The Rod and Greg Show: Loneliness in America; How Dems Are Holding Government Hostage

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, it's great to be with you today. We hope
your weekend plans are shaping up for you and your
family to have a great time. We've got a great
show coming up today. We'll talk Chuck Schumer had stepped
up with yet a new proposal to bring the government
back to work. We'll talk about that. We've got some
great reaction to that. We'll dive into the expenses of Obamacare. Now,

(00:20):
what you have to remember on this shutdown is the
Democrats are fighting over an extension of the Obamacare subsidies
that were put into place during COVID nineteen. The ones
that were in place before that are not being touched.
It's the ones where it was expanded because of COVID.
That's all they're fighting for. And the expense different. Greg's
got some numbers on that. We'll share that with you

(00:42):
a little bit later on. We'll talk about America. You know,
our American's lonely, Greg, Are we lonely?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'm not. I'm not lonely. I'm not a loser.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah. Oh damn, I'm just kidding. Get into that. We've
got a great discussion coming up with us. A person
wrote an article called why our culture can't grow up
and you absolutely love this when I know you. So
we'll get into that, we'll get to your phone call.
So we've got a lot to get to today. Great
to be with you on the Rod and Greg Show.
If you want to be a part of it, we

(01:18):
invite you to do so eight eight eight five seven
zero eight zero one zero on your cell phone dial
pound two fifty, or leave us a talk back line
by simply downloading the iHeartRadio app and searching for k
n RS. All right, Chuck Schumer stepping up Greg saying,
we've got an idea as to how to end the shutdown.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
You know, I think Hamas comes up with ideas too,
But do we have to take them seriously? I mean
we don't. We don't negotiate with terrorists, and so I'm
not interested in what democrats want to do to try
and you know, to put demands out there when you
need to just hold serve and keep the government open.
And you should not insert yourself by holding shutting down
the government to get to get concessions that you don't

(02:01):
you wouldn't receive otherwise. It's absolutely bad. It's just wrong,
and if you do it, you're going to get more
of it. It is just a stick to beat yourself with.
So you can share with our listeners what terrorist Schumer
wants to extort out of the Republican majority in the Senate.
But I think it's offensive.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Yeah, well, here's what he proposed today on the floor
of the Center.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
I've spoken with my caucus and Democrats are offering a
very simple compromise. Democrats are ready to clear the way
to quickly pass a government funding build that includes health
care affordability. Leader Thun just needs to add a clean
one year extension of the ACA tax credits to the

(02:43):
CR so that we can immediately address rising health care costs.
That's not a negotiation. It's an extension of current law,
something we do all the time around here, as we
all know. But we also offer this, let's create a
bipartisan committee that will continue negotiations after the government reopens

(03:06):
on reforms ahead of next year's enrollment period to provide
long term certainty that healthcare costs will be more affordable.
This proposal reopens the government and ensures working families who
are shopping right now for their healthcare get certainty and
financial relief.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Oh, he is such a statesman. And such a caring individual.
Greg He's just saying, let's just bring this all to
a close. Let's keep spending kazillions of dollars on Obamacare,
but bring the government back.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
They're shutting down the government because it is the Obamacare
has collapsed. It's not I mean, if you let those
and by the way, the Democrats voted for when these
COVID dollars that were put into that into the system
would end because COVID had ended. We don't live in that.
We're not living in twenty twenty or twenty twenty one

(03:59):
any longer. It's twenty twenty five. They agreed voted that
these subsidies would end after we were out of COVID
twenty twenty five. Seems like the coast is clear. It
seems like it should happen. The reason they can't let
those subsidies go back to where they were is because
the system I'm going to say fail. The system won't work,
But I'm going to share with you what that actually means.

(04:20):
Ari Fleischer put a long, lengthy post out there to
try and give put the numbers in perspective of what
we're talking about in terms of letting that end. That
subsidy end. And remember how many thirty six trillion and
debt we have. We're printing money, I mean the dollar.
I mean, I don't know how it's worth anything. He
keeps printing thirty six trillion in debt and growing. There

(04:40):
has to be there's a cliff that's coming at some point.
So you can't keep spending without understanding that there's a
consequence for reckless spending that you don't have, that you
don't pay the bills for. But here's it. Here it
is Ari Fleischer points out that this is the bottom
line on the healthcare problem. Democrats refuse to let premiums
rise from the zero dollar a month that currently, if

(05:01):
you're at one hundred percent poverty, which is thirty two
thousand dollars one hundred and fifty dollars a year right now,
your premium is zero dollars. If those premiums, those COVID
premiums expire, those homes making that the family of four
making one hundred percent of poverty would go from paying
nothing to paying fifty six dollars a month. For those

(05:23):
at two hundred percent poverty, that's sixty four thousand dollars
a year. They insist that those premiums, which are currently
at one hundred and seven dollars a month, they cannot
be raised to three hundred and fifty four dollars a month.
Ari Fleischer asked a question and begs, and I asked
the question, who right now is paying Folks who's paying

(05:44):
fifty four dollars a month for their healthcare? Nobody who's
paying three hundred and fifty four dollars. This three hundred
and fifty four is like the big you know, how
dare you? This is where you're going to kill everyone?
Three hundred and fifty four dollars. I pay more than
one thousand a month. I think most people have to
pay more than thousand a months. This entire shutdown is
about making this society, making taxpayers, most of us pay,

(06:09):
so that some of us won't have have to pay
anything at all, or pay little or little to nothing.
It just goes and he points out, look, if you
don't like if we think that Mandani's free buses grow,
you know, government owned grocery stores, if we scoff at
those ideas, understand that this this whole healthcare scheme right
here is to socialize medicine. Have most of us pay

(06:29):
a fortune, so that if a smaller amount will pay
almost nothing. It doesn't work. It can't work. It's going
to break this government, it's budget, The system itself of
healthcare is not going to be sustainable this way. What
Schumer is proposing is more of the of that of
that unsustainable subsidy that we as taxpayers can't afford out.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, and I will guarantee you, Greg, you watched the
media this weekend, You watch the Sunday morning talk shows,
and they'll all be positive about what the Democrats trying
to do. And I say that because of this study
out today from the Media Research Council Center. I say,
through the entire month of October, the first thirty seven
days of the shutdown, this study found that there have

(07:13):
been sixty seven reports that address the topic of the
sixty seven the overwhelming majority eighty seven percent presented a
positive view of what the Democrats are trying to do.
So you're going to get a positive spin from the
media on this, saying, Look, the Democrats now are willing
to come forth and live with the expansion for only

(07:34):
a year, and they pledge to come up with a
bipartisan committee to study that's what this spin is going
to be. And let me tell you what. There's one
Senator John Kennedy who's already shared his opinion on this.

Speaker 4 (07:44):
What Senator Schimer is suggesting is that we do the
dumbest thing possible that won't work.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
Stupid should hurt more.

Speaker 4 (07:57):
Senator Scheimer says, we should just extend the status quo
for a year.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
What does that mean? That means that we would.

Speaker 4 (08:06):
Have to take thirty five billion dollars of taxpayer money
and give it directly to the health insurance companies without
any commitment of lowering premiums. How is that going to
reduce healthcare costs? How's that going to reduce premiums? The

(08:30):
healthcare companies are going to take thirty five billion dollars
from the taxpayers and put it into their pockets.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
I mean, duh, I love Jinny. Stupid should hurt more?

Speaker 2 (08:43):
It should. And let me tell you something. You've got it.
You've got judges saying that you know, Trump, you have
to pay all the food stamps for the entire month
of November without regard to what it costs, or what
money you have, or whether the government's open or not.
It is a It is the most It's like a
child made that decision. It has no touch on the
reality of what money we have and what money we

(09:04):
don't and what we can actually do. These judges have
no interest in a stable government or economy. They just
want to feel good saying it. It's very reckless.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Ye all right, when we come back, we'll dig into
the healthcare, the Obamacare cost and what's going on here.
That's coming up on the Friday edition of The Rod
and Greg Show and Talk Radio one oh five nine.
Kayn rs, all right, welcome back to the show. Let's
talk more about the shutdown. Chuck Schumer today appearing to
be the statesman, a sympathetic statesman, saying, you know, we'll

(09:36):
work with you Republicans. Here's an idea. We'll extend the
subsidies for another year, will negotiate them, fixing this system.
We'll even reopen the government, but we just need to
extend them for just one year. Now, the media, as
I mentioned before, we're going to jump all over this
and praise humor for coming up with the plan to
bring the government back online. Republican senators are standing their ground.

(10:00):
I love it. But let's talk about how Americans feel
about these subsidies. Joining us on our Newsmaker line is
Lauren Stewart. She is the senior Legislative Affairs liaison for
Americans for Prosperity. Lauren, how are you welcome to the
Rodin Greg Show. Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 5 (10:15):
Doing fantastic things.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
For having me, Lauren, I've got to get your initial
reaction to what Chuck Schumer proposed today. Is there anything
different in there at all? Lauren?

Speaker 5 (10:24):
No, it does make me chuckle a little bit.

Speaker 6 (10:26):
First off.

Speaker 5 (10:27):
I you know, look at a compromise quote unquote that
Senator Schumer is put to the floor to say, we're
not going to compromise now, and we would like another
chance to not compromise this time next year. That's what
we're looking at in terms of this. And it's an
ironic and you know this has all been bad policy
followed by bad politics from the Democrats.

Speaker 7 (10:48):
But you know, somebody needs.

Speaker 5 (10:49):
To remind him that he is the minority leader in
the Senate and that negotiations need to start with real
substantive compromise and we're not seeing that here at all.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah. I think that's really well put. We we don't
want to compromise now. And we're willing to not compromise later.
I think that's exactly what he's saying. But I am
really I think we're in a moment, we're living, We're
in the event. I think socialism is as well on
its way in terms of trying to compel the American
people that you know, everything should be free and then

(11:21):
you shouldn't have to pay for it. And I think so.
I think that this Obama the subsidies everything we're talking
about with where they want to keep the government shut
down until the Republicans give in, if they give in
at all, if they want to renegotiate any part other
than a continued resolution. Doesn't that mean that they will
just do this more often than when I say they,
I mean the Democrats. Anytime they want more of something

(11:44):
they don't have the votes to get, they don't have
the control of the House, Senate or White House to do,
they will just turn to this moment and shut down
the government and extort more. Aren't we just inviting more
of this if we give into any of.

