May 1, 2026 • 39 mins
Happy Freedom Friday! Jon offers up a movie review that gets the listeners riled up and Sam revels in the Wild and Wolves wins. MN Rep. Max Rymer joins where the conversation turns to Medicaid funding and bills in the MN legislature.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Energy, energy, white hot and very dangerous.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We come to this place for magic, to cry, to care.
You're fascinating because we need that, all of us. That
indescribable feeling.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
We get.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
And we go somewhere we've never been before. It's hot,
not just end, but somehow we've born together. Sound that
I can feel somehow heartbreak feels good in.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
A place like I as a heterosexual male, like the
smell of women. Twitan City's News Talk. Hey, I'm eleven
thirty one oh three five FM. Welcome to Friday. Hey,
our sports teams did good last night. Look at that
(01:07):
they did great last night. Wild eliminated the Stars five
two win Game six the Stanley Cup playoffs. Timberwolves also
eliminated the Nuggets, saying, our guys tipt personal, that's the
serbs and o'hell yeah, I don't have my bug. And
they were Yeah, they were hamstrung a bit too right,
(01:29):
they were. They only had eight players active. Did you
did they call you in? Is there? Sam? Did they
call you up to the big league yesterday? No?
Speaker 6 (01:36):
Not not for work? Five season tickets, so yeah, I'm
definitely in it now.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Yeah. It was funny yesterday because we talked about it briefly,
and when I got up this morning, I was like,
oh man, we had two big games yesterday, and typically,
you know, things don't bode well when it comes to
our sports franchises. So I first saw that the Wild
had pulled through, and I immediately figured that the Timberwolves
had fallen in. I was like, oh my gosh, they didn't.
(02:02):
So what a way to kick off a kickoff a
Freedom Friday. I'm in a great mood stay, albeit extremely tired.
I stayed up way too late. Less. Yeah, we're watching
all the watching all the events. Oh man, yeah, were
they going on simultaneously.
Speaker 6 (02:14):
For a little bit? Yeah, there was. The Wild game
was at six point thirty. The Wolf started a little
bit later. They were closer to nine. They pushed back
almost a half hour.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
And think just to what a bummer if you're fan
of both franchises or you know, I mean they both won,
So there's that. Yeah, you can double team and go
back and forth during you know, during during during breaks
and whatnot. In the studio today we will have a
both Salt and Peppa of the American Experiment podcast US
so Catherine and Grace will both being studio no Ak
(02:45):
Kamara this morning. Representative Max Rymer should be right around
six thirty. We got a hell of a show lined
up today. I've got so much fun stuff to talk about.
Certainly a lot of ridiculousness as well. We'll get into
a couple of fraud related issues what's passed during the
legislative session. But we do have a lot of fun
(03:08):
commentary and content to share on the show today, on
a freedom Friday, I want to start here. So I
didn't watch any of these sporting events. You know what
I did go and do and you'll appreciate this, Sam,
what's that? And saw Michael yesterday? Oh? Really? Yes, okay,
I need to get a review on that. I very
much enjoyed it. Now this is this is this is
the Michael Jackson biopic. So I mean, listen, I'm a
(03:31):
Michael Jackson fan, like most people are Michael Jackson fans.
I'm not a hardcore Michael Jackson fan by any stretch,
but I love me some Michael Jackson, right who doesn't.
It is a very, for lack of a better way
to put it, a very sort of rose colored glasses view,
sure and only, and this is not a spoiler. They
(03:51):
are making a sequel. This only goes as far as
his third album, so up into Up to Up to
Bad Okay, it doesn't go beyond beyond that, beyond that album.
But it was just incredibly enjoyable and another family friendly film.
(04:16):
Melinda obviously went and saw it with me. She's probably
a bigger Michael Jackson fan than than I am, and
was the the the I believe it's his cousin, Jaffar Jackson,
who played the role. He became Michael Jackson.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It was.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
There was at no point during the performances where you
would typically watch a biopic in somebody who is trying
to portray somebody famous that we all are incredibly familiar with.
This just the dude just absolutely nailed it. At no
point was I watching it going that is somebody pretending
(04:50):
to be Michael Jackson. I mean, he just he embodied
the singer. It was true, It was. It was. It
was truly truly stunning to uh, stunning to watch, But
it wasn't incredibly clean, you know, no language in it
did show some of the difficulties that Michael had growing
up with his father and how awful his his father was,
but you know, the critics hated it, and you know,
(05:12):
the critics a byproduct of Hollywood. It's not a huge surprise,
but hollow. I need to take note because this movie
is doing incredibly well in the box office, and I
believe it's much in the same reason that Project Hail
Mary did so well in the box office. These are
really good quality films that adults can absolutely enjoy. Are
essentially made for adults, but you can go and bring
(05:33):
your kids to these movies and they can be enjoyed
by them as well. It really harkens back to those
films of the of the eighties. So it was if
you are even just the most passing of a fan
of Michael Jackson, you would not be disappointed by this movie.
And there's a funny moment. This isn't spoiling anything. There's
a funny moment in the film where Michael is sitting
(05:56):
on a raft in the pool and he's there with
his with his brothers and he's kind of isolated, isolated
by himself, and I think it was either Germane or Tito.
They look over and like, Michael, what are you doing.
He's like, well, I'm you know, I'm just I'm focusing
on God. Right now, I'm channeling God. He's like, why
are you Why are you doing that? He's like, because
if I don't, I'm afraid that God's going to give
prints all the good songs. It was a really I
(06:19):
don't know, I don't know if that happened in real life,
but it was a yeah, it was a it was
a very uh, it was a very enjoyable moment moment
in the film. So that's my I'll give a I
don't typically again recommend films because everybody's tastes are different,
and mostly I in the past having recommended films because
they're usually filled with a lot of you know, content
(06:43):
that isn't going to be suitable for everybody. That being said, this,
you know, this was a This gets a definite thumbs
up for me. So I'm surprised you haven't. I know,
you've been really busy, though, I'm assuming it's got to
be on your list.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
It's one thousand percent on my list. I've actually haven't
talked to anybody yet who's seen it, so you're the first.
So I'm glad that. I'm glad that it's we're checking
out for sure. I was a little I was a
little worried, but sounds like it's gonna work out.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
The promotion wasn't well, maybe I wasn't paying close enough
attention because I thought it came out this week and
it actually came out last WEEKND, so I was actually
a week. Typically I go see films that I'm looking
forward to seeing the week that they come out. So
all right, coming up. Trump did sign the DHS a
funding bill. Our national nightmare has ended or something. This
(07:25):
ends the record shutdown. I'll give you a few details
on this. We'll talk a bit of fraud. When Max
Reimer joins US, over forty percent of high risk Medicaid
providers have been disenrolled during the revalidation process. This should
not come as a shock to anybody. Later on in
the hour get we will get into this. Probably one
(07:48):
of the most ridiculous political news stories that's currently dominating
the headlines, how the Democrats are stuck with this Nazi
tattooed dude after Governor Janet Mills out of Maine ended
her United States Senate bid. It is a perfect example
of how the Democrats do not believe in anything that
(08:08):
they say they stand for, because they're out there actively
defending this radical leftist, even with all of the examples
of the very things that they claim, you know, Trump
and Trump supporters are. So this is what will be
coming up on deck for the first hour of the show.
As always, you can email me Justice at iHeartRadio dot com.
(08:31):
If you're listening worldwide on the iHeartRadio app, you can
leave us a talkback. We'll get to those coming up.
They're brought to you by Lyndahl Realty here on Twin
City's News Talk AM eleven thirty and one o three
five FM. Happy Freedom Friday, Good morning, and I love yours.
Speaker 7 (08:49):
Good morning fellas. I can't wait to hear from the
governor this morning. I'm sure he'll come out talk about
all the things he did to help the Timberwolves, the
hockey team win last night. What a great freedom running.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
I have a great day. Thank you for the talkback
Twins City's News Talk Jim, I appreciate it. That story
regarding Walls is probably one of the most insignificant yets
amusing stories of the week for me. With Governor Jim
Walls trying to take credit for the FBI and HSI
(09:27):
raids on fraud in Minneapolis earlier this week and then
having not only so he had cash, buttel the FBI
director come out and say, no, you didn't. But local
media tried to find out and he still have not
received an answer from the governor of how the Governor's
office or the state of Minnesota even went and helped
in anyway. And there's a way they can do that.
