June 6, 2025 • 34 mins
Today on the Jimmy Barrett Show:
- President of American Commitment Phil Kerpen on the big, beautiful bill
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well, what we need is more common sense.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
The.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Breaking down the world's nonsense.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
About how American common sense.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We'll see us through with the common sense of Houston.
I'm just pro common sense for Houston. From Houston dot com.
This is the Jimmy Barrett Show, brought to you by
viewind dot com. Now here's Jimmy Barrett.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Welcome to our Friday show. Yes it's Friday, thank goodness,
and let's start off a little climate alarmism on our
show this morning. Actually, this comes from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Doesn't cover the National Weather Bureau. It comes from the
Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has a UV index forecast
for tomorrow, June seventh, that puts sixteen states, including Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona,
(01:03):
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia,
and South Carolina, and a zone that could see levels
UV levels as high as eleven, which I'm not sure
what that means. They're saying it's dangerous to be outside.
Residents across those states are warned that you can't be
(01:26):
out for more than a few minutes. Without risk burning
your skin. So in other words, they are basically telling
you to stay indoors tomorrow because it's going to be
the UV index is going to be so high. And
to which I've got to say, when did we start
doing this? When did we start having a government agency
(01:50):
tell us when we can and cannot go outside? Now,
I think it's I think it's probably good that you
know that the UV index is a little bit higher,
because maybe you'll use some sunscreen when before you wouldn't
do it. But I'm guessing for most of us who
have a fairly decent tolerance for the sun, enjoy the
vitamin D that we get from the sun in a
(02:11):
very natural way. Maybe have a swimming pool that we
want to spend a little time in tomorrow. The only
the only thing I'll think about before I hop in
the pool is all right, how long do I want
to stay out here? And I never stay out for
more than an hour in the summertime, because I realize,
you know, just how easily it is to get burned,
and I don't want to burn my skin. I mean,
(02:32):
I was dumb enough to do that when I was
a kid. I don't need to do that as an adult. Plus,
I have relatively fair skin in blue eyes, and I
know that you know I can burn more easily than
other people do. Now, if you have a dark complexion
and you are very sun tolerant, then you know, no
big deal. It just amazes me that the we have
(02:53):
the Environmental Protection Agency involved now in telling you when
you can or can I go outside? Hey, another topic
from the I thought i'd run through, just see if
I got the list I want to run through yet. No,
I'll work on this list. We'll do it for our
last segment today. A list. I saw a list of
like fifteen different things where they're asking for tips now
(03:17):
that they never used to ask for tips, and that
you shouldn't feel compelled like you have to tip them.
Everybody's asking for tips these days, and even in some
of the most inappropriate places. So I think we've gotten
way out of control on the tip thing. We talk
about that all the time. And it's interesting to me
that the more the price of things have gone up,
(03:37):
the more inflation has hit things like restaurants, the more
people are asking for tips. Didn't they already get a
raise if you're a restaurant worker. I mean, in all fairness.
If you're a restaurant worker, first of all, you'll always
get a great tip from me for great service. But
didn't you aren't you already getting an automate race thanks
to the venue prices going up. You know, if you're
(03:58):
working at a restaurant and doing breakfast, you used to
sell people a breakfast for two people, and it costs
like twenty two or twenty twenty three dollars and they
tip you four or five bucks. Now it's costing thirty
five dollars, and now they're probably tipping you seven bucks. Right,
if you're doing a good job, you got to raise,
You got to raise. So why why is this? Why
(04:19):
is this continuing pressure to have us get bigger raises
or bigger tips than we used to. Some places they
don't even have fifteen percent on the on the list anymore. Nobody,
nobody will have a ten percent automatic tip. They start
at fifteen maybe a lot of places now when they
pop up the tip, you know, the automatic tip, eighteen
(04:39):
percent is where they're starting. So, you know, I think
the whole thing is really way out of control, and
I just I just wonder, you know, where where's the
pushback going to come? At what point are we are
we just going to blow up at all this asking
for tips? All right, here's here's the story I do
want to get to as a local story. I did
not get to it this morning on katrh and I
(05:00):
want to get to it here on our afternoon show
at am nine to fifty KPRC. It evolves the city
budget for the City of Houston. And I know many
of us live in the suburbs and we probably don't
need to be overly concerned, but in some ways we
do on what the city spends money on. Because one
of the areas where the city is having issues, as
most cities of any sort of decent age have, is
(05:25):
with the infrastructure. And certainly the infrastructure of the City
of Houston has its problems as its issues, and in
most cities do not pay enough attention or spend enough
money on solving those issues. And we know what some
of our issues are in Houston. We have a drainage problem.
You know, we're low lying, We get a lot of rain.
(05:45):
We get a lot of rain that falls in a
very small period of time. We need a better way
to move that water off of the city streets and
into the sewage system and to keep the streets from funning.
But we never spend enough money doing it. You know,
We're always spending money on other things, some things that
I think that are a waste of money. You know,
I love art as much as the next person, but
(06:06):
I don't think the city should be spending money on
art until it has an opportunity to fix its infrastructure.
I don't think that they should be spending money on
you know, on social programs until they have the people safe,
you know, fire police, those types of things. That's that's
where I think the money needs to go first and foremost.
But here's a KPRC TV to report from yesterday on
(06:30):
some of these protests have been going on. Not all
of them are just upset because John Whitmyer is not
liberal enough for them. Some of them are upset because
they don't think that money's being spent on the right things.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Andy Lisas.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
So much of that controversy from yesterday's budget meeting had
to deal with drainage projects. Several speakers addressed it. In
protesters what kicked out over It's through it all. A
drainage amendment did pass a marathon council meeting discussing Mayor
John Whitmyer's seven billion dollar budget proposal, and did with
the proposal passing. The votes nearly unanimous, with fourteen members
(07:04):
in supports and three against, including council member Abby came in.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
It was a very hard decision, but I voted no
on this budget. We are seeing a lot of things
taking place.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
The budget includes increases to public safety, consolidation of some
agency work, and cuts. Several speakers spoke out against what
they say are cuts to drainage.
Speaker 7 (07:26):
Come here today to talk about funding for infrastructure and
disaster relief.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
As council heard from residents outside Wednesday storms flooded streets.
Council member came in advocating for an amendments that would
add more money towards drainage projects. The amendment failed. Very
similar one was approved.
Speaker 6 (07:45):
A specific amount of money is to go towards specific
types of drainage projects, so there was increased specificity about
what we should be spending and directing the department to
spend money on in terms of the type of drainage projects.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
As we get further into hurricane season, came and says
she worries about potential disasters and how the city would
pay for.
Speaker 6 (08:08):
Its last year alone, we had three federally declared disasters
and extreme weather that is not we couldn't even get
into clear disaster for and that means that we don't
get reimbursed by the federal government. The city eats those costs. Now,
the risk with those storms in extreme weather is being
magnified by federal budget cut.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
I don't know about that part, but I do know this.