Speaker 5 (11:55):
It, That's that's one hundred percent for sure. I mean,
we are in centivized reilly bad behavior right and hitting
a lot of the authority that was given to Republicans
in Congress and President Trump and the White House in
the referendum that the twenty four election was. Look, voters
sent a clear message they do not want the policies

(12:15):
of the Biden administration that made life, that made healthcare
more extensive, rubber stamped by Republicans. I mean, that was very,
very clear. And when we talk about proposals like this
in the name of fixing the healthcare crisis that the
Democrats created, it actually doesn't do anything. And that's the
smoke in mirrors behind it. Look, we're already in open enrollment.

(12:37):
CMS required insurance to set their rates for next year
on November first. The train has left the station. And
if these subsidies worked to get extended in this trash
deal that Schumer's putting forth, they only account for four
percentage points of the premium increases this year. The other
factors include Obamacare inflationary effects that have been in place

(12:59):
since twenty four team that have caused premiums to go
up every year since then to the tune of seventy
five percent, And if extended, ACA and realies could expect
to see a third of their medical claims denied with
nineteen thousand dollars out of pocket cost. So when they're
talking about fixing the healthcare crisis for next year and
alleviating some of the pain that they have put on

(13:21):
American patients and families through there doubling down on Obamacare,
this is.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
Not it, Lauren. You know Greg and I and I
know you and many other people dig into this and
follow this very closely every day to try and really
understand what's going on. But does the average American know
what's going on with all of this? Do you feel, Lauren?

Speaker 5 (13:41):
So here's the thing. We're hearing a ton in DC
talk about healthcare, right, Obamacare, things of that nature. But
healthcare is an issue that's very familiar to every American family,
especially moms. I'm a new mom. I wrote an op
ed in Fox Nude with my friend Mary Catherine ham
Or talking about, you know, the ins and out of

(14:03):
the way healthcare has affected both of our families. On
the rougher side. With her, she was at an Obamacare
plan when she was seven months pregnant, and unfortunately her
husband suddenly passed away and a few weeks later she
got a notice from the government that her aca plan
was changing and hopefully you know, the doctors were still

(14:24):
going to cover her in a few weeks for her delivery.
I mean to be seen, that's not the type of
notice you want to get when you're super pregnant. But
also on my end of being able to really manipulate
being in the driver's seat healthcare by utilizing things like
direct primary care subscriptions, health savings accounts to get the
better side of it.

Speaker 8 (14:43):
So while people.

Speaker 5 (14:44):
Might not understand what an enhanced premium tax credit is
under Obama, they understand that health care is harder, healthcare
is more expensive, and they don't feel like it's an
area of their lives that they have a lot of
control over. And the reason they don't have control is
because of Democratic led policies that centralize the control in

(15:05):
healthcare to government and insurance companies.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
You know, this is my frustration, and you're describing it well,
there are kitchen table issues and concerns, and then there's
luxury concerns or luxury beliefs. Everything I hear coming from
the Democrats and the Senate Schumer, all of them when
they talk about health care, they're talking luxury beliefs. They're
talking about people that shouldn't have to pay anything. You're
discussing the challenges that every day Americans are suffering through

(15:31):
right now, How do we shift this discussion from the
fantasy land luxury beliefs that the Democrats are trying to
push on the American people and pull out their heartstrings
and really get to the kitchen table issues and concerns
and beliefs that we every day Americans have. Because we're
talking about very different things, healthcare, you name it, there's

(15:51):
not a connect there.

Speaker 5 (15:54):
Yeah, there is a huge disconnect and the fundamental difference
at the core of the healthcare argument are really any
economic argument now on Capitol Hill between the Trump White House,
Republicans in Congress and Democrats is Democrats think that they
know better and the government knows better, and that there's
not a single solution that government can't and shouldn't fix.

(16:15):
They want to empower government, They want to empower single
payer systems that all funnel through one centralized spot. At
the core of the Republican position on all of this,
and especially with leaders students, Speaker Johnson in terms of
the shutdown, is number one, You're not going to hold
Americans hostage over a port policy that you're trying to
slam into a simple government funding bill number one, which

(16:37):
I highly commend Number two. They want to empower the
individual in the family, healthcare, your economics of your family,
your education is so personal in this one size that's
all approached that we know better. Approach that comes from
Washington and the status grow from the Democrats is not
what Americans want and it is not what Republicans are

(16:58):
advocating for. You see reforms coming through the one big,
beautiful bill like President Trump signed in July that expand
health family's accounts for ten millions of Americans, that reform
Medicaid for people it's supposed to serve, and classify things
like telehealth expand direct primary care ACTUS. These are the
things that Americans want, and at the fundamental core of

(17:21):
this debate is between who should have more control. Should
it be the government in Washington or should.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
It be in your family, the individual. Lauren, great conversation,
Thank you and enjoy the weekend.

Speaker 5 (17:31):
Fantastic you.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
Thank you Lauren Stewart joining us from the organization Americans
for Prosperity right here on the Roden Gregg Show. So
it was right near the end of Joe Biden's term,
where the Surgeon General came out with his report saying
America is lonely. It has become an epidemic, an epidemic
greg of loneliness.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
It's so bad that you may as well smoke a
pack of cigarettes to day. Your health would not be
any worse than the loneliness that you're feeling. Yeah, you know,
times were changing. You know, technology made you wonder our
people being isolated too much, We had COVID all that. Yeah, anyway,
maybe not as draconian as was advertised.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Yeah, I think so that's what our next guest is
talking about. His name is Chris Ferguson, Professor of psychology
at Stetsan University. Chris, thanks for joining us this afternoon.
Are Americans alone alone? But are they really lonely? Chris?
What do you say.

Speaker 6 (18:29):
That we don't? Basically, Yeah, So what actually seems to
be happening is that we're experiencing a fairly modest reduction
in time spent with other people. So you know, whether
that's you know, with friends or family, or you know, churches,

(18:49):
you know that kind of you know, social clubs, that
kind of stuff, and it's amounting to about a one
point seven percent reduction. So we're talking about a relatively
small reduction in time spent with other individuals, But that
doesn't seem to be translating very clearly to an actual
reduction in subjective loneliness. So there seems to be a

(19:13):
little bit of a loss in translation here that Yeah, yes,
there is this very small reduction in time spent with
other people. We can talk talking about whether that's important
or not, But it doesn't seem to be that people
are sad about that necessarily. I kind of say that
that might be because sometimes these other people are annoying.
That might actually be a positive moove rather than negative move.

(19:35):
But but you see that shift in a lot of
these conversations where people like, we're having a loneliness epidemic,
and rather than talk about that, they'll start talking about
how we're spending us of time with other people. And
so I think that's something to notice, is that that
subtle shift in the narrative sometimes when people are bringing
this topic up.

Speaker 2 (19:50):
Yeah, I'm totally with you. People that don't suffer fools lightly,
this is this is a good thing to not have
to be around people that annoy them all the time.
But let me ask you this, the term loneliness being lonely,
how do they define it? Because some of the things
that we do today, you can have teams, meetings, you
can work remotely where you could be by definition alone,

(20:11):
but you're actually not because you're actually convening in a
work environment just digitally or you know, through teams or
something like that, versus at a workplace where you're around
people physically. Is that getting confused in this term of
loneliness if you're working remotely or are you using technology
to communicate? Is that considered loneliness if you're in a
room by yourself doing it versus if you're in the workplace.

Speaker 6 (20:34):
Yeah, well that's a great question. I mean, I think
that's a lot of the confusion because you know, I
think there is this kind of nostalgia bias, set of element.
If you're not doing things in real life with people,
then it somehow doesn't count, you know. And you mentioned
like the Zoom meetings and all the stuff. And I've
had these kind of arguments myself, Like at work, people
say we need to have a meeting. I'll say, well, great,
let's set up zoom. And they'll say, well, no, we

(20:56):
need to have it in person, and well, why your
person is better? You know, No, it's a meeting. They
both suck. But I have to drive forty five minutes
each way now to get to the you know, the
in person meeting. But there is this sort of sense
of like it doesn't really count for some people unless
that somehow is in real life. So I kind of
use this example of like, you know, if I'm playing,

(21:18):
like you know, I'm kind of a geek though, you know,
I'm playing Dungeons and Dragons online with some old friends
and they're all over the country, does that somehow not
count as like social time with other people because we're
not in the same room together. And I'm not really
sure that that is true, you know, yeah, you know,
I mean the way they ask any there are different

(21:39):
surveys about how you ask the loneliness. Of course, you
can just ask people how often do you feel lonely
you know, or you know, do you feel sad that
you're not with other people? And how often does this occur?
But I think again, there is a sort of fundamental
confusion that people start talking about this idea of subjective loneliness,
which is kind of like people feel sad or anxious

(21:59):
that are not spending time with others, and then they
divert into all this kind of talk about well, we're
not spending time with people in real life, you know,
and those are those are two different things, you know,
and I think we have to be a bit more
careful about excusing them.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
Yeah, do you win at dungeons and dragons, Chris or
your perpetual lesion?

Speaker 6 (22:17):
That second question pas on who you are at, Chris, Chris, let.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
Me ask you this. I mean, this was put out
by the Attorney General, the Surgeon General back in twenty
twenty three. Why did he go in this direction? I
notice you had a quote from somebody in there saying
he butchered the data. I mean, why do you think.

Speaker 2 (22:34):
He did this?

Speaker 6 (22:36):
Yeah, I'm not sure that I'll be honest, I'm not
sure that the Surgeon General's it was the most reliable
source of information, you know, when it comes to health stuff.
But yeah, what was really kind of fascinating is, you know,
I interviewed it. You know a number of people who
were actually cited by the Surgeon General, and you know
some of them even said, no, you know, our data

(22:57):
wasn't about loneliness it was about you know, spending time alone,
you know, And so even some of the authors, the
scholars that the Surgeon General has cited in the Rome
Report were skeptical of this idea of framing it as
a loneliness. In fact, I was actually kind of surprised.
I went into kind of thinking, maybe there's something here,
but it was actually sort of difficult to get anyone

(23:20):
to defend the idea of a loneliness epidemic. And again,
most people will kind of shift and say, well, no,
there's not really a loneliness epidemic. You know, there's this
increase in maybe a modest increase or whatever in time
spent alone. But those are very different things. So even
the people the Surgeon General excise me, we're citing making
this distinction that for some reason the Surgeon General did not.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
I think the biggest red flag with that report and
how dangerous it was is when it was likened the
as dangerous as smoking, but not just as dangerous as smoking,
but smoking fifteen cigarettes a day? I mean, how could
you ever draw a compare into loneliness and whatever that's
supposed to mean with smoking fifteen cigarettes a single day?