(09:50):
As I talked about when the story broke earlier this week,
we had a handful of sheriff's officers that did go
and assist a couple of these raids, and so you
could connection there if Walls wanted to go and answer it.
But he's just going to ghost the local media doesn't
care because he didn't have anything to do with it,
just simply trying to take credit for it.
Speaker 8 (10:12):
Hey, good morning, John, Thanks for the good review on
the Michael Jackson movie.
Speaker 9 (10:17):
We've planned to see it on Tuesday.
Speaker 8 (10:19):
You know, back in the eighties I got to see
him in concert. Guess how much my ticket was? Twenty
five dollars. Yep, twenty five dollars to see Michael Jackson.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
All right, have a great freedom Friday.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Now.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
Granted back then that was worth a lot more than
it is today. But even if you were to go
and adjust for inflation, it's still would not even be
nearly as close to what people would have to pay. Now,
we'll just look at how much it cost to go
see Taylor Swift. For crying out loud, it's.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
Going to say, I'm not going to say the number,
but I spend a lot more than that to see
Snoop Dogg in September.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
And I want to I'm gonna make this statement, but
let me let me qualify it. Okay, let me quoifi
for just a second, because I have a talk back
from TJ that I want to address on this. There
was obviously a lot of things controversial in Michael Jackson's life,
There's no doubt about that, you know. At all the
accusations against him, the issues that he dealt with, it
ultimately ended up costing him his life. What I liked
(11:19):
about the movie was it really was just the celebration
of the individual and looking at it from a lens
of the joy that he brought essentially to humanity at
the time. So I don't want to dismiss because it
was it was a very rose colored glasses view of
Michael Jackson's life up until that point that I mentioned
(11:40):
of the release of the Bad Album. You know, if
you want to get into the details and the intricacies
of all the different controversies surrounding him, there are plenty
of documentaries out there to do this. This was just
a celebration of his life. I say all that because,
as we're watching the film and the talkback mentioned going
to see Michael Jackson in concert, I remember as a
(12:01):
kid growing up in southern California when those Victory Tour shows,
those final shows at Dodger Stadium occurred. I mean, even
as a kid back in eighty four, I can recall
just what a big deal it was for the region.
And watching the movie last night and seeing the recreation
of that concert which is in the trailers, isn't a
(12:23):
spoiler alert. I was talking with Melinda on the drive home,
and the only person you could possibly go and compare
in terms of fandom and devotion right now in popular
radio would probably be Taylor Swift. That being said, while
you certainly get the crowd response and the fandom surrounding
(12:49):
Taylor Swift much in the same way you do Michael Jackson,
that being said, there's still there's no other performer that
could captivate an audience of any demo graphic of any age,
of any gender than Michael Jackson even to this day.
I mean, Taylor spent was a great performer, but make
no mistake, Michael Jackson was incredibly special in the way
(13:10):
that he was so uniquely talented. And I don't think
you can compare him to but any any current artists,
and certainly not any artist of his day. I mean,
he's he's still to this day considered the King of
pod for a reason. I mean, he's he was that good.
Speaker 10 (13:26):
Hey, John GJ from North Minneapolis on this Freedom Friday,
I wanted to mention something about the Michael Jackson movie.
Speaker 11 (13:33):
I think the critics don't like.
Speaker 10 (13:34):
It because it doesn't talk about big parts of his
life at that time, which was Diana Ross, Clive Davis,
the injury with pepsi, and how he got addictive to
pain pills back then. I think that's why they don't
like it. It's two rose colored for them.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
They did cover again not spoiling anything, because these are
just events that happens. He got to assume they would
be covered in the movie. They did cover his injury.
They did of him being injured when his hair caught
on fire during the film shoot for the for the
pepsi Ad, and from that, you they there's a few
little comments that are made that allude to the level
(14:14):
of pain that he was in that would, you know,
lead one to go, okay, this is how they're going
to sort of gloss over the addiction to painhills, pain
pills that would eventually, you know, end up following him
the rest of his life. It will be very interesting
to see how they do handle that period after which
takes place where this movie ended, because after that things
(14:37):
start to go bad, So it'd be it'll be interesting
to see how they end up up how they end
up handling that in the future.
Speaker 6 (14:42):
Sure, I was just gonna ask you, was that a
pun fully intended there? Or did I do a pun
said things get bad?
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Oh my gosh, No, I that was completely unintentional, completely
completely unintentional. It might have been a subliminal thing. I've
changed up my morning show routine, by the way, I
don't it's just it's a freedom Friday. I guess I
can talk about it, but I won't get into the details.
If somebody's interested, and you know, let me know. But
(15:08):
I've changed up the order in which I do things,
and I've switched up my morning, my morning routine, and
it's had this like really big impact on my on
my day in an incredibly positive way. It's been an
absolute game changer. The long story, I'll make it really short.
I'm waiting like an hour before I have any coffee.
(15:30):
I'm kicking off the day starting with water. I'm not
getting on my phone or anything for a half hour
after I get up and allowing the you know, the
courters all build up from overnight to diminish if you
know anything about this, And surprisingly, because I didn't think
it would make a difference, it's absolutely made a difference.
It's been pretty crazy. That's great. And it's allowed me
(15:51):
the opportunity to give, you know, to do puns and
I'm completely unaware of That's what I'm attributing you to.
So just letting you know. After seventy five days and
the longest agency shutdown in history, it's ended. Trump did
sign a bipartisan build to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The bill excludes funding for immigration enforcement operations, a point
(16:13):
of contention between Democrats and Republicans. The shutdown, which began
on February fourteenth, impacted DHS employees, including those at TSA
and FEMA. I guess the Democrats could no longer go
and take advantage of it, so they decided to hop
on board with US. Seventy five days, Democrats refused to
fund Trump's immigration enforcements operation. Nothing's changed, Nothing's changed at all.
(16:37):
This is no longer sort of a winning argument right now.
So the Democrats decided, okay, we'll go ahead and move forward,
because that's what they do. Good morning, John Justice.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I'm here by the HCMC and there's people out here
trying to say, HCMC, save lives, save them, so they're
looking for funding. So there you go with reporting showing
(17:08):
a like a little protests ready to hear by the hospital.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
It's incredibly unfortunate what's happening with Hennepin County Medical Center.
But there was a member of the legislature on the
Republican side that recently came out and did the go
go broke? And I completely agree HCMC could go and
begin balancing their books and removing the DEI initiatives that
(17:34):
they refused to go and let go of as a start.
I mean, at least as a show of good faith,
but they refused. They refused to do that, and as
Matt Dean at the center of the American Experiment demonstrated
in an article last week, that amount of funding that
goes to their divisive and often racist DEI policies would
(17:59):
be close to enough to shore up the funding that
they currently are missing right now and then asking for
a tax credit in order to go and shore up
support to keep the hospital open. So I have I
feel bad for the employees that may be affected by this,
but I have very little, uh sympathy for what HCMC
(18:21):
is going through right now.
Speaker 12 (18:25):
Hey, you guys are talking about ticket pricing and Inflationhow
wwe SummerSlam this August at US Bank Stadium ringside seats
sixty five dollars That is gross's and fifty dollars? How
(18:45):
crazy is that?
Speaker 5 (18:46):
It is crazy? It's gross. Those are disgusting prices. Good on,
John Sam.
Speaker 13 (18:51):
I think it's awesome that we have a movie that
just celebrates the highlights of an individual who has become
an icon of music. And you need to realize with
Michael Jackson, he was a star at a very very
young age and his dad, Joe really messed with his mind.
And that's a word of caution to everybody out there.
When you raise your children, they are sponges and they
(19:14):
suck up everything they see and they turn out to
be a lot of what you've made them be.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
And iHeart radio station. Hey, good morning guys, John. I
got a question for you in commins. Is this Michael
movie a musical? Well, let's stop here really quick before
I get to the rest of your comment. How do
you define a musical like see I define a musical
(19:43):
in you're watching the film and then all of the
all of the actors and actresses like breakout and saw spontaneously,
spontaneously thank you, yes, in that vein, it's not a musical.
