Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Scott Vordies, Nebraska second District Congressman. General Don Bacon is here. Congressman,
Good morning, Good morning. You're playing good music too, Hey,
you like rubber band Man from the Spinners and we
go back to the seventies my era. We go. We
run the spectrum here with our rejoined music this morning.
Thank you very much for your comments on that your
(00:21):
campaign is taking a look at so called dark money
that your opponent in this Nebraska second district congressional race,
who We've reached out to Tony Vargas's campaign to give
him a chance to come in here and talk in
the radio. Haven't heard back yet, but we got three
weeks to go. You've accused him of taking dark money.
That's a very scary sounding term. What is the dark money?
(00:44):
And how does this relate to what Tony Vargas has
been getting paid to do?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So this this came out of a Washington DC newspaper,
the Examiner, right, and they said Mark Olias. If you
know Mark Oias, he's a very active Democrat. He challenges
Republican elections, it challenges redistrict ta very much an activist.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
He formed a.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Group to help out Democrats who lost in twenty twenty two,
but who want to run ag into twenty twenty four
and help cover their living expenses.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Not just those who ran, but those who actually have
a chance, right may be winning this time. Right.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So his goal is, Hey, these guys need help with
their living expenses, and so he gave Tony Vargas sixty
thousand dollars for living expenses.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, my trail on this story, it goes back to January.
I think it was the Washington Examiner that put this
out in January that identified several different congressional districts across
the country, one of them being Nebraska's second district as
they're going to receive these opportunities scholarship kind of things,
and you've got a grant essentially, so and they said,
(01:48):
you know, that could cover helping with staff, helping with
resources for the campaign. It might also cover like rent
and groceries. What we didn't know until your campaign gave
us a number was how much got sixty thousand dollars?
Is that over the span of two years or a
year or this year?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
He got it last year, So sixty thousand last year
he had to file it on his FEC report. So
it's public knowledge, but it looks like an illegal contribution,
and the FEC's investigatingment because you know you're to give someone.
I mean, no one's given me money to pay my
rent or my mortgage or things like that, and there's
a lot of rules on this, and so the FFC's investigatingment.
(02:26):
What troubles me is you have a Washington DC paper
that reports on this. Why aren't the local papers reporting
on this. They're willing to report that I helped out
a constituent that works for Trump on a visa thing.
But I do that seven hundred times a year. That's
my average, has so many visas and passports I do
every year, and I treat everybody the same. So that's
a front page story. But this is an FEC investigation
(02:47):
on someone pocketing sixty thousand dollars for a living expenses.
And I use that term because that's what Mark Ollas
said in his own statement. Yea, this money's to help
him cover living expenses.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Right, it's and it's only because you're a Democrat running
against a Republican and they say it they're nonpartisan, but
everyone gets this money. You're Democrats and Mark Olias, you
got a Google he's a big time Democrat activist. You know,
he's a lawyer, and he gets very involved in trying
to overturn Republican election ones. That's that's his nuts. So
dark money here, the term is this is money that
(03:19):
you received here, you put it in your your filing.
But it looks like an illegal campaign contribution. Now voters
hear this stuff and their brains glaze over. It seems
like every election cycle there's one guy choosing, you know,
accusing another guy of that's an illegal campaign contribution, or
you did this wrong or that did wrong, and sometimes
(03:39):
they investigate it and sometimes there's a slap on the wrist.
But it's always well after the election here. So this
probably isn't the biggest issue in this election, but.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
People should know about it.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
But you're right in that I don't see any of
the local media saying that, you know, Tony Vargus got
sixty thousand dollars just for being a good Democrat from
a group that gives him money. Now, if he is
a quarterback at Nebraska, that's nil money, right, you know.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
So the only reason I say dark money because normally
dark money's associated with packs. We spend a lot of
money on at TV ads and you can't coordinate with them.
Here's a group, it's a pack of swarts as donors
are throwing money to help out Democrats and but it's
very unusual for a political group like that to pay
sixty thousand dollars that you pocket. Normally they put it
(04:26):
in TV ads or they'll give you five thousand dollars
that's the maximum you can give towards the campaign, or
you can spend it serpaly on like radio. But you
can't coordinate. But it gives one sixty thousand dollars to
pay rent. That's unusual, and it's under investigation.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And the and not just for Tony Vargas, but this
is several other candidates for Congress across the country as well.