(24:04):
I mean how I mean did anybody did you find
anybody that thought that that was an accurate comparison.

Speaker 6 (24:11):
Well, obviously someone came up with it. There was the
the author of this of the Surgeon General's report. The
Surgeon General himself did not author it. There was an
author that was not him. You know that that particular scholar,
you know, has kind of made a you know, a
reputation on that particular claim. It seems to be a

(24:32):
very central, you know claim that she's she's a bank
TN a little bit, you know, we reached out to her.
I reached out to her, and she just referred to
be back to her you know, frequently asked question page
on her website, so she didn't really uh, you know,
I didn't really answer the question. But but yeah, I
mean the you know, why fifty you know it's actually
fifteen or less cigarette is the comparison, you know, so

(24:53):
which is is light smoking?

Speaker 8 (24:54):
You know?

Speaker 6 (24:55):
So I thought that was a little bit you know,
questionable because there's data like like medium smoking and heavy
smoking as well in the same paper that they use
to sort of make this comparison. And I was kind
of wondered, like, I think, if you make a comparison
to smoking. People are incruitibly going to imagine heavy smoking
and see light smoking. Yeah, exactly, so that you would

(25:17):
pick like, you know, this is as dangerous as like
one to fifteen cigarettes a day. It seems like a
bit of a misleading common you know, comparison to make.
I thought, I mean, maybe it's defensible. But again I
reached out to the person who had come up with it,
and she just you know, didn't answer my questions.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
Basically, Chris Ferguson joining us from Stetson University. And I
love this story because I remember Greg, this got a
lot of attention when it was released. America's loneliness epidemic
and how do we deal with it? Well, come to
find out Americans are alone and they choose to be
alone in many cases.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah. And you know, for us, all heads more getting
don't understand you know, the social media and even how
we can meet remotely versus is in person. Maybe I
think that that made us think that people were just
you know, pining away and being miserable when they weren't.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
They aren't all right more. Coming up on the Rod
and Greg Show and Talk Radio one All five Die Cannarists,
Greg found this comment from this veteran. What is he
one hundred years old?

Speaker 7 (26:18):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (26:18):
Yeah, commentary of World War two. And it's a bit
of a tear jerker this he's being asked. He's he's
on the equival of like a good it's called good
Morning Britain. So okay, good morning America. Yeah. And and
he is he was part of the festival in terms
of where they do they have these poppies. Yeah, and anyway,

(26:38):
so he's because of his age and him being a veteran,
he's getting a lot of attention and he's been talking.
So he was asked today, uh, or asked in this broadcast,
you know, about Remembrance Day and how he feels. Let's
have a listen.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
What does remembrance Sunday mean for you?

Speaker 2 (26:55):
What is your message?

Speaker 9 (26:58):
My message is I can say in my mind's eye
of rose and rose.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
Of what stones?

Speaker 9 (27:06):
Oh, the hundreds of my friends at body else that
gave their lives for what the contrary today? No, I'm sorry,
the sacrifice wasn't both the result that is now.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
Wow, sacrifice wasn't worth the result that it is now? Commentary.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, he begins is to cry. You know, he's looking
at their freedoms their their ability to speak, to be
able to talk, they're not allowed to, you know. They
this this, this veteran is saying, and I can see
it on the television. He's in his his uniform from
when he was a soldier, and he's trying to tell
this interviewer that what we fought against and what we

(27:49):
saw coming by way of Nazi Germany and what they
were going to do to our freedoms and take it
from us. I'm looking at this country and I see
worse than what I thought was coming. And the row
and rows of white tombs of his friends and the
people he fought with, and the and the sacrifice paid
for the state of the country he lives in today.

(28:09):
He's saying he doesn't think it's worth it. He doesn't
think and he doesn't any longer think it was worth
it for what that country has become, not what's coming,
not what it could be, what he's afraid it's going
to be, but what it is today. If that isn't
a warning shot for us, we better think about it.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
I wonder what American vets Field was it worth it?

Speaker 9 (28:27):
Folks?

Speaker 1 (28:28):
All right, morey coming up checking out the Rod and
Greg show, Coming your way.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
I have a lot to do football to watch it?
What I got to do? You're going, that's my j
OV watching number one. That's right. Yeah, but I'll tell
you this. Uh you know this. I got YouTube TV,
so this whole ABC.

Speaker 1 (28:46):
Yeah, you guys don't get if you have YouTube TV,
you aren't getting a lot. Is that is that we
don't get.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
Any s ESPN, We don't get ABC. So the Cougar's
gonna are going to play Texas Tech on ABC Network? Yes,
but I'm not getting that. It's just kind of cool.
So I don't get So you got to get either
a streaming So yeah, e rays convinced me. I get
an antenna at least ABC's that'll get me ABC. That

(29:12):
won't get me ESPN. But they've got to work that
deal out. But here's what I'm not going to do.
And I keep buying more I did. I actually did
bite the bullet and buy the ESPN unlimited. But I'm
doing this for a month and then I'm done. But
they got to work this out because we can't just
keep buying. Don't you miss your cable and your DVR
Like I had, I had Direct TV and a DVR,
and I swear on my life it was better television

(29:35):
than what we have today. Yeah, and do you have DVR?
Do you have a DVR? Because the DVR was great.
It would just it would record the stuff I liked.
I don't know. I I miss my Direct TV DVR days.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
Let me tell you what cable right now cost you
an arm and a leg every well, I mean it's expensive.

Speaker 2 (29:55):
Well, the reason I have you two TV is because
they got the They have the NFL ticket. Now I
have to be able to see my Steelers. Although it's
a stick to beat myself with. I I do have
to watch that too much. Oh that just made me
so mad, But I have to watch it. I was
I was born and raised into it. I didn't choose.
It's just what I was born into. It's like you
can't pick your family members, right. So, but they got

(30:15):
to work this out. This is just I'm tired of
all that.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
I mean, feel better.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
First world problems. I get it. I know, I know, folks,
I know that's a first world problem. I know.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
Well, let me ask you this, Greg, when it comes
to growing up, how much does experience matters? Whatever you do?
You need experience?

Speaker 2 (30:35):
Do you know to me it is everything. I mean
that is it is the experiences we have and the
lessons we learn from those choices we make. It is
as fun, it's so fundamental to the human experience.

Speaker 1 (30:46):
Well, now we have a thirty four year old running
New York City. Yeah, so experience whatsoever?

Speaker 2 (30:52):
Less than ten years out of college. He's never doesn't hasn't.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
Done anything anything.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
Reminds me of Barack Hussein Obama. He was a community organizer,
hadn't done one thing, never made a payroll, and never
owned a business, didn't do anything. Was a community organizer,
then became a senator for ten minutes before he became president,
becoming achieving without having really done anything or been knocked
on your tail taking things on I I it's a

(31:19):
it's worrisome.

Speaker 1 (31:20):
It is. Well. Joining us on our newsmaker line right
now is Jamie Wilson. Jamie is executive director of the
Consufarian Press. She wrote a terrific article that's why we
wanted to bring around about why our culture can't grow up. Jamie,
thanks for joining us. Why did you write this article, Jamie?

Speaker 8 (31:37):
Well, mostly does this happening with a younger generation. We
just have a culture in which kids would grow up.
They would go out and they would have exciting adventures
with their friends and kill indians and rescue princesses, and
you know, play as pirates and just you know, do
all kinds of fun things like that. It was that

(31:58):
is a reenactment of the heroes journey. The hero's journey
is a story structure in which the hero goes out,
he slays a dragon or whatever, and then he returns
to the neighborhood or you know, his homeland with the treasure,
a boon of rescue princess whatever. And kids used to
do this all the time. When kids don't do it,
they don't learn what it is to be heroic. And

(32:20):
you have to be heroic in life in order to
really achieve anything. And we've been discouraged in this world
by everyone gets a trophy syndrome, by helicopter parents who
won't let kids go out and adventure. By you know,
if you get a low grade, your teacher gets in trouble,
you don't get in trouble. Parents can plain about tough coaches. Yeah,

(32:42):
and kids just don't get the opportunity to go out
and be heroes and achieve things on their own.

Speaker 2 (32:48):
You know, I appreciate you joining us on this for
this discussion, because I think you put to words things
that I've been seeing and feeling that have not been
able to articulate. And I think you do it so
wonderfully because you say we crowned heroes who never face dragons.
A sports analogy I would give it to. Which was
the closest thing I could do to explain it before

(33:08):
you put this piece out, which is so good? Is
a very well known football coach, a college football coach,
said that adversity is the enemy to the week and
the constant companion of a champion. And that adversity being
the enemy to the week and a constant companion of
the champion, what that says is that we are going
to face adversity and we're going to overcome adversity, and

(33:29):
it's by doing that that we earned this earned success.
My question is this, I feel like our stories that
really compel that people go to see movies or see
that theme still exists, at least in literature or in entertainment.
Can we get back to there being a test of
character to have to live experiences and have and attached

(33:52):
value to that instead of this instant gratification of I'm
online and I'm an influencer having done nothing. Can we
get back to that narrati But I think still speaks
to people's you know, inner soul that I think it resonates.

Speaker 8 (34:06):
I don't think we really have any choice. If we don't,
then there are lots of other people in the world
who do still have that sum system during which they
mature and grow up. And those people are taking themselves
a whole lot more seriously than we are. We don't
take ourselves seriously anymore. We think we're a joke. We
think we're a bad country, we think we're a flawed nation.

(34:29):
We're not. We're great. We are standing on the shoulders
of heroes, of so many wonderful, amazing men and women
who created our country, and we owe it to them
to get back to this. I think the best way
to do it is to start in childhood. To let
the kids achieve, to let them fail, to let them fail, especially,
you learn more from a failure than you do.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
Here's my question. You point out that probably and I
would agree that the poster child for immediate popularity, acceptance,
and achievement without having anything really by way of track record,
or adversity, or a journey to really exercise the kind
of leadership you would learn on such a journey would
be the newly elected mom Donnie, who's now going to

(35:13):
be now is the mayor of New York City. So
tell me the rest of his story with in the
absence of adversity, in the absence of a journey, will
what will that What will his time as mayor look like?
What is what is that journey going to look like?