But there are obviously a lot of musical performances in
the film, but it's not like, you know, we're we're
hanging out with Michael Jackson and his brothers at his
(20:04):
home in Encino, and suddenly they're all breaking out into
song as they describe whatever situation that they're currently dealing with.
Speaker 14 (20:11):
No, these are not musicals. These are biopics, right, because
like Walk the Line was not a musical. This Bob
Dylan one that that just came out.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
That's the Bohemian Rhapsody musical, all right, he has more
to it to say. I agree with you that Taylor
might be as popular as Michael, or as close as
you could become to it, but.
Speaker 12 (20:33):
There is no way that her quality is anywhere here.
Speaker 5 (20:36):
No Taylor is popular because somebody has to be popular,
and in the Internet age, they chose her fiance is
the same way.
Speaker 12 (20:44):
They're both wildly over rated.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
I like, I wouldn't go so far as to say
they're overrated. They are talented in their own right. That
being said, when you compare artists like that to a
Michael Jackson, there just is no comparison. There just hasn't
been anybody who's been able to walk out on stage
and just grab the attention of the audience in the
(21:06):
way that in the way that he did, and that
was demonstrated uh very well in the in the film.
Do you to go see it?
Speaker 14 (21:14):
I yeah, I still got to see that Michael Jackson relevancy.
I remember working at the Zolies when he when he died,
fast food Italian restaurant. I was a shift manager and
I learned when he died, and it was kind of like, oh,
that's that's too bad.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
But right, but again, you weren't. You weren't in that
I think, no, you were. You weren't in that age
range where that's.
Speaker 14 (21:38):
A bummer like that was my reaction. It wasn't like
the pulpit just died or anything like that. But what
I will say is to the talkbacker's point, fame is
a lot different today than it was then. Fame is
more fragmented because of the Internet. Right, So you have
pockets of people Taylor Swift included, I would say, who
has a massive audience, but who may have been as
(22:00):
universally known or loved because we didn't have supercomputers in
our pockets. We didn't get to cater our own preferences
like we do now, like you were. Michael Jackson was
famous then because you only have the television to watch right.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
Well, and I think that even goes it is funny
because you inadvertently are are leaning into something we're gonna
be talking about later on. I have an editorial from
a from a young voter in the Minnesota Reformer who
believed in an immigrant, who believes that we need to
move to voting by phone and all the reasons why. Well,
apparently there's a bill moving through that would do just that,
(22:40):
would be there's all sorts of bills. Okay, so we'll
get well, we'll we'll get to that. But to your
point on a freedom Friday, which means that we can
go on and off topic comments as well.
Speaker 15 (22:53):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
The level of fame that Michael Jackson was able to
achieve even without it with out the Internet, Yes, without
social media, I mean is incredible in and of itself. Now,
you're right, the you do have sort of a h
a washing if you will, The two things sort of
wash each other out when you consider, like you said,
(23:15):
you had fewer forms of entertainment to go and gravitate.
Towards that being said, I would argue that if you
took a you know, eighties Michael Jackson and then put
him into modern times with the same level of talent
through the I mean if he was popular before, I
mean it would be through the stratosphere. Of course, it
(23:36):
would also be divisive, and I'm sure the politics would
go and play into it and people would chose sides
over they were gonna support and because the world touched
on that in the movie.
Speaker 14 (23:45):
But Michael Jackson, similar to Michael Jordan, was famously non
non political. I don't think he ever took you know.
I mean, he had a couple of songs that were
I Am a victim of police brutality.
Speaker 5 (23:59):
And there's a moment in the film where they address
MTV's reluctance to play any of his videos because he
was a black artist. So they do sort of they
do kind of you know again, could sort of graze upon,
you know, across the issue in the in the film
as well, that was objectively a better era of.
Speaker 14 (24:15):
America than we are currently living in.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
Oh yeah, absolutely, at the evil, the evil was there.
The people haven't changed, Everybody is still the same. It's
just it's the technology that has brought out the worst
in people. It was a lot of it was resigned to,
you know, the the individuals around you, and that your
(24:39):
family members and your friends they kept you in check.
I mean, that sin, that evil's always there. Unfortunately, we
live in a society right now where because of the media,
social networking and the Internet, those voices tend to be amplified,
the group think forms and it all gets on display.
All the horrible awfulness that's existed since man time's since
(25:00):
kind started is now you know there to see at
the swipe of your of the black mirror in front
of you. That's right.
Speaker 9 (25:08):
Okay, Since we're still discussing ticket pricing, here's going for
you back in nineteen seventy two, a twelve hour concert
at Parade Stadium that included bands like Jefferson Airplane.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
Four dollars yep, four dollars for.
Speaker 9 (25:25):
A twelve hour concert at a Parade stadium with top
bands like Jefferson Airplane.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
Wrong, Wrong, and Wrong, Oh got free Wrongs.
Speaker 16 (25:39):
Taylor is hugely popular because she stretched the right cord
with the right crowd. Then she captured their mothers, then
she captured their fathers, and how she has the whole
damn world. Success is a multi factor thing. Long hevity
is one of them. Michael didn't have it.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
They excuse me, Michael Jackson didn't have it. That may
be one of the no offense Jim. That may be
one of the most ridiculous hot takes that we will
hear all morning long, that Michael Jackson did not have
the longevity.
Speaker 14 (26:16):
Michael Jackson got famous when he was like eight years old, Yeah, and.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
Did exactly what Taylor did. He captured the young individuals,
you know, and and at the same time mothers and
fathers as well. This is you know, this is also
demonstrated in the in the in the film, and continued
with massive longevity. He dealt with a lot of issues
later in his life, but still remained incredibly relevant and talented.
(26:42):
And let's just for a moment remind everybody why we
started this conversation in the first place, because there is
a biopic that's cleaning up in the box office right
now about this man who hasn't been dominating any headlines
now for well over a decade year. Sam, as you
(27:03):
want to chime in on this, on this, on this
lukewarm cold take, Isn't Thriller still the number one selling
album of all time? I'm pretty sure? Gonna leave that there.
I'm fairly I'm fairly certain. But talk about longevity.
Speaker 14 (27:18):
How many smash records didn't Michael Jackson have in his career?
Speaker 5 (27:23):
A lot? Seven? Does that sound right? Sam? You crag
me if I'm wrong. I mean that that is long
jattle that everybody's entitled to their opinion. It's subjective.
Speaker 11 (27:32):
But oof, hey TJ from north Side here in front
of the show on this Freedom Friday, I had to
comment based on what that last caller had said.
Speaker 5 (27:40):
On their talkback, But Taylor Swift quality of work.
Speaker 11 (27:44):
I also am a huge Michael Jackson fan.
Speaker 17 (27:48):
I love the family.
Speaker 11 (27:49):
But the Taylor Swift comment he made, she actually writes
every single song she produces. She is up there with Michael,
just give her time.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
I was referring to just so or Claire on that
when it comes to Taylor Swift, I really was just
referring to her stage presence. That's really all that I
was referring to. I completely agree with you that she
writes amazing songs. She wouldn't be as popular if, you know,
if she weren't rising amazing, you know, writing amazing songs.
She's done a very good job of reinventing herself over
(28:21):
and over again. It'll be very interesting to see how
her longevity is now that she's, you know, getting older,
fans are aging out, whether she's still able to continue
that turnover of fandom that keeps an individual alive within
the pop culture. My point was specifically just about the
stage presence and just how commanding. You know, Michael Jackson
(28:43):
didn't need anything else on stage, He just needed him
and him performing and the music that's it. And I
don't think you can say the same thing about about
Taylor Swift as we get into music talk here on
her Freedom Friday. It's Twin City's news.
Speaker 14 (28:57):
Talk so free already. They're both world light icons, no
doubt about it. Like Taylor will have a movie about
her one daye oh.
Speaker 5 (29:05):
Absolutely, absolutely, all right, let's go here. Earlier this year,
the Minnesota Department of Human Services began reviewing every Medicaid
provider enrolled in thirteen high risk welfare programs. Since that
process began, forty two point five percent of the providers
reviewed have been.