Here talking with Nebraska second District Congressman Don Bak. And
of course the media is going to play up anything
involving you and Trump because Trump sucks all the year
out of the news cycle whenever he says or does anything.
You guys have had on again, off again relationship. But
(05:04):
the accusation was someone in Trump's campaign who has links
to Omaha, Yeah, reached out to his friends. That happened
to work for you as a member of Congress, saying hey,
can you help with this? Now, your political ads over
the years have said if you need help with something,
reach out to my office. We were making fun of
the fact that, you know, I was trying to get
(05:24):
my DoD benefits and they said I was dead and
Congressman Don Bacon brought me back to life.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I've brought three people back to life now, three people
the irs has identified as Dad that they're living. So
I've had to get that fixed.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
That is three different people. That is cool, unless you
look at it from the standpoint of Don Bacon is
creating zombies here across Nebraska. That might be a problem.
I've seen the walking dead. But you know, so you said,
reach out to my office, let us know we can
help you.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
We do an average seven hundred passport and visa requests
a year, and we treat them all the same. And
this guy was a constituent here was a voting saystant
Now he moved to Florida, but he's coming back. He's
got a business here. It's well within my rights and
obligations to provide constituent services if he asks. And I
treated him no differently than anybody else, cause it could
have been Tony Vargus coming in here wanting.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Help with the passpord. I would have done it right
in the same way right. And if Trump needed something
done for someone, he has a lot of different people
he could reach out to. I don't think that you
guys are best friends. What is your current state of
relationship with the Republican standard bearer or standard bearer here
in this presidential race? Don Jay Trump?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
You know he called me about a month ago. I
think he was trying to make the peace because he
campaigned against me two years ago and tried to recruit
a primary opponent. And he knows too that he needs
this district. This district is important for him and several
different scenarios, and so I appreciate it. He reached out
and you know, stuck his hand out, And I think
that's what That's what good people do. You try to
(06:55):
You got to build a relationship.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
If you want to win. So, how so he called
you up? Yes? How does that work? You know that
you see it pop up on your phone. You know
it says does it flash in gold on the screen
of your phone when Trump calls you?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Well, one time he called and I didn't have Noh's number,
but he was very persistent, called me like five times.
So fow okay, so he wants to talk to me.
So I finally pick up. In this case, there is
a Trump staff member talking to me in Washington, and
I think they had it coordinated.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Please stand by Donald J. Trump is going to be
Trump called that.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Number and he handed it over. But here's the deal.
I mean, I don't agree with everything President Trump is
said or done. You know, I supported Nikki Haley during
the primary. But in the end, what is the most
important issue. It's the economy. This economy under Biden's been terrible,
was much better under President Trump. Under President Trump, the
border crossings or twenty five hundred a day under Biden
(07:47):
it was ten thousand, and Biden got rid of all
the executive orders. So you look at the border, and
then you look at crime. President Trump agrees with me
on this, let's keep violent people behind bars. And if
you look at Harrison, you look at my opponent who
on multiple bills it's about letting violent people out early
and that leads some more crime. So on the core
(08:08):
issues I support. You know the previous president.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
You're losing your voice this morning. You want to take
a zipp of your beverage there. I mean you you
had a night last night where you were debating Tony Vargas.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I have a little congestion.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, the k E TV News Watch seven debates, so
a lot of talking last night. Give you a second
kind of you know, catch your voice here. I do
have a weak voice here. Yeah, I'm just a little
curious about this call here with Trump. What did you
guys talk about? And were you able to get a
word in edgewise?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I did get a couple of words in edgewise, But
you know, he talked about an endorsement. He said he
was he thought he was doing well in the district,
and I had to be honest with him that he's
down about eight to ten points and most polling and
he's being outspent twenty one to zero.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Where are the Trump ads?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, that's exactly it.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And it hurts.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
It hurts all the down baut Republicans because Harris is
spending twenty one million on TV.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah and radio, have her ads on this radio during
programs that are questioning her leadership style, shall we say so?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
That is for me, the biggest thing to overcome in
this election. When the top of the tickets spending twenty
one to zero against you, that's a big burden to overcome.
And if the president prior president, previous president is pulling
at minus eight, that's a heavy lift for down ballot Republicans.
