July 10, 2025 • 29 mins
(July 10, 2025)
Trump hires scientists who doubt the consensus on climate change.Prices are starting to rise because of tariffs and economists say this is just the beginning. Why can’t Americans buy the world’s best electric car? Stephen Miller finally gets his revenge on L.A. The host of ‘Later with Mo Kelly’ joins Bill to talk about Superman opening this weekend is expected to make over $200MIL.
Trump hires scientists who doubt the consensus on climate change.Prices are starting to rise because of tariffs and economists say this is just the beginning. Why can’t Americans buy the world’s best electric car? Stephen Miller finally gets his revenge on L.A. The host of ‘Later with Mo Kelly’ joins Bill to talk about Superman opening this weekend is expected to make over $200MIL.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
KFI AM six forty Bill Handle here on a Thursday morning,
July tenh Hot, Hot, and what's going.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
On around the world that we are looking at.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
President Biden's former White House physician would not testify to
questions as part of this House Republican investigation into Biden's health.
The argument is, or the accusation is, and sometimes accusations
are kind of crazy coming from Congress, from conservative members
of Congress. But the accusation is is that people in
(00:44):
the inner circle of the Biden world covered up the
fact that he had no business being president. Towards the end,
they're absolutely right. It was a cover up and that
should be criminality on a huge level. Don't know if
it is or not. I don't know what the law
is on covering that stuff up. Okay, let's talk about
tariffs for a moment. Economists, researchers, analysts have warned that
(01:10):
Donald Trump's trade policy, these steep tariffs on most goods
that come to America, is going to be a big
blow to consumers. Basically prices, and it's all about pricing,
is what it is. And if you look at the
economic data. Inflation is basically flat, gas prices are down,
(01:35):
corporations are doing great.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So how are.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Tariffs such a detriment? Why are there what's horrible about tariffs?
Remember when Donald Trump said, the most beautiful phrase in
the English language is terrorifts, most beautiful word is tariffs, tariffs, tariffs, tariffs.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Well, they're saying, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Talking about the administration, that the economic reports show that
tariffs are working, but there is a growing concern saying,
hang on a minute, prices are moving higher, not a lot,
I mean incrementally. And here's the part that kind of scary.
(02:20):
Economists a lot of economists, and again they are economists
to go the other way. Economy is like statistics. There
are lies and damn lies. So you can say anything
you want. But economists say, this is just the beginning,
and here's what's going on with all this. Tariffs have
been applied in a staggered manner. It's there's no rhyme
(02:42):
nor reason. The latest is Trump threatening fifty percent tariff
on Brazilian goods because the administration in Brazil is going
after the previous president for corruption, and the previous president,
Bolsonnario is a huge Trump support or called himself the
Donald Trump of South America. Well, Donald Trump is so
(03:06):
offended that the president of Brazil is being nailed by.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
The government, current government.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
He calls it a witch hunt and I'm going to
punish Brazil, not for economics, just because the current president,
Lula is not a fan.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So that's one problem.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
The earliest tariffs when in effect in February against China
and then in March steel and alumin against everybody. However,
that wasn't going to happen until April or later. And
here is the issue with this president calling for tariffs.
(03:48):
They've been postponed, they've been mixed, they've been increased, they've
been decreased.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I'm talking day to day. Matter of fact.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
President Trump wakes up in the morning and there's a
tariff of twenty percent on a given good against the country.
Well by dinner time it's twenty five or thirty percent,
or it's been held off.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
It is that crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So why are prices Why is the economy doing okay? Well,
look at let's look at tariffs for a moment. First
of all, shipping takes weeks, so tariffs on goods that
are coming into the country go are already in the
country and those are exempt and tariffs depending on the tariff.
(04:38):
Some tariffs happen at the country of origin. Well, the
goods are already on the seas. That takes weeks.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
That's what I do with my business with my partner.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
We have two containers sitting on a boat right now
coming in from China, inventories loaded up before the tariffs hit.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
You have companies that said, oh boy, are coming.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Let's load up and get as many goods as we
can get in here before the tariffs hit, so that
became front loaded. We'll see what happens afterwards. Some of
the costs are being eaten straight out. Presidents said, they're
being eaten by the country of origin.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
They're not. The consumer pays for it. We pay for it.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
However, the distributor, the importer also has to suck up
some of the prices. They're looking at it and going,
we can't raise the rates to this extent, so we're
going to make less money.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
We're doing that exactly. We're just we business people.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Businesses in general hesitant to pass on higher prices, I
mean consumers because of inflation that already hit. Not during
the Trump administration. But during the Biden administration, inflation was high.
It hit nine percent per year. Man, that raises prices
big time. So we're in summer and awareness of prices
(06:05):
is lower in the summer than the fall or the winter.
The US is service heavy. That's our economy, especially in
the summertime. Why we're spending money on travel, recreation, leisure.
Now come fall or winter, household budgets really come into play.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Back to school comes into play.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
We're spending money on Halloween and Christmas, and that's a
large amount of money. Inflation, the index, the indices are comprehensive.