Speaker 14 (29:21):
Disenrolled, almost fifty percent folks.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
DHS did designate last year fourteen state run Medicaid funded
welfare programs as being high risk for fraud. DHS oversees
those fourteen programs. That same year, the US Attorney General
estimated that nine billion could have been stolen since those
from those programs since twenty eighteen. DHS ended one of
the fourteen programs after it found that it had been
overrun by fraud. It was like one hundred percent fraudulent.
(29:46):
So the federal government has been looking to withhold funds
to Minnesota if the state refuses to address the fraud.
There's a review process going on. It's called Revalidate twenty
twenty six, and it requires DHS to examine over five
thousand providers in just a few months. So they're looking
that this is going to have to go into the
end of the summer. Fifty eight hundred medicaid providers are
(30:08):
being re examined and revaluated before summer hits, So now
the summer's around the corner, DHS still has a long
way to go before it completes the revalidation process. However,
they have found that four hundred excuse me, five hundred
and forty six providers completed the revalidation process and have
been approved as of April sixteenth, so that is a lot. However,
(30:32):
four hundred and five of those disenrolled since the Revalidate
twenty twenty six program began earlier this year. So while
you do have hundreds of providers that did go through
the process and that's good, you cannot dismiss that almost half.
As Max Reimer mentioned, of the of those individuals who
(30:52):
bailed out of the program, which obviously raises questions of
why were they in the program to begin with and
why didn't they bother to revalidate.
Speaker 14 (31:00):
Keep in mind, five hundred is a lot, right, five
hundred have gone through the revalidation process and come out clean,
and will you assume be eligible again for Medicaid funds. However,
five hundred out of five thousand is only ten percent.
And I have a feeling that as this carries through
the summer, you're going to discover that it's going to
(31:22):
be more than fifty percent of these vendors, if you will,
were fraudulent.
Speaker 5 (31:28):
I think it's going to be more than fifty percent.
Let's move over to this. First off, this was a vote.
I don't know if this took place yesterday or the
day before. Maybe Max can go and fill us in,
but Minnesota Democrats voted to block an amendment to ban
funding that was going to the Quality Leering Center. Here's
(31:49):
how the end of that vote went down.
Speaker 18 (31:50):
To the end the words or to the Quality Leering Center, inc.
And leering is spelled earing.
Speaker 19 (32:03):
All members having voted, who desire to vote, Secretary will
close the role they're being thirty two eyes and thirty
three mays. The motion does not prevail. The amendment is
to the amendment is not adopted.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
All right, So I have to assume the argument and
correct me if I'm wrong. Wrong, Representative Max Schimer, I
have to assume that the argument is that the Quality
Leering Center is being investigated right now and they haven't
reached any conclusions yet, and therefore those on the left
didn't feel justified and stripping its funding. Am I?
Speaker 14 (32:36):
Am I right about that? Or is there another face
at time? Yeah, that was a Senate vote. I'm not
sure what the justification or what the argument was. That
does sound about right where they would say we can't
interfere with this federal investigation, which is hilarious because the
only thing you hear from the DFL is how the
federal government is illegitimate.
Speaker 5 (32:53):
Yeah, And I'm not trying to give a free pass
to the to the DFL in any way, shape or form.
I'm just basically sort of extrapolating what I assume must
have been the excuse as to why listen, stop the funding.
I mean, everything surrounding it, even with the investigation going on,
in my opinion, would have been easily enough justification to just,
at a minimum just put a pause in any funding
(33:15):
going to.
Speaker 14 (33:16):
That particular location. Well, yesterday, I will tell you. On
the House side, we had a vote where it would
have required cameras to help investigators figure out the actual
child count in daycare centers, and that got voted down
unanimously by Democrats too. They just don't want accountability.
Speaker 5 (33:33):
Moving through the issue of the legislative session quickly. This morning,
the Minnesota House and Ways, Ways and Means Committee did
advance at SF eight fifty six a bill establishing the
Independent Office of Inspector General to investigate fraud. Now, Max,
are you aware? Would this be an OIG that actually
has some teeth to him? This is an OIG that
(33:56):
also would need to report to exclusively to Governor Tim
Wall's Would this be a separate OIG to go and
investigate the fraudu It.
Speaker 14 (34:03):
Would be an independent inspector office of Inspector General apart
from the governor. Now listen, we're going to probably hear
this Senate file next week.
Speaker 5 (34:13):
In the House.
Speaker 14 (34:14):
The House bill, it was completely independent. It actually adds
some tease to it. I got to actually see what's
in the Senate file before I kind of make a
determination or give the audience information about what this is.
But my understanding is this one very similarly mirrors the
House bill where it's actual independent office from the governor.
Speaker 5 (34:34):
Okay, so there could have been some tweaks or changes
that were made in the Senate because you go back
to it was a couple of weeks ago, might have
even been longer than that. Now Representative Matt Norris, the DFLLER,
attempted to dramatically alter the bill and removed the proposed
to Office's Internal Law Enforcement Agency. Republicans said because he
(34:56):
was Norris was trying to gut the bill and accused
Walls of being behind those efforts. It looks like though
now Noras said the OIG's Internal Law Enforcement Agency would
remain in the bill in this new version, but that
the law Enforcement Division would not be active until January
of twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 14 (35:17):
See, those are the things that I why I gotta
take a look at, because what these Democrats do, Matt
Norris in particular, on this bill is they'll gut the bill,
they'll take everything out of it, and then they'll say, well,
I had my own version and it was just as good.
But they're lying. What they want is they essentially want
a protection of the governor or for the governor to
have a say in this process.
Speaker 5 (35:38):
And he can't. He can't.
Speaker 14 (35:39):
If the last four years have proven anything, it's that
we need somebody totally independent of the governor who's not
going to take instruction from the governor, because the legislature
Democrats and the legislature certainly take instruction from the governor.
Speaker 17 (35:55):
Barty John a suggestion for the Minnesota legislature for any
new spending that legislature wants to pass, create a new
category of funding called fraud clawback funds. So if they
want to bail out Henipton County, so yeah, we'll go
ahead and pass that bill, and we're going to fund
(36:16):
it with clawbacks. Doesn't mean any new taxes, no new spending,
but it designates that as the funding source.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
I know there's been some attempts to do that. Would
this be even necessary to put in an actual component
to try to get some of the money back or
is it something that can just be naturally embedded moving forward,
because like I said, I think there was there was
already some efforts to get back some of this funding. Vdayah, Well,
(36:45):
we had the legislature, we had a bill just recently.
Again all Democrats voted it down.
Speaker 14 (36:49):
No surprise there, but it was one hundred percent tax
if you're if you're found to have fraudulent funds that
were acquired through uh some of these means that we've
seen these fraudsters use that got voted down. What I
will just say is a lot of the money. When
you talk about clawbacks, the hard part is is this
money goes out the door, and then the money is
taken overseas. It's so hard to track where some of
(37:12):
this funding is going.
Speaker 15 (37:14):
Gord Egg having freedom Friday. Since we have all these
people that have distant roll of from these programs that
are right fraudulent, doesn't that be that the people that
we have search go crist should be taking that list. Okay,
where's that list? I have to go through this construct
(37:35):
ticket lock them all up.
Speaker 5 (37:37):
Have a super pride. Yeah, I guess I hadn't.
Speaker 18 (37:40):
Really.
Speaker 5 (37:41):
I'm glad he brought it up because he makes a
good point. Of those programs that didn't revalidate, it would
seem like it would be worthy to go back and
take a to take a look at them to find
to do something. Listen, I know they're not going to
be doing whatever services they were doing before, but it
may be worth worth it to go back and look, Okay,
what happened when they were providing those particular services.
Speaker 14 (38:04):
Yeah, I think that would be the natural next step.
The problem with that is you're relying on Keith Ellison
to do the prosecuting.
Speaker 5 (38:12):
By the way, that's that's thief Ellison Ellison, Tim Walls,
I'm kind of sorry cementing that miracular Brad tab Fee.
Oh that's good. That's a good one too.
Speaker 4 (38:22):
On m H.