But voters know me, they know what I've done. I've
(09:25):
brought five billion dollars in infrastructure, whether it's off at
Ashlan the airport. And I got my own record of
being what I consider American first, and I want to
be a patriot before I'm a party guy. So I
think I have the ability to reach across the middle
I have in the past and win a lot of
swinging independent voters. That's where this election is going to
be won or lost on the swing voters.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
What did President Trump say when you said, actually, you're
pulling eight to ten points behind here in Nebraska second district.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
He said, he was very popular in the rest of
the state. And I go, yes, there you are. I said,
you get west of omahas mister president, your numbers go
way up.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah. And then they're trying to do winter take call.
Do you have any thoughts on the winner take All
for Nebraska thing? That looks like it's not going anywhere
for this election. So it was something that.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Needed to be handled earlier in the election cycle, no
doubt about that. But because we don't have Winter take call,
or one of two states who don't, that's allowed Harris
to spend twenty one million dollars in our district and
Trump is spending zero. So if you're a Republican, it
costs you three to five points somewhere in there.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
If you're a Democrat, you love it. It's a huge
cash cow for on the Democrat side. And so there
is you just loo get the the numbers tells a story.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
One more thing about phone calls where you don't recognize
the number. Do you get these calls and text messages
to your phone encouraging you to vote for Tony Vargas
like a lot of us do on our phones? I
have not, thank thankfully. Do you answer the phone sometimes? Hi? There,
I'm looking for Don Bacone? Are you a registered voter
(10:58):
in Nebraska? I did get it from my opponent, Yeah,
And I thought i'd answer the questions how did that go?
If you knew Don Bacon did this and that, would
you still vote for him? Yes? Yes, I will. I
think that's great. What do you think when you drive
around this district and see all the blue dot signs.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, it's this is an evenly divided district. You know,
most districts are like an R five or D five,
R ten, D ten.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
We're a zero, in other.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Words, were totally evenly divided, fifty to fifty. And that's
and we're only one of two districts in the whole
United States that has an RPI of zero. So it's
a reminder. And I got to tell my Republican party
fronts this. I can't just win with thirty five percent
of the Republican vote, right, I mean, through Republicans registers
(11:46):
thirty eight percent. I got a win with swinging independent voters.
Some of my friends on the Republican side don't get that.
You can't win with Republican only votes.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
A couple more minutes here with Nebraska second District Congressman
Don Bacon here on news radio eleven ten KFAB in
this KTV News Watch seven debate last night with you
and State Senator Tony Vargas. You guys talked about abortion.
You support this bill before Nebraskan's that's on the same
ballot you're on here this November. That would kind of
enshrine limiting abortions in Nebraska to twelve weeks. Now. Some
(12:18):
people have said, but all the abortions that happen in Nebraska,
like upwards of ninety percent of these abortions that happened
in Nebraska are already happening within twelve weeks. If you're
truly pro life, why would you allow something that allows
all the abortions that you've been fighting against. Anyway, well,
the law before this was five months or twenty weeks, right,
(12:40):
So going for twenty weeks to twelve weeks as a
victory for pro life and those who are absolutists. It
will cost we will lose.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
This vote done, and it's going to go to what
the Democrats want, which is effectively no restrictions at all.
It says you can't restrict an abortion until viability, but
doesn't even limit beyond viability. And the Democrat pro abortion
build us out there take a victory. We're going from
twenty weeks to twelve weeks. We found an area that
(13:09):
most Nebraskans are comfortable. My experience have been here for
eight years. If you go to the right of three
months or to the loft, you start losing votes. This
is the middle middle of the Bell curve right here,
and it's got the right exceptions that wins a lot
of voters over. Let's take a win. This absolutism means
you lose, and then the Democrats are going to get
a big win. The abortion on demand until birth will
(13:32):
win if this three month vote goes down by way,
I got to point them out.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Last night.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
KATV did a fact checking on Vargus says that I
want no exceptions at all, even for life of the mother.
KTV fact checked that and said Tony Fargas is wrong.
And then he also said I'm trying to pull people
off their pre existing conditions. He got fact checked on
that too, and KTV show that it was wrong. So
I appreciate. I love the free media when they're you
like when they work out for you. But I love
(13:58):
the media when they're right. Did they fact checked you
correctly or incorrectly?