We know what our problems are, right, I mean, the
problems we have now are the same problems we've had
for one hundred and two hundred years. So is it
right for us to officely expect the federal government to
step in and help us. We built the city here, right,
we should know by now what it takes in order
to protect the city. We should know what is our
(08:54):
responsibility to provide for our citizens. And it's kind of
an important thing to provide, right, Because I saw the
survey that seemed to indicate up to forty percent of
Houstonians would consider leaving the city because of concerns over
flooding and other issues brought on by some of the
weather events that we have. They they think that life
(09:16):
would be better in the suburbs than in the city
because the city doesn't do enough directify the problems. Something's
gonna have to change with all that. All right, quick
low break back with burning moment Jimmy Bear Show a
nine KPRC. All right, I thought we'd spend our segment
(09:50):
segment down on her Friday show today talking about the
feud is like a family feud, you know, the Musk
family versus the Trump family. That would be interesting to
put those two in the family feud on that show.
I mean, the families are very, very different from one another.
I mean the Musk family is a little convoluted. You know,
(10:10):
He's got all these baby mamas and all these kids,
and Trump's got more of a traditional family. I mean,
he's had three wives, but he has a more of
a traditional family. But it'd be interesting to see, you know,
who has the smartest family. I don't know. I don't
know that Elon Musk has a lot of street smarts.
He's a smart guy, but I don't know he has
a lot of street smarts. I don't think he's probably
(10:33):
gonna win the public relations war with President Trump when
it comes to the Big Beautiful Bill. The Big Beautiful
Bill is supported by a lot of Americans. In fact,
I saw a man on the street that Fox did
talking to voters about the Big Beautiful Bill, and man,
it was amazing how in favor most people are with
(10:54):
the Big Beautiful Bill of at least of what they
know about what is in there. In fact, here are
some of those voters speaking out and some reaction to
what those voters had to say.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
The benefits of the Big Beautiful Bill will outweigh any negativity.
Speaker 8 (11:07):
I don't think it's going to add to the national
pet I mean, the experts have been rolled over the
last fifty years and look like right now we have
this big deficit right now. And so as far as
them given advice, I know currently.
Speaker 9 (11:21):
Advice the one result they think we're going to be
in a better place and then we'll see the reduction.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
At that point. It accomplish a lot. It'll bringands, hundreds
of thousands jobs back to the country.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Republicans are committed to a safe and prosperous America, and
that's what this bill does. It provides for safety as
well as prosperity for the American people. We shared with
the President the fact that the American people trust Republicans
much more on the economy than they do the Democrats,
and this bill does what the American people want us
(11:52):
to do.
Speaker 7 (11:52):
So what do you make of all this? We got
Center Finance Chair Mike Crapo's warning that there are likely
two no votes against it Senator Rand Paul and Ron
Johnson over spending. Just one more defection there could derail it.
What do you think is going to happen?
Speaker 9 (12:06):
Well?
Speaker 10 (12:06):
Ron Johnson put out a graph a couple of days ago,
a chart, very simple chart simply says, look, even during
Trump's first term, deficits were under a trillion dollars. Then
we have this pandemic, and every administration and every budget
post the pandemic have been two trillion dollar plus deficits.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Why. That's just a simple question. Why.
Speaker 10 (12:31):
And I think he's getting a little traction with that.
That's what god Elon fired off. He looked at that
chart too and said, wait a second, why do we
have to spend two trillion dollars more than we need to?
So what Johnson wants to do is split the bill
in a half, get the tax cuts in on time
by July four that are required to keep small business
and large business humming, keep the economy going, which is
(12:54):
doing quite well, and then work on this deficit reduction
thing separately.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
But if you do that, if it's not all passes
a part of this bill, if a peace bill it
that way, then you end up having to have a
sixty to forty vote instead of a simple majority vote.
I can't explain exactly why it is or how that
all works, but that, at least that's what I've been
told would be the problem with doing it that way.
(13:22):
It would be much better if they could just kind
of get this old done. There's a lot more than
just there's a lot more involved in that bill than
just extending the Trump tax cuts. You know, there's the
taxes on tips and overtime and maybe on Social Security.
They could be involved in all this stuff. So there's
a lot, a lot of things on the line. But
back to the feud here for a second, because it's
(13:42):
interesting to watch this back and forth and back and
forth between Elon Musk and President Trump on the big
beautiful bill that Elon is calling an abomination because of
you know, that extension of the dead. Although again that
I don't know why Elon Musk is buying into what
the Office of Management and Budgement Budget has to say
(14:03):
about this. But he seems that he is and he's
a smart guy. But President Trump, I think thinks that
there's more involved in this than than that that maybe
it has a little bit more to do with, you know,
the bill taking away some EV credits and other things
that could impact his business. Anyway, here's what I do know,
(14:26):
at least according to Nuton Gingridge. Newt Gingridge seems to
think that there's no way for Elon Musk to win
on this one. And here's what he had to say
about the Trump Musk feud.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Well, I'm beginning to think that they are mad at
each other. I mean, I don't want to go. I
don't I don't know I want to go much. Look,
this is the soap opera phase of American politics. Everybody
can understand it, everybody can pay attention to it. But
in the long run, what's happening with China, what's happening
with Russia, what's happening with the Big beautiful Bill. Those
(14:58):
are vastly more important than whether or not Elon Musk
is having a temper tantrum. And remember, Musk is the
wealthiest guy in the world. But Donald Trump is the
most powerful person in the world, and I think probably
that Musk kind of forgot that Musk power comes from
Musk money, comes from having met consumers, having been brilliant.
(15:21):
Trump has the vote of seventy seven million Americans to
say he ought to be the commander in chief. And
in that kind of a contest, there's no question in
my mind that two, three, four, five months from now
Donald Trump will still be president and Musk may or
may not be relevant. And that partly depends on whether
it must decides to grow up and find a better
(15:42):
way of doing this.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Does this kerfuffle effect that China situation, Does it affect
the big beautiful build, Does it affect.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Ukraine and space?
Speaker 4 (15:53):
And what kind of impact will it have?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I think it depends on whether this is a temporary,
very intense exchange or becomes kind of a long, permanent struggle.
For example, the United States needs SpaceX. SpaceX this year
will launch ninety seven percent of the satellites worldwide. It's
an extraordinary asset for US to have the presidentized States
(16:19):
end up in a power struggle, which is not really much.
It's a public relations struggle. There's no power struggle here.
One of them is president, the other one isn't president.
And I think that's part of what the media doesn't
quite get, and I think it's part of what frustrates
Elon Musk is that, you know, he has a fairly
high sense of himself and should I mean, I think
he's a brilliant guy. I think the things he's done
(16:41):
are remarkable, but they're remarkable as an entrepreneur. You know,
Henry Ford didn't end up running the country, Thomas Edison
didn't end up running the country, and in fact, in
the end, Elon Musk is not going to end up
running the country. So I think probably things will calm
down over the next two or three days. Trump has
a lot of really serious things to do and play kating.
(17:03):
Musk is probably down around number twenty seven on.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
The list, if anywhere on the list. You know we
were at We did a little favorite breakup songs for
Musk and Trump this morning on the morning show to
have a little fun with it on ktr H because
supposedly there was going to be a phone call taking
place later today between Musk and Trump to to discuss things.
(17:27):
At the very least evidently President Trump is now saying
he's not interested in making a phone call right now.
So evidently the President angry enough where he's not interesting,
he's not interested in making up with Elon Musk, at
least not at the moment. All right, quick little break
by the way, more coming up on the Big Beautiful Bill.