Speaker 16 (38:24):
Happy Freedom Friday, guys.
Speaker 5 (38:26):
What a great night for Minnesota sports last night. I
personally can't wait to hear Tim Walls try and take
credit for the Wilds and Timberwolves winning.
Speaker 14 (38:37):
I have a good day real quick because it is
a free and Friday.
Speaker 13 (38:41):
Huh.
Speaker 14 (38:42):
I think yesterday may have been the best day, one
of the best days in Minnesota sports history.
Speaker 5 (38:48):
I know. I woke up surprised, crazy, and even when
I saw the wild headline, I just assumed the Timberwolves lost,
and then I had to double check the headline when
I saw they actually won too. And the Timberwolves beat
a former champion and by the way, a former championship
team was probably the best player in the NBA. With
a bunch of benchwarmers Basically everybody on their team was
injured and they somehow pulled it off in the series.
(39:10):
So all that to be said.
Speaker 14 (39:11):
Sam and I were talking before the show and the
Minnesota Wild in particular. I think you might be looking
at a Minnesota team with the best shot to win
a championship since the two thousand and nine Vikings.
Speaker 5 (39:23):
A bold statement. I stake in the ground on that one.
Grace Keating from Center of the American Experiment. Were you
were you up late last night watching all of the
sports
Energy, energy, white hot and very dangerous.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We come to this place for magic, to cry, to care.
You're fascinating because we need that, all of us. That
indescribable feeling.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
We get.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
And we go somewhere we've never been before. It's hot,
not just end, but somehow we've born together. Sound that
I can feel somehow heartbreak feels good in.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
A place like I as a heterosexual male, like the
smell of women. Twitan City's News Talk. Hey, I'm eleven
thirty one oh three five FM. Welcome to Friday. Hey,
our sports teams did good last night. Look at that
(01:07):
they did great last night. Wild eliminated the Stars five
two win Game six the Stanley Cup playoffs. Timberwolves also
eliminated the Nuggets, saying, our guys tipt personal, that's the
serbs and o'hell yeah, I don't have my bug. And
they were Yeah, they were hamstrung a bit too right,
(01:29):
they were. They only had eight players active. Did you
did they call you in? Is there? Sam? Did they
call you up to the big league yesterday? No?
Speaker 6 (01:36):
Not not for work? Five season tickets, so yeah, I'm
definitely in it now.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Yeah. It was funny yesterday because we talked about it briefly,
and when I got up this morning, I was like,
oh man, we had two big games yesterday, and typically,
you know, things don't bode well when it comes to
our sports franchises. So I first saw that the Wild
had pulled through, and I immediately figured that the Timberwolves
had fallen in. I was like, oh my gosh, they didn't.
(02:02):
So what a way to kick off a kickoff a
Freedom Friday. I'm in a great mood stay, albeit extremely tired.
I stayed up way too late. Less. Yeah, we're watching
all the watching all the events. Oh man, yeah, were
they going on simultaneously.
Speaker 6 (02:14):
For a little bit? Yeah, there was. The Wild game
was at six point thirty. The Wolf started a little
bit later. They were closer to nine. They pushed back
almost a half hour.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
And think just to what a bummer if you're fan
of both franchises or you know, I mean they both won,
So there's that. Yeah, you can double team and go
back and forth during you know, during during during breaks
and whatnot. In the studio today we will have a
both Salt and Peppa of the American Experiment podcast US
so Catherine and Grace will both being studio no Ak
(02:45):
Kamara this morning. Representative Max Rymer should be right around
six thirty. We got a hell of a show lined
up today. I've got so much fun stuff to talk about.
Certainly a lot of ridiculousness as well. We'll get into
a couple of fraud related issues what's passed during the
legislative session. But we do have a lot of fun
(03:08):
commentary and content to share on the show today, on
a freedom Friday, I want to start here. So I
didn't watch any of these sporting events. You know what
I did go and do and you'll appreciate this, Sam,
what's that? And saw Michael yesterday? Oh? Really? Yes, okay,
I need to get a review on that. I very
much enjoyed it. Now this is this is this is
the Michael Jackson biopic. So I mean, listen, I'm a
(03:31):
Michael Jackson fan, like most people are Michael Jackson fans.
I'm not a hardcore Michael Jackson fan by any stretch,
but I love me some Michael Jackson, right who doesn't.
It is a very, for lack of a better way
to put it, a very sort of rose colored glasses view,
sure and only, and this is not a spoiler. They
(03:51):
are making a sequel. This only goes as far as
his third album, so up into Up to Up to
Bad Okay, it doesn't go beyond beyond that, beyond that album.
But it was just incredibly enjoyable and another family friendly film.
(04:16):
Melinda obviously went and saw it with me. She's probably
a bigger Michael Jackson fan than than I am, and
was the the the I believe it's his cousin, Jaffar Jackson,
who played the role. He became Michael Jackson.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It was.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
There was at no point during the performances where you
would typically watch a biopic in somebody who is trying
to portray somebody famous that we all are incredibly familiar with.
This just the dude just absolutely nailed it. At no
point was I watching it going that is somebody pretending
(04:50):
to be Michael Jackson. I mean, he just he embodied
the singer. It was true, It was. It was. It
was truly truly stunning to uh, stunning to watch, But
it wasn't incredibly clean, you know, no language in it
did show some of the difficulties that Michael had growing
up with his father and how awful his his father was,
but you know, the critics hated it, and you know,
(05:12):
the critics a byproduct of Hollywood. It's not a huge surprise,
but hollow. I need to take note because this movie
is doing incredibly well in the box office, and I
believe it's much in the same reason that Project Hail
Mary did so well in the box office. These are
really good quality films that adults can absolutely enjoy. Are
essentially made for adults, but you can go and bring
(05:33):
your kids to these movies and they can be enjoyed
by them as well. It really harkens back to those
films of the of the eighties. So it was if
you are even just the most passing of a fan
of Michael Jackson, you would not be disappointed by this movie.
And there's a funny moment. This isn't spoiling anything. There's
a funny moment in the film where Michael is sitting
(05:56):
on a raft in the pool and he's there with
his with his brothers and he's kind of isolated, isolated
by himself, and I think it was either Germane or Tito.
They look over and like, Michael, what are you doing.
He's like, well, I'm you know, I'm just I'm focusing
on God. Right now, I'm channeling God. He's like, why
are you Why are you doing that? He's like, because
if I don't, I'm afraid that God's going to give
prints all the good songs. It was a really I
(06:19):
don't know, I don't know if that happened in real life,
but it was a yeah, it was a it was
a very uh, it was a very enjoyable moment moment
in the film. So that's my I'll give a I
don't typically again recommend films because everybody's tastes are different,
and mostly I in the past having recommended films because
they're usually filled with a lot of you know, content
(06:43):
that isn't going to be suitable for everybody. That being said, this,
you know, this was a This gets a definite thumbs
up for me. So I'm surprised you haven't. I know,
you've been really busy, though, I'm assuming it's got to
be on your list.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
It's one thousand percent on my list. I've actually haven't
talked to anybody yet who's seen it, so you're the first.
So I'm glad that. I'm glad that it's we're checking
out for sure. I was a little I was a
little worried, but sounds like it's gonna work out.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
The promotion wasn't well, maybe I wasn't paying close enough
attention because I thought it came out this week and
it actually came out last WEEKND, so I was actually
a week. Typically I go see films that I'm looking
forward to seeing the week that they come out. So
all right, coming up. Trump did sign the DHS a
funding bill. Our national nightmare has ended or something. This
(07:25):
ends the record shutdown. I'll give you a few details
on this. We'll talk a bit of fraud. When Max
Reimer joins US, over forty percent of high risk Medicaid
providers have been disenrolled during the revalidation process. This should
not come as a shock to anybody. Later on in
the hour get we will get into this. Probably one
(07:48):
of the most ridiculous political news stories that's currently dominating
the headlines, how the Democrats are stuck with this Nazi
tattooed dude after Governor Janet Mills out of Maine ended
her United States Senate bid. It is a perfect example
of how the Democrats do not believe in anything that
(08:08):
they say they stand for, because they're out there actively
defending this radical leftist, even with all of the examples
of the very things that they claim, you know, Trump
and Trump supporters are. So this is what will be
coming up on deck for the first hour of the show.