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Last night?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Only the two things that I came a lot better
on us? I said twenty Vartis doesn't vote twenty percent
of the time. That's going back eight years. They said, well,
they just looked at this last year and it was
fourteen percent, And I said, yeah, but mine goes back
eight years, right, So they were trying to say, well,
it was fourteen percent this year. Mine was an eight
year look back. So I think technically were both right.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I think it would drive me insane if I were
in your position, not just to have to run for
reelection every two years, but also you know how it works.
But most voters don't. They hear these ads that say
Don Bacon voted against children's healthcare. Well, it was this
bill that would have done this and that and the
other thing, and there was like a million different things
(14:44):
packed in it, and somewhere in the middle of it
was we also want to pay for children's healthcare. You
voted against the entire giant, stupid bill, but there was
one thing in there that voters like, but then they
can sell you voted against that.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
So the Inflational Reduction Act is a great example for that.
I voted for the insulin cap because I've no diabetics
here and they shouldn't be having to pay three to
five hundred dollars to get a shot. I mean, it's ridiculous.
We've had insulin for a long time. It's just we've
got to make it's got to have more supply. But
I voted for the cap, and then they put that
in the Inflation Reduction Act with the main goal of
that bill was to double the size of the IRS
(15:20):
to add eighty seven thousand IRS agents and auditors, and
I didn't support that. I think doubling the size of
the IRS does not make sense to me. Some people
can like it. I decided not. But there was other
provisions in that that I would have voted for, and
I did as a standalone. But that's a good example,
by the way, between the Inflation Reduction Act and the
American Rescue Plan. And it was under Democrat control House,
(15:43):
Senate and the President that added three trillion dollars. I
mean it was the three trillion dollars in supplemental spending
at top of a thirty trillion dollar economy. By definition,
that gives you inflation when you just flush three trillion
additional dollars into an economy like that. That's why we
had the first inflation in forty years.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Election Day is three weeks from tomorrow. We're almost there.
Congressman Don Bacon, go drink some hot tea with some
honey lemon, and we'll look forward to talking with you again.
Thank you Nebraska second District Representative Don Bacon. Again, We've
reached out to the Vargas for Congress campaign and have
yet to hear back. Scott Voices Mornings nine to eleven,
(16:23):
Our News Radio eleven ten KFAB
Scott Vordies, Nebraska second District Congressman. General Don Bacon is here. Congressman,
Good morning, Good morning. You're playing good music too, Hey,
you like rubber band Man from the Spinners and we
go back to the seventies my era. We go. We
run the spectrum here with our rejoined music this morning.
Thank you very much for your comments on that your
(00:21):
campaign is taking a look at so called dark money
that your opponent in this Nebraska second district congressional race,
who We've reached out to Tony Vargas's campaign to give
him a chance to come in here and talk in
the radio. Haven't heard back yet, but we got three
weeks to go. You've accused him of taking dark money.
That's a very scary sounding term. What is the dark money?
(00:44):
And how does this relate to what Tony Vargas has
been getting paid to do?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So this this came out of a Washington DC newspaper,
the Examiner, right, and they said Mark Olias. If you
know Mark Oias, he's a very active Democrat. He challenges
Republican elections, it challenges redistrict ta very much an activist.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
He formed a.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Group to help out Democrats who lost in twenty twenty two,
but who want to run ag into twenty twenty four
and help cover their living expenses.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Not just those who ran, but those who actually have
a chance, right may be winning this time. Right.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So his goal is, Hey, these guys need help with
their living expenses, and so he gave Tony Vargas sixty
thousand dollars for living expenses.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, my trail on this story, it goes back to January.
I think it was the Washington Examiner that put this
out in January that identified several different congressional districts across
the country, one of them being Nebraska's second district as
they're going to receive these opportunities scholarship kind of things,
and you've got a grant essentially, so and they said,
(01:48):
you know, that could cover helping with staff, helping with
resources for the campaign. It might also cover like rent
and groceries. What we didn't know until your campaign gave
us a number was how much got sixty thousand dollars?
Is that over the span of two years or a
year or this year?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
He got it last year, So sixty thousand last year
he had to file it on his FEC report. So
it's public knowledge, but it looks like an illegal contribution,
and the FEC's investigatingment because you know you're to give someone.
I mean, no one's given me money to pay my
rent or my mortgage or things like that, and there's
a lot of rules on this, and so the FFC's investigatingment.