Speaker 8 (35:27):
Do you think, well, here's the problem. The hero always
strikes out on his own. He does all the suffering
for the culture. In this case, he hasn't had a journey.
He's taking the entire city of New York with him,
and they're going to be facing a lot of adversity
because he's going to have a lot of bad ideas
and he's going to implement them, and people are going

(35:48):
to suffer because of him. Now he's gonna learn, he's
going to learn that these things don't work, and he's
going to learn that he fails sometimes, and hopefully he
will have the humility to set those lessons, at least
to a certain degree and try to fix them. But
everyone's going to suffer with him. That's what the human
goes have to begin with, and so he suffers and
everybody else doesn't have to. You see this over and

(36:11):
over the Bible. You see Moses who had to flee
into the desert. You see Jesus of course, you know,
so that's the whole reason for the hero's journey. So
not everyone has to suffer, but in this case New
York's could have just they're just going to suffer.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
Yeah, Jamie's final question for you, what do you think
is going to take to restore the journey to experience?
What is it going to take? What do we need
to challenge?

Speaker 8 (36:36):
I hate to say it. I don't think it's something
that we can change. I think we're going to have
to go through period of hardship, like serious hardship. We
thought we suffered over the course of Biden, but we
really didn't. Unless we can correct it in the younger people,
unless we can help them grow up, help them learn

(36:56):
how to fail, because so many kids don't know how
to fail. And by kids, I mean people under thirty.

Speaker 7 (37:03):
Learn me too.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
That is my yardstick as well.

Speaker 8 (37:06):
Yeah, but if they don't learn how to fail, then
they're never going to really learn.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
How to succeed Jamie. Thank you Jamie Wilson. She is
wrote about why our culture can't grow up, and I'm
thinking about this. She said, it's going to have to
be the young people. But Greg, as we saw in
the elections this past Tuesday, the percentage of young women
between the ages of eighteen and twenty nine, more than

(37:31):
seventy percent of them in the races in New York,
Virginia and in New Jersey all voted for Democrats and
Democrats who are endorsing socialistic policies. So how do you
change that? Hard times? So, you know, and maybe we're
that's where we're headed.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
Good people, strong, strong people create good times. Good times
create weak people. Weak people create hard times, hard times
create strong people. Strong people create good times, and I
think we're kind of in that cycle. Her column, we
crown heroes who have never faced the dragon. I'm going
to tell you that. To me, that's it right there,
Who's face the dragon. If you want to see a

(38:09):
big prize fight, you don't get two guys pro debuts.
To see a big prize fight, You've got to have
people that have faced the dragon, they have faced opposition,
they have a record and you watch that, and you
pay good money to see two warriors battle it out.
I can't imagine us bestowing as the people and electing
on our own leaders who have never faced a dragon,

(38:30):
who've never had any any kind of experience or even
opposition failure. Look at Winston Churchill, how much he failed
before he succeeded. I mean, the man was not It's
not all roses for how he lived his life and
where he failed and that came back. I mean a lot.
There's a big story with Winston Churchill for a lot
of us to learn from. And it doesn't come by

(38:52):
being less than ten years out of college and running
the world.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
The challenges people face. You know, I've always wondered, Greg,
and I've thought about this, and as we've as we
talk to Jamie today, what's the one lesson that you
have learned from experience? Er thought about that. What's the
one lesson that you have learned from the experience that
you've had in life. We'll talk about that. Don't answer that.
We'll talk about that. Maybe get some calls on that

(39:16):
coming up on the Rod and Greg Show on this
Friday right here on Utah's Talk Radio one oh five
nine kN rs. Great to be with you as you
work your way home on this Friday. We were just
talking with Jamie Wilson about why our culture can't grow up,
and Greg and I we both agree. I mean, experience
is so important, you know, and you learn things as

(39:38):
we get older. And I pose the question, you know
before the break is what's the one lesson that you've
learned in life that maybe it didn't know when you
were younger, young and restless, but now you know over
time you oh, okay, And it keeps through life, keeps
reminding you of that lesson each and every day or

(39:59):
of your life.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
Well, you know, Rod, I'm looking at you. You weren't
born in Utah. You're a guy. It was the rquette
superette in an uptown the upstate New York town and
of a large family. And somehow your journeys took you
all the way at University of Texas Longhorns, all the
way up to Idaho and in a broadcast career for many,
many years. But you took a path less traveled, certainly,

(40:21):
and I don't know if anyone paved the way and
candidate all to you, but I suspect not okay, so
I think I when we talk about these things, I've
watched you. I admire you, and I I think you're
a guy that does has a face adversity or challenge
or gone to do things people around you have not
done before. And I think you've got a great legacy

(40:43):
of work behind what you've done.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
That's very nice of you to say the one thing
that I've learned. I was fortunate find the one thing
that you love and then go and enjoy it. And
I've always enjoyed broadcasting. You know, I've never felt my
kids used to say, Dad, you never say, oh, I
got to go to work today. I've never come to
work just like I've got to do it. But you

(41:05):
learned a lesson as well. And I asked you during
the break's the one lesson you learned, and it's a
valuable lesson. You do not accept, No.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
That's right, I don't. It's a challenge when someone tells
me what I can't do.

Speaker 4 (41:18):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
And I'm not even saying this is a great personality trait.
But when I'm told what I cannot do, I've never
felt more resolve. I've never felt more determination, and I've
never believed that what what people will want to limit
me or say that I can or can't do, or
what I can't do is true. It just means I
have to find that path to accomplish it, and it
actually motivates me and I and it's it's it is

(41:41):
played out. I mean, yeah, some of these rasers I've run,
I think that's the case. Anyway, there's a lot of
exactly you are a fighter. I yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
Maybe that boxing, you know, I'm not sure, but you're
a battler.

Speaker 2 (41:53):
I embrace conflict, and I think that sorry, I mean,
that's not joyable. Sometimes I'd say, you know, I'd prefer
you stab me in the chest in the back, And
they say, Hughes, why do you got to stab anyone?
Why do you got to stab? Why is that your analogy?
You'd rather be stabbed in the chest in the back.
Can we just thought? Can we take the knife out
of this conversation? It's like, yeah, I guess you're right.

(42:14):
I guess that's a bit, you know, it's a bit.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
Yeah. The one thing I learned and I think you
learned it as well. The one lesson that you know,
and there are several lessons with lessons we all learn.
I think I've become more patient, I've become a better
listener than what I used to be. But the one
thing you learned, and I learned the value of work. Yes,
And if you teach your children anything, teach them how
to work. And like you said, I grew up in

(42:37):
a large family. You know, they're five siblings in our family.
My dad ran two businesses just to keep the family fed.
At four years old, I'm learning how to run a
meat grinder. Wow, now you couldn't get away with that
today child labor laws. You know, get out there and
work in the butcher shop for a little while. The
value of work is so important. A friend of mine

(42:59):
every week would give his children a card of their
chores for that weekend. If they didn't get them done,
guess what, there was a price to pay for that.
I mean, I just think teaching your children to work
is one of the most important lessons that they need to.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
And I had that too. I mean, my mind was
almost out of necessity. I hated being broke. I hated
I hated it with a passion.

Speaker 1 (43:20):
I hated to wait money.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
It felt bad, it felt stigmatizing, and it was very,
very limiting. When you didn't have two quarters to rub together.
So I was a dishwasher. I was. I worked as
a bellhop. I worked as a valet parking cars. I
worked that dishwasher job is at one of the hardest
jobs I've ever had. And down in southern Florida too,
in Fort Lauderdale in the summertime. It was super hot

(43:44):
down there. But I've had jobs. I've done all kinds
of different jobs. I did them through college to jobs
that are gross. I don't even want to mention them.
I can't mention them. It's mixed company is so gross.
But I did whatever I needed to do because I
I didn't. I didn't think that there was a way
to do it otherwise. It wasn't like I, you know,

(44:05):
I have such a strong work ethic and I just
want to work instead of not. I was unaware of
us of a welfare state that would just give me
everything I needed and I could do anything I wanted.
I would need to work if I wanted to have
pay rent, and I had to get away from home,
Like I a little bit of a chaotic upbringing, So
getting away from home and being more self whatever that

(44:26):
was going to be. But be able to determine my
own you know, path felt more stable to me. So,
but it also required that you know a lot of
demands and anyway. So I feel like those experiences informed
me going forward and again and again. Anyone that told
me what I could not do it just put a
pep in my step. Boy, it made me want to

(44:47):
do it even more.

Speaker 1 (44:48):
All Right, it is thank Rod and Greg. It is Friday,
this one. We open our lines up to you eight
eight eight five seven eight zero one zero triple eight
five seven eight zero one zero on your cell phone
dial pound two fifty and say hey Rod or leave
us coming on the talk back line. Just make sure
you download the iHeartRadio app and it will show you
how to do that. Your calls, your comments coming up
right here on talk radio one oh five nine can ars.

(45:10):
Great conversations yesterday about life's little annoyances. Yeah, I told
my wife lat she wasn't listening yesterday. I told she was.
She heard part of it, but she said, what was
your annoyance? And I told her about my Chick fil
A experience.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
She just laughed, said, you're like, you know what I
love about our listeners. They are genuinely funny.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
We had hearts.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
We had such funny, just gut busting observations that were
just so funny. I don't hear on any of the
shows we listened to that are syndicated nationally. I don't
hear callers that are as insightful or certainly not as
funny as our listeners. No, we have great, great.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
Listen We have some very entertaining listeners. Right now we're talking.
You know, we began this hour by talking about why
our culture can grow up. It seems, you know, you
think about meme Donnie. What has he done, what kind
of experience does he have? Well, he's thirty four years old,
is out of college. Yeah, never run anything. But now

(46:02):
he's about to become mayor of New York City.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
I go back to the line in the article from
the interview we had we crown heroes, who have You've
never faced the dragon man? Donnie's there's no dragon he's
ever faced in his life. He's actually a puppet, is
what he is. He's he's just a useful idiot for
somebody else.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Socialist.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
Yeah, he was a rapper, he's whatever it was. It
would make him popular.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
All right, let's go to the phone. See what your thoughts.
Did you head home? Tonight? We begin in Lehigh with Jeff. Jeff,
how are you welcome to the Routing Gregg Show.

Speaker 10 (46:32):
I'm good.