As always, you can email me Justice at iHeartRadio dot com.
(08:31):
If you're listening worldwide on the iHeartRadio app, you can
leave us a talkback. We'll get to those coming up.
They're brought to you by Lyndahl Realty here on Twin
City's News Talk AM eleven thirty and one o three
five FM. Happy Freedom Friday, Good morning, and I love yours.
Speaker 7 (08:49):
Good morning fellas. I can't wait to hear from the
governor this morning. I'm sure he'll come out talk about
all the things he did to help the Timberwolves, the
hockey team win last night. What a great freedom running.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
I have a great day. Thank you for the talkback
Twins City's News Talk Jim, I appreciate it. That story
regarding Walls is probably one of the most insignificant yets
amusing stories of the week for me. With Governor Jim
Walls trying to take credit for the FBI and HSI
(09:27):
raids on fraud in Minneapolis earlier this week and then
having not only so he had cash, buttel the FBI
director come out and say, no, you didn't. But local
media tried to find out and he still have not
received an answer from the governor of how the Governor's
office or the state of Minnesota even went and helped
in anyway. And there's a way they can do that.
(09:50):
As I talked about when the story broke earlier this week,
we had a handful of sheriff's officers that did go
and assist a couple of these raids, and so you
could connection there if Walls wanted to go and answer it.
But he's just going to ghost the local media doesn't
care because he didn't have anything to do with it,
just simply trying to take credit for it.
Speaker 8 (10:12):
Hey, good morning, John, Thanks for the good review on
the Michael Jackson movie.
Speaker 9 (10:17):
We've planned to see it on Tuesday.
Speaker 8 (10:19):
You know, back in the eighties I got to see
him in concert. Guess how much my ticket was? Twenty
five dollars. Yep, twenty five dollars to see Michael Jackson.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
All right, have a great freedom Friday.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Now.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
Granted back then that was worth a lot more than
it is today. But even if you were to go
and adjust for inflation, it's still would not even be
nearly as close to what people would have to pay. Now,
we'll just look at how much it cost to go
see Taylor Swift. For crying out loud, it's.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
Going to say, I'm not going to say the number,
but I spend a lot more than that to see
Snoop Dogg in September.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
And I want to I'm gonna make this statement, but
let me let me qualify it. Okay, let me quoifi
for just a second, because I have a talk back
from TJ that I want to address on this. There
was obviously a lot of things controversial in Michael Jackson's life,
There's no doubt about that, you know. At all the
accusations against him, the issues that he dealt with, it
ultimately ended up costing him his life. What I liked
(11:19):
about the movie was it really was just the celebration
of the individual and looking at it from a lens
of the joy that he brought essentially to humanity at
the time. So I don't want to dismiss because it
was it was a very rose colored glasses view of
Michael Jackson's life up until that point that I mentioned
(11:40):
of the release of the Bad Album. You know, if
you want to get into the details and the intricacies
of all the different controversies surrounding him, there are plenty
of documentaries out there to do this. This was just
a celebration of his life. I say all that because,
as we're watching the film and the talkback mentioned going
to see Michael Jackson in concert, I remember as a
(12:01):
kid growing up in southern California when those Victory Tour shows,
those final shows at Dodger Stadium occurred. I mean, even
as a kid back in eighty four, I can recall
just what a big deal it was for the region.
And watching the movie last night and seeing the recreation
of that concert which is in the trailers, isn't a
(12:23):
spoiler alert. I was talking with Melinda on the drive home,
and the only person you could possibly go and compare
in terms of fandom and devotion right now in popular
radio would probably be Taylor Swift. That being said, while
you certainly get the crowd response and the fandom surrounding
(12:49):
Taylor Swift much in the same way you do Michael Jackson,
that being said, there's still there's no other performer that
could captivate an audience of any demo graphic of any age,
of any gender than Michael Jackson even to this day.
I mean, Taylor spent was a great performer, but make
no mistake, Michael Jackson was incredibly special in the way
(13:10):
that he was so uniquely talented. And I don't think
you can compare him to but any any current artists,
and certainly not any artist of his day. I mean,
he's he's still to this day considered the King of
pod for a reason. I mean, he's he was that good.
Speaker 10 (13:26):
Hey, John GJ from North Minneapolis on this Freedom Friday,
I wanted to mention something about the Michael Jackson movie.
Speaker 11 (13:33):
I think the critics don't like.
Speaker 10 (13:34):
It because it doesn't talk about big parts of his
life at that time, which was Diana Ross, Clive Davis,
the injury with pepsi, and how he got addictive to
pain pills back then. I think that's why they don't
like it. It's two rose colored for them.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
They did cover again not spoiling anything, because these are
just events that happens. He got to assume they would
be covered in the movie. They did cover his injury.
They did of him being injured when his hair caught
on fire during the film shoot for the for the
pepsi Ad, and from that, you they there's a few
little comments that are made that allude to the level
(14:14):
of pain that he was in that would, you know,
lead one to go, okay, this is how they're going
to sort of gloss over the addiction to painhills, pain
pills that would eventually, you know, end up following him
the rest of his life. It will be very interesting
to see how they do handle that period after which
takes place where this movie ended, because after that things
(14:37):
start to go bad, So it'd be it'll be interesting
to see how they end up up how they end
up handling that in the future.
Speaker 6 (14:42):
Sure, I was just gonna ask you, was that a
pun fully intended there? Or did I do a pun
said things get bad?
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Oh my gosh, No, I that was completely unintentional, completely
completely unintentional. It might have been a subliminal thing. I've
changed up my morning show routine, by the way, I
don't it's just it's a freedom Friday. I guess I
can talk about it, but I won't get into the details.
If somebody's interested, and you know, let me know. But
(15:08):
I've changed up the order in which I do things,
and I've switched up my morning, my morning routine, and
it's had this like really big impact on my on
my day in an incredibly positive way. It's been an
absolute game changer. The long story, I'll make it really short.
I'm waiting like an hour before I have any coffee.
(15:30):
I'm kicking off the day starting with water. I'm not
getting on my phone or anything for a half hour
after I get up and allowing the you know, the
courters all build up from overnight to diminish if you
know anything about this, And surprisingly, because I didn't think
it would make a difference, it's absolutely made a difference.
It's been pretty crazy. That's great. And it's allowed me
(15:51):
the opportunity to give, you know, to do puns and
I'm completely unaware of That's what I'm attributing you to.
So just letting you know. After seventy five days and
the longest agency shutdown in history, it's ended. Trump did
sign a bipartisan build to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The bill excludes funding for immigration enforcement operations, a point
(16:13):
of contention between Democrats and Republicans. The shutdown, which began
on February fourteenth, impacted DHS employees, including those at TSA
and FEMA. I guess the Democrats could no longer go
and take advantage of it, so they decided to hop
on board with US. Seventy five days, Democrats refused to
fund Trump's immigration enforcements operation. Nothing's changed, Nothing's changed at all.
(16:37):
This is no longer sort of a winning argument right now.
So the Democrats decided, okay, we'll go ahead and move forward,
because that's what they do. Good morning, John Justice.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I'm here by the HCMC and there's people out here
trying to say, HCMC, save lives, save them, so they're
looking for funding. So there you go with reporting showing
(17:08):
a like a little protests ready to hear by the hospital.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
It's incredibly unfortunate what's happening with Hennepin County Medical Center.
But there was a member of the legislature on the
Republican side that recently came out and did the go
go broke? And I completely agree HCMC could go and
begin balancing their books and removing the DEI initiatives that
(17:34):
they refused to go and let go of as a start.
I mean, at least as a show of good faith,
but they refused. They refused to do that, and as
Matt Dean at the center of the American Experiment demonstrated
in an article last week, that amount of funding that
goes to their divisive and often racist DEI policies would
(17:59):
be close to enough to shore up the funding that
they currently are missing right now and then asking for
a tax credit in order to go and shore up
support to keep the hospital open. So I have I
feel bad for the employees that may be affected by this,
but I have very little, uh sympathy for what HCMC
(18:21):
is going through right now.