Rising goods prices are showing up in the inflation data,
but they've been overshadowed when gas prices drop. And you
(06:50):
saw all of the reports because what was it this
pardon me boy, am i coffee?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
This morning? This past.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Weekend, July fourth weekend, it was a record number of
people that were driving, an insane number of people, more
so than any other time. And when that was reported,
what was it followed with every single time? Gas prices
are thirty six percent less per gallon than they were
a year ago, So people jumping in their cars. Gas
(07:27):
prices are down and that is part of inflation. Now,
what does that have to do with food, What does
that have to do with goods, What does that have
to do with appliances? Nothing, but it brings the inflation
figure down. So we're looking at an economy that some
economists will find out. More and more are saying long term,
(07:49):
even medium term, there's some issues going on with these tariffs.
Short term doesn't seem to be a problem, and certainly
the Trump administration, the economists among the trust Trump administers,
are saying, this is the best thing that ever happened
because of tariffs. The country is going to be stronger,
it's going to be better, Americans will do more, have
(08:09):
more money. And then there's the issue of the social
programs that are being cut, like crazy food stamps, etc.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
But that is entirely different issue.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
All right, Neil, Before we move on, quick word from
you about your broadcast on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Thank you sir.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Yes, This Saturday, July twelfth, join me at Wild Fork
Foods in Santa Clarita off Magic Mountain Parkway two to five.
I'll be broadcasting live. Some are grilling seasons here, so
we're celebrating that giving away a barbecue. There'll be food
samples and grilling going on, all kinds of great stuff,
giving away Dodgers tickets as well Magic Mountain tickets. So
(08:49):
come on out. It's this Saturday, Wild Fork in Santa Clarita.
They're on Magic Mountain Parkway KFIAM six to forty dot
com slash wild Fork for more info.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Thanks buddy, And those were a lot of fun, by
the way, and Neil and I are going to be
two doing two more together at Wildfork locations. We'll tell
you about that later on or annual thanks grilling, which
is always tremendous fun.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I want to go to an article in op ed
peace and take information from that in the New York Times,
and it was well. It refers to Michael Dunn, who
is a former General Motors executive. He consults to the
industry and he worked in China's auto sector.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
For more than twenty years.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And he talks about this company called by d You
ever heard of it?
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Probably not.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It was sort of a small middling player in the
auto industry just a few years ago. The biggest market
of cars is in China, by the way. They buy
by far, manufacturer by far and sell more cars than
any country in the world, I mean a matter of
twice over the US, and so middlink player in the
(10:08):
auto industry just a few years ago. It's a Chinese
electric vehicle manufacture, and it.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Blew past Tesla Tesla this past year to.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Become the world's top selling EV brand and is expected
to pull even with the biggest carmakers in the world
Toyota and Volkswagen by twenty thirty.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
That is its trajectory. BYD. This is actually hilarious. What
do you think that stands for?
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Neil?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
If you had to guess BYD.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Why not just throw it out by your Yeah, I know,
I'm just throwing something at you. It's so hard to
guess it's BYD stands for build your Dreams.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Oh boy, yeah, I know, yeah, I know. That is great.
Now you can't buy these in the United States.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
They're not banned banned, but the tariffs make them impossible
to sell. And those tariffs to protect the US automakers
double the price of imported Chinese plugins.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Okay, so erecting.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
These tariff walls to protect US automakers, well, it does work,
but ultimately there's some real problems because we're the world
market is going to be controlling. I mean, you're only
going to be tariffing like crazy for during the Trump
administration and if the Democratic Party gets in, if we
(11:49):
have a Democrat who becomes the president next time around.
Although I just heard President Trump said he's not going
to run in twenty twenty eight, which is a hoot,
just because that pesky constitution just really gets in the way,
doesn't it. So we may be looking at a whole
new world of tariffs, which we will if we have
(12:14):
a Democrat come into office. So how does this work?
How does a company like this get to this point? Well,
this is the long game. And what China plays is
the long game now it can why because it has
a dictator. And when there isn't a dictator as powerful
(12:38):
as Shing, it has a pollit bureau, just a bunch
of guys sitting around the table that make all the
demo all the decisions. There is no Congress, there are
no courts that stop government from.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Doing anything, but what they do.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
This industrial model is leaving America in the dust. It
combines government financial support big time, a very methodical long
term planning, the long game, and aggressive innovation a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Very important, far more than actually marketing.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Innovation is everything, and it's already enabled China to have
global dominance in a whole range of high tech industries batteries, robotics, drones.
Losing these markets to the Chinese companies, which we already
have done, was bad enough. Now losing it to the
(13:43):
auto manufacturing industry is just horrific. We talk about Russia
being our enemy, we talk about the various our allies
not being allies, our enemies now being friends. If you
look at people that are really in the know, China
(14:06):
is our greatest enemy. And not even so much militarily,
although we have the South China Seas and we have
Taiwan and there's a lot of moving pieces there. It's
the economic strength of China and where it's going, you know,
with one point three billion people with anything, the government
wants to go and will go in that direction and
(14:28):
nothing gets in the way. And in this case it's innovation, innovation,
it is financial support. China is going to control. China
is going to be the economic juggernaut that the United
States was and is to still some extent, not the
way it was.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Look at history.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
After World War Two, Europe was in shambles, Europe didn't
exist economically. Asia didn't exist economically. South America didn't exist
economically anyways. I mean nothing to do with the war.