(02:26):
What troubles me is you have a Washington DC paper
that reports on this. Why aren't the local papers reporting
on this. They're willing to report that I helped out
a constituent that works for Trump on a visa thing.
But I do that seven hundred times a year. That's
my average, has so many visas and passports I do
every year, and I treat everybody the same. So that's
a front page story. But this is an FEC investigation
(02:47):
on someone pocketing sixty thousand dollars for a living expenses.
And I use that term because that's what Mark Ollas
said in his own statement. Yea, this money's to help
him cover living expenses.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Right, it's and it's only because you're a Democrat running
against a Republican and they say it they're nonpartisan, but
everyone gets this money. You're Democrats and Mark Olias, you
got a Google he's a big time Democrat activist. You know,
he's a lawyer, and he gets very involved in trying
to overturn Republican election ones. That's that's his nuts. So
dark money here, the term is this is money that
(03:19):
you received here, you put it in your your filing.
But it looks like an illegal campaign contribution. Now voters
hear this stuff and their brains glaze over. It seems
like every election cycle there's one guy choosing, you know,
accusing another guy of that's an illegal campaign contribution, or
you did this wrong or that did wrong, and sometimes
(03:39):
they investigate it and sometimes there's a slap on the wrist.
But it's always well after the election here. So this
probably isn't the biggest issue in this election, but.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
People should know about it.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
But you're right in that I don't see any of
the local media saying that, you know, Tony Vargus got
sixty thousand dollars just for being a good Democrat from
a group that gives him money. Now, if he is
a quarterback at Nebraska, that's nil money, right, you know.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
So the only reason I say dark money because normally
dark money's associated with packs. We spend a lot of
money on at TV ads and you can't coordinate with them.
Here's a group, it's a pack of swarts as donors
are throwing money to help out Democrats and but it's
very unusual for a political group like that to pay
sixty thousand dollars that you pocket. Normally they put it
(04:26):
in TV ads or they'll give you five thousand dollars
that's the maximum you can give towards the campaign, or
you can spend it serpaly on like radio. But you
can't coordinate. But it gives one sixty thousand dollars to
pay rent. That's unusual, and it's under investigation.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And the and not just for Tony Vargas, but this
is several other candidates for Congress across the country as well.
Here talking with Nebraska second District Congressman Don Bak. And
of course the media is going to play up anything
involving you and Trump because Trump sucks all the year
out of the news cycle whenever he says or does anything.
You guys have had on again, off again relationship. But
(05:04):
the accusation was someone in Trump's campaign who has links
to Omaha, Yeah, reached out to his friends. That happened
to work for you as a member of Congress, saying hey,
can you help with this? Now, your political ads over
the years have said if you need help with something,
reach out to my office. We were making fun of
the fact that, you know, I was trying to get
(05:24):
my DoD benefits and they said I was dead and
Congressman Don Bacon brought me back to life.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I've brought three people back to life now, three people
the irs has identified as Dad that they're living. So
I've had to get that fixed.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
That is three different people. That is cool, unless you
look at it from the standpoint of Don Bacon is
creating zombies here across Nebraska. That might be a problem.
I've seen the walking dead. But you know, so you said,
reach out to my office, let us know we can
help you.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
We do an average seven hundred passport and visa requests
a year, and we treat them all the same. And
this guy was a constituent here was a voting saystant
Now he moved to Florida, but he's coming back. He's
got a business here. It's well within my rights and
obligations to provide constituent services if he asks. And I
treated him no differently than anybody else, cause it could
have been Tony Vargus coming in here wanting.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Help with the passpord. I would have done it right
in the same way right. And if Trump needed something
done for someone, he has a lot of different people
he could reach out to. I don't think that you
guys are best friends. What is your current state of
relationship with the Republican standard bearer or standard bearer here
in this presidential race? Don Jay Trump?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
You know he called me about a month ago. I
think he was trying to make the peace because he
campaigned against me two years ago and tried to recruit
a primary opponent. And he knows too that he needs
this district. This district is important for him and several
different scenarios, and so I appreciate it. He reached out
and you know, stuck his hand out, And I think
that's what That's what good people do. You try to
(06:55):
You got to build a relationship.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
If you want to win. So, how so he called
you up? Yes? How does that work? You know that
you see it pop up on your phone. You know
it says does it flash in gold on the screen
of your phone when Trump calls you?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Well, one time he called and I didn't have Noh's number,
but he was very persistent, called me like five times.