Speaker 12 (18:25):
Hey, you guys are talking about ticket pricing and Inflationhow
wwe SummerSlam this August at US Bank Stadium ringside seats
sixty five dollars That is gross's and fifty dollars? How
(18:45):
crazy is that?
Speaker 5 (18:46):
It is crazy? It's gross. Those are disgusting prices. Good on,
John Sam.
Speaker 13 (18:51):
I think it's awesome that we have a movie that
just celebrates the highlights of an individual who has become
an icon of music. And you need to realize with
Michael Jackson, he was a star at a very very
young age and his dad, Joe really messed with his mind.
And that's a word of caution to everybody out there.
When you raise your children, they are sponges and they
(19:14):
suck up everything they see and they turn out to
be a lot of what you've made them be.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
And iHeart radio station. Hey, good morning guys, John. I
got a question for you in commins. Is this Michael
movie a musical? Well, let's stop here really quick before
I get to the rest of your comment. How do
you define a musical like see I define a musical
(19:43):
in you're watching the film and then all of the
all of the actors and actresses like breakout and saw spontaneously,
spontaneously thank you, yes, in that vein, it's not a musical.
But there are obviously a lot of musical performances in
the film, but it's not like, you know, we're we're
hanging out with Michael Jackson and his brothers at his
(20:04):
home in Encino, and suddenly they're all breaking out into
song as they describe whatever situation that they're currently dealing with.
Speaker 14 (20:11):
No, these are not musicals. These are biopics, right, because
like Walk the Line was not a musical. This Bob
Dylan one that that just came out.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
That's the Bohemian Rhapsody musical, all right, he has more
to it to say. I agree with you that Taylor
might be as popular as Michael, or as close as
you could become to it, but.
Speaker 12 (20:33):
There is no way that her quality is anywhere here.
Speaker 5 (20:36):
No Taylor is popular because somebody has to be popular,
and in the Internet age, they chose her fiance is
the same way.
Speaker 12 (20:44):
They're both wildly over rated.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
I like, I wouldn't go so far as to say
they're overrated. They are talented in their own right. That
being said, when you compare artists like that to a
Michael Jackson, there just is no comparison. There just hasn't
been anybody who's been able to walk out on stage
and just grab the attention of the audience in the
(21:06):
way that in the way that he did, and that
was demonstrated uh very well in the in the film.
Do you to go see it?
Speaker 14 (21:14):
I yeah, I still got to see that Michael Jackson relevancy.
I remember working at the Zolies when he when he died,
fast food Italian restaurant. I was a shift manager and
I learned when he died, and it was kind of like, oh,
that's that's too bad.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
But right, but again, you weren't. You weren't in that
I think, no, you were. You weren't in that age
range where that's.
Speaker 14 (21:38):
A bummer like that was my reaction. It wasn't like
the pulpit just died or anything like that. But what
I will say is to the talkbacker's point, fame is
a lot different today than it was then. Fame is
more fragmented because of the Internet. Right, So you have
pockets of people Taylor Swift included, I would say, who
has a massive audience, but who may have been as
(22:00):
universally known or loved because we didn't have supercomputers in
our pockets. We didn't get to cater our own preferences
like we do now, like you were. Michael Jackson was
famous then because you only have the television to watch right.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
Well, and I think that even goes it is funny
because you inadvertently are are leaning into something we're gonna
be talking about later on. I have an editorial from
a from a young voter in the Minnesota Reformer who
believed in an immigrant, who believes that we need to
move to voting by phone and all the reasons why. Well,
apparently there's a bill moving through that would do just that,
(22:40):
would be there's all sorts of bills. Okay, so we'll
get well, we'll we'll get to that. But to your
point on a freedom Friday, which means that we can
go on and off topic comments as well.
Speaker 15 (22:53):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
The level of fame that Michael Jackson was able to
achieve even without it with out the Internet, Yes, without
social media, I mean is incredible in and of itself. Now,
you're right, the you do have sort of a h
a washing if you will, The two things sort of
wash each other out when you consider, like you said,
(23:15):
you had fewer forms of entertainment to go and gravitate.
Towards that being said, I would argue that if you
took a you know, eighties Michael Jackson and then put
him into modern times with the same level of talent
through the I mean if he was popular before, I
mean it would be through the stratosphere. Of course, it
(23:36):
would also be divisive, and I'm sure the politics would
go and play into it and people would chose sides
over they were gonna support and because the world touched
on that in the movie.
Speaker 14 (23:45):
But Michael Jackson, similar to Michael Jordan, was famously non
non political. I don't think he ever took you know.
I mean, he had a couple of songs that were
I Am a victim of police brutality.
Speaker 5 (23:59):
And there's a moment in the film where they address
MTV's reluctance to play any of his videos because he
was a black artist. So they do sort of they
do kind of you know again, could sort of graze upon,
you know, across the issue in the in the film
as well, that was objectively a better era of.
Speaker 14 (24:15):
America than we are currently living in.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
Oh yeah, absolutely, at the evil, the evil was there.
The people haven't changed, Everybody is still the same. It's
just it's the technology that has brought out the worst
in people. It was a lot of it was resigned to,
you know, the the individuals around you, and that your
(24:39):
family members and your friends they kept you in check.
I mean, that sin, that evil's always there. Unfortunately, we
live in a society right now where because of the media,
social networking and the Internet, those voices tend to be amplified,
the group think forms and it all gets on display.
All the horrible awfulness that's existed since man time's since
(25:00):
kind started is now you know there to see at
the swipe of your of the black mirror in front
of you. That's right.
Speaker 9 (25:08):
Okay, Since we're still discussing ticket pricing, here's going for
you back in nineteen seventy two, a twelve hour concert
at Parade Stadium that included bands like Jefferson Airplane.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
Four dollars yep, four dollars for.
Speaker 9 (25:25):
A twelve hour concert at a Parade stadium with top
bands like Jefferson Airplane.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
Wrong, Wrong, and Wrong, Oh got free Wrongs.
Speaker 16 (25:39):
Taylor is hugely popular because she stretched the right cord
with the right crowd. Then she captured their mothers, then
she captured their fathers, and how she has the whole
damn world. Success is a multi factor thing. Long hevity
is one of them. Michael didn't have it.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
They excuse me, Michael Jackson didn't have it. That may
be one of the no offense Jim. That may be
one of the most ridiculous hot takes that we will
hear all morning long, that Michael Jackson did not have
the longevity.
Speaker 14 (26:16):
Michael Jackson got famous when he was like eight years old, Yeah, and.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
Did exactly what Taylor did. He captured the young individuals,
you know, and and at the same time mothers and
fathers as well. This is you know, this is also
demonstrated in the in the in the film, and continued
with massive longevity. He dealt with a lot of issues
later in his life, but still remained incredibly relevant and talented.
(26:42):
And let's just for a moment remind everybody why we
started this conversation in the first place, because there is
a biopic that's cleaning up in the box office right
now about this man who hasn't been dominating any headlines
now for well over a decade year. Sam, as you
(27:03):
want to chime in on this, on this, on this
lukewarm cold take, Isn't Thriller still the number one selling
album of all time? I'm pretty sure? Gonna leave that there.
I'm fairly I'm fairly certain. But talk about longevity.
Speaker 14 (27:18):
How many smash records didn't Michael Jackson have in his career?
Speaker 5 (27:23):
A lot? Seven? Does that sound right? Sam? You crag
me if I'm wrong. I mean that that is long
jattle that everybody's entitled to their opinion. It's subjective.
Speaker 11 (27:32):
But oof, hey TJ from north Side here in front
of the show on this Freedom Friday, I had to
comment based on what that last caller had said.
Speaker 5 (27:40):
On their talkback, But Taylor Swift quality of work.
Speaker 11 (27:44):
I also am a huge Michael Jackson fan.
Speaker 17 (27:48):
I love the family.
Speaker 11 (27:49):
But the Taylor Swift comment he made, she actually writes
every single song she produces. She is up there with Michael,
just give her time.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
I was referring to just so or Claire on that
when it comes to Taylor Swift, I really was just
referring to her stage presence. That's really all that I
was referring to. I completely agree with you that she
writes amazing songs. She wouldn't be as popular if, you know,
if she weren't rising amazing, you know, writing amazing songs.