Because of South America. The US owned the world economically,
(15:10):
owned it outright.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
And we're moving to a point where China is going
to be there.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Continuing on with the conversation of this Chinese car company
BYD standing for build Your Dreams, which is fascinating, and
it can't be sold in the United States. These cars
built by this company, even though they're the best.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Evs in the world.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
And as I explained, this has to do with the
Chinese government supporting them the way that the long game
is being played not only by the government, by the
manufacturers of the vehicles and in general other manufactured goods
as well as this absolute commitment to innovation. So out
(15:55):
comes this car, the BYD and this auto exec who's
been in China since nineteen ninety two in the automotive
motive business. Automotive Business says that the BYD cars initially
were horrible, shoddily designed, made from cheap materials, quick to
(16:16):
break down, and the reputation at that time as a
factory for inferior knockoffs.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Is what BYD did it.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
It began in two thousand and three as a battery company,
and the cars that they eventually built were clunkers, even
in China. Okay, moving forward to today, every single byd
ev is now as good as any other in the world,
(16:46):
and even better in terms of design features, advanced technology quality.
For example, the company's blade battery, which is considered safest,
most cost efficient in the world. And the other part
of why Americans won't buy or the government won't let
(17:06):
us buy these cars is the least expensive models in
China sell for under ten thousand dollars. You think we
can buy an ev around here for ten thousand or
fifteen thousand, or twenty thousand, or twenty five thousand or
thirty thousand.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
That is one of the big problems. That's the problem.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
As a matter of fact, Chinese automakers like BYD received
billions of dollars of state support over the years. And
we can complain all we want about how the government
shouldn't support us or should support us, but you know what,
whether we like it or not, this is what's going on.
China builds cars so expensively. And here's another reason. They
(17:52):
have vertical integration. Most major car companies buy parts from
outside suppliers. We all know that BYD makes almost all
of the components in house, batteries, semiconductors, motors, the screens
in the cars. Saves costs and really enhances quality control
because it's all in house. It's developed its own software,
(18:17):
has stakes and mines and mining companies that produce the
minerals for its batteries. It transports those cars around the
world aboard its own ships that it designed just for
shipping cars.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
And let me tell you what this car can do
at a third price.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Earlier this year, it unveiled an autonomous driving system that's
better than anything out there. They say they can charge
a car in five minutes.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
And car in five minutes less than putting in gas.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
The top end model, including the yang wang U eight,
which was originally labeled the Moo Googui car, and they
decided they were going to go into a different direction
because obvious reasons.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
It's a luxury suv.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
And let me tell you what it can do. It
can rotate three hundred and sixty degrees. What car do
you think can do that? And it operates in water
over short distances like a boat. This is what China
has been able to produce. They have such an overwhelming advantage.
(19:48):
Ford CEO Jim Farley called Chinese electric vehicles and existential
accident an existential threat.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
To the US car market. Elon Musk said, they're going to.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Demolish all their competition without the trade barriers, without the tariffs.
Ten years ago is when China started this. The government
they created a blueprint and they said the next generation
technologies we are going to own.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
And it took years.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
But they, as I said, they play the long game.
Actually they pay the long rice game. I have to
go there.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
You know that I don't even understand. That didn't even
make sense.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Well it does in my world.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Okay, because you're a racist ass.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
No, No, I'm being impressed with this.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
They have a paint that came out of a panda's
orange chicken.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Never mind, will don't give me the look.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Well, if they were funny, they're not supposed to be funny.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
They meant not to be funny. Yes, you've been with it.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
You've been with me on this show for a year
and a half. Involved in this show and everything we do,
I do for thirty years.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
By now you know.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah, also beef with broccoli. Okaybody, that's it mo Kelly,
which has heard every evening seven seven pm to ten pm,
and the show is later strangely enough with Mo Kelly,
and you can reach them at mister mo Kelly.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Good morning, mo, Good morning Bill. How are you my friend?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I'm okay, I'm okay, and how are you? And I
don't care? Okay, moving on, let's talk about the the
movie Superman.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Now, this has become a franchise.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Obviously Superman has been around, and we have the you know,
a story of.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Chris Reeves. Do I have that right?
Speaker 1 (22:03):
George Reeves? Chris George.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
No, George Reeves was the original Superman.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
When I watch as a kid on television, a great,
very bad show.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
But every kid watched it.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
And so now we have you know, the new franchise
been around for a while. Uh. It is scheduled to
do or expect to do over two hundred million dollars opening. Uh.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Two questions asked you number one? Have you seen it?
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Okay, as did Heather?