So fow okay, so he wants to talk to me.
So I finally pick up. In this case, there is
a Trump staff member talking to me in Washington, and
I think they had it coordinated.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Please stand by Donald J. Trump is going to be
Trump called that.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Number and he handed it over. But here's the deal.
I mean, I don't agree with everything President Trump is
said or done. You know, I supported Nikki Haley during
the primary. But in the end, what is the most
important issue. It's the economy. This economy under Biden's been terrible,
was much better under President Trump. Under President Trump, the
border crossings or twenty five hundred a day under Biden
(07:47):
it was ten thousand, and Biden got rid of all
the executive orders. So you look at the border, and
then you look at crime. President Trump agrees with me
on this, let's keep violent people behind bars. And if
you look at Harrison, you look at my opponent who
on multiple bills it's about letting violent people out early
and that leads some more crime. So on the core
(08:08):
issues I support. You know the previous president.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
You're losing your voice this morning. You want to take
a zipp of your beverage there. I mean you you
had a night last night where you were debating Tony Vargas.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I have a little congestion.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, the k E TV News Watch seven debates, so
a lot of talking last night. Give you a second
kind of you know, catch your voice here. I do
have a weak voice here. Yeah, I'm just a little
curious about this call here with Trump. What did you
guys talk about? And were you able to get a
word in edgewise?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I did get a couple of words in edgewise, But
you know, he talked about an endorsement. He said he
was he thought he was doing well in the district,
and I had to be honest with him that he's
down about eight to ten points and most polling and
he's being outspent twenty one to zero.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Where are the Trump ads?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, that's exactly it.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And it hurts.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
It hurts all the down baut Republicans because Harris is
spending twenty one million on TV.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah and radio, have her ads on this radio during
programs that are questioning her leadership style, shall we say so?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
That is for me, the biggest thing to overcome in
this election. When the top of the tickets spending twenty
one to zero against you, that's a big burden to overcome.
And if the president prior president, previous president is pulling
at minus eight, that's a heavy lift for down ballot Republicans.
But voters know me, they know what I've done. I've
(09:25):
brought five billion dollars in infrastructure, whether it's off at
Ashlan the airport. And I got my own record of
being what I consider American first, and I want to
be a patriot before I'm a party guy. So I
think I have the ability to reach across the middle
I have in the past and win a lot of
swinging independent voters. That's where this election is going to
be won or lost on the swing voters.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
What did President Trump say when you said, actually, you're
pulling eight to ten points behind here in Nebraska second district.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
He said, he was very popular in the rest of
the state. And I go, yes, there you are. I said,
you get west of omahas mister president, your numbers go
way up.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah. And then they're trying to do winter take call.
Do you have any thoughts on the winner take All
for Nebraska thing? That looks like it's not going anywhere
for this election. So it was something that.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Needed to be handled earlier in the election cycle, no
doubt about that. But because we don't have Winter take call,
or one of two states who don't, that's allowed Harris
to spend twenty one million dollars in our district and
Trump is spending zero. So if you're a Republican, it
costs you three to five points somewhere in there.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
If you're a Democrat, you love it. It's a huge
cash cow for on the Democrat side. And so there
is you just loo get the the numbers tells a story.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
One more thing about phone calls where you don't recognize
the number. Do you get these calls and text messages
to your phone encouraging you to vote for Tony Vargas
like a lot of us do on our phones? I
have not, thank thankfully. Do you answer the phone sometimes? Hi? There,
I'm looking for Don Bacone? Are you a registered voter
(10:58):
in Nebraska? I did get it from my opponent, Yeah,
And I thought i'd answer the questions how did that go?
If you knew Don Bacon did this and that, would
you still vote for him? Yes? Yes, I will. I
think that's great. What do you think when you drive
around this district and see all the blue dot signs.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, it's this is an evenly divided district. You know,
most districts are like an R five or D five,
R ten, D ten.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
We're a zero, in other.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Words, were totally evenly divided, fifty to fifty. And that's
and we're only one of two districts in the whole
United States that has an RPI of zero. So it's
a reminder. And I got to tell my Republican party
fronts this. I can't just win with thirty five percent
of the Republican vote, right, I mean, through Republicans registers
(11:46):
thirty eight percent. I got a win with swinging independent voters.