She's done a very good job of reinventing herself over
(28:21):
and over again. It'll be very interesting to see how
her longevity is now that she's, you know, getting older,
fans are aging out, whether she's still able to continue
that turnover of fandom that keeps an individual alive within
the pop culture. My point was specifically just about the
stage presence and just how commanding. You know, Michael Jackson
(28:43):
didn't need anything else on stage, He just needed him
and him performing and the music that's it. And I
don't think you can say the same thing about about
Taylor Swift as we get into music talk here on
her Freedom Friday. It's Twin City's news.
Speaker 14 (28:57):
Talk so free already. They're both world light icons, no
doubt about it. Like Taylor will have a movie about
her one daye oh.
Speaker 5 (29:05):
Absolutely, absolutely, all right, let's go here. Earlier this year,
the Minnesota Department of Human Services began reviewing every Medicaid
provider enrolled in thirteen high risk welfare programs. Since that
process began, forty two point five percent of the providers
reviewed have been.
Speaker 14 (29:21):
Disenrolled, almost fifty percent folks.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
DHS did designate last year fourteen state run Medicaid funded
welfare programs as being high risk for fraud. DHS oversees
those fourteen programs. That same year, the US Attorney General
estimated that nine billion could have been stolen since those
from those programs since twenty eighteen. DHS ended one of
the fourteen programs after it found that it had been
overrun by fraud. It was like one hundred percent fraudulent.
(29:46):
So the federal government has been looking to withhold funds
to Minnesota if the state refuses to address the fraud.
There's a review process going on. It's called Revalidate twenty
twenty six, and it requires DHS to examine over five
thousand providers in just a few months. So they're looking
that this is going to have to go into the
end of the summer. Fifty eight hundred medicaid providers are
(30:08):
being re examined and revaluated before summer hits, So now
the summer's around the corner, DHS still has a long
way to go before it completes the revalidation process. However,
they have found that four hundred excuse me, five hundred
and forty six providers completed the revalidation process and have
been approved as of April sixteenth, so that is a lot. However,
(30:32):
four hundred and five of those disenrolled since the Revalidate
twenty twenty six program began earlier this year. So while
you do have hundreds of providers that did go through
the process and that's good, you cannot dismiss that almost half.
As Max Reimer mentioned, of the of those individuals who
(30:52):
bailed out of the program, which obviously raises questions of
why were they in the program to begin with and
why didn't they bother to revalidate.
Speaker 14 (31:00):
Keep in mind, five hundred is a lot, right, five
hundred have gone through the revalidation process and come out clean,
and will you assume be eligible again for Medicaid funds. However,
five hundred out of five thousand is only ten percent.
And I have a feeling that as this carries through
the summer, you're going to discover that it's going to
(31:22):
be more than fifty percent of these vendors, if you will,
were fraudulent.
Speaker 5 (31:28):
I think it's going to be more than fifty percent.
Let's move over to this. First off, this was a vote.
I don't know if this took place yesterday or the
day before. Maybe Max can go and fill us in,
but Minnesota Democrats voted to block an amendment to ban
funding that was going to the Quality Leering Center. Here's
(31:49):
how the end of that vote went down.
Speaker 18 (31:50):
To the end the words or to the Quality Leering Center, inc.
And leering is spelled earing.
Speaker 19 (32:03):
All members having voted, who desire to vote, Secretary will
close the role they're being thirty two eyes and thirty
three mays. The motion does not prevail. The amendment is
to the amendment is not adopted.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
All right, So I have to assume the argument and
correct me if I'm wrong. Wrong, Representative Max Schimer, I
have to assume that the argument is that the Quality
Leering Center is being investigated right now and they haven't
reached any conclusions yet, and therefore those on the left
didn't feel justified and stripping its funding. Am I?
Speaker 14 (32:36):
Am I right about that? Or is there another face
at time? Yeah, that was a Senate vote. I'm not
sure what the justification or what the argument was. That
does sound about right where they would say we can't
interfere with this federal investigation, which is hilarious because the
only thing you hear from the DFL is how the
federal government is illegitimate.
Speaker 5 (32:53):
Yeah, And I'm not trying to give a free pass
to the to the DFL in any way, shape or form.
I'm just basically sort of extrapolating what I assume must
have been the excuse as to why listen, stop the funding.
I mean, everything surrounding it, even with the investigation going on,
in my opinion, would have been easily enough justification to just,
at a minimum just put a pause in any funding
(33:15):
going to.
Speaker 14 (33:16):
That particular location. Well, yesterday, I will tell you. On
the House side, we had a vote where it would
have required cameras to help investigators figure out the actual
child count in daycare centers, and that got voted down
unanimously by Democrats too. They just don't want accountability.
Speaker 5 (33:33):
Moving through the issue of the legislative session quickly. This morning,
the Minnesota House and Ways, Ways and Means Committee did
advance at SF eight fifty six a bill establishing the
Independent Office of Inspector General to investigate fraud. Now, Max,
are you aware? Would this be an OIG that actually
has some teeth to him? This is an OIG that
(33:56):
also would need to report to exclusively to Governor Tim
Wall's Would this be a separate OIG to go and
investigate the fraudu It.
Speaker 14 (34:03):
Would be an independent inspector office of Inspector General apart
from the governor. Now listen, we're going to probably hear
this Senate file next week.
Speaker 5 (34:13):
In the House.
Speaker 14 (34:14):
The House bill, it was completely independent. It actually adds
some tease to it. I got to actually see what's
in the Senate file before I kind of make a
determination or give the audience information about what this is.
But my understanding is this one very similarly mirrors the
House bill where it's actual independent office from the governor.
Speaker 5 (34:34):
Okay, so there could have been some tweaks or changes
that were made in the Senate because you go back
to it was a couple of weeks ago, might have
even been longer than that. Now Representative Matt Norris, the DFLLER,
attempted to dramatically alter the bill and removed the proposed
to Office's Internal Law Enforcement Agency. Republicans said because he
(34:56):
was Norris was trying to gut the bill and accused
Walls of being behind those efforts. It looks like though
now Noras said the OIG's Internal Law Enforcement Agency would
remain in the bill in this new version, but that
the law Enforcement Division would not be active until January
of twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 14 (35:17):
See, those are the things that I why I gotta
take a look at, because what these Democrats do, Matt
Norris in particular, on this bill is they'll gut the bill,
they'll take everything out of it, and then they'll say, well,
I had my own version and it was just as good.
But they're lying. What they want is they essentially want
a protection of the governor or for the governor to
have a say in this process.
Speaker 5 (35:38):
And he can't. He can't.
Speaker 14 (35:39):
If the last four years have proven anything, it's that
we need somebody totally independent of the governor who's not
going to take instruction from the governor, because the legislature
Democrats and the legislature certainly take instruction from the governor.
Speaker 17 (35:55):
Barty John a suggestion for the Minnesota legislature for any
new spending that legislature wants to pass, create a new
category of funding called fraud clawback funds. So if they
want to bail out Henipton County, so yeah, we'll go
ahead and pass that bill, and we're going to fund
(36:16):
it with clawbacks. Doesn't mean any new taxes, no new spending,
but it designates that as the funding source.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
I know there's been some attempts to do that. Would
this be even necessary to put in an actual component
to try to get some of the money back or
is it something that can just be naturally embedded moving forward,
because like I said, I think there was there was
already some efforts to get back some of this funding. Vdayah, Well,
(36:45):
we had the legislature, we had a bill just recently.
Again all Democrats voted it down.
Speaker 14 (36:49):
No surprise there, but it was one hundred percent tax
if you're if you're found to have fraudulent funds that
were acquired through uh some of these means that we've
seen these fraudsters use that got voted down. What I
will just say is a lot of the money. When
you talk about clawbacks, the hard part is is this
money goes out the door, and then the money is
taken overseas. It's so hard to track where some of
(37:12):
this funding is going.
Speaker 15 (37:14):
Gord Egg having freedom Friday. Since we have all these
people that have distant roll of from these programