So digging further, because then I started looking at the actual board of directors andwho like who is involved in approving the shows that come to the Kennedy Center and
perform there.
So I found that there is the artistic planning
and programming department and they are primarily responsible for selecting and approvingthe performances and events.
(31:21):
The department is led by the senior vice president of artistic planning whose name isMonica Holt.
So my question is, well, and that's what I was thinking, right?
Like, was she one of the people and they didn't say, you they said specifically the board,part of the board.
So.
employees.
(31:42):
was trying to make a joke.
no, because that was honestly my first thought.
Okay, if you're mad, if Trump is mad about these types of performances, which we know heis, that's what it is.
Why?
Don't and listen, hey, I know where you're gonna go with this.
me one second, then I'll let you go on your rant.
(32:03):
Okay.
number, okay, two questions.
Number one, why wouldn't it just be, listen, we need to fire
this department or whatever and look at something different and what are the potential.
implications of this move for the autonomy of cultural institutions in the broaderlandscape of artistic expression.
(32:29):
Because the one thing that I thought about is that this was for 18 and under, but they hadto be accompanied by a parent or a caretaker.
So there are parents and caretakers who are giving into this culture.
So go ahead.
means a potential teacher, right?
(32:51):
So I can bring my class and a parent does not have to be there.
Well, we're saying caretaker, so a caretaker is a broad term.
And secondly, people voted against the LGBTQ plus community grooming our children.
(33:14):
supporting taking pornography, gay pornography out of elementary school libraries that arenot open to the public.
are not libraries that adults use, you know, and they are pushing to get this pornographyinto elementary school libraries.
And this is a perfect example of, you know, Donald Trump, know, this, the Kennedy centerwas set up as a living Memorial to John F.
(33:41):
Kennedy, right?
World War II hero.
former president of the United States.
And I can't imagine that he would be honored by having the LGBTQ community plus community.
grooming children at his, at his living memorial.
(34:04):
Like this is not correct and people voted against it.
And so, you know, so then it's, so then the question is, can the president removetrustees?
The answer is absolutely yes.
That, you know, can he remove all of them?
The answer is no, because there's different groups that, that there's different ways thatboard members get appointed to the board.
(34:25):
But certainly the president of United States gets to appoint a certain number of the boardmembers.
Can the president instill himself as chairman?
Probably not, you know, like he probably can't just.
what was it a joke?
You know how he does that.
Yeah.
but you know, but the question the answer is yes the Kennedy Center does get taxpayermoney and You know, we are tired of having taxpayer money go to grooming our children in a
(34:55):
way that we don't agree with and so If a parent wants to go do that take them down to KeyWest take them to show and there's plenty of them down there You know so there's
What other questions you have for me?
You're not even paying attention.
What are you looking at?
looking at kind of the notes I took on this.
(35:15):
So was trying to figure out the next point I wanted to make.
here's my question.
If we were to have a president that is much younger and who even younger than us,possibly, is this something that...
we're gonna have to face, right?
(35:36):
I mean, because it's a completely different time than when we were growing up, than whenour parents were growing up and all of that.
It's a completely different time.
So is this something that, you know, the next president, if it's not JD or whoever,whatever, is this something that again, we're going to have to go down this road again to,
(35:58):
yeah.
we're gonna have to continue to fight.
you know, we're not going to have, I think the problem here is the focus on children.
you know, you could argue, you know, that the Kennedy Center is the national center forthe culture and arts.
(36:22):
Yeah.
I brought up the story about the show that was there that I just found that was specificto 18 and under.
I don't know, like I didn't read that anywhere other than I looked up the calendar of whatwas happening there.
So that wasn't specifically said by Trump or anything like that.
I just wanna make that known.
think the issue here is obviously the, the gay community has said, no, we are using thisas a platform to promote our gay ideals in our nation's cultural center in Washington, DC,
(36:55):
which is what the Kennedy Center is.
And so by saying that, hey, listen, just like the rest of the country went back to theright, you know, we should, the culture and arts that we are supporting with our tax
dollars.
This is the important point.
The culture and arts we are supporting with our tax dollars are going to go back to theright as well.
And so nobody's saying that you can't go have your LGBTQ performances at somewhere else.
(37:29):
And let people buy tickets and be supported without our tax dollars.
Go do that.
Like there's plenty, like one of the most popular shows in Sarasota is when they have DragQueen Bingo, right, sells out.
So it is popular, it is able, it's kind of along the same lines as PBS and NPR.
(37:54):
News isn't gonna go away because NPR, children's programming isn't gonna go away if we doaway with PBS.
It's just our tax dollars shouldn't be going towards it.
Okay, I would agree with that.
I would agree with that.
And it's scary when you're literally doing a show for 18 and under to show them.
I just, don't understand that part at all.
(38:16):
is loaded.
And so that kind of, you know, gets the old ire up.
Well, but I did say parent too.
mean, and you have to assume that, you know, there are some parents who are, you know,going, going towards that.
So.
And yet what's the show that we see that has the Chuck Lor comments prior to ghosts?
(38:36):
And yeah, and he was talking about how, you know, trauma, emotional trauma can be passedon from generation to generation.
And so, you know, are we, you know, I don't know that there's data out there, butcertainly somebody like Cynthia Nixon rambling in New York city about, you know, you know,
my daughter is trans, her best friends are trans, you know, their cousins are trans.
(39:00):
You know, so they, know, how is that, how are all their friends and all their relativestrans?
You know, and it's some sort of traumatic event that then is seen as people, you know,people see it, you know, they see it and they, it's accepted.
I'm not wrong, I'm not saying this wrong to accept it, but it just seems like there's moredata that needs to be studied.
(39:28):
on these issues because it's, to me, it just seems odd.
Why are we all of sudden went from no trans with me growing up, right, with us growing up,there are no trans kids, to all these trans kids.
And part of it is just adults pushing that as like, you should wear Nikes.
(39:49):
I think it's, I truly think it's social media.
Social media, you know, allows an outlet for, you know, people to reach out to otherpeople and whether it truly is a feeling that you have or something like that, where when
we were growing up, if we had that feeling, who were we talking to?
You know, if we went to our parents, it'd be like, shut up, you know, go play in thestreet.
(40:10):
back to Oedipus, right?
In Greek mythology where everybody's had a feeling that they've questioned, right?
Every single person.
That doesn't mean that's your lifelong path.
And yet, somebody has a feeling, I want to talk to my parents about it.
And a parent's like, oh, that's kind of cool.
You want to dress up today or whatever.
(40:33):
It's kind of Angelina Jolie's kids.
Oh, I want to dress as a boy.
But now you're a girl.
You became a woman.
She didn't go change her daughter's genetics.
And so I think that some people just take it too far.
Yeah, I would agree.
It's a lot and I think we're gonna hear so much more about it.
(40:54):
mean, you have these people that have started going through the change or doing thingslike that that are now not going to have that medical care and I think it's gonna really
become a problem.
So I guess we'll hear more about that in the next four years.
So my next story is I'm not going to do a nonsense story today.
(41:17):
So this is going to be my sports conspiracy story.
Okay.
So, so.
Super Bowl 59 conspiracy before it happens.
Well, sports.
Let's leave it to sports.
So for those who don't know, and my husband brought this to my attention, of course, theMOB, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, the UFC, NASCAR, and along with the WWE are all classified
(41:47):
under the entertainment industry.
Right.
So what does that mean?
Well, for rigged or scripted games.
So is it possible that these sports are rigged?
And an example would be people speculate that leagues like the NFL, the NBA, in FIFA favorcertain teams or players to boost TV ratings.
(42:13):
The league wants a big market team to win in the finals, right?
We've seen that.
We have the referee and the league bias.
An example would be the 2002 NBA Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Kingshad questionable
officiating leading to conspiracy claims that the NBA wanted a Lakers win for ratings.
(42:37):
I mean, yeah, we've seen that.
We've seen that how many times during our games for sure.
Another one is superstar protection or league darlings.
So an example would be the NBA allegedly changed draft lottery results to send PatrickEwing to the Knicks in 1985 benefiting in a major media market.
(43:01):
The next one is scripted comebacks and storylines.
So Super Bowl 2017, Patriots versus the Falcons came back to a 28.
to three comeback, which felt scripted to cement Tom Brady's legacy, which I think we'veall said that, right?
I mean, that whole Patriots, not to say that Tom's not a bad football player, but he had along run.
(43:27):
And then of course, Vegas.
So the point shaving scandals in college basketball and allegations of league influenceover gambling spreads.
The draft lottery, is it rigged?
So the example is a 1985 NBA draft lottery where Patrick Ewing conveniently landed withthe Knicks, had rumors of a bent envelope helping the league to rig it.
(43:52):
injuries and suspensions.
So the NBA suspended Draymond Green in the 2016 finals, potentially helping LeBron JamesCavaliers complete their comeback.
And then Lee controls the media narrative.
So the NFL tried to buy concessions, or concussion research for years to avoid harming itsbrand, right?
So we all saw that with the movie that came out.
(44:16):
So, you my question is to you and to anybody else watching this, do you think that sportsare
rigged?
And do you think that sports could be a scripted reality?
we've all seen, you know, it's funny because every Sunday morning, if you watch the NFL,which is probably the sport we watched the most, you know, they're always like, today's
(44:36):
storylines are X, Y, and Z.
And then they come out, you know, then they, they come true.
Right.
And so they, oftentimes seems like that they are, predicting, you know, these things thatthen are the storyline to end the day, because that's kind of.
(44:58):
they, you know, it appears that they know something the rest of us do not.
And so, you know, it's now I always say that you can't script a blowout, you know, whensomebody blows somebody out, that's, you know, you can't script it.
So I do think it is in the player's hands at some degree, but you know, in Major LeagueBaseball, know, me and the boys have said this forever.
(45:18):
You can change the entire, you can change the entire game on five pitches in the firstthree innings.
You can say, an umpire can determine if it's going to be a high scoring game or a lowscoring game just on five pitches.
And they either call them wide, they call them high, or they call them really tight.
(45:40):
They make the pitcher really work for the strike zone.
And so once players realize that they're really working for the strike zone, then they doit.
And so then you ask, okay, well, do the umpires then know that there's a lot of money inVegas on the over or under in that game?
Right.
Because you can do it literally with four or five pitches and you will, every player goes,okay, he's calling it tight today.
(46:04):
So, you know, wait on your pitch, wait on your pitch and there's a swing for the fences orhe's calling everything a strike.
So you better just go up there and swing away.
If you see something you like, just swing at it because he's calling everything a strikeand those are the low scoring games.
Right.
And so, you know, do the umpires know what, where the money line is in Vegas on at leastthe over and under or how many pitches.
(46:25):
you know, a picture pitches before they're out of the game.
Is there some weird betting thing that happened in that game where it's like, okay, I'mgoing to let this picture go deeper into the game by calling a tight, uh, strike or, know,
everything a strike, or am I going to make him work, you know, and throw 25 pitches in thething to get out of it?
And he's out in the three, you know, the third or fourth inning, like those are simple,you know, and, you know, things, you know, the question is would, would, um,
(46:53):
You know, they talked about putting a chip in the football, right?
So they know exactly where the football is when it hits the ground.
And they've decided not to do that for the 20, 26 season, you know, but yeah.
So there, so there's things, so technology can fix some of these things that everybody,you know, you've seen me watch baseball and watch the Fox tracks.
(47:14):
It's like, you know, you see it in the box and it's a ball, you know,
does it when you sit back and you think of it as entertainment and you look at WWE andknow full well that that's a storyline.
Does it make you feel differently about sports and spending so much time watching baseballor football or whatever?
(47:42):
have to play.
Me and the boys would always talk about how, you know, we would look at the lineup forthe, especially the Boston Red Sox, because they're the raised nemesis.
And we're like, David, you know, we're watching in Tampa.
They're going to make it so David Ortiz bats at the top of the ninth.
He's going to come to bat.
He's seven batters away.
So the trick is you have to figure out how to put those folks on base without them scoringbecause...
(48:06):
The umpires are going to manipulate another at bat for David Ortiz.
And we saw it time after time after time as the game went on, especially in close games orimportant games where they're going to have that big name with the bat in their hand and
the ninth inning.
And you know, now I'm not going to, the pitcher still has to pitch, David Ortiz still hasto hit it, but they're putting the best, you know, they, do manipulate that game script
(48:32):
for sure.
You know.
Are they going to let, are they going to let somebody, you know, in today's Superbowl, arethey going to let somebody, you know, call the 15 yard penalty?
Okay.
Time is out, but is Harrison Buck are going to have a chance for a game, not only a gamewinning, you know, field goal, but it'll make Superbowl history.
(48:52):
Cause it's 58 yards and his Superbowl history making field goal last year was 57 yards.
So that's all, you know, is that going to happen?
I don't know if I'm the NFL, I do that.
And so, but players still have to play.
They're not going to stop, you know, Barkley from, from having two 80 yard runs if he canget away with it, you know?
(49:15):
So if the Eagles can blow them out, then there's not that opportunity.
Yeah, but then you think about it.
I mean, if Kansas City wins, then they're the three Pete.
So there you go with all of your merchandise, your hat, your shirt, your everything thatyou can possibly imagine.
And then the conspiracy with the colors of the Super Bowl logo.
(49:37):
The refs obviously playing for one team and not the other.
obviously the conspiracy lies.
No.
So I would say if they're going to, if they're going to do anything, they would go againstthat.
But, know, no, no.
are you kidding me?
Think about the shirts and the hat and everything that they could sell with three Pete.
(49:58):
We had a room of Kansas City shirts for the yeah, hold on.
Hold on.
Sorry.
Yeah, we can't we can't miss this part.
I don't care how long we go over.
Yeah, thank you, Jamie.
Yeah, I mean, so it's going to be interesting.
So I mean, I don't care about the Super Bowl, although I did hear that Elon is spending alot of his own money to make commercials to talk about Doge and what has been found.
(50:25):
So that'll be interesting to see if that actually happens.
Well, on Wednesday, maybe we talk about some of the Super Bowl commercials if theyinterest us enough, you know?
So I know that I saw the previews of some of them, but you know, probably better to savethat for another day.
All right, well that is all I have.
Jamie, do you have anything?
All right, so if you liked our episode, if you like us, subscribe.
(50:49):
We need your help.
Please have a wonderful Sunday and whoever wins, wins.
Bye.
Here we go, Steelers, here we go.
No, wrong day, wrong day.
well, we are still gonna represent today.
We're out of it, but we, next year.
it's a great idea to do a podcast tonight for those people who are sitting on the couchand not wanting, not wanting to watch the game and, but forced to watch two mediocre teams
(01:11):
go at it and, um, that everybody hates.
So, you know, so hopefully you're on the couch, maybe watching the game and have the gameon in the background, but watching reasonable arguments, news and nonsense as well.
All right.
So in today's episode, we are breaking down some of the biggest political bombshells thatare making headlines right now.
(01:33):
We have Elon, who is dodging scrutiny while expanding his influence in Washington.
Trump, who is building his new cabinet, shaking up the steel industry, and now he's takingcontrol of America's most famous cultural institution.
So what does this mean for you?
Stick around as we break it down in maybe just in a way that might make sense.
(01:54):
All right, Jamie, so here it is.
So we have Elon, who, you know, he's X, he's Tesla, he's SpaceX, he's, you know, he's abillionaire, think he, world's richest man, I think he dropped out of college.
And so now he is heading up the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.
(02:21):
And but what does that actually mean to us?
So
think it's important to know that he's doing this on behalf of the President of the UnitedStates.
He's volunteering, so he doesn't have, quote, an official role, but he is working onbehalf of the President of the United States like millions of other federal employees and
(02:41):
volunteers.
Well, I mean, does it like should we be concerned on the fact that, you know, he is abillionaire and he has access to all the government information that he's getting?
the argument is, and hopefully, you know, there's some level of, you know, an NDA that hecan't then take all this information and use it for his business, right?
(03:07):
That's the fear.
And they could allay, you know, allay that fear by just announcing that, hey, he cannotuse any of this information for his own personal businesses or benefit.
And they haven't...
idea, right?
Yeah, just show the NDA and be like, he's liable if anything happens and all of that.
(03:33):
So maybe that is the best idea.
Yeah, you know, this isn't the first time that a president has come in under saying theywere going to balance the budget.
We've talked about before the last time all 12 appropriation bills were passed on time was1997.
the budget was balanced that year.
And then the last time the budget was balanced was 2001.
(03:53):
So Bill Clinton and Al Gore had an initiative called the National Performance Review.
The only difference was it fell under the vice president.
So Al Gore quote, led the review, but during those eight years, they should shed Clinton,Gore Democrats shed 426,000 federal employees during their two terms in office.
(04:17):
So this is not unheard of it's, you know, I would encourage people.
I just got off, just got finished doing this.
went to LinkedIn and I typed in USAID.
That's it.
Let me see employees from USAID and.
Listen, there's a lot of good people who work at USAID, but if you start looking at theirprevious employment, there's a few out of the 10 or 12 people I looked at, one was a
(04:42):
career service USAID person.
They were there for 25 years and out of the other 11, nine, nine were from the Obamaadministration and they're still there.
And they started out doing whatever for political in the Obama administration.
And then they continued this and there were two, it's going to get past 11 or 12 becausethere were several of them.
(05:07):
Three, I think who were, worked for former members of Congress.
And you've heard me say before, this is the political consultant and former staff members,you know, foreign travel act.
And so they, you know, they work for a member of Congress and you know, everybody knowsthat, Hey, if I've got a lapse in employment, I can go over to USAID.
I can travel, I can get paid.
(05:29):
You know, most of these folks are, you know, are single.
They're not family folks with kids.
And so they, they go and spend a couple of years in, you know, the Pacific Rim or SouthAmerica or Africa or wherever.
And you're you're getting all in the weeds because I'm not talking about those kind ofpeople.
What I'm talking about is how like, how does his involvement, you know, because people are
(05:55):
scared of the information that is obviously going to be shared.
How does his involvement in this affect him in the private sector?
So he has these companies and things like that.
So is there any kind of, what's the word I'm looking for, conflict of interest there?
(06:16):
Musk can probably go buy any of this information on the third party market anytime hewants.
Most of this information is likely out there.
Most of it's out there.
this is, but what is unprecedented in this doge, the Department of Government Efficiency,is that the transparency.
(06:42):
They are finding things out and just putting it out there and just saying, here's what'sbeing, this money is being spent on.
out, but we don't know if they're putting out everything, right?