Speaker 7 (46:32):
How about you guys?

Speaker 1 (46:33):
We're doing well. Thank you, Jeff.

Speaker 11 (46:37):
That's good. So, Greg, I was kind of wondering. We
talked about the gas industry in Utah getting you know,
tax some taxes reduced or whatever so that they could
help us with gas prices. But my question is about
our legislators back east who are giving the insurance company

(47:00):
is all these subsidies, but yet they make record profits.
I'm just trying to understand why, why why have the
government given insurance companies money when they've made record profits.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
Yeah, it's Jeff.

Speaker 11 (47:16):
You help me understand that.

Speaker 2 (47:17):
Yeah, Jeff, I'm really glad you asked the question because
I think I must have. I didn't explain myself very
well because your point is exactly my point, and that
is this. First, I'll talk about the our Utah gas
We're not as Republicans for me, we don't want to
price fix our gasoline or get involved in the free market.
But what we can do is we can adjust our

(47:37):
gas taxes. And right now, all the gas tax that's
collected in the state of Utah is collected at the pump,
but the at the rack where it's the wholesale. We
have refiners that send that gas. Thirty five to forty
percent of what they're refining they are sending out of
state tax exempt. And what I'm saying is, and what
I what I believe lawmakers are saying, is maybe we

(47:57):
should go upstream. See that tax where all the gas
that's being refined as being taxed, so they're no longer exempt.
And so if you're going to send it out a state,
there's going to be a revenue there that allows for
the motorists who is paying a gas tax to pay
a lot less in gas tax. And so I would say,
if you extend that philosophy out towards our healthcare, we
have got to your point, we have got to stop

(48:19):
subsidizing healthcare premiums where you're seeing the record profits and
you look at these healthcare providers and you know they
don't look like they're dying on the vine.

Speaker 1 (48:29):
Yeah, well, that's exactly. Thank you for the college. Thank you, Jeff,
That's exactly. Lindsey Graham. Soon as we heard about the
Schumer proposal, today he watched us said, I am not
giving five major insurance companies in this country any more money. Yeah,
we are tired of it. It's unsustainable and it's not
even an issue. What's driving me crazy about this issue

(48:49):
because the government has to stop subsidizing this for insurance
companies and all of it. But the people they're even
talking about making these rates lower, that they're paying insure
as companies and providers to make these rates lower. It's
people that go from they don't want to pay fifty
four dollars a month, they'd rather pay zero. Yeah, they
don't want to pay one hundred and eighty seven dollars

(49:11):
a month. They don't want to pay three hundred and
fifty four dollars a month. They want to pay one
hundred and eighty seven. Meanwhile, most of everyday Americans, and
I'm not talking rich people. I'm talking every day hard
working people living paycheck to paycheck are probably ponying up
over one thousand dollars a month for their health insurance
if they're lucky. And so these are luxury conversations, luxury
beliefs and subsidies for a population that we we're socializing

(49:36):
medicine and it's getting away from us. It is Obamacare
is failing and you can't keep propping it up with
taxpayer dollars. Well you can't. Yeah, and you have to
realize folks, please understand this as they talk about the subsidies.
These were added on during COVID Okay, these are COVID subsidies.
They are not part of Obamacare subsidies. We are not

(49:58):
touching those subsidies. What the demo, what the Republicans want
to do is and the COVID ones. Okay, you know
you've got people out there. I mean it. It doubled
greg with these COVID subsidies, the number of people who
are on Obamacare. It doubled the number. You can now
make one hundred and thirty thousand dollars a year and

(50:20):
still get a subsidy for Obamacare. That's four times the
poverty level, which is about thirty two to five. So
you can make that.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
And I want our listeners to know when we talk
about these numbers, now, these national numbers, Utah as a
state is collecting the least amount by way of government subsidy, welfare.
Talk about snap you know, you know, food stamps, whatever
it is, the government subsidies received by Utah's, you know,
just every Utah. It's the lowest percentage of states around

(50:50):
the country. So it ends up being that we the taxpayers,
we the people working our guts out paying our taxes,
we're subsidizing a larger and larger number of people who
are not only paying their taxes, but are expecting their
their food and their health care for free when we're
paying more for all of it. And that is what

(51:10):
is not sustainable. You cannot keep you can't keep putting
that kind of stress and that kind of demand on
the American people. That's why if I see another poll
that says, well, why won't the Republicans hand all this
money over to a failing Obamacare, socialize in medicine, give
illegals more free health care, whatever it is, Give more
free food. People complaining that the food banks not giving

(51:31):
them the quality of food they're used to getting from
their their EBD EBT card. When do we stop talking
about the luxury beliefs of those that it's not us
we're talking about, they're getting the free stuff, and talk
about how this we can't keep subsidizing, that we can't
socialize a socialist country and people have to make their way.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean from day one, there has
been a pledge on the part of conservatives in this
country to repeal and replace Obamacare. We had a chance
to do that, but John McCain and that famous thumbed
down thing that he did killed that effort. Now we
have another chance to go back and take a look
at Obamacare and try and fix it, if that's at

(52:16):
all possible, And the Democrats say nope, where you can
just find we need another one year.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
Extension on the fact that they need COVID subsidies, yes,
to keep it alive.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
Is it's inthing.

Speaker 2 (52:28):
It is the indictment that it has failed. It's not
going to fail, it's not on the verge of failing.
It has failed. And you can't keep throwing our hard,
hard paid text And we're twenty how many trillions in debt?

Speaker 1 (52:40):
Are six trillions?

Speaker 2 (52:41):
You printing money at this rate and stay sustainable. So
I think that I would just hope that the Republicans
with the majority, do not give in to these demands
that are are reckless, and you will get more of
them if you give into any of them, and their
elections or they're worry about re election should should not
even be the you here. You're you have the mantle

(53:01):
of responsibility, your public servants, and you've got to do
right by the people even if it costs you. It's
a profile encourage moment for Republicans in the Senate right now.

Speaker 1 (53:11):
Yeah, all right, mare coming up the Rod and Greg
show here on this Thank Rod. It's Friday and Utah's
Talk Radio one oh five nine o k NRS. The
Supreme Court now, earlier this week, I think it was
on Wednesday, they held a hearing before the Court on
the president's power to impose the terrorists, right, and the
indications are it may not have gone as well as
we had hoped, even though there are some who's saying

(53:31):
it did well. The Supreme Court yesterday did in fact
deliver the president a victory.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
And it prompted some bitterness from who else but Katanji
Brown Jackson, remember of the Supreme Court. The court ruled that,
uh that basically it stayed a judge's order on the
whole trans passport case. You know, if you if you
want a passport, you have to declare your biological sex, yes,

(53:57):
not a sex that you'd like to be.

Speaker 2 (53:59):
You're not your fluid sex that you feel is your
sex today versus it might not be tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (54:04):
Well, Brown Jackson came out and said, today the court
refuses to answer Equity's call.

Speaker 2 (54:11):
Yeah, okay, fine, what was the what was the kiss
on that? What was it? Was? It was that a
split court?

Speaker 1 (54:18):
Or what was six three six six three? Basically, Jackson
suggested the regrettable ruling her words not mine, might leave
transgender identifying individuals at risk of harassment and bodily invasions.
Don't know what that may? Well I kind of do,
but I can't stay on the air.

Speaker 2 (54:37):
I wish she had a kid that would see some
I keep thinking about that woman. She's she's a minority,
she's a lesbian. She's in she's wear at the Golden Gym,
and she's the locker room and she sees a man
walking in their naked or in their naked and she's
completely out of her mind, offended, mad, angry, feels violated.
I just want Katanji Brown to tell her she doesn't

(54:57):
know what she's talking about.

Speaker 1 (54:58):
You know, the guy who is involved in all of this,
the locker room thing. If you've heard this story about
the gem at the Old golds Gem. I guess is
EQ or EO or whatever they call it now. Apparently
he was convicted several years ago of brutally beating his
ex wife before he changed his name.

Speaker 2 (55:17):
There you go, Well that seems on brand. I think
there's a lot of mental health going on with that issue.
And I don't know how the gay community even let
that become part of their cause because I think it's
contradicts it what I think the trans thing is saying
everyone is heterosexual. There is no such thing as same
sex attraction. If you are attracted to some of you
clearly are a different sex than what you were born with.

(55:39):
So it's all hetero. There is no gay sex. It's
just or gay attraction. There's only hetero, and the body
you're in is just fluid and would change based on that.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
Well, this guy says he went into the women's room
because he's transsexual.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Oh, there you go.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
So I guess if you're transsexual, you can take your
clothes off and stare at a woman who has her clothes.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
Now, she was upset, and I think, again I would
right to be. I just for these people to keep
arguing for these guys to be in women's room, locker rooms.
I would like the women that feel violated by these
things to have that face to face with those that
think that that's okay. I don't think it's defensible.

Speaker 1 (56:16):
I'd say, punch them in the nose.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
Yeah, she works out. You could tell she was.

Speaker 1 (56:20):
I wouldn't mess with her.

Speaker 2 (56:21):
Man. She looked like she was like an MMA fighter.
She yeah, business all right.

Speaker 1 (56:26):
I though there are of the Rod and Greg Show
coming your way right here on Utah's Talk Radio one
oh five. Die kay and arrists, stay with us. More
to come. We've got a lot to get to this
our final hour of the show. Here in a minute,
we'll talk about a new report being released on foreign
donations to US advocacy groups. Now, they can't contribute to campaigns,

(56:50):
right Greg, They can't know, but they can go around that,
and a lot of organizations have figured out a way
around it, including some international organizations. We'll get into that
little bit later on our Listen Back Friday segment. So
a lot to come your way on this Friday afternoon
here on the Rod in Greg Show. Now, let's talk
about this report. Greg, there was a report out that
showed foreign charities and they're tumping billions of dollars greg

(57:14):
into US advocacy groups, basically to a roade democracy. I mean,
they can't do it to campaigns, but they apparently they've
found a way around it.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
And what I worry is that I don't think that
foreign countries all all of a sudden become charitable. I
think it's way to launder money. I really do. I
think it's a way to wash money. So you don't
know where it's really coming from, so you spin it around,
you send it overseas, you send it back. I just
think there's a lot of bad intentions going on and
people wanting to fund it, and this is how they
do it. But then you have your foreign and he's like, China,

(57:45):
probably it's got it. Its fingerprints in there somewhere too.