Phil Kerpin scheduled to be our guest with American Commitment
(17:49):
to talk about the Big Beautiful Bill. What does he
think needs to happen with this and what does he
see as the bright spots in this bill, and maybe
some of the areas where he sees potential problems they're
gonna have to face later on. Back with Lore in
the moment Jimmy Bard Show, you're on a nine fifty KPRC.
(18:20):
Bill Kurpet is with us here on a nine fifty
KPRC and the Jimmy Bard Show. Phil is the president
of American Commitments, where you're talking to him about that
Big Beautiful Bill. You're a fan of the Big Beautiful Bill, right, Phil, Yeah,
give it.
Speaker 9 (18:33):
About a B. It's not the greatest thing I've ever seen,
but it's got a lot of good things in there.
I think we need to do most significantly canceling those
massive tactics that are coming at the end of the
year if they don't get it done. So I definitely
would vote for it on A But it's a pretty
strong B.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Okay, all right, I've got a little echo here. Let
me see if I can straighten that out for you.
But but here, here's what I wonder about the big
beautiful bill. You say, you say, give it a B.
What what do you think is in that bill that's
lowering the grade as far as you're concern.
Speaker 9 (19:03):
Well, you know they did this. They did this seal
at the last minute to quadruple the state and local
tax deduction caps so that rich people in the highest
taxed Blue states can write off forty thousand dollars of
their state and local taxes, which gets dumped on the
rest of us. So I thought that was pretty exorbitant.
Didn't love that one. Also, I think they could have
(19:25):
done a lot more on spending reforms, and some earlier
versions discussed being much more aggressive on fixing. Yeah, the
control medicaid programs that we did get a few significant
reforms in there, So I would say mainly, Oh, and
the other thing is it's not clear if we're going
to get the major regulatory reformists in there, the Rains Act,
which was some versions and then it came out. They're
(19:45):
trying to get it back in, so that one's sort
of up in the air right now.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Okay, all right, And I think those are all very
very fair criticisms about no bills perfect. It never will be.
I find it interesting, May and maybe you have some
insight into this. You know, Elon Musk was a part
of Team Trump throughout the process. Here, President Trump says
he doesn't quite understand what Elon's so upset about. Elon
knew everything that was in that bill. It appears to
(20:10):
be the two point four trillion debt that this bill
supposedly will will cost, although there's some question about whether
or not that's reality based on the Congressional Budget Office.
They haven't taken tars or anything else into consideration, or
growing the economy into consideration as far as offsetting any
of the higher costs there. Do you think it's about
(20:33):
the two four trillion in debt? Ors there's something else
in there that's bothering Elon.
Speaker 9 (20:39):
Well, you know, obviously he wanted to extend electric vehicle
mandates because he's the CEO of Task Lass, So I
think the electric vehicle mandates getting repealed is probably the
major sticking point for him, or at least that's what
President Trump says. Anyway, Elon says, that's not it. I
don't know. I'm in luck when you're the richest guy
in the world and your number one priority is built
(21:00):
Mars colony or whatever. I mean, I don't I'm not
sure what motivates a guy like that necessarily, so it's
hard to say for sure. But he definitely wanted to
do more on spending in depth, and this bill accomplishes.
I think he would have liked to see them, you know,
write a lot of those dog cuts into law and
this bill, although it would have been difficult to do
that in this particular bill because they didn't have a
(21:23):
reconciliation instruction for the Appropriations Committee, and even if they did,
it's not clear that Senate rules would have allowed to
do exactly what he wants to do. And so I
think they may pursue a lot of that on a
different track. And in fact, we're going to have the
first votes coming up on making some DOGE cuts permanent
with respect to USAID and NPR and TBS and that
first recisions package that was sent up, And so I
(21:45):
think that he's a little bit disappointed that this doesn't
include really his work, doesn't write any of the stuff
he was working on with DOJ into law. But there
may be an opportunity to do that through different vehicles,
and maybe if he sees that happen, he'll keep more happy.
But I think he's just frustrated that, you know, we
won the House to send it in the White House,
and we were going to change the direction of the
(22:06):
country on the debt and stop accumulating it. And this bill,
on its face, or at least from those official scores,
it doesn't do that. But I would point out that
unless you can get the economic growth rate up, the
debt's not going to be manageable. And if we can
get a good tax environment, a good regulatory environment, a
good energy environment, and get the economic growth rate up
(22:26):
from you know, one point six three percent plus, suddenly
the death becomes much more manageable and it actually goes
down if we can keep spending on its current track.
Now it's a big if, of course, because usually when
the economy growth spending growth that goes up too. But
if we can keep spending on the same track it's
on and grow the economy faster. Then the debt starts
going down. So you know, you got to have that
strong economic growth, which is really what this bill is about.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
We are with Phil Kirp and he's President of American Commitment.
We're talking about that big beautiful bill, not the big abomination.
That's that's what Elon Musk refers to the bill as
the bigger A B A nation. I'm just kind of
struck by, I think the politics of this. Maybe that's
part of what Elon Musk's frustration is, is that the
political games that you have to play in Washington, d C.
(23:13):
You know where you've you've got to, You've got to
you know what you have to do is you have
to have any hope of really having a truly successful
four year run in Trump's second term, you have to
maintain control of Congress. And to maintain control of Congress,
you have to maintain control of the House of Representatives,
which is always difficult to do for any administration in
(23:36):
an off year election. So you only get the first
two years to as much done as you can, and
you hope if you aren't doing anything that will prevent
you from being successful in the last two years. And
unless they get the Trump tax cuts made permanent, that's
gonna be a big problem. The economy is going to
have a if we have a huge tax increase because
they they can't come up with a deal. We've got
(23:57):
a big problem with head, don't we.
Speaker 9 (24:00):
Yeah, I mean, look, Jimmy, if they don't get if
they get nothing done, if this whole process collapses. You know,
if the Trump tax cuts turned into a pumpkin on
New Year's Eve and everybody's great to go up, Standard
deduct gets cut in half, the child credit gets cut
in half, most significantly, non corporate business income, which is
you know but basically all small businesses pay that tax
goes from twenty nine point six to thirty nine point six.
(24:22):
So we're talking about a massive, massive hit you know,
the family businesses, small businesses, partnerships, full proprietorships. It would
be very, very bad. And you know, if everyone's tax
bills are going up by thousands of dollars, they're not
going to vote Republicans. So even if you don't care
about the economy, you don't care about incomes growing, If
all you care about is politics. They absolutely do have
(24:45):
to get this done. There's no way they can let
a tax hike on the order of four trillion dollars
happen and not pay a political price for it.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Well, and it has to be done in a timely way.
I know they're the looking at July fourth, is that
drop dead day because you have do you have to
give the economy a while to respond to whatever is
in that bill that's going to help stimulate the economy.
And until that bill gets past the process can't begin.
It doesn't happen overnight. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (25:12):
Absolutely, that's one of the big problems they had with
the text. That's the first time they passed it, you know,
the week of Christmas in the twenty seventeen and there
were huge benefits in that bill, but people didn't feel
them in time for the twenty eighteen election. And so
the sooner they get this done, the better. And in particular,
you know, one of the most significant provisions of that
twenty seventeen bill was what's called bonus depreciation, which is
(25:35):
what led businesses write off one hundred percent of the
cost of their capital investments and equipment and software in
the first year, and that that led to a big
boom and business investment which raises productivity, raises real wages.
We're already into year three of the phase out of that,
and so as of right now, so business invests, they
can only write off forty percent of the rest. They
have to take a long depreciation schedule. Well, what do
(25:58):
you think every business that's considered a new investment is
doing right now? They're saying, let's wait and see if
Congress brings back one hundred percent expensing, it changes how
you pencil out the investments, and so the sooner they
get this on the best.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
Amen. All right, listen, you have a great weekend. Phil,
Thanks for you insight. As always, we love talking to you.
Speaker 9 (26:14):
Yeah, you got it. Sorry about that's.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
That's okay, not a problem. We could understand everything you said,
and that's all I care about. President of the American Commitment.
That is still curping back with more in a moment.
Jimmy Barrett Show, You're an AM nine to fifty KPRC.
(26:43):
All right, comes a segment to wrap up our Friday show.
Because maybe you're going out to eat today. Even if
you cut back on going out to eat, isn't Friday
night one of those notes you got to eat. Yeah,
us do we Friday Friday the weekend. We love love
eating on the weekend, even if we start eating home
more during the week we love of eating out on
the weekend. And and that always brings tipping to mind
(27:06):
and what you tip for what you don't And I
saw this interesting little piece about how tipping in America
has gone too far. Fifteen things you're asked to tip
for that don't deserve it, you know. And it's amazing
how many people are asking you to tip now number
one on the list self checkout Kios. That is just
(27:28):
so bizarre to me. There's so many places now that
are kind of running what I call a cafeteria style
where you go in, you walk up to a cash here,
you place your order, and at the end of the order,
they're asking you to tip. Now, this is nobody has
provided you with any service at this point, and you
don't know what kind of service they're going to provide,
(27:48):
if any, or how good is going to be. There's
no guarantee it is going to be good service. So
what am I supposed to tip on? What I was
supposed to tip based on I think you're going to
provide me with great service. There's a lot of restaurants
that run that way. Now, you order it, the cashier,
you pay, they ask for the tip, and then somebody
will bring you your food when your food is done.
(28:11):
But that's about all that happens. I mean, how much
am I supposed to tip on that when I don't
know anything about what's coming next? So yeah, no, thank
you fast food restaurants. That hasn't happened to me. Is
anybody that MacDonald's ask for a tip? Or Taco Bell?
Are those are those folks asking for tips?
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Now?
Speaker 4 (28:30):
I don't go to fast food restaurants very often. I've yet,
I've yet to have been asked in a fast food
restaurant for a tip. But maybe that's coming, or maybe
that's already happening in some places. Coffee shop counter service,
you know, if you order a coffee and they all
they do is hand you They pour coffee into a
cup and hand you at the cup of coffee. Should
(28:53):
you really have to tip on that they're asking you
to tip? Do you tip on that? I wouldn't tip?
Bakery and donut shops same kind of thing. Cashier rings
up the order, hands over a bag. Is that worth
a tip. I don't think so take out orders. You know,
you're walking in, you're picking up an order. They put
it in a bag for you, but nobody waited at
(29:14):
the table. Don't pay a tip, but people do or
they ask anyway. Now here's an interesting one because Guy
Mike and I talked about this on the Morning Show
a little bit today. Grocery store bagging. First of all,
when's the last time anybody bagged your groceries for you
at a grocery store. That doesn't happen very often. You know,
(29:35):
even if I've gone to the register at a Kroger,
for example, it seems like ninety nine percent of the
time I end up doing it myself. I mean, bagging
my own groceries. There's nobody really there helping me with that. Now, HGB,
you're more likely to have somebody help you with that.
Is that something? Do you ever tip the person who's
(29:55):
backing your groceries? I've never done that retail stores. Who
in the world would ask for a tip of a
retail store? You know, same thing the cashiers there, they
ring up your sale, They put your clothes or whatever
else you buy into a bag. Have you ever been
asked for a tip of a retail store. I've never
seen that. Now here's one I have tiped before, and
(30:20):
I'm not quite sure why. I guess because I always
thought you were supposed to hotel housekeeping. You stay at
a hotel, and you know, obviously they make the bed
for you and all that kind of stuff. Do you tip?
Here's the way I think it kind of works in
my mind. I have tipped housekeeping. If on a cruise ship,
for example, where you've got somebody who's making up your
(30:41):
bed and cleaning up your room for you for a week.
To me, that seems like that's worth a tip, or
if you're staying at a hotel for multiple days. But
if I'm just spending one night at a hotel, I
don't leave a tip for the housekeeper. Furniture delivery, now,
I have tipped on this before. In fact, I think
last time I ordered something from Gallery Furniture, I gave
(31:02):
the guys a tip because they're carrying these big, huge,
hawking pieces of furniture up a flight of stairs, and
you know, they were very nice and very helpful, and
they went out of their way to be you know,
to be nice, and I thought they deserved a tip.
Drive through windows No, no, no, but they asked. Sometimes
they ask for tips. Sometimes people tip it drive throughs.
I don't what else made the list here. Let's see
(31:25):
what else might have made this particular list of places
or places or things that you asked. Subscription services Some
digital services were told, such as online subscriptions or content
platforms and not requesting tips from users. Many apps and
websites also ask users to leave a tip for their services,
(31:46):
despite already charging a monthly or annual fee. No, no way.
Rideshare apps like Uber, Yeah, well you tip a taxi
cab guy right most of the time, so I would
think that you know, they might deserve a tip. Airport
baggage handling fees. I mean, if you have a skycab.
(32:09):
Do any airports have skycap left anymore? I guess if
you have a skycap or if you have somebody that
pushes a family member in a wheelchair to the gate,
then yeah, maybe you tip them, but that would be
about it. Car washes. Many automatic car washes have tipping options,
even though the process is fully automated, no personal service involved. Well,
(32:31):
you know there are I do tip. I do a
I have a car wash I use for my truck
in the Woodlands that is much more labor intensive. You know,
it's not hand washed. It goes through a car wash,
but it's hand dried and the interior's hand cleaned. So yeah,
I leave a tip with those folks, But I wouldn't
do it in an automatic car wash where there's no
(32:53):
human hands touching your vehicle. Event ticket prices, event ticking fees. No,
not for an event. Although I will say this, I
do remember in this it's a memory for my childhood.
For example, if you were to go to an Astros game,
would you tip them? Would you tip the person who
(33:14):
seats you at the Astros game? I would not normally
tip an usher at a baseball game or another sporting
event unless they did something special for me. I know
that my dad, for example, used to be able to
do this back in the day where you used to
be able to tip an usher to improve your seating situation.
(33:36):
They used to have seats that they would hold aside
for people who were willing to tip them, and then
they'd move them to a better seat. I guess if
you're getting a better seat, maybe it's worth a tip,
but not just for somebody to escort you to your
seat and wipe your seat off. I didn't ask them
to do that. All right, that's it for today. Enjoy
your Friday, enjoy your weekend. Thank you for listening. I'll
(33:56):
see you Monday morning, bright and early, five am over
on news Radio seven forty k t r H. We
are back here at four on a M nine fifty
k p r C.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
Then
Well, what we need is more common sense.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
The.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Breaking down the world's nonsense.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
About how American common sense.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We'll see us through with the common sense of Houston.