They're putting out the things that are gonna be the most impact where people are gonna belike, you gotta be kidding me.
The Democrats are now wanting to fight everybody on the streets and they're doing thatshock value, right?
(07:05):
So should Americans be afraid of what is not being shown?
I don't think so.
think they're laying the thing, I think they're laying it open for everybody to see.
I mean, I have friends who are Republicans who've been laid off from USAID and they'vebeen at their five, 10, 12 years.
(07:30):
And so these aren't bad people.
Nobody's saying they're bad people.
Nobody's saying they're doing anything illegal.
It's just time to review.
the functions of these agencies and whether they're meeting the goals of America.
And it's grown too big and we're going broke as a country and so we have to reel in money.
(07:52):
So what should the American people be looking for as this situation keeps developing?
I think you're going to see them march through more and more departments.
you know, when they get over to the department of defense, I read right before we came onthat the department of defense spent $1 billion with a B, billion dollars to audit their
(08:16):
expenses.
I don't know, you know, that's a huge organization.
I don't have their budget number in front of me, but a billion dollars to audit them seemsextremely wasteful.
And so I think you're going to see a lot of those types of things, just coming out of,know, Democrats are a little upset because, know, it's coming on the heels of a Democrat
(08:40):
presidency.
So of course there's more Democrats over at USAID than there were because as people wereflying out of the Biden administration last fall, they all know they can land at USAID.
So there's a lot of people over there who've been there three months, six months, maybeeight months, who are just Biden administration officials who wanted someplace to land.
(09:01):
and weighed out the Trump administration.
And now they're out of a job.
Yeah, and I just had a thought and I just lost it.
So that may come back to me because I completely forgot what I was going to say, but itwas a good point, but I forget.
I know it was a good point.
All right.
So every president builds their team, right?
(09:22):
So you have every administration, my understanding, this is really my first year payingattention to any of this, but my understanding is that every time a new president is
elected, he then can build his entire team.
from I'm assuming what would be considered the floor, the ground up.
And is that correct in the way that I say that?
(09:45):
government service employees who are lifelong quote public servants, you know, and we lookat the USAID stuff and we know that some of those employees are political operatives who
just happen to be stay in a government agency for 10 or 12 years.
But the process, what you're talking about, I think, are cabinet level positions that haveto be confirmed by the US Senate.
(10:14):
And so the US Senate has its own rules like Roberts Rules of Order, their own rules ofprocedure.
And so I'm not an expert on the US Senate rules of procedure, for this conversation, it'sjust not as simple as Roberts Rules.
They get more complicated than that.
So these cabinet positions are the people that will be involved with him daily, let's say,his immediate team.
(10:39):
So Marco Rubio, Pam Bondi, the Secretary of the Interior, know, the people you're seeingcome before the US Senate and being interviewed.
Those are those folks.
Now you certainly have levels below that who are hired.
And some of those employees, you know, or board members, like if you're appointed to theboard of Amtrak, that needs US Senate confirmation.
(11:04):
So if you're...
I worked with Jerry Paul, you know, a few years back and he was the director of the USNuclear Regulatory Commission.
That needs US Senate confirmation.
So that's the person that takes care of all the nuclear sites, right?
All the nuclear weapons, all the nuclear sites and all the nuclear power plants.
So there's very important positions that go through this US Senate confirmation.
(11:28):
And then there are positions that are high level political appointees who are hired,like...
The communications director for the secretary of state doesn't need us Senateconfirmation, right?
So it's decision-making, normally decision-making positions that, that are us Senateconfirmation.
(11:50):
And so, yes, the short answer is yes, Trump get, should get to pick them.
It's unprecedented not to choose like Robert F.
Kennedy.
This it's, expected that he will probably be voted on next week and, and gain secretary ofhealth and human services.
And there's some debate about whether or not he will reach the necessary votes to beconfirmed, but it's, it's usually when somebody is not confirmed, it surrounds personal
(12:17):
issues.
Like we saw with Matt Gates when he was appointed for attorney general, it's usually notpolitical.
They usually allow like you can be, you know, look at, look at the U S Senate confirmationfor the Biden administration.
I mean, it's a, you know,
the Kennedy Arts performing thing that we're gonna get to later.
(12:38):
Yeah, so we've seen, I've even watched some of the Senate hearings and these people goingthrough their interviews and things like that.
So what does, and we'll specifically talk about Trump, but what does he consider when he'spicking these people?
You know, I think after his first administration and having misfires like swamp, swamp,appointees like, like Bolton and I, you know, who ended up not being loyal.
(13:14):
think, I think he, I think he values the ability to get the job done and loyalty.
Those two things I think are what he is.
Hey there.
It's I don't even know how he knows he was sleeping somewhere.
He's like, Oh, I know.
So how does so these
(13:38):
The Democrats obviously raise concerns about these people.
And is it normally just because of kind of like the Elon thing of what they're gonna findout or that they're gonna have pushback?
Like why do they become so up in arms?
Most of this has to do with positioning for the 2026 election.
(13:59):
Has very little to do with confirming or not confirming.
Now they're voting against them because they're in a position where there is nobipartisanship from the Democrat side.
If you go back through the last 16 years, the only bipartisanship is when Republicans gottalked into working with Democrats.
(14:20):
Democrats have held the line and told Republicans constantly,
to go pouncing and so my partisanship is dead as far as Democrats are concerned and Idon't expect them to join and being part of the solution on any of these issues.
And these, so these people won't stay after Trump's gone.
(14:40):
Yeah, they're Trump appointees.
They, they usually resign with a new administration, even if the new administration isRepublican.
if a Republican wins president, it's, it's common practice for them to submit theresignation to, the president.
And then the president can deny the re the resignation, say, I'd like for you to stay onor thank you very much.
(15:00):
I'm going to point my own person.
Okay.
So how might these appointments impact the implementation of Trump's policy agendas?
Well, they're all appointed to carry out President Trump's agenda.
That's where the loyalty comes in.
And so, are you qualified and are you loyal?
(15:22):
Are you going to, you know, and that's one of the things that's interesting when all ofthese folks, all these Democrats ask every single one of these Republican folks who either
going to be confirmed or not, they always ask them this one question and it is,
Do you, will you listen to career bureaucrats if they disagree with the president of theUnited States?
(15:48):
And now what we've learned through Doge is that most of these career bureaucrats, not allof them, but some of them for sure, some of them who've raised, gone up through the ranks
and are in very high positions, aren't career bureaucrats at all.
They're political appointees who have stayed there long enough to become career.
bureaucrats, so to speak.
(16:09):
And so it's a loaded question.
And they know it's a loaded question.
most of these folks have, everybody practices their confirmation hearings.
They go through the process of what they might be asked and are prepared to answer.
Certainly that basic question that they've been asking every single person they'veinterviewed.
(16:33):
Okay.
So how do these appointments reflect like a broader dynamic between the two parties?
I mean, is it something that has there been, has there ever been a time where a, and wecan, we can use Trump, but like, and I didn't watch all the hearings, but has there been a
time during this process where the Democrats are like, yes, we definitely approve of youbeing in one of these positions.
(17:01):
Okay.
passed 99 to zero.
There's certain, now it is common practice that if a US Senator is being confirmed, theSenate sticks with their own regardless of party.
So Rubio was kind of a, you know, the one foot putt as Donald Trump likes to say.
And, you know, but he certainly is qualified.
(17:23):
I mean, I don't think there's a better...
more experienced person in foreign relations in the US Senate than Marco Rubio, if not inthe country.
So he's definitely qualified for the position and he's loyal to President Trump.
And we saw that when he went to Panama and Panama decided to on their own, decided to kindof pull back from Chinese involvement in the Panama Canal.
(17:51):
Now, do you think there would ever be a time when they would appoint somebody through andas a, I don't want to say as a test, but almost as a way to screw things up?
You know, I don't think anybody who has spent their life in government, you know, wedisagree, know, Democrats and Republicans disagree.
(18:18):
You know, we start looking at some of the things Democrats have done and you could arguethat Democrats want to see America fail because it's no other explanation for some of the
bizarre things that they are promoting.
But for the most part, you know, my experience with Democrats and those
who are in elected office, everybody wants America to succeed.
(18:40):
It's how we succeed.
And who benefits during that succeeding?
And so Obama and Biden pushed these Green New Deals because those are generally Democratdonors, right?
so, but they've been proven bad for America, bad for policy, bad for the economy, bad forenergy policy, bad for national security.
(19:05):
But they push those things anyway and they think they're right.
They honestly think they're right.
So, you know, I don't blame somebody.
You know, hadn't, I was on a podcast recently.
We were talking about AOC.
think it was Grumbly's fired up and they're like, Hey, we appreciate AOC's passion.
She believes she's right.
She's just not, but you know, she's fighting for what she believes is right.
(19:28):
And that's why we have, you know, the loyal opposition party in this country.
And, you know, it'll swing both ways in the next four or eight years where Republicanswill need to be the loyal opposition.
And, and right now the Democrats are.
Okay, so our next subject is, so President Trump announced that Japan's Nippon, is itNipon?
(19:54):
Nippon?
Nippon?
you know, those, those things don't roll off the Southern tongue, baby.
So I, know, the, yeah.
So I would call it Nipon, but I don't know.
Has decided to forego its bid to purchase US Steel.
Now, of course, this is born and raised Pittsburgh.
So this is, you know, something I think about too.
(20:18):
No, no, no.
Yeah, we're in deep sorrow.
Yeah.
but instead they are opting to invest heavily in the company.
This move, I guess, comes alongside the administration's plan to implement the reciprocaltariffs on countries that impose tariffs on US goods.
(20:39):
So what was the original plan for the Japan Steel Company to acquire US Steel?
And why was it controversial just for the, I mean, is it just for the simple fact becausenow there's a Japanese company
in the US making steel.
that?
No, I don't know that it's that, but US Steel has historically, at least for the last 100,110 years, been seen as a major player in foreign policy and protecting our country,
(21:12):
right?
And so in national security.
we're, you know, to hand that over to a, not hand it over, to sell it to a foreigncountry, you know, I think what,
both, seems like Biden and Trump kind of agreed on this one.
You know, Biden is the one who delayed the sale and it sounded like Trump agreed or atleast kind of endorsed this heavy investment in US deal versus buying it.
(21:42):
And so it could end up being the best of both worlds.
it is a national, the national security issue, I think, but it also is kind of maybehaving a global influence.
like Nippon from Japan will help US Steel better compete in around the world againstChinese Steel.
(22:06):
Okay.
How are Republicans and Democrats reacting to the decision?
So, you know, is it is it a relief that they're not buying it, even though they areinvesting in it?
Like I said, I haven't seen that much, I haven't seen that much really rhetoric fromeither side.
I think most people think that this probably landed in probably the best place it can withthe heavy investment from Japan versus an outright ownership.
(22:35):
But I really haven't seen, I think the fact that Joe Biden is the one who stopped the saleand then Donald Trump endorsed this heavier investment versus buying it.
And then.
Nippon and US Steel came to this agreement.
I think it's kind of one of those negotiation tactics that I think both sides are kind oflike, would we rather US Steel be on its own?
(22:57):
Sure, but they are their own company and they have the right to kind of do what they can.
There's a little bit of government oversight because of the national security issue, but Ithink we probably ended up where people are as happy as they can be.
Okay, so let's talk about tariffs.
So what are reciprocal tariffs and how do they work?
(23:21):
boy.
yeah.
So that's kind of what, you know, that's what happened with Canada and Mexico is, youknow, Donald Trump said, Hey, we're going to close the border.
We're not taking any more of this fentanyl and you know, we're, tired of, protectingeveryone.
Right?
Like it's, we're paying too much.
We're going in debt.
You know, nobody else is helping us pay off our debt.
(23:43):
Right.
And, and so we have to.
have some level of responsibility to our children and grandchildren and, and at least tryto balance the budget.
If not, you know, try to pay down some of this debt.
And, know, so Donald Trump said, Hey, listen, we're going to, you know, have a 25 % tariffon Canada to 25%.
(24:07):
So they come back and say, yeah, we're going to do it too.
You know, they're going to have a reciprocal tariff.
And, and as we talked about in the past podcast,
You know, one of the podcasts I was on was an international economist and he, you know,argued that, well, they're going to run out of goods to send us long before we send the
(24:28):
goods to them.
And it's going to end up hurting their economies more.
Certainly, tariffs are not helpful to an economy.
nearly all economists agree that tariffs are inflationary and a form.
I don't think.
It's a form of tax on the end user because the end user, this case, American consumers,end up paying more.
(24:52):
then, you you start looking at the amount that we produce and send across the northernborder to Canada, southern border to Mexico.
And, you know, they're a little bit more dependent on us.
You know, so we just, you know.
That's a reciprocal tariff.
So now we're back at the, we're back, we brought both those countries in to negotiate andyou know, I expect that we'll have a favorable outcome.
(25:20):
So the news stories are, and my next question was, is how could these tariffs impacteveryday Americans?
But I'm reading where eggs are more expensive than they have been, gas is now going backup.
Is this because of these tariffs that are being put in place?
Well, the eggs are due, my understanding is eggs are due to the bird flu.
(25:43):
And so there's just too many chickens are dying.
And, you know, so they're having trouble replacing the chickens fast enough to, produceenough eggs.
I'll have to ask Wilton Simpson when I'm in Tallahassee next week, cause he's an eggfarmer.
but that's the, that's the thought, you know, is that
(26:05):
You know, certainly as gas goes down, goods and services become cheaper because you know,your people are not paying as much.
You know, we, we face this, we had a pool guy.
Well, he moved to Northport and he wasn't going to drive up to Sarasota.
Right.
It's just like, I'm going to, I'm moving to Northport.
I'm going to have clients down there.
I'm not, I'm not driving because it's just too expensive for me to drive and sustain mybusiness.
(26:31):
And so, and I refuse to do chemicals in the pool as you.
And so, I did spend all day today up on the roof doing manual labor.
So.
even believe you worked that into today.
lord have mercy.
(26:52):
so hard on the roof from the hurricane.
Where were you at?
Okay, so then you were talking about fuel prices.
Yes, you know, that's gonna take, I don't think a super long time, but by summer, I thinkwe'll start to see relief in fuel prices, because it does take a little while to start
generating these new policies that end up.
(27:14):
in affecting the American consumers.
So we are going to start producing more oil.
I do not believe it has to do with tariffs.
We're going to start doing more in the pipeline.
when President Trump says, hey, we're going to start drilling for oil up in Alaska andthis little piece of dirt that nobody knows even how to get to, it's going to take a while
(27:35):
to get there, create the pipeline and pump oil there.
That's not something that's going to happen immediately.
Right.
Are there any historical examples of when these tariffs were were either working or reallybackfired?
I don't know any offhand.
mean, we had, you know, the, I don't know that the oil embargo of the late seventies underJimmy Carter were tariff related.
(28:04):
It was more OPEC related in my, I think, but is my recollection, but I would have to, Ididn't really look up that specific question to give you a historical perspective on that.
Okay.
All right.
So you know that I love to take my news from social media.
I actually did some research today on other things, but I do want to stick to my socialmedia news.
(28:29):
So on January 22nd, on X, a post was done by No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen.
And he is listed as one of the most viewed independent progressive political hosts onYouTube, which I did look up in independent progressive because I had no idea what that
was.
(28:50):
And it is apparently someone who has no affiliation to either side.
Right.
But has progressive views.
but has progressive views.
And according to every post that I've seen of this guy, he has definitely picked a side.
So the post that I am talking about today is he had that Trump just terminated the chairof the Kennedy Center and installed himself as the new chair.
(29:18):
He says he will now be dictating the institution's art and culture and says it mustreflect what he chooses.
So digging into this deeper, I read that the Kennedy Center is aware of this, that,
Trump did say this, they have no official communications with the White House about this.
(29:39):
They do know that some members of the board have received termination notices from theadministration.
But then it comes down to really the trans community.
So one of the, it's the president of the CUMITI who says, is about who gets to exist inpublic spaces and whose stories
(30:04):
get to be told on America's stages.
She says, banning an entire art form is a censorship, plain and simple.
Americans don't have to agree on everything, but we should be able to speak our minds andperform our art without bans, retaliation, or intimidation.
So that made me curious to kind of dig a little bit further.
(30:24):
I found on, I know, I know.
I found on February 7th, 2024, there was a show,
done at the Kennedy Center that was it was called Dragtastic Dress Up LGBTQ plus youth inunder 18.
and their parents caregivers are invited to come learn the history of drag and watch theseincredible performers strut their stuff in costumes were encouraged.
(30:55):
So digging further, because then I started looking at the actual board of directors andwho like who is involved in approving the shows that come to the Kennedy Center and
perform there.
So I found that there is the artistic planning
and programming department and they are primarily responsible for selecting and approvingthe performances and events.
(31:21):
The department is led by the senior vice president of artistic planning whose name isMonica Holt.
So my question is, well, and that's what I was thinking, right?
Like, was she one of the people and they didn't say, you they said specifically the board,part of the board.
So.
employees.
(31:42):
was trying to make a joke.
no, because that was honestly my first thought.
Okay, if you're mad, if Trump is mad about these types of performances, which we know heis, that's what it is.
Why?
Don't and listen, hey, I know where you're gonna go with this.
me one second, then I'll let you go on your rant.
(32:03):
Okay.
number, okay, two questions.
Number one, why wouldn't it just be, listen, we need to fire
this department or whatever and look at something different and what are the potential.
implications of this move for the autonomy of cultural institutions in the broaderlandscape of artistic expression.
(32:29):
Because the one thing that I thought about is that this was for 18 and under, but they hadto be accompanied by a parent or a caretaker.
So there are parents and caretakers who are giving into this culture.
So go ahead.
means a potential teacher, right?
(32:51):
So I can bring my class and a parent does not have to be there.
Well, we're saying caretaker, so a caretaker is a broad term.
And secondly, people voted against the LGBTQ plus community grooming our children.
(33:14):
supporting taking pornography, gay pornography out of elementary school libraries that arenot open to the public.
are not libraries that adults use, you know, and they are pushing to get this pornographyinto elementary school libraries.
And this is a perfect example of, you know, Donald Trump, know, this, the Kennedy centerwas set up as a living Memorial to John F.
(33:41):
Kennedy, right?
World War II hero.
former president of the United States.
And I can't imagine that he would be honored by having the LGBTQ community plus community.
grooming children at his, at his living memorial.
(34:04):
Like this is not correct and people voted against it.
And so, you know, so then it's, so then the question is, can the president removetrustees?
The answer is absolutely yes.
That, you know, can he remove all of them?
The answer is no, because there's different groups that, that there's different ways thatboard members get appointed to the board.
(34:25):
But certainly the president of United States gets to appoint a certain number of the boardmembers.
Can the president instill himself as chairman?
Probably not, you know, like he probably can't just.
what was it a joke?
You know how he does that.
Yeah.
but you know, but the question the answer is yes the Kennedy Center does get taxpayermoney and You know, we are tired of having taxpayer money go to grooming our children in a
(34:55):
way that we don't agree with and so If a parent wants to go do that take them down to KeyWest take them to show and there's plenty of them down there You know so there's
What other questions you have for me?
You're not even paying attention.
What are you looking at?
looking at kind of the notes I took on this.
(35:15):
So was trying to figure out the next point I wanted to make.
here's my question.
If we were to have a president that is much younger and who even younger than us,possibly, is this something that...
we're gonna have to face, right?
(35:36):
I mean, because it's a completely different time than when we were growing up, than whenour parents were growing up and all of that.
It's a completely different time.
So is this something that, you know, the next president, if it's not JD or whoever,whatever, is this something that again, we're going to have to go down this road again to,
(35:58):
yeah.
we're gonna have to continue to fight.
you know, we're not going to have, I think the problem here is the focus on children.
you know, you could argue, you know, that the Kennedy Center is the national center forthe culture and arts.
(36:22):
Yeah.
I brought up the story about the show that was there that I just found that was specificto 18 and under.
I don't know, like I didn't read that anywhere other than I looked up the calendar of whatwas happening there.
So that wasn't specifically said by Trump or anything like that.
I just wanna make that known.
think the issue here is obviously the, the gay community has said, no, we are using thisas a platform to promote our gay ideals in our nation's cultural center in Washington, DC,
(36:55):
which is what the Kennedy Center is.
And so by saying that, hey, listen, just like the rest of the country went back to theright, you know, we should, the culture and arts that we are supporting with our tax
dollars.
This is the important point.
The culture and arts we are supporting with our tax dollars are going to go back to theright as well.
And so nobody's saying that you can't go have your LGBTQ performances at somewhere else.
(37:29):
And let people buy tickets and be supported without our tax dollars.
Go do that.
Like there's plenty, like one of the most popular shows in Sarasota is when they have DragQueen Bingo, right, sells out.
So it is popular, it is able, it's kind of along the same lines as PBS and NPR.
(37:54):
News isn't gonna go away because NPR, children's programming isn't gonna go away if we doaway with PBS.
It's just our tax dollars shouldn't be going towards it.
Okay, I would agree with that.
I would agree with that.
And it's scary when you're literally doing a show for 18 and under to show them.
I just, don't understand that part at all.
(38:16):
is loaded.
And so that kind of, you know, gets the old ire up.
Well, but I did say parent too.
mean, and you have to assume that, you know, there are some parents who are, you know,going, going towards that.
So.
And yet what's the show that we see that has the Chuck Lor comments prior to ghosts?
(38:36):
And yeah, and he was talking about how, you know, trauma, emotional trauma can be passedon from generation to generation.
And so, you know, are we, you know, I don't know that there's data out there, butcertainly somebody like Cynthia Nixon rambling in New York city about, you know, you know,
my daughter is trans, her best friends are trans, you know, their cousins are trans.
(39:00):
You know, so they, know, how is that, how are all their friends and all their relativestrans?
You know, and it's some sort of traumatic event that then is seen as people, you know,people see it, you know, they see it and they, it's accepted.
I'm not wrong, I'm not saying this wrong to accept it, but it just seems like there's moredata that needs to be studied.
(39:28):
on these issues because it's, to me, it just seems odd.
Why are we all of sudden went from no trans with me growing up, right, with us growing up,there are no trans kids, to all these trans kids.
And part of it is just adults pushing that as like, you should wear Nikes.
(39:49):
I think it's, I truly think it's social media.
Social media, you know, allows an outlet for, you know, people to reach out to otherpeople and whether it truly is a feeling that you have or something like that, where when
we were growing up, if we had that feeling, who were we talking to?
You know, if we went to our parents, it'd be like, shut up, you know, go play in thestreet.
(40:10):
back to Oedipus, right?
In Greek mythology where everybody's had a feeling that they've questioned, right?
Every single person.
That doesn't mean that's your lifelong path.
And yet, somebody has a feeling, I want to talk to my parents about it.
And a parent's like, oh, that's kind of cool.
You want to dress up today or whatever.
(40:33):
It's kind of Angelina Jolie's kids.
Oh, I want to dress as a boy.
But now you're a girl.
You became a woman.
She didn't go change her daughter's genetics.
And so I think that some people just take it too far.
Yeah, I would agree.
It's a lot and I think we're gonna hear so much more about it.
(40:54):
mean, you have these people that have started going through the change or doing thingslike that that are now not going to have that medical care and I think it's gonna really
become a problem.
So I guess we'll hear more about that in the next four years.
So my next story is I'm not going to do a nonsense story today.
(41:17):
So this is going to be my sports conspiracy story.
Okay.
So, so.
Super Bowl 59 conspiracy before it happens.
Well, sports.
Let's leave it to sports.
So for those who don't know, and my husband brought this to my attention, of course, theMOB, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, the UFC, NASCAR, and along with the WWE are all classified
(41:47):
under the entertainment industry.
Right.
So what does that mean?
Well, for rigged or scripted games.
So is it possible that these sports are rigged?
And an example would be people speculate that leagues like the NFL, the NBA, in FIFA favorcertain teams or players to boost TV ratings.
(42:13):
The league wants a big market team to win in the finals, right?
We've seen that.
We have the referee and the league bias.
An example would be the 2002 NBA Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Kingshad questionable
officiating leading to conspiracy claims that the NBA wanted a Lakers win for ratings.
(42:37):
I mean, yeah, we've seen that.
We've seen that how many times during our games for sure.
Another one is superstar protection or league darlings.
So an example would be the NBA allegedly changed draft lottery results to send PatrickEwing to the Knicks in 1985 benefiting in a major media market.
(43:01):
The next one is scripted comebacks and storylines.
So Super Bowl 2017, Patriots versus the Falcons came back to a 28.
to three comeback, which felt scripted to cement Tom Brady's legacy, which I think we'veall said that, right?
I mean, that whole Patriots, not to say that Tom's not a bad football player, but he had along run.
(43:27):
And then of course, Vegas.
So the point shaving scandals in college basketball and allegations of league influenceover gambling spreads.
The draft lottery, is it rigged?
So the example is a 1985 NBA draft lottery where Patrick Ewing conveniently landed withthe Knicks, had rumors of a bent envelope helping the league to rig it.
(43:52):
injuries and suspensions.
So the NBA suspended Draymond Green in the 2016 finals, potentially helping LeBron JamesCavaliers complete their comeback.
And then Lee controls the media narrative.
So the NFL tried to buy concessions, or concussion research for years to avoid harming itsbrand, right?
So we all saw that with the movie that came out.
(44:16):
So, you my question is to you and to anybody else watching this, do you think that sportsare
rigged?
And do you think that sports could be a scripted reality?
we've all seen, you know, it's funny because every Sunday morning, if you watch the NFL,which is probably the sport we watched the most, you know, they're always like, today's
(44:36):
storylines are X, Y, and Z.
And then they come out, you know, then they, they come true.
Right.
And so they, oftentimes seems like that they are, predicting, you know, these things thatthen are the storyline to end the day, because that's kind of.
(44:58):
they, you know, it appears that they know something the rest of us do not.
And so, you know, it's now I always say that you can't script a blowout, you know, whensomebody blows somebody out, that's, you know, you can't script it.
So I do think it is in the player's hands at some degree, but you know, in Major LeagueBaseball, know, me and the boys have said this forever.
(45:18):
You can change the entire, you can change the entire game on five pitches in the firstthree innings.
You can say, an umpire can determine if it's going to be a high scoring game or a lowscoring game just on five pitches.
And they either call them wide, they call them high, or they call them really tight.
(45:40):
They make the pitcher really work for the strike zone.
And so once players realize that they're really working for the strike zone, then they doit.
And so then you ask, okay, well, do the umpires then know that there's a lot of money inVegas on the over or under in that game?
Right.
Because you can do it literally with four or five pitches and you will, every player goes,okay, he's calling it tight today.
(46:04):
So, you know, wait on your pitch, wait on your pitch and there's a swing for the fences orhe's calling everything a strike.
So you better just go up there and swing away.
If you see something you like, just swing at it because he's calling everything a strikeand those are the low scoring games.
Right.
And so, you know, do the umpires know what, where the money line is in Vegas on at leastthe over and under or how many pitches.
(46:25):
you know, a picture pitches before they're out of the game.
Is there some weird betting thing that happened in that game where it's like, okay, I'mgoing to let this picture go deeper into the game by calling a tight, uh, strike or, know,
everything a strike, or am I going to make him work, you know, and throw 25 pitches in thething to get out of it?
And he's out in the three, you know, the third or fourth inning, like those are simple,you know, and, you know, things, you know, the question is would, would, um,
(46:53):
You know, they talked about putting a chip in the football, right?
So they know exactly where the football is when it hits the ground.
And they've decided not to do that for the 20, 26 season, you know, but yeah.
So there, so there's things, so technology can fix some of these things that everybody,you know, you've seen me watch baseball and watch the Fox tracks.
(47:14):
It's like, you know, you see it in the box and it's a ball, you know,
does it when you sit back and you think of it as entertainment and you look at WWE andknow full well that that's a storyline.
Does it make you feel differently about sports and spending so much time watching baseballor football or whatever?
(47:42):
have to play.
Me and the boys would always talk about how, you know, we would look at the lineup forthe, especially the Boston Red Sox, because they're the raised nemesis.
And we're like, David, you know, we're watching in Tampa.
They're going to make it so David Ortiz bats at the top of the ninth.
He's going to come to bat.
He's seven batters away.
So the trick is you have to figure out how to put those folks on base without them scoringbecause...
(48:06):
The umpires are going to manipulate another at bat for David Ortiz.
And we saw it time after time after time as the game went on, especially in close games orimportant games where they're going to have that big name with the bat in their hand and
the ninth inning.
And you know, now I'm not going to, the pitcher still has to pitch, David Ortiz still hasto hit it, but they're putting the best, you know, they, do manipulate that game script
(48:32):
for sure.
You know.
Are they going to let, are they going to let somebody, you know, in today's Superbowl, arethey going to let somebody, you know, call the 15 yard penalty?
Okay.
Time is out, but is Harrison Buck are going to have a chance for a game, not only a gamewinning, you know, field goal, but it'll make Superbowl history.
(48:52):
Cause it's 58 yards and his Superbowl history making field goal last year was 57 yards.
So that's all, you know, is that going to happen?
I don't know if I'm the NFL, I do that.
And so, but players still have to play.
They're not going to stop, you know, Barkley from, from having two 80 yard runs if he canget away with it, you know?
(49:15):
So if the Eagles can blow them out, then there's not that opportunity.
Yeah, but then you think about it.
I mean, if Kansas City wins, then they're the three Pete.
So there you go with all of your merchandise, your hat, your shirt, your everything thatyou can possibly imagine.
And then the conspiracy with the colors of the Super Bowl logo.
(49:37):
The refs obviously playing for one team and not the other.
obviously the conspiracy lies.
No.
So I would say if they're going to, if they're going to do anything, they would go againstthat.
But, know, no, no.
are you kidding me?
Think about the shirts and the hat and everything that they could sell with three Pete.
(49:58):
We had a room of Kansas City shirts for the yeah, hold on.
Hold on.
Sorry.
Yeah, we can't we can't miss this part.
I don't care how long we go over.
Yeah, thank you, Jamie.
Yeah, I mean, so it's going to be interesting.
So I mean, I don't care about the Super Bowl, although I did hear that Elon is spending alot of his own money to make commercials to talk about Doge and what has been found.
(50:25):
So that'll be interesting to see if that actually happens.
Well, on Wednesday, maybe we talk about some of the Super Bowl commercials if theyinterest us enough, you know?
So I know that I saw the previews of some of them, but you know, probably better to savethat for another day.
All right, well that is all I have.
Jamie, do you have anything?
All right, so if you liked our episode, if you like us, subscribe.
(50:49):
We need your help.
Please have a wonderful Sunday and whoever wins, wins.
Bye.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
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Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com