Speaker 1 (57:48):
Yeah. Well, digging into the report now with US is
Caitlin Sudalin. She is the executive director of Americans for
Public Trust. That's the organization who put this report together. Caitlin,
thanks for joining us on the show too. Exactly what
are these foreign groups doing and the question is is
it legal.

Speaker 7 (58:05):
What we've identified is that there is a group of
five foreign charities that have spent almost two billion dollars
bankrolling US policy fights, litigation protests. Some of this foreign
money was connected to the now Kings protests that we
saw recently universities in the nonprofit sector, and what they're

(58:25):
doing is they're advancing, you know, an extreme activist of agenda.
And what we've determined is that because our laws are
not that strong when it comes to preventing foreign giving
in these certain areas, you know, a lot of this
money is by and large legal, and that is what

(58:46):
we are working to highlight, or the loopholes in state
and federal law that allows some of this foreign money
to come in because certainly, I think we can all
agree foreign money has no place in our policy fights.

Speaker 1 (58:57):
What countries or what where? These are youganizations based, Caitlin.

Speaker 7 (59:02):
So we have identified that five foreign charities based in
the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Switzerland are the ones identified
in the report. And keep in mind this is just
a very small sample size. We only have selected five charities,
So take that for consideration. Just five charities added together

(59:24):
make up almost two billion dollars in foreign spending coming
into the United States. There is surely more, and we're
certainly not done conducting the research. To uncover all sources
of foreign money entering the United States. But it doesn't
matter where the money is coming from. If it's not
the United States, it's a horrible problem and one that

(59:44):
we're working to stop.

Speaker 1 (59:46):
Is the money Caitlin directed primarily to climate issues? Or
is it broader than that?

Speaker 7 (59:51):
It is mostly climate related? The groups that are getting
foreign funding are trying to advance extreme climate policies. So
extreme that some of these groups want to ban private cars,
so yeah, so extreme that they want you not to

(01:00:12):
eat meat. So these are so extreme that they don't
think that you should have oil and gas. So these
are not about oh, climate, let's make sure that the
oceans are clean and the air is clean. These are
very very far left extremist organizations often gave me engaging

(01:00:35):
in some aggressive tactics when it comes to protesting, you know,
and embracing the green activist agenda, all paid for by
foreign money.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
One group that your report takes a look at it
as an organization called the Environmental Law Institute. Exactly what
is that and what is it doing when it comes
to climate change?

Speaker 7 (01:00:58):
So the Environmental Law Institute runs a group called the
Climate Judiciary Project, and they are working behind the scenes
to educate judges on climate litigation. And why this is
so problematic is when you have foreign money coming into
an organization that is educating judges that they hope to

(01:01:24):
clearly want them to manipulate the courts to be more
favorable when it comes to a slew of climate related lawsuits.
That if you are so called educating these judges to
be more favorable when you have lawsuits brought against oil
and gas companies, if you, you know, get on the
front end of the judges, you can have more favorable ruling.

(01:01:48):
It's it's gotten so much response that the administration is
working to stop federal funding other project and they're calling it,
you know, climate propaganda under the guys of education.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
Caitlin always going to ask you, what kind of reaction
are you getting to this report.

Speaker 7 (01:02:06):
I think people are shocked because a lot of people
who followed the money had no idea that so many
foreign charities have been quietly bankrolling some very well known,
well known organizations. Many of these groups that we've identified
are very well known across the country or you know,

(01:02:27):
they'll see their signs, or they'll see their television advertisements,
and when you find that they have been bankrolled by
foreign money. It is completely unsettling. I think the immediate
reaction is that I can't believe this is happening. And
then the second part is well, how do we stop it?
And so thank you so much for you know, bringing

(01:02:47):
awareness to the awareness to this issue so we can
really engage in thoughtful conversations and how to stop the
flow of foreign money in politics.

Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
So, Caitlin, are there are there ways to tighten the
screws on this foreign money? We know it's not allowed
to go to political campaigns, but obviously these groups are
working around that. Are there ways do you think or
are ways being explored? And wish you could tighten the
screws a little bit on this.

Speaker 7 (01:03:13):
Absolutely, as you just identified, ford money is illegal when
it comes to elections, but so much of what is
going on lives on areas that allow foreign money. As
I mentioned, research and lobbying and protests and certain advertisements
can receive foreign money. It's already gotten the attention of Congress.

(01:03:39):
You know, many committees are taking a look at what
they can do to advance to stop foreign money, particularly
in the nonprofit sector and where we are seeing the
most traction is limiting foreign money in ballid issue campaigns.
That's one of those areas that is a big foreign
influenced loophole. Foreign money can't give the candidate that it

(01:04:00):
can go.

Speaker 8 (01:04:00):
To ballot issues.

Speaker 7 (01:04:01):
And actually this year, UTAH did advance legislation that would
have banned for money in ballid issues. Unfortunately it fell
short in one of the chambers. But we are very
very eager to work with legislative leaders next session to
make sure that UTAH does ban foreign money in their
ballid issue campaign.

Speaker 1 (01:04:22):
On our newsmaker line, Caitlin Sutherland, Executive director of Americans
for Public Trust. They do find ways around it, don't they?

Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
They do?

Speaker 1 (01:04:29):
They do? All right, more coming up here on the
Rotten Greg Show and Talk Radi'll one oh five nine
can ors coming up on November twenty second at Grand America.
This is the type of event that you're always invited to.
I never get invited to these events. You're way up there,
way it is. Uh. Now, you're speaker, let.

Speaker 2 (01:04:47):
Me tell you something. You're not missing anything. Okay, once
you get off the rubber chicken circuit, it's not a
bad thing.

Speaker 1 (01:04:52):
Well, this is no rubber chicken dinner. There will be
twenty five chefs from the top restaurants here in the
state of Utah in a Taste of Utah benefit for
the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
I never got that one. You didn't get that out,
and I didn't get the I'd ever get the invite
to that one.

Speaker 1 (01:05:08):
Well, I was told we have a table if we
want to go.

Speaker 2 (01:05:10):
Really yeah, all right, okay, well I'll see you there.

Speaker 1 (01:05:13):
It's coming up on November twenty second. And joining us
now to talk about this is Summer Love and Laura Hadley,
both members of the Foundation. Summer, of course, battles with
cystic fibrosis. Summer, thanks for joining us. Exactly what is
cystic fibrosis and how do you detect it? Summer?

Speaker 12 (01:05:30):
So, cystic fibrosis, what it is is a genetic disease,
and it's passed down just like your hair color and
eye color from your parents, and it affects your entire body,
but primarily your lungs and your digestive system. And it
is diagnosed nowadays with newborn screening, so that is great
so that it can get treatment before the symptoms happen.

(01:05:52):
But back when I was diagnosed, you know, in nineteen
seventy nine, there wasn't much available. So there was a
campaign round by this foundation that said, kiss your baby disease.
If they taste salty, get them in for a sweat test.
And apparently I was pretty salty. So you know, after
some courageon couragion from my mom to the doctor, he

(01:06:13):
finally agreed to do it, and you know, called her
crying and said, you know, your daughter does have CF.

Speaker 13 (01:06:19):
It's impacted my life in a lot of ways.

Speaker 12 (01:06:22):
I think, you know, you know, back being that I
was born in nineteen seventy nine and you know, there
wasn't there wasn't a lot of drugs available. It's impacted
my life immensely. And I think, you know, you don't
ever want a disease to define you, but it is
something that I think of the minute I wake up

(01:06:42):
to the minute I go to bed, because I start
my day with breathing treatments so I can breathe, because
you know, after a long night of sleep, then you know,
the my lungs get pretty junkie in the night, and
so I have to start my day with treatments so
I can breathe and do all the things that I
need to do so, but it's it's important to keep
your lungs as strong as possible. So you know, when
I was growing up, I was active and I was

(01:07:05):
cheerleader in dance and wanted to play soccer, and I
did all the things there was. I was never had
any limits stay active, just to stay active and keep
these lungs, you know, healthy and moving. And so that's
still still the goals to like, just keep my lungs
as healthy and strong as possible. I do have advance
lung disease, so I have about thirty percent of my
lungs left. So a double lung transplant is in my future,

(01:07:28):
hopefully not for a very very long time. But yeah,
so I think, you know, I just try to live
life to the fullest and do what I can every
day and.

Speaker 13 (01:07:40):
See what happens.

Speaker 1 (01:07:42):
You look great and you sound great.

Speaker 13 (01:07:43):
Well, thank you very much, Laura.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
All right, let's talk about the Annual Taste of Utah
twenty seven years. Tell us a little bit about the event,
if you would.

Speaker 10 (01:07:50):
Laura, Well, the big part of that story and Summer's
tie is that it was Summer's parents that started it.
So it has grown enormous. It's a well attended event
at Grand America. It benefits the CF Foundation, which we're
really excited about, and it truly is one of my
favorite events and is just a really great night. We

(01:08:12):
have about twenty five restaurants that will participate and they
just set up tasting stations around the Grand Ballroom, so
it's mostly a you know, it's a very social evening,
a huge silent auction, a live auction. This year we
are excited to be able to honor Miss America, who

(01:08:33):
is Abby Stockart. So she has a childhood friend with
CF and CF was her platform. She is in school
in Alabama. But our Utah Thai if people didn't see
this they could look it up, is that she has
been dating Walker Kestler for a number of years. So

(01:08:55):
that's how it was, like, yeah, and it's a really
it's a really cute moment Walker and coach watching Herbie crowned.
You can google it watch it if you're interested, but
it's great.

Speaker 1 (01:09:07):
I want to know it. Has anybody ever made all
twenty five restaurants and tasted foods from all twenty five
twenty seven of them that you have there.

Speaker 10 (01:09:14):
I'm gonna say yes, I haven't had I have not
because I typically don't eat that night. I'm usually in
the McDonald's line at about one o'clock in the morning.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
Come you basically good food, Summer, you're shaking your head.
You're saying that food's pretty darn good.

Speaker 13 (01:09:32):
No, I'm saying that people have done that.

Speaker 12 (01:09:34):
But I also, in twenty seven years, don't think I've
ever ate actually that night. So I will nibble on
like things people bring me. But I'm so busy during
the night that, yeah, I don't.

Speaker 13 (01:09:46):
I don't have time to eat. I'm talking to everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:09:48):
Where did the money that is generated? Where does the
money go? What does it do?