I'm just pro common sense for Houston. From Houston dot com.
This is the Jimmy Barrett Show, brought to you by
viewind dot com. Now here's Jimmy Barrett.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Welcome to our Friday show. Yes it's Friday, thank goodness,
and let's start off a little climate alarmism on our
show this morning. Actually, this comes from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Doesn't cover the National Weather Bureau. It comes from the
Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has a UV index forecast
for tomorrow, June seventh, that puts sixteen states, including Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona,
(01:03):
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia,
and South Carolina, and a zone that could see levels
UV levels as high as eleven, which I'm not sure
what that means. They're saying it's dangerous to be outside.
Residents across those states are warned that you can't be
(01:26):
out for more than a few minutes. Without risk burning
your skin. So in other words, they are basically telling
you to stay indoors tomorrow because it's going to be
the UV index is going to be so high. And
to which I've got to say, when did we start
doing this? When did we start having a government agency
(01:50):
tell us when we can and cannot go outside? Now,
I think it's I think it's probably good that you
know that the UV index is a little bit higher,
because maybe you'll use some sunscreen when before you wouldn't
do it. But I'm guessing for most of us who
have a fairly decent tolerance for the sun, enjoy the
vitamin D that we get from the sun in a
(02:11):
very natural way. Maybe have a swimming pool that we
want to spend a little time in tomorrow. The only
the only thing I'll think about before I hop in
the pool is all right, how long do I want
to stay out here? And I never stay out for
more than an hour in the summertime, because I realize,
you know, just how easily it is to get burned,
and I don't want to burn my skin. I mean,
(02:32):
I was dumb enough to do that when I was
a kid. I don't need to do that as an adult. Plus,
I have relatively fair skin in blue eyes, and I
know that you know I can burn more easily than
other people do. Now, if you have a dark complexion
and you are very sun tolerant, then you know, no
big deal. It just amazes me that the we have
(02:53):
the Environmental Protection Agency involved now in telling you when
you can or can I go outside? Hey, another topic
from the I thought i'd run through, just see if
I got the list I want to run through yet. No,
I'll work on this list. We'll do it for our
last segment today. A list. I saw a list of
like fifteen different things where they're asking for tips now
(03:17):
that they never used to ask for tips, and that
you shouldn't feel compelled like you have to tip them.
Everybody's asking for tips these days, and even in some
of the most inappropriate places. So I think we've gotten
way out of control on the tip thing. We talk
about that all the time. And it's interesting to me
that the more the price of things have gone up,
(03:37):
the more inflation has hit things like restaurants, the more
people are asking for tips. Didn't they already get a
raise if you're a restaurant worker. I mean, in all fairness.
If you're a restaurant worker, first of all, you'll always
get a great tip from me for great service. But
didn't you aren't you already getting an automate race thanks
to the venue prices going up. You know, if you're
(03:58):
working at a restaurant and doing breakfast, you used to
sell people a breakfast for two people, and it costs
like twenty two or twenty twenty three dollars and they
tip you four or five bucks. Now it's costing thirty
five dollars, and now they're probably tipping you seven bucks. Right,
if you're doing a good job, you got to raise,
You got to raise. So why why is this? Why
(04:19):
is this continuing pressure to have us get bigger raises
or bigger tips than we used to. Some places they
don't even have fifteen percent on the on the list anymore. Nobody,
nobody will have a ten percent automatic tip. They start
at fifteen maybe a lot of places now when they
pop up the tip, you know, the automatic tip, eighteen
(04:39):
percent is where they're starting. So, you know, I think
the whole thing is really way out of control, and
I just I just wonder, you know, where where's the
pushback going to come? At what point are we are
we just going to blow up at all this asking
for tips? All right, here's here's the story I do
want to get to as a local story. I did
not get to it this morning on katrh and I
(05:00):
want to get to it here on our afternoon show
at am nine to fifty KPRC. It evolves the city
budget for the City of Houston. And I know many
of us live in the suburbs and we probably don't
need to be overly concerned, but in some ways we
do on what the city spends money on. Because one
of the areas where the city is having issues, as
most cities of any sort of decent age have, is
(05:25):
with the infrastructure. And certainly the infrastructure of the City
of Houston has its problems as its issues, and in
most cities do not pay enough attention or spend enough
money on solving those issues. And we know what some
of our issues are in Houston. We have a drainage problem.
You know, we're low lying, We get a lot of rain.
(05:45):
We get a lot of rain that falls in a
very small period of time. We need a better way
to move that water off of the city streets and
into the sewage system and to keep the streets from funning.
But we never spend enough money doing it. You know,
We're always spending money on other things, some things that
I think that are a waste of money. You know,
I love art as much as the next person, but
(06:06):
I don't think the city should be spending money on
art until it has an opportunity to fix its infrastructure.
I don't think that they should be spending money on
you know, on social programs until they have the people safe,
you know, fire police, those types of things. That's that's
where I think the money needs to go first and foremost.
But here's a KPRC TV to report from yesterday on
(06:30):
some of these protests have been going on. Not all
of them are just upset because John Whitmyer is not
liberal enough for them. Some of them are upset because
they don't think that money's being spent on the right things.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Andy Lisas.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
So much of that controversy from yesterday's budget meeting had
to deal with drainage projects. Several speakers addressed it. In
protesters what kicked out over It's through it all. A
drainage amendment did pass a marathon council meeting discussing Mayor
John Whitmyer's seven billion dollar budget proposal, and did with
the proposal passing. The votes nearly unanimous, with fourteen members
(07:04):
in supports and three against, including council member Abby came in.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
It was a very hard decision, but I voted no
on this budget. We are seeing a lot of things
taking place.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
The budget includes increases to public safety, consolidation of some
agency work, and cuts. Several speakers spoke out against what
they say are cuts to drainage.
Speaker 7 (07:26):
Come here today to talk about funding for infrastructure and
disaster relief.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
As council heard from residents outside Wednesday storms flooded streets.
Council member came in advocating for an amendments that would
add more money towards drainage projects. The amendment failed. Very
similar one was approved.
Speaker 6 (07:45):
A specific amount of money is to go towards specific
types of drainage projects, so there was increased specificity about
what we should be spending and directing the department to
spend money on in terms of the type of drainage projects.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
As we get further into hurricane season, came and says
she worries about potential disasters and how the city would
pay for.
Speaker 6 (08:08):
Its last year alone, we had three federally declared disasters
and extreme weather that is not we couldn't even get
into clear disaster for and that means that we don't
get reimbursed by the federal government. The city eats those costs. Now,
the risk with those storms in extreme weather is being
magnified by federal budget cut.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
I don't know about that part, but I do know this.