Speaker 1 (22:33):
What did you think? I thought that it was a
tremendous disappointment.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Okay, Heather, I respectfully.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Disagree only in part in part I do.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
I love Mo. No, Well, that doesn't mean you have
to be respectful about it. So you thought in part okay,
I don't know what that means.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I think there were some things that they certainly could
have done better. Okay, fair enough, but overall I enjoyed
it all right, So Mo, let.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Me ask if it isn't that good? And I'm going
to take your word.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
For it, because this is your wheelhouse and you have
a good grip on all this stuff. When you have
a show, a movie that's expected to make over two
hundred million dollars and we're talking about opening weekend, correct, yes, okay,
and then if it isn't so good, it falls off
almost immediately.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Do I have that right? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (23:27):
And that would have been my response, like, look for
what happens in the second week, not the first week.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
But now in order for Superman to make any money?
And I'm assuming that did it cost two hundred million
dollars to bake?
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Well, it costs much more than that. I want to say,
probably is closer to four hundred million when all the
marketing promotion is figured in.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
How does how does a film that cost four hundred
million dollars.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
It's like buying an aircraft carrier.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
How does a film at four hundred million dollars make
any money? Does it have to be in the billions
of dollars in revenue?
Speaker 1 (24:05):
No, it should be somewhere like seven eight hundred million
for it to really start making money.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
It's how easy is that to do? Realistic?
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Very easy? Because the superhero genre, they haven't had a
billion dollar movie in maybe four years or so, so
it's not as frequently as one white think, and DC,
which is a division of Warner Brothers, has not had
the same type of success as Marvel. This is a
DC branded movie. It is helmed by James Gunn, who
(24:35):
originally did movies for Marvel like Guardians of the Galaxy.
But that type of success is not really translated and
part of the reason why they got rid of the
previous leadership and brought in James Gunn is a is
a co CEO of DC Pictures as well as being
able to direct movies.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Where do you get four hundred million bucks? I mean,
where's it? Literally?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Who comes up with four hundred million dollars to make
and market a movie?
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Well, most of the movies today, I mean I think
four hundred is a relatively comparable figure to what it
was for Tom Cruise's most recent movie. You will see
the budget numbers, but when you think about these big
tent pole pictures, there's actually a lot more marketing and
promotion which is involved, from the super Bowl spots to
the Internet spots that you see because everyone knows about
(25:22):
this movie. That's part of the reason why so much
is spent on the marketing promotion for that first week push,
especially all.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Right, what did you think of you said you were
disappointed or where was the weakness and where were the
strengths if any.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
If you don't know the Superman's saga, usually you have
an origin story. You find out that he came from
Kryptod and everything. They skipped over that to its benefit,
and they weren't bogged down and trying to tell the
long version story of Superman. So you catch up with Superman,
he's about three years in as being known to the
world as Superman. But they also bring in these other
characters and this is not a secret. It's sent the
(25:58):
trailer Green Lantern, Hall Girl and these other villains, and
it just seems like there's too much going on at
the same time, and you don't have the true character
development of all these competing factions and people, and you
can't care about everything and everyone. The tonality is very
different from Zack Snyder's previous iteration of Superman. For me,
(26:19):
it seemed like it was a little too light at times,
a little bit too silly, and it didn't have the
true spirit of what I wanted in the Superman movie.
That's just me personally.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Does Clark Kent still go into a phone booth and
change into Superman? And if so, what if someone's waiting
to use the phone.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
No, there's no phone booth. But they do, and this
is not really spoiler. They tell you why no one
can recognize him while he's Clark Kent wearing those glasses.
I love that they did that, by the way. That
was a really cool little nugget.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And was that credible by the way, Yeah, yeah, they Yeah,
that's interesting because everybody knows what Superman looks like, and
Superman with glasses, everybody knows what that looks like. So
there was a little credibility issue there for a lot
of years. Do you remember the original Superman television show
with George Reeves who ended up killing himself.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yes, I've seen everything Superman.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah, and as kids when we were watching this, Uh,
the discussion was how do you kill Superman?
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (27:19):
And the decision and uh, the general consensus is you
use a kryptonite bullet and that'll do it.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
It's okay to the movies before I'll put it that way.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Has it really?
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Kryptonite bullets for you. I'm not a big Superman fan.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
It's it has been used before. Hold on, someone was
talking to me for a second. Yes, it has been
used before, Krystinite bullets. It's in the comics. It is cannon.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Okay, fair enough? Why not? All right?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Uh, that's opening this weekend, Uh Superman, which is highly
highly recommended, not really by Mo and Mo.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Tonight you're on from what seven to ten pm? Catch
you later?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Always good stuff, Take care, Mo, all right, coming up
at Darien, Shannon, come aboard. I am taking phone calls
for handle on the law off the air. The numbers
eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty. You get
marginal legal advice eight seven seven five two zero eleven
fifty start in just a moment. Tomorrow morning, Heather's last
day with us here before Amy comes back.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
On Monday and wake Up.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Call with Heather and Will five to six, Neil and
I six am to just about now.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
And you've got Cono and.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Ann who are always here making the show either wonderful
or terrif terrible or mediocre depending on the day. This
is KFI AM six forty. You've been listening to the
Bill Handle Show. Catch My Show Monday through Friday, six
am to nine am, and anytime on demand on the
iHeart Radio app.
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
KFI AM six forty Bill Handle here on a Thursday morning,
July tenh Hot, Hot, and what's going.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
On around the world that we are looking at.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
President Biden's former White House physician would not testify to
questions as part of this House Republican investigation into Biden's health.
The argument is, or the accusation is, and sometimes accusations
are kind of crazy coming from Congress, from conservative members
of Congress. But the accusation is is that people in
(00:44):
the inner circle of the Biden world covered up the
fact that he had no business being president. Towards the end,
they're absolutely right. It was a cover up and that
should be criminality on a huge level. Don't know if
it is or not. I don't know what the law
is on covering that stuff up. Okay, let's talk about
tariffs for a moment. Economists, researchers, analysts have warned that
(01:10):
Donald Trump's trade policy, these steep tariffs on most goods
that come to America, is going to be a big
blow to consumers. Basically prices, and it's all about pricing,
is what it is. And if you look at the
economic data. Inflation is basically flat, gas prices are down,
(01:35):
corporations are doing great.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So how are.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Tariffs such a detriment? Why are there what's horrible about tariffs?
Remember when Donald Trump said, the most beautiful phrase in
the English language is terrorifts, most beautiful word is tariffs, tariffs, tariffs, tariffs.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Well, they're saying, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Talking about the administration, that the economic reports show that
tariffs are working, but there is a growing concern saying,
hang on a minute, prices are moving higher, not a lot,
I mean incrementally. And here's the part that kind of scary.
(02:20):
Economists a lot of economists, and again they are economists
to go the other way. Economy is like statistics. There
are lies and damn lies. So you can say anything
you want. But economists say, this is just the beginning,
and here's what's going on with all this. Tariffs have
been applied in a staggered manner. It's there's no rhyme
(02:42):
nor reason. The latest is Trump threatening fifty percent tariff
on Brazilian goods because the administration in Brazil is going
after the previous president for corruption, and the previous president,
Bolsonnario is a huge Trump support or called himself the
Donald Trump of South America. Well, Donald Trump is so
(03:06):
offended that the president of Brazil is being nailed by.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
The government, current government.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
He calls it a witch hunt and I'm going to
punish Brazil, not for economics, just because the current president,
Lula is not a fan.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So that's one problem.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
The earliest tariffs when in effect in February against China
and then in March steel and alumin against everybody. However,
that wasn't going to happen until April or later. And
here is the issue with this president calling for tariffs.
(03:48):
They've been postponed, they've been mixed, they've been increased, they've
been decreased.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I'm talking day to day. Matter of fact.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
President Trump wakes up in the morning and there's a
tariff of twenty percent on a given good against the country.
Well by dinner time it's twenty five or thirty percent,
or it's been held off.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
It is that crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So why are prices Why is the economy doing okay? Well,
look at let's look at tariffs for a moment. First
of all, shipping takes weeks, so tariffs on goods that
are coming into the country go are already in the
country and those are exempt and tariffs depending on the tariff.
(04:38):
Some tariffs happen at the country of origin. Well, the
goods are already on the seas. That takes weeks.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
That's what I do with my business with my partner.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
We have two containers sitting on a boat right now
coming in from China, inventories loaded up before the tariffs hit.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
You have companies that said, oh boy, are coming.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Let's load up and get as many goods as we
can get in here before the tariffs hit, so that
became front loaded. We'll see what happens afterwards. Some of
the costs are being eaten straight out. Presidents said, they're
being eaten by the country of origin.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
They're not. The consumer pays for it. We pay for it.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
However, the distributor, the importer also has to suck up
some of the prices. They're looking at it and going,
we can't raise the rates to this extent, so we're
going to make less money.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
We're doing that exactly. We're just we business people.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Businesses in general hesitant to pass on higher prices, I
mean consumers because of inflation that already hit. Not during
the Trump administration. But during the Biden administration, inflation was high.
It hit nine percent per year. Man, that raises prices
big time. So we're in summer and awareness of prices
(06:05):
is lower in the summer than the fall or the winter.
The US is service heavy. That's our economy, especially in
the summertime. Why we're spending money on travel, recreation, leisure.
Now come fall or winter, household budgets really come into play.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Back to school comes into play.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
We're spending money on Halloween and Christmas, and that's a
large amount of money. Inflation, the index, the indices are comprehensive.
Rising goods prices are showing up in the inflation data,
but they've been overshadowed when gas prices drop. And you
(06:50):
saw all of the reports because what was it this
pardon me boy, am i coffee?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
This morning? This past.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Weekend, July fourth weekend, it was a record number of
people that were driving, an insane number of people, more
so than any other time. And when that was reported,
what was it followed with every single time? Gas prices
are thirty six percent less per gallon than they were
a year ago, So people jumping in their cars. Gas
(07:27):
prices are down and that is part of inflation. Now,
what does that have to do with food, What does
that have to do with goods, What does that have
to do with appliances? Nothing, but it brings the inflation
figure down. So we're looking at an economy that some
economists will find out. More and more are saying long term,
(07:49):
even medium term, there's some issues going on with these tariffs.
Short term doesn't seem to be a problem, and certainly
the Trump administration, the economists among the trust Trump administers,
are saying, this is the best thing that ever happened
because of tariffs. The country is going to be stronger,
it's going to be better, Americans will do more, have
(08:09):
more money. And then there's the issue of the social
programs that are being cut, like crazy food stamps, etc.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
But that is entirely different issue.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
All right, Neil, Before we move on, quick word from
you about your broadcast on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Thank you sir.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Yes, This Saturday, July twelfth, join me at Wild Fork
Foods in Santa Clarita off Magic Mountain Parkway two to five.
I'll be broadcasting live. Some are grilling seasons here, so
we're celebrating that giving away a barbecue. There'll be food
samples and grilling going on, all kinds of great stuff,
giving away Dodgers tickets as well Magic Mountain tickets. So
(08:49):
come on out. It's this Saturday, Wild Fork in Santa Clarita.
They're on Magic Mountain Parkway KFIAM six to forty dot
com slash wild Fork for more info.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Thanks buddy, And those were a lot of fun, by
the way, and Neil and I are going to be
two doing two more together at Wildfork locations. We'll tell
you about that later on or annual thanks grilling, which
is always tremendous fun.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I want to go to an article in op ed
peace and take information from that in the New York Times,
and it was well. It refers to Michael Dunn, who
is a former General Motors executive. He consults to the
industry and he worked in China's auto sector.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
For more than twenty years.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And he talks about this company called by d You
ever heard of it?
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Probably not.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It was sort of a small middling player in the
auto industry just a few years ago. The biggest market
of cars is in China, by the way. They buy
by far, manufacturer by far and sell more cars than
any country in the world, I mean a matter of
twice over the US, and so middlink player in the
(10:08):
auto industry just a few years ago. It's a Chinese
electric vehicle manufacture, and it.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Blew past Tesla Tesla this past year to.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Become the world's top selling EV brand and is expected
to pull even with the biggest carmakers in the world
Toyota and Volkswagen by twenty thirty.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
That is its trajectory. BYD. This is actually hilarious. What
do you think that stands for?
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Neil?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
If you had to guess BYD.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Why not just throw it out by your Yeah, I know,
I'm just throwing something at you. It's so hard to
guess it's BYD stands for build your Dreams.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Oh boy, yeah, I know, yeah, I know. That is great.
Now you can't buy these in the United States.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
They're not banned banned, but the tariffs make them impossible
to sell. And those tariffs to protect the US automakers
double the price of imported Chinese plugins.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Okay, so erecting.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
These tariff walls to protect US automakers, well, it does work,
but ultimately there's some real problems because we're the world
market is going to be controlling. I mean, you're only
going to be tariffing like crazy for during the Trump
administration and if the Democratic Party gets in, if we
(11:49):
have a Democrat who becomes the president next time around.
Although I just heard President Trump said he's not going
to run in twenty twenty eight, which is a hoot,
just because that pesky constitution just really gets in the way,
doesn't it. So we may be looking at a whole
new world of tariffs, which we will if we have
(12:14):
a Democrat come into office. So how does this work?
How does a company like this get to this point? Well,
this is the long game. And what China plays is
the long game now it can why because it has
a dictator. And when there isn't a dictator as powerful
(12:38):
as Shing, it has a pollit bureau, just a bunch
of guys sitting around the table that make all the
demo all the decisions. There is no Congress, there are
no courts that stop government from.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Doing anything, but what they do.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
This industrial model is leaving America in the dust. It
combines government financial support big time, a very methodical long
term planning, the long game, and aggressive innovation a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Very important, far more than actually marketing.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Innovation is everything, and it's already enabled China to have
global dominance in a whole range of high tech industries batteries, robotics, drones.
Losing these markets to the Chinese companies, which we already
have done, was bad enough. Now losing it to the
(13:43):
auto manufacturing industry is just horrific. We talk about Russia
being our enemy, we talk about the various our allies
not being allies, our enemies now being friends. If you
look at people that are really in the know, China
(14:06):
is our greatest enemy. And not even so much militarily,
although we have the South China Seas and we have
Taiwan and there's a lot of moving pieces there. It's
the economic strength of China and where it's going, you know,
with one point three billion people with anything, the government
wants to go and will go in that direction and
(14:28):
nothing gets in the way. And in this case it's innovation, innovation,
it is financial support. China is going to control. China
is going to be the economic juggernaut that the United
States was and is to still some extent, not the
way it was.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Look at history.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
After World War Two, Europe was in shambles, Europe didn't
exist economically. Asia didn't exist economically. South America didn't exist
economically anyways. I mean nothing to do with the war.
Because of South America. The US owned the world economically,
(15:10):
owned it outright.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
And we're moving to a point where China is going
to be there.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Continuing on with the conversation of this Chinese car company
BYD standing for build Your Dreams, which is fascinating, and
it can't be sold in the United States. These cars
built by this company, even though they're the best.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Evs in the world.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
And as I explained, this has to do with the
Chinese government supporting them the way that the long game
is being played not only by the government, by the
manufacturers of the vehicles and in general other manufactured goods
as well as this absolute commitment to innovation. So out
(15:55):
comes this car, the BYD and this auto exec who's
been in China since nineteen ninety two in the automotive
motive business. Automotive Business says that the BYD cars initially
were horrible, shoddily designed, made from cheap materials, quick to
(16:16):
break down, and the reputation at that time as a
factory for inferior knockoffs.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Is what BYD did it.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
It began in two thousand and three as a battery company,
and the cars that they eventually built were clunkers, even
in China. Okay, moving forward to today, every single byd
ev is now as good as any other in the world,
(16:46):
and even better in terms of design features, advanced technology quality.
For example, the company's blade battery, which is considered safest,
most cost efficient in the world. And the other part
of why Americans won't buy or the government won't let
(17:06):
us buy these cars is the least expensive models in
China sell for under ten thousand dollars. You think we
can buy an ev around here for ten thousand or
fifteen thousand, or twenty thousand, or twenty five thousand or
thirty thousand.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
That is one of the big problems. That's the problem.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
As a matter of fact, Chinese automakers like BYD received
billions of dollars of state support over the years. And
we can complain all we want about how the government
shouldn't support us or should support us, but you know what,
whether we like it or not, this is what's going on.
China builds cars so expensively. And here's another reason. They
(17:52):
have vertical integration. Most major car companies buy parts from
outside suppliers. We all know that BYD makes almost all
of the components in house, batteries, semiconductors, motors, the screens
in the cars. Saves costs and really enhances quality control
because it's all in house. It's developed its own software,
(18:17):
has stakes and mines and mining companies that produce the
minerals for its batteries. It transports those cars around the
world aboard its own ships that it designed just for
shipping cars.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
And let me tell you what this car can do
at a third price.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Earlier this year, it unveiled an autonomous driving system that's
better than anything out there. They say they can charge
a car in five minutes.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
And car in five minutes less than putting in gas.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
The top end model, including the yang wang U eight,
which was originally labeled the Moo Googui car, and they
decided they were going to go into a different direction
because obvious reasons.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
It's a luxury suv.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
And let me tell you what it can do. It
can rotate three hundred and sixty degrees. What car do
you think can do that? And it operates in water
over short distances like a boat. This is what China
has been able to produce. They have such an overwhelming advantage.
(19:48):
Ford CEO Jim Farley called Chinese electric vehicles and existential
accident an existential threat.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
To the US car market. Elon Musk said, they're going to.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Demolish all their competition without the trade barriers, without the tariffs.
Ten years ago is when China started this. The government
they created a blueprint and they said the next generation
technologies we are going to own.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
And it took years.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
But they, as I said, they play the long game.
Actually they pay the long rice game. I have to
go there.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
You know that I don't even understand. That didn't even
make sense.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Well it does in my world.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Okay, because you're a racist ass.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
No, No, I'm being impressed with this.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
They have a paint that came out of a panda's
orange chicken.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Never mind, will don't give me the look.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Well, if they were funny, they're not supposed to be funny.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
They meant not to be funny. Yes, you've been with it.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
You've been with me on this show for a year
and a half. Involved in this show and everything we do,
I do for thirty years.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
By now you know.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah, also beef with broccoli. Okaybody, that's it mo Kelly,
which has heard every evening seven seven pm to ten pm,
and the show is later strangely enough with Mo Kelly,
and you can reach them at mister mo Kelly.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Good morning, mo, Good morning Bill. How are you my friend?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I'm okay, I'm okay, and how are you? And I
don't care? Okay, moving on, let's talk about the the
movie Superman.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Now, this has become a franchise.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Obviously Superman has been around, and we have the you know,
a story of.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Chris Reeves. Do I have that right?
Speaker 1 (22:03):
George Reeves? Chris George.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
No, George Reeves was the original Superman.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
When I watch as a kid on television, a great,
very bad show.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
But every kid watched it.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
And so now we have you know, the new franchise
been around for a while. Uh. It is scheduled to
do or expect to do over two hundred million dollars opening. Uh.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Two questions asked you number one? Have you seen it?
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Okay, as did Heather?
Speaker 1 (22:33):
What did you think? I thought that it was a
tremendous disappointment.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Okay, Heather, I respectfully.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Disagree only in part in part I do.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
I love Mo. No, Well, that doesn't mean you have
to be respectful about it. So you thought in part okay,
I don't know what that means.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I think there were some things that they certainly could
have done better. Okay, fair enough, but overall I enjoyed
it all right, So Mo, let.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Me ask if it isn't that good? And I'm going
to take your word.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
For it, because this is your wheelhouse and you have
a good grip on all this stuff. When you have
a show, a movie that's expected to make over two
hundred million dollars and we're talking about opening weekend, correct, yes, okay,
and then if it isn't so good, it falls off
almost immediately.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Do I have that right? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (23:27):
And that would have been my response, like, look for
what happens in the second week, not the first week.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
But now in order for Superman to make any money?
And I'm assuming that did it cost two hundred million
dollars to bake?
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Well, it costs much more than that. I want to say,
probably is closer to four hundred million when all the
marketing promotion is figured in.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
How does how does a film that cost four hundred
million dollars.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
It's like buying an aircraft carrier.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
How does a film at four hundred million dollars make
any money? Does it have to be in the billions
of dollars in revenue?
Speaker 1 (24:05):
No, it should be somewhere like seven eight hundred million
for it to really start making money.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
It's how easy is that to do? Realistic?
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Very easy? Because the superhero genre, they haven't had a
billion dollar movie in maybe four years or so, so
it's not as frequently as one white think, and DC,
which is a division of Warner Brothers, has not had
the same type of success as Marvel. This is a
DC branded movie. It is helmed by James Gunn, who
(24:35):
originally did movies for Marvel like Guardians of the Galaxy.
But that type of success is not really translated and
part of the reason why they got rid of the
previous leadership and brought in James Gunn is a is
a co CEO of DC Pictures as well as being
able to direct movies.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Where do you get four hundred million bucks? I mean,
where's it? Literally?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Who comes up with four hundred million dollars to make
and market a movie?
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Well, most of the movies today, I mean I think
four hundred is a relatively comparable figure to what it
was for Tom Cruise's most recent movie. You will see
the budget numbers, but when you think about these big
tent pole pictures, there's actually a lot more marketing and
promotion which is involved, from the super Bowl spots to
the Internet spots that you see because everyone knows about
(25:22):
this movie. That's part of the reason why so much
is spent on the marketing promotion for that first week push,
especially all.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Right, what did you think of you said you were
disappointed or where was the weakness and where were the
strengths if any.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
If you don't know the Superman's saga, usually you have
an origin story. You find out that he came from
Kryptod and everything. They skipped over that to its benefit,
and they weren't bogged down and trying to tell the
long version story of Superman. So you catch up with Superman,
he's about three years in as being known to the
world as Superman. But they also bring in these other
characters and this is not a secret. It's sent the
(25:58):
trailer Green Lantern, Hall Girl and these other villains, and
it just seems like there's too much going on at
the same time, and you don't have the true character
development of all these competing factions and people, and you
can't care about everything and everyone. The tonality is very
different from Zack Snyder's previous iteration of Superman. For me,
(26:19):
it seemed like it was a little too light at times,
a little bit too silly, and it didn't have the
true spirit of what I wanted in the Superman movie.
That's just me personally.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Does Clark Kent still go into a phone booth and
change into Superman? And if so, what if someone's waiting
to use the phone.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
No, there's no phone booth. But they do, and this
is not really spoiler. They tell you why no one
can recognize him while he's Clark Kent wearing those glasses.
I love that they did that, by the way. That
was a really cool little nugget.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And was that credible by the way, Yeah, yeah, they Yeah,
that's interesting because everybody knows what Superman looks like, and
Superman with glasses, everybody knows what that looks like. So
there was a little credibility issue there for a lot
of years. Do you remember the original Superman television show
with George Reeves who ended up killing himself.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yes, I've seen everything Superman.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah, and as kids when we were watching this, Uh,
the discussion was how do you kill Superman?
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (27:19):
And the decision and uh, the general consensus is you
use a kryptonite bullet and that'll do it.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
It's okay to the movies before I'll put it that way.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Has it really?
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Kryptonite bullets for you. I'm not a big Superman fan.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
It's it has been used before. Hold on, someone was
talking to me for a second. Yes, it has been
used before, Krystinite bullets. It's in the comics. It is cannon.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Okay, fair enough? Why not? All right?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Uh, that's opening this weekend, Uh Superman, which is highly
highly recommended, not really by Mo and Mo.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Tonight you're on from what seven to ten pm? Catch
you later?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Always good stuff, Take care, Mo, all right, coming up
at Darien, Shannon, come aboard. I am taking phone calls
for handle on the law off the air. The numbers
eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty. You get
marginal legal advice eight seven seven five two zero eleven
fifty start in just a moment. Tomorrow morning, Heather's last
day with us here before Amy comes back.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
On Monday and wake Up.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Call with Heather and Will five to six, Neil and
I six am to just about now.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
And you've got Cono and.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Ann who are always here making the show either wonderful
or terrif terrible or mediocre depending on the day. This
is KFI AM six forty. You've been listening to the
Bill Handle Show. Catch My Show Monday through Friday, six
am to nine am, and anytime on demand on the
iHeart Radio app.
The Bill Handel Show News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
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
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.