Some of my friends on the Republican side don't get that.
You can't win with Republican only votes.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
A couple more minutes here with Nebraska second District Congressman
Don Bacon here on news radio eleven ten KFAB in
this KTV News Watch seven debate last night with you
and State Senator Tony Vargas. You guys talked about abortion.
You support this bill before Nebraskan's that's on the same
ballot you're on here this November. That would kind of
enshrine limiting abortions in Nebraska to twelve weeks. Now. Some
(12:18):
people have said, but all the abortions that happen in Nebraska,
like upwards of ninety percent of these abortions that happened
in Nebraska are already happening within twelve weeks. If you're
truly pro life, why would you allow something that allows
all the abortions that you've been fighting against. Anyway, well,
the law before this was five months or twenty weeks, right,
(12:40):
So going for twenty weeks to twelve weeks as a
victory for pro life and those who are absolutists. It
will cost we will lose.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
This vote done, and it's going to go to what
the Democrats want, which is effectively no restrictions at all.
It says you can't restrict an abortion until viability, but
doesn't even limit beyond viability. And the Democrat pro abortion
build us out there take a victory. We're going from
twenty weeks to twelve weeks. We found an area that
(13:09):
most Nebraskans are comfortable. My experience have been here for
eight years. If you go to the right of three
months or to the loft, you start losing votes. This
is the middle middle of the Bell curve right here,
and it's got the right exceptions that wins a lot
of voters over. Let's take a win. This absolutism means
you lose, and then the Democrats are going to get
a big win. The abortion on demand until birth will
(13:32):
win if this three month vote goes down by way,
I got to point them out.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Last night.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
KATV did a fact checking on Vargus says that I
want no exceptions at all, even for life of the mother.
KTV fact checked that and said Tony Fargas is wrong.
And then he also said I'm trying to pull people
off their pre existing conditions. He got fact checked on
that too, and KTV show that it was wrong. So
I appreciate. I love the free media when they're you
like when they work out for you. But I love
(13:58):
the media when they're right. Did they fact checked you
correctly or incorrectly?
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Last night?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Only the two things that I came a lot better
on us? I said twenty Vartis doesn't vote twenty percent
of the time. That's going back eight years. They said, well,
they just looked at this last year and it was
fourteen percent, And I said, yeah, but mine goes back
eight years, right, So they were trying to say, well,
it was fourteen percent this year. Mine was an eight
year look back. So I think technically were both right.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I think it would drive me insane if I were
in your position, not just to have to run for
reelection every two years, but also you know how it works.
But most voters don't. They hear these ads that say
Don Bacon voted against children's healthcare. Well, it was this
bill that would have done this and that and the
other thing, and there was like a million different things
(14:44):
packed in it, and somewhere in the middle of it
was we also want to pay for children's healthcare. You
voted against the entire giant, stupid bill, but there was
one thing in there that voters like, but then they
can sell you voted against that.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
So the Inflational Reduction Act is a great example for that.
I voted for the insulin cap because I've no diabetics
here and they shouldn't be having to pay three to
five hundred dollars to get a shot. I mean, it's ridiculous.
We've had insulin for a long time. It's just we've
got to make it's got to have more supply. But
I voted for the cap, and then they put that
in the Inflation Reduction Act with the main goal of
that bill was to double the size of the IRS
(15:20):
to add eighty seven thousand IRS agents and auditors, and
I didn't support that. I think doubling the size of
the IRS does not make sense to me. Some people
can like it. I decided not. But there was other
provisions in that that I would have voted for, and
I did as a standalone. But that's a good example,
by the way, between the Inflation Reduction Act and the
American Rescue Plan. And it was under Democrat control House,
(15:43):
Senate and the President that added three trillion dollars. I
mean it was the three trillion dollars in supplemental spending
at top of a thirty trillion dollar economy. By definition,
that gives you inflation when you just flush three trillion
additional dollars into an economy like that. That's why we
had the first inflation in forty years.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Election Day is three weeks from tomorrow. We're almost there.
Congressman Don Bacon, go drink some hot tea with some
honey lemon, and we'll look forward to talking with you again.
Thank you Nebraska second District Representative Don Bacon. Again, We've
reached out to the Vargas for Congress campaign and have
yet to hear back. Scott Voices Mornings nine to eleven,
(16:23):
Our News Radio eleven ten KFAB
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.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.