We know what our problems are, right, I mean, the
problems we have now are the same problems we've had
for one hundred and two hundred years. So is it
right for us to officely expect the federal government to
step in and help us. We built the city here, right,
we should know by now what it takes in order
to protect the city. We should know what is our
(08:54):
responsibility to provide for our citizens. And it's kind of
an important thing to provide, right, Because I saw the
survey that seemed to indicate up to forty percent of
Houstonians would consider leaving the city because of concerns over
flooding and other issues brought on by some of the
weather events that we have. They they think that life
(09:16):
would be better in the suburbs than in the city
because the city doesn't do enough directify the problems. Something's
gonna have to change with all that. All right, quick
low break back with burning moment Jimmy Bear Show a
nine KPRC. All right, I thought we'd spend our segment
(09:50):
segment down on her Friday show today talking about the
feud is like a family feud, you know, the Musk
family versus the Trump family. That would be interesting to
put those two in the family feud on that show.
I mean, the families are very, very different from one another.
I mean the Musk family is a little convoluted. You know,
(10:10):
He's got all these baby mamas and all these kids,
and Trump's got more of a traditional family. I mean,
he's had three wives, but he has a more of
a traditional family. But it'd be interesting to see, you know,
who has the smartest family. I don't know. I don't
know that Elon Musk has a lot of street smarts.
He's a smart guy, but I don't know he has
a lot of street smarts. I don't think he's probably
(10:33):
gonna win the public relations war with President Trump when
it comes to the Big Beautiful Bill. The Big Beautiful
Bill is supported by a lot of Americans. In fact,
I saw a man on the street that Fox did
talking to voters about the Big Beautiful Bill, and man,
it was amazing how in favor most people are with
(10:54):
the Big Beautiful Bill of at least of what they
know about what is in there. In fact, here are
some of those voters speaking out and some reaction to
what those voters had to say.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
The benefits of the Big Beautiful Bill will outweigh any negativity.
Speaker 8 (11:07):
I don't think it's going to add to the national
pet I mean, the experts have been rolled over the
last fifty years and look like right now we have
this big deficit right now. And so as far as
them given advice, I know currently.
Speaker 9 (11:21):
Advice the one result they think we're going to be
in a better place and then we'll see the reduction.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
At that point. It accomplish a lot. It'll bringands, hundreds
of thousands jobs back to the country.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Republicans are committed to a safe and prosperous America, and
that's what this bill does. It provides for safety as
well as prosperity for the American people. We shared with
the President the fact that the American people trust Republicans
much more on the economy than they do the Democrats,
and this bill does what the American people want us
(11:52):
to do.
Speaker 7 (11:52):
So what do you make of all this? We got
Center Finance Chair Mike Crapo's warning that there are likely
two no votes against it Senator Rand Paul and Ron
Johnson over spending. Just one more defection there could derail it.
What do you think is going to happen?
Speaker 9 (12:06):
Well?
Speaker 10 (12:06):
Ron Johnson put out a graph a couple of days ago,
a chart, very simple chart simply says, look, even during
Trump's first term, deficits were under a trillion dollars. Then
we have this pandemic, and every administration and every budget
post the pandemic have been two trillion dollar plus deficits.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Why. That's just a simple question. Why.
Speaker 10 (12:31):
And I think he's getting a little traction with that.
That's what god Elon fired off. He looked at that
chart too and said, wait a second, why do we
have to spend two trillion dollars more than we need to?
So what Johnson wants to do is split the bill
in a half, get the tax cuts in on time
by July four that are required to keep small business
and large business humming, keep the economy going, which is
(12:54):
doing quite well, and then work on this deficit reduction
thing separately.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
But if you do that, if it's not all passes
a part of this bill, if a peace bill it
that way, then you end up having to have a
sixty to forty vote instead of a simple majority vote.
I can't explain exactly why it is or how that
all works, but that, at least that's what I've been
told would be the problem with doing it that way.
(13:22):
It would be much better if they could just kind
of get this old done. There's a lot more than
just there's a lot more involved in that bill than
just extending the Trump tax cuts. You know, there's the
taxes on tips and overtime and maybe on Social Security.
They could be involved in all this stuff. So there's
a lot, a lot of things on the line. But
back to the feud here for a second, because it's
(13:42):
interesting to watch this back and forth and back and
forth between Elon Musk and President Trump on the big
beautiful bill that Elon is calling an abomination because of
you know, that extension of the dead. Although again that
I don't know why Elon Musk is buying into what
the Office of Management and Budgement Budget has to say
(14:03):
about this. But he seems that he is and he's
a smart guy. But President Trump, I think thinks that
there's more involved in this than than that that maybe
it has a little bit more to do with, you know,
the bill taking away some EV credits and other things
that could impact his business. Anyway, here's what I do know,
(14:26):
at least according to Nuton Gingridge. Newt Gingridge seems to
think that there's no way for Elon Musk to win
on this one. And here's what he had to say
about the Trump Musk feud.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Well, I'm beginning to think that they are mad at
each other. I mean, I don't want to go. I
don't I don't know I want to go much. Look,
this is the soap opera phase of American politics. Everybody
can understand it, everybody can pay attention to it. But
in the long run, what's happening with China, what's happening
with Russia, what's happening with the Big beautiful Bill. Those
(14:58):
are vastly more important than whether or not Elon Musk
is having a temper tantrum. And remember, Musk is the
wealthiest guy in the world. But Donald Trump is the
most powerful person in the world, and I think probably
that Musk kind of forgot that Musk power comes from
Musk money, comes from having met consumers, having been brilliant.
(15:21):
Trump has the vote of seventy seven million Americans to
say he ought to be the commander in chief. And
in that kind of a contest, there's no question in
my mind that two, three, four, five months from now
Donald Trump will still be president and Musk may or
may not be relevant. And that partly depends on whether
it must decides to grow up and find a better
(15:42):
way of doing this.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Does this kerfuffle effect that China situation, Does it affect
the big beautiful build, Does it affect.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Ukraine and space?
Speaker 4 (15:53):
And what kind of impact will it have?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I think it depends on whether this is a temporary,
very intense exchange or becomes kind of a long, permanent struggle.
For example, the United States needs SpaceX. SpaceX this year
will launch ninety seven percent of the satellites worldwide. It's
an extraordinary asset for US to have the presidentized States
(16:19):
end up in a power struggle, which is not really much.
It's a public relations struggle. There's no power struggle here.
One of them is president, the other one isn't president.
And I think that's part of what the media doesn't
quite get, and I think it's part of what frustrates
Elon Musk is that, you know, he has a fairly
high sense of himself and should I mean, I think
he's a brilliant guy. I think the things he's done
(16:41):
are remarkable, but they're remarkable as an entrepreneur. You know,
Henry Ford didn't end up running the country, Thomas Edison
didn't end up running the country, and in fact, in
the end, Elon Musk is not going to end up
running the country. So I think probably things will calm
down over the next two or three days. Trump has
a lot of really serious things to do and play kating.
(17:03):
Musk is probably down around number twenty seven on.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
The list, if anywhere on the list. You know we
were at We did a little favorite breakup songs for
Musk and Trump this morning on the morning show to
have a little fun with it on ktr H because
supposedly there was going to be a phone call taking
place later today between Musk and Trump to to discuss things.
(17:27):
At the very least evidently President Trump is now saying
he's not interested in making a phone call right now.
So evidently the President angry enough where he's not interesting,
he's not interested in making up with Elon Musk, at
least not at the moment. All right, quick little break
by the way, more coming up on the Big Beautiful Bill.
Phil Kerpin scheduled to be our guest with American Commitment
(17:49):
to talk about the Big Beautiful Bill. What does he
think needs to happen with this and what does he
see as the bright spots in this bill, and maybe
some of the areas where he sees potential problems they're
gonna have to face later on. Back with Lore in
the moment Jimmy Bard Show, you're on a nine fifty KPRC.
(18:20):
Bill Kurpet is with us here on a nine fifty
KPRC and the Jimmy Bard Show. Phil is the president
of American Commitments, where you're talking to him about that
Big Beautiful Bill. You're a fan of the Big Beautiful Bill, right, Phil, Yeah,
give it.
Speaker 9 (18:33):
About a B. It's not the greatest thing I've ever seen,
but it's got a lot of good things in there.
I think we need to do most significantly canceling those
massive tactics that are coming at the end of the
year if they don't get it done. So I definitely
would vote for it on A But it's a pretty
strong B.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Okay, all right, I've got a little echo here. Let
me see if I can straighten that out for you.
But but here, here's what I wonder about the big
beautiful bill. You say, you say, give it a B.
What what do you think is in that bill that's
lowering the grade as far as you're concern.
Speaker 9 (19:03):
Well, you know they did this. They did this seal
at the last minute to quadruple the state and local
tax deduction caps so that rich people in the highest
taxed Blue states can write off forty thousand dollars of
their state and local taxes, which gets dumped on the
rest of us. So I thought that was pretty exorbitant.
Didn't love that one. Also, I think they could have
(19:25):
done a lot more on spending reforms, and some earlier
versions discussed being much more aggressive on fixing. Yeah, the
control medicaid programs that we did get a few significant
reforms in there, So I would say mainly, Oh, and
the other thing is it's not clear if we're going
to get the major regulatory reformists in there, the Rains Act,
which was some versions and then it came out. They're
(19:45):
trying to get it back in, so that one's sort
of up in the air right now.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Okay, all right, And I think those are all very
very fair criticisms about no bills perfect. It never will be.
I find it interesting, May and maybe you have some
insight into this. You know, Elon Musk was a part
of Team Trump throughout the process. Here, President Trump says
he doesn't quite understand what Elon's so upset about. Elon
knew everything that was in that bill. It appears to
(20:10):
be the two point four trillion debt that this bill
supposedly will will cost, although there's some question about whether
or not that's reality based on the Congressional Budget Office.
They haven't taken tars or anything else into consideration, or
growing the economy into consideration as far as offsetting any
of the higher costs there. Do you think it's about
(20:33):
the two four trillion in debt? Ors there's something else
in there that's bothering Elon.
Speaker 9 (20:39):
Well, you know, obviously he wanted to extend electric vehicle
mandates because he's the CEO of Task Lass, So I
think the electric vehicle mandates getting repealed is probably the
major sticking point for him, or at least that's what
President Trump says. Anyway, Elon says, that's not it. I
don't know. I'm in luck when you're the richest guy
in the world and your number one priority is built
(21:00):
Mars colony or whatever. I mean, I don't I'm not
sure what motivates a guy like that necessarily, so it's
hard to say for sure. But he definitely wanted to
do more on spending in depth, and this bill accomplishes.
I think he would have liked to see them, you know,
write a lot of those dog cuts into law and
this bill, although it would have been difficult to do
that in this particular bill because they didn't have a
(21:23):
reconciliation instruction for the Appropriations Committee, and even if they did,
it's not clear that Senate rules would have allowed to
do exactly what he wants to do. And so I
think they may pursue a lot of that on a
different track. And in fact, we're going to have the
first votes coming up on making some DOGE cuts permanent
with respect to USAID and NPR and TBS and that
first recisions package that was sent up, And so I
(21:45):
think that he's a little bit disappointed that this doesn't
include really his work, doesn't write any of the stuff
he was working on with DOJ into law. But there
may be an opportunity to do that through different vehicles,
and maybe if he sees that happen, he'll keep more happy.
But I think he's just frustrated that, you know, we
won the House to send it in the White House,
and we were going to change the direction of the
(22:06):
country on the debt and stop accumulating it. And this bill,
on its face, or at least from those official scores,
it doesn't do that. But I would point out that
unless you can get the economic growth rate up, the
debt's not going to be manageable. And if we can
get a good tax environment, a good regulatory environment, a
good energy environment, and get the economic growth rate up
(22:26):
from you know, one point six three percent plus, suddenly
the death becomes much more manageable and it actually goes
down if we can keep spending on its current track.
Now it's a big if, of course, because usually when
the economy growth spending growth that goes up too. But
if we can keep spending on the same track it's
on and grow the economy faster. Then the debt starts
going down. So you know, you got to have that
strong economic growth, which is really what this bill is about.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
We are with Phil Kirp and he's President of American Commitment.
We're talking about that big beautiful bill, not the big abomination.
That's that's what Elon Musk refers to the bill as
the bigger A B A nation. I'm just kind of
struck by, I think the politics of this. Maybe that's
part of what Elon Musk's frustration is, is that the
political games that you have to play in Washington, d C.
(23:13):
You know where you've you've got to, You've got to
you know what you have to do is you have
to have any hope of really having a truly successful
four year run in Trump's second term, you have to
maintain control of Congress. And to maintain control of Congress,
you have to maintain control of the House of Representatives,
which is always difficult to do for any administration in
(23:36):
an off year election. So you only get the first
two years to as much done as you can, and
you hope if you aren't doing anything that will prevent
you from being successful in the last two years. And
unless they get the Trump tax cuts made permanent, that's
gonna be a big problem. The economy is going to
have a if we have a huge tax increase because
they they can't come up with a deal. We've got
(23:57):
a big problem with head, don't we.
Speaker 9 (24:00):
Yeah, I mean, look, Jimmy, if they don't get if
they get nothing done, if this whole process collapses. You know,
if the Trump tax cuts turned into a pumpkin on
New Year's Eve and everybody's great to go up, Standard
deduct gets cut in half, the child credit gets cut
in half, most significantly, non corporate business income, which is
you know but basically all small businesses pay that tax
goes from twenty nine point six to thirty nine point six.
(24:22):
So we're talking about a massive, massive hit you know,
the family businesses, small businesses, partnerships, full proprietorships. It would
be very, very bad. And you know, if everyone's tax
bills are going up by thousands of dollars, they're not
going to vote Republicans. So even if you don't care
about the economy, you don't care about incomes growing, If
all you care about is politics. They absolutely do have
(24:45):
to get this done. There's no way they can let
a tax hike on the order of four trillion dollars
happen and not pay a political price for it.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Well, and it has to be done in a timely way.
I know they're the looking at July fourth, is that
drop dead day because you have do you have to
give the economy a while to respond to whatever is
in that bill that's going to help stimulate the economy.
And until that bill gets past the process can't begin.
It doesn't happen overnight. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (25:12):
Absolutely, that's one of the big problems they had with
the text. That's the first time they passed it, you know,
the week of Christmas in the twenty seventeen and there
were huge benefits in that bill, but people didn't feel
them in time for the twenty eighteen election. And so
the sooner they get this done, the better. And in particular,
you know, one of the most significant provisions of that
twenty seventeen bill was what's called bonus depreciation, which is
(25:35):
what led businesses write off one hundred percent of the
cost of their capital investments and equipment and software in
the first year, and that that led to a big
boom and business investment which raises productivity, raises real wages.
We're already into year three of the phase out of that,
and so as of right now, so business invests, they
can only write off forty percent of the rest. They
have to take a long depreciation schedule. Well, what do
(25:58):
you think every business that's considered a new investment is
doing right now? They're saying, let's wait and see if
Congress brings back one hundred percent expensing, it changes how
you pencil out the investments, and so the sooner they
get this on the best.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
Amen. All right, listen, you have a great weekend. Phil,
Thanks for you insight. As always, we love talking to you.
Speaker 9 (26:14):
Yeah, you got it. Sorry about that's.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
That's okay, not a problem. We could understand everything you said,
and that's all I care about. President of the American Commitment.
That is still curping back with more in a moment.
Jimmy Barrett Show, You're an AM nine to fifty KPRC.
(26:43):
All right, comes a segment to wrap up our Friday show.
Because maybe you're going out to eat today. Even if
you cut back on going out to eat, isn't Friday
night one of those notes you got to eat. Yeah,
us do we Friday Friday the weekend. We love love
eating on the weekend, even if we start eating home
more during the week we love of eating out on
the weekend. And and that always brings tipping to mind
(27:06):
and what you tip for what you don't And I
saw this interesting little piece about how tipping in America
has gone too far. Fifteen things you're asked to tip
for that don't deserve it, you know. And it's amazing
how many people are asking you to tip now number
one on the list self checkout Kios. That is just
(27:28):
so bizarre to me. There's so many places now that
are kind of running what I call a cafeteria style
where you go in, you walk up to a cash here,
you place your order, and at the end of the order,
they're asking you to tip. Now, this is nobody has
provided you with any service at this point, and you
don't know what kind of service they're going to provide,
(27:48):
if any, or how good is going to be. There's
no guarantee it is going to be good service. So
what am I supposed to tip on? What I was
supposed to tip based on I think you're going to
provide me with great service. There's a lot of restaurants
that run that way. Now, you order it, the cashier,
you pay, they ask for the tip, and then somebody
will bring you your food when your food is done.
(28:11):
But that's about all that happens. I mean, how much
am I supposed to tip on that when I don't
know anything about what's coming next? So yeah, no, thank
you fast food restaurants. That hasn't happened to me. Is
anybody that MacDonald's ask for a tip? Or Taco Bell?
Are those are those folks asking for tips?
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Now?
Speaker 4 (28:30):
I don't go to fast food restaurants very often. I've yet,
I've yet to have been asked in a fast food
restaurant for a tip. But maybe that's coming, or maybe
that's already happening in some places. Coffee shop counter service,
you know, if you order a coffee and they all
they do is hand you They pour coffee into a
cup and hand you at the cup of coffee. Should
(28:53):
you really have to tip on that they're asking you
to tip? Do you tip on that? I wouldn't tip?
Bakery and donut shops same kind of thing. Cashier rings
up the order, hands over a bag. Is that worth
a tip. I don't think so take out orders. You know,
you're walking in, you're picking up an order. They put
it in a bag for you, but nobody waited at
(29:14):
the table. Don't pay a tip, but people do or
they ask anyway. Now here's an interesting one because Guy
Mike and I talked about this on the Morning Show
a little bit today. Grocery store bagging. First of all,
when's the last time anybody bagged your groceries for you
at a grocery store. That doesn't happen very often. You know,
(29:35):
even if I've gone to the register at a Kroger,
for example, it seems like ninety nine percent of the
time I end up doing it myself. I mean, bagging
my own groceries. There's nobody really there helping me with that. Now, HGB,
you're more likely to have somebody help you with that.
Is that something? Do you ever tip the person who's
(29:55):
backing your groceries? I've never done that retail stores. Who
in the world would ask for a tip of a
retail store? You know, same thing the cashiers there, they
ring up your sale, They put your clothes or whatever
else you buy into a bag. Have you ever been
asked for a tip of a retail store. I've never
seen that. Now here's one I have tiped before, and
(30:20):
I'm not quite sure why. I guess because I always
thought you were supposed to hotel housekeeping. You stay at
a hotel, and you know, obviously they make the bed
for you and all that kind of stuff. Do you tip?
Here's the way I think it kind of works in
my mind. I have tipped housekeeping. If on a cruise ship,
for example, where you've got somebody who's making up your
(30:41):
bed and cleaning up your room for you for a week.
To me, that seems like that's worth a tip, or
if you're staying at a hotel for multiple days. But
if I'm just spending one night at a hotel, I
don't leave a tip for the housekeeper. Furniture delivery, now,
I have tipped on this before. In fact, I think
last time I ordered something from Gallery Furniture, I gave
(31:02):
the guys a tip because they're carrying these big, huge,
hawking pieces of furniture up a flight of stairs, and
you know, they were very nice and very helpful, and
they went out of their way to be you know,
to be nice, and I thought they deserved a tip.
Drive through windows No, no, no, but they asked. Sometimes
they ask for tips. Sometimes people tip it drive throughs.
I don't what else made the list here. Let's see
(31:25):
what else might have made this particular list of places
or places or things that you asked. Subscription services Some
digital services were told, such as online subscriptions or content
platforms and not requesting tips from users. Many apps and
websites also ask users to leave a tip for their services,
(31:46):
despite already charging a monthly or annual fee. No, no way.
Rideshare apps like Uber, Yeah, well you tip a taxi
cab guy right most of the time, so I would
think that you know, they might deserve a tip. Airport
baggage handling fees. I mean, if you have a skycab.
(32:09):
Do any airports have skycap left anymore? I guess if
you have a skycap or if you have somebody that
pushes a family member in a wheelchair to the gate,
then yeah, maybe you tip them, but that would be
about it. Car washes. Many automatic car washes have tipping options,
even though the process is fully automated, no personal service involved. Well,
(32:31):
you know there are I do tip. I do a
I have a car wash I use for my truck
in the Woodlands that is much more labor intensive. You know,
it's not hand washed. It goes through a car wash,
but it's hand dried and the interior's hand cleaned. So yeah,
I leave a tip with those folks, But I wouldn't
do it in an automatic car wash where there's no
(32:53):
human hands touching your vehicle. Event ticket prices, event ticking fees. No,
not for an event. Although I will say this, I
do remember in this it's a memory for my childhood.
For example, if you were to go to an Astros game,
would you tip them? Would you tip the person who
(33:14):
seats you at the Astros game? I would not normally
tip an usher at a baseball game or another sporting
event unless they did something special for me. I know
that my dad, for example, used to be able to
do this back in the day where you used to
be able to tip an usher to improve your seating situation.
(33:36):
They used to have seats that they would hold aside
for people who were willing to tip them, and then
they'd move them to a better seat. I guess if
you're getting a better seat, maybe it's worth a tip,
but not just for somebody to escort you to your
seat and wipe your seat off. I didn't ask them
to do that. All right, that's it for today. Enjoy
your Friday, enjoy your weekend. Thank you for listening. I'll
(33:56):
see you Monday morning, bright and early, five am over
on news Radio seven forty k t r H. We
are back here at four on a M nine fifty
k p r C.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
Then
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