Speaker 10 (01:09:53):
So CF is a rare disease. It affects forty thousand
people in the United States, and so the foundation does
not receive federal funding. But every treatment and every treatment
that's available to see if patients has been funded or

(01:10:15):
founded by the CF Foundation has had a hand in it. Okay,
and so, and there have been some real miraculous things
that have happened, and Summer can attest just in my
time at the foundation, which has been fifteen years, and
life expectancy people are living much much longer. When I started,

(01:10:37):
it was probably in your twenties was the life expectancy,
and again that's different for everybody, and it's a median,
but a baby born today will live a full life.

Speaker 1 (01:10:48):
Oh that's great, that's great. Summer appeal to people out
there who have never gone to this event, who are
thinking about maybe, you know, purchasing a table or whatever
you need for the event, what would your appeal be
to people? Why should they get involved in this in your.

Speaker 12 (01:11:02):
Opinion, to change lives? And you know, I think it
will change your life. It's the best night of the year,
and I think, you know, it's a great night to
celebrate and celebrate how far we've come in the you know,
the trajectory of CFCF is completely changed. There's new drugs
available that have changed my life, and it has changed

(01:11:22):
the lives of so many, you know, but we're not
done yet, and there's still more to be done and
we have you know, there are still children that are
suffering and dying from cystic fibrosis. And you know, I
think if you be a part of something that's amazing,
and they they've dubbed it the best story in medicine,
and I absolutely agree with that. And why would you

(01:11:43):
not want to be a part of that.

Speaker 1 (01:11:44):
Yeah, you're a delight by the way. You're really a
lot of fun. Or if people want to get involved,
where do they go to get the information? What do
they need to know about the upcoming event?

Speaker 2 (01:11:53):
Laura? Yep.

Speaker 10 (01:11:53):
If you just google cf CFF taste if Utah, you're going,
it's going to it's gonna pull.

Speaker 13 (01:12:01):
Do the link too, Can we say the link?

Speaker 12 (01:12:03):
It's events dot CFF dot org slash taste of Utah
and you can. It'll take you right there and you
can click on buy a table, see a sponsored Those
are the things you're gonna need to click on.

Speaker 9 (01:12:14):
Yeh.

Speaker 1 (01:12:15):
Have some fun sounds like a fun event. People are
they're just having fun.

Speaker 10 (01:12:18):
It is a lot of fun. I would guess that
anybody that comes is going to run into people that
they know, just because it's big and it's you know,
and it's a big event with a lot of people.
And then we have an after party so it's dancing
and you know, it's.

Speaker 1 (01:12:35):
A lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (01:12:36):
But it is a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (01:12:37):
It's it's a lot of good food.

Speaker 13 (01:12:38):
But that sounds like and you're gonna be a part
of a cure.

Speaker 1 (01:12:40):
Joininga summer love and Laura Hadley of the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation The Taste of Utah event. That sounds good. Twenty
five chefs there and you can taste little bits of everything.

Speaker 2 (01:12:50):
I like that fun to me. Yeah, if you live
in Utah, food sometimes the only vice you gluttony is
all we got. Okay, Yeah, you better enjoy the food.
Sugar food.

Speaker 1 (01:13:03):
We love it. The Taste of Utah's coming up on
the November twenty second at the Grand America. You can
get tickets or buy a table right now. For more information,
just take out their website. All right, more coming up
on the Roden greg Show in Utah's Talk Radio one
oh five nine KNRS.

Speaker 2 (01:13:18):
I like warmer weather, and I know it's not warm warm,
but it's not snow.

Speaker 1 (01:13:21):
So yeah, have you adapted now to the clock change?
It was last week that we changed.

Speaker 2 (01:13:26):
I've never gotten better night's sleep in my life since
we've gone back to normalcy for the next four months
or so, So I do. I My body just likes
this time zone for whatever reason. I'm not saying this
is the great one. I don't get into debate. My
body's just saying to me, I like it. I like it,
just like.

Speaker 1 (01:13:41):
This, I could sleep. I could sleep forever right now,
maybe it is the time change. I could sleep.

Speaker 2 (01:13:47):
I'm going to bed earlier and I'm waking up later,
and I don't know what it is.

Speaker 1 (01:13:51):
Well, that's because you stay up all night on social media.

Speaker 2 (01:13:54):
Now, I know you're I used to, but I'm telling you,
since since we changed the clocks, I've been falling asleep earlier.
It's actually fun.

Speaker 1 (01:14:01):
Good for you. Well, let's get into our listen back
Friday segments. On this Friday afternoon, I noticed greg the
Salt Lake County Council voting to shutter shut down a
senior center of days after closing childcare. Boy, they're stirring
it up in Salt Lake County.

Speaker 2 (01:14:14):
But they need to they do. And this is sometimes
in politics, we get too siloed on stories and we
need to actually spread this one out and talk about
two things at the same time. If there is a mayor,
a Salt Lake County mayor that's saying we have to
raise Salt Lake County residents property tax by twenty percent,
I want to see some Republicans going into that budget

(01:14:34):
to find reasons why you don't need twenty percent increase.
You're going to cut things that are that the private
sector is doing or that the government shouldn't be doing,
and so this is part of that story.

Speaker 14 (01:14:43):
For me.

Speaker 2 (01:14:44):
I am grateful to hear from our Republican members of
the Salt Lake Council that are looking to cut unnecessary
spending before they're going to start asking people for a
tax increase.

Speaker 1 (01:14:56):
Well, earlier this week, we had a chance to talk
with a member of the council, Amy Winder Newton, about
the changes taking place not only at the Senior Center,
but the daycare centers. And I asked Amy as we
began our conversation why these cuts are so needed and
how is she responding to the criticism. Here's what she
had to say.

Speaker 15 (01:15:13):
Well, first of all, I will say we didn't really
know we were in the day care business. It was
kind of in the Parkson wreck budget, so it wasn't
something that was that I realized we were in the
business of up until recently. But let me kind of
take a step backwards and tell you why this is
so important. We talked before about how Mayor Jenny Wilson

(01:15:33):
proposed a twenty percent tax increase on Sally County residence.
So we've got nine council members, five of them are
Republicans for a Democrat, and the Republicans have been really
determined to find cuts and figure out how do we
streamline government, how do we reign in spending, how do
we make sure that taxpayer dollars are as a sufficient

(01:15:53):
as possible. And we've got different buckets of money at
the county. So basically, you've got tourism taxes that the
nice to have, like some of the culture and arts
parks and rec and like the convention centers to bring
in taurusts. But then we have our general fund that's
funded by property taxes and sales tax and that is
the fund that we have to fund public safety, our

(01:16:15):
jail prosecution, we have elections, we have like our statutory
duties in that fund. And by cutting this two million
dollars subsidy for these daycares, that saves taxpayer money on
property taxes. And so for us, we're looking at this
going this is a no brainer. But I'll tell you
what road people get really angry when you've given them

(01:16:37):
something and then you take it away. And so we've
had the public come out and say, don't take away
our daycares and keep in mind, these are even daycares
for necessarily low income families. We've got any income that's
using these daycares half price of what the private sector
is charging, and they've been doing it for years, and

(01:16:58):
so the council has been making the hard decision. The
Republicans stood together said no, we are not going to
subsidize two million dollars of daycares for people when we
have so many people throughout the valley who are having
a hard time making ends meet and paying for their
own daycare or giving up an income to stay at
home with a child, or whatever it is, and that
is not an appropriate way to use these property tax funds.

Speaker 1 (01:17:20):
Are there prices that the county charges for daycare competitive
with private daycare centers or are people getting the deal
through the county run facilities? Do you know, Amy?

Speaker 15 (01:17:29):
They I do know, And that's why there's this two
million dollar subsidy is because they're not They're about half
price of what you would pay through the private sector.
So not only are we using tax money in an
inefficient and effective way, but we are competing with the
private sector. We've got commercial, commercial child care facilities that
have spaces available right now in Salt Lake County, and

(01:17:51):
they're worried about getting enough spots filled so that they
can stay in business. Government should not be competing with
these and so we're trying to transition of these families
and doing the best that we can. We know it's
hard when you have to make a change like this,
but I fell in my soul. This is not the
role of government. This is not a business the county
should be involved in, and we have to keep those

(01:18:12):
property taxes as well as possible.

Speaker 1 (01:18:14):
Are there other areas in the county budget that could
be cut amy to save these these daycare.

Speaker 15 (01:18:19):
Centers, Well, we're looking at all cuts. So one of
the other things that we cut yesterday was a senior
center that's only one point eight miles away from another
senior center and it's currently vacant waiting to be renovated.
We got looking at it and we said, you know what,
this is another place we can save four hundred thousand
dollars a year in our general fund, plus another six

(01:18:40):
to seven million in ongoing funds that we can use
for deferred maintenance and other senior centers. And so that
was another hard cut we made. That was the Republican
standing up, and I'll tell you, Rod, the hard thing
about this is we have lots of people reaching out
to us about don't cut my daycares, and I'm sure
we'll have the same with the Senior Center. We're not
getting very many people telling us, yes, we need you

(01:19:01):
to take hard looks at the budget and do this
to help us. And so if anybody has comments, we'd
love to hear him. You can email the whole council
at councilwebx at Salt Lake County dot gob. But we
want to hear from people because we know it's not
just a few people who are looking for government to subsidize,
you know, their everyday activities. We have people who care

(01:19:25):
about keeping those property taxes as.

Speaker 8 (01:19:26):
Well as possible.

Speaker 1 (01:19:27):
I know this probably I'm surprised if this question hasn't
come up, Amy, that the mayor has proposed her budget.
I think it's about a twenty percent tax in Greece
and her staff that some members of her staff are
very well paid, and they're saying, well, if you're going
to cut, take a look at that. I mean, that
question probably has come up, and how do you respond
to that, Amy.

Speaker 15 (01:19:47):
You know what that is, that's a hard question. We
have three deputy mayors. Now, if I was the mayor,
I probably wouldn't make three people with the title of
deputy mayor, but that's what she's chosen to do. But
I will tell you this, Rod, these are these three
people are fans pastic assets to the county, and they
all have large portfolios. So they're not just advisors to
the mayor. They're actually managing large portfolios of all of

(01:20:08):
our agencies and departments. And so I would that one
I've had a hard time wanting to look at cutting
because we need these people. I mean, you've got to have,
you know, director level management to be able to ensure
everything else is run efficiently. And so that one isn't
where I'm looking for cuts as much on those three positions.

(01:20:30):
But I can understand people's frustration when they hear deputy mayor.
They're just assuming that their assistance to the mayor. They
don't recognize that they're actually managing large portfolios and overseeing
a lot of budgetary funding. So I can see that
that's a concern. We are looking at cutting other positions,
though you should know that you know in the mayor's
proposed budget we've already cut dozens of positions that have

(01:20:52):
been proposed and will continue to do so over the
next few weeks.

Speaker 1 (01:20:55):
You've heard from a lot of angry people in the
daycare issue, but you say there are many out there
who would go along with what you're saying about the
government shouldn't be involved in daycare centers. What do they
need to do? Does the council need to hear from them?
What are you recommending?

Speaker 15 (01:21:08):
Navy, We do need to hear from them. Our next
council meeting where we'll be discussing the budget, is choosing
November eighteenth at ten am at the Salt Lake County
Government Center. They can also email the full council. It's
both the Democrats and Republicans on the council at that
councilwebex at Salt Lake County dot gov email address that

(01:21:29):
I gave earlier as.

Speaker 1 (01:21:30):
Part of our Listen Back Friday segment, our conversation with
a member of the Salt Lake County Council, Aman whn
der Newton. And they're doing the right thing, Greg, They're looking,
they're finding money. Times are tight right now, and they're cutting.

Speaker 2 (01:21:41):
Yeah, when you hear I didn't know we're in the
daycare business. I mean you should. These are the exact
reasons why you go line by line on that budget
and start making sure every dollar is highest in best use,
because it should be. It shouldn't even be an option
to raise our taxes. But this is a catalyst to
really scrutinize the budget. It seems like it's long overdue,
and I thank the Republicans on that council for doing it.

Speaker 1 (01:22:03):
Standrew ground, folks. All right, more coming up. It is
the Friday edition of The Rod and Gregg Show on
Talk Radio one O five nine can or us. Did
you hear the deal that Elon Musk got yesterday? I
guess shareholders have approved a pay plan for him of
one trillion dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:22:18):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (01:22:18):
Yeah, that's what I say.

Speaker 2 (01:22:20):
Well, let me tell you wow. I believe he saved
free speech in America. So it gives a man a trillion.
If not my money, it's not taxpayer money, but he
deserves something because I do believe he saved free speech
with when he purchased Twitter and made it X.

Speaker 1 (01:22:32):
When they had the announcement yesterday, he had a robot
dancing with him.

Speaker 2 (01:22:36):
That's funny, and the moves were pretty good.

Speaker 1 (01:22:38):
By the way, the robot moved better than he did.
Actually he's not a dancer, I'm sure pretty obvious. All right,
let's talk about the data centers. A lot of concern
about data centers, of course, the power they're using, what
they could mean for this country. We had a chance
earlier this week to talk with John Tamney, he's editor
of Real Clear Markets, about the proliferation of data centers

(01:22:58):
and how much data they really are. We asked John
why he wrote the article and what it's all about.

Speaker 14 (01:23:02):
Well, it's really exciting. Never forget that usually when businesses
start things or they invest, the first result isn't the
end result. Amazon began as a book selling business, but
the books were just a test case for could Amazon
convince buyers to change their habits of buying all goods?
And so now it's the everything store. And so it's

(01:23:25):
interesting to think about these data centers. If you ask
the typical American, they'd say, well, yeah, those exist so
that we can have better, more robust search results when
we go to Google or chat, GPT or the things.
But there's no way all these businesses would be spending
literally it will eventually be trillions of dollars on data

(01:23:47):
centers so that we can get better search. I think
it signals a total transformation of our economy for the
much better.

Speaker 2 (01:23:55):
So tell us what that looks like. I know that
I've seen the Terminator movies and none of the you know,
the AI really worked out well for humanity in those movies.
But you know, that's all any of us are thinking about.
So for me, what does it? What does a world
look like where you have a new maybe a disruptive technology,
a new economy that's coming forward. How does it not
displace workers and actually make the workforce stronger and better.

Speaker 14 (01:24:18):
Well, the fact that it's going to displace existing work
is the surest sign that the work that Americans will
do in the future will be better than ever. Let's
never forget it's in the societies where the work remains
the same year after year, decade after decade, where the
people are desperately poor, where they're desperately in the past.

(01:24:41):
In the United States, we don't have to do what
our parents do for a living. And that's what makes
the US so great. It's why some new people want
to live here, that they want to bring their families
here because you have the chance to do something different.
And so yes, these these data centers will make it
possible for machine means to do and think for us,

(01:25:03):
think about what that means, and think about it in
terms of the tractor. The tractor was easily the biggest
job destroyer in world history, as was fertilizer, but as
opposed to putting us out of work, it freed us
to spend our days doing something other than just merely
providing the base level of food to maybe survive. And

(01:25:25):
so with these data centers doing so much for us,
that just will make us better at our jobs, make
us elevate our production on the job, elevate us in
the jobs that we never imagine doing, precisely because our
productivity will rise so much.

Speaker 1 (01:25:41):
John, I heard someone speaker. They wrote an article years
and years ago about the you know, they were looking
at the future. They were taking a look at what
lies ahead, and they said, the real power is going
to rest with the people who have information and access
to that information. If these data centers are controlled by
a few, do they control things because the power of

(01:26:02):
information that they have at their disposal.

Speaker 14 (01:26:05):
Well, that's if true. If you believe that the real
power resides with the people who have the information, and
I don't know that that's true. I think what these
data centers are going to do is they are going
to be the equivalent of adding billions and trillions of
new hands to the economy. Think about what that means.
Think about it in terms of Adam Smith's Wealth Nations.

(01:26:27):
How did he begin the book. He began it in
a pin factory, and he noted that one man working
alone in the pin factory could maybe maybe produce one
pin per day. But if you added eight men to
that factory, all working together in specialized fashion, the group
could produce tens of thousands of pins per day. Think

(01:26:49):
of how rich the world is going to get if
suddenly we're working alongside exponentially more more powerful machines doing
more and more for us. It signals a future that
will in which will not only be specialized in doing
the work that we can't get enough of much more successfully,

(01:27:12):
but we'll be doing it while being paid exponentially more.
Worker compensation is an effect of productivity, and machines have
never put us out of work. If that were true,
then the US and would be the poorest country in
the world. In Afghanistan, would be the richest. What machines
do is they elevate us. They free us to focus

(01:27:32):
on what we do best. And when we're doing what
we do best, we were much more productive, precisely because
the work is more associated with what's unique to our
unique genius and intelligence. What I would give to be
a three year old or a baby right now to
live through all of this. I think the kids being
born today are going to have jobs that stagger us

(01:27:53):
for how much they don't feel like work.

Speaker 2 (01:27:55):
Okay, so I love the positive take on this because
I haven't had. I have been really worried. But you're
giving you're giving me a new optimism. Okay, so we're
not rome. It's twenty twenty five. Just tell me we're
not talking bread and circuses here. Don't tell me to
just tell me that the technology doesn't get so that
you don't even need human beings to be part of
this labor force to be able to get it all done.

(01:28:17):
But it's this open ended fountain of new opportunities. Promise me,
that's you.

Speaker 14 (01:28:25):
I promise you a thousand times over. Humans are never
a cost, they're never a job taken. They're just a
new way of improving the world around us. And that's
because you will never get to a point in life
in which every human malady is unfixed, in which every
single human want that we could have ever imagined is

(01:28:48):
taken care of us. All this means is that we
elevate the people of the present and the future to
a level and a living standard that will make the
present look Bangladesh bike comparison as precisely because we're working
so productively and because we have shorter work days, but
we get so much more work done during the workdays

(01:29:10):
that we discover all new human needs at once. We
cure what what has been killing us too readily, but
we discover all new ways to meet the needs of people.
Never forget, a few years ago we just thought Google
was the end result of Internet search. Now even if
you go on Google, it's a completely different experience. And
this is what's going to happen with these machines. They're

(01:29:32):
powerful precisely because they're going to do so much for us.
And never in history has an advancing society resulted in
lower standard living standards and reduced work. It always results
in more and better work. And again, what I'd give
to be young, right.

Speaker 2 (01:29:48):
Now, so will the talk radio shows in the future
asking for a friend.

Speaker 14 (01:29:54):
Without question, there will be and you know why, it's
it's not to talk my book. But in twenty eighteen
I published a book called The End of Work, and
I titled at the End of Laziness that we're on
the verge of work, of everyone getting no longer being
lazy because they're gonna be so in love with their work.
But the future is the entertainment economy because so much

(01:30:17):
production will be a foregone conclusion, such that everyone will
have living standards that are enormously greater than the present.
There will be more and more people doing for a
living what they would do for free if they had
to think about how lucky we are. We're sitting there
having a conversation about the economy in the future. Are

(01:30:38):
we not some of the luckiest human beings alive? You
know what people would have given to be doing what
we were doing, not just one hundred years ago, two
hundred years ago, but twenty years ago. We are so lucky,
and it's gonna get better and better for people who
are entertaining, people who have more and more time to
be entertained, precisely because they're so productive on the job.

Speaker 1 (01:31:00):
On our listen back Friday segment, our conversation earlier this
week with John Timney about data centers, and you know,
it's interesting to see. I don't know where AI is
going to go. I saw a report today that a
lot of people are saying all these layoffs were hearing
really don't have anything to do with AI. There are
other reasons for it.

Speaker 2 (01:31:16):
I've heard both narratives. But yeah, I think you know,
it's it's life. Economies change, there's always advancements, and we
as Americans, especially Americans, were very resilient and we were nimbles.
So we'll move I think we'll move along and we'll
we'll be continue to be a strong a strong nation,
a strong economy.

Speaker 1 (01:31:36):
Well, have a good weekend, mister Hughes, have a good
that doesn't first, and that does it for us tonight,
As we say each and every night, head op shoulders back,
May God bless you and your family. Have a great,
great weekend everybody. We'll be back Monday with a brand
new edition of The Rotting Great Show. Be safe this weekend.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

The Rod & Greg Show News

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Ruthie's Table 4

The Joe Rogan Experience

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Rod and Greg Show: Loneliness in America; How Dems Are Holding Government Hostage

Episode Transcript

The Rod & Greg Show News .css-1q01m3q{margin:0 0 -2px 0;}

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Ruthie's Table 4

The Joe Rogan Experience

All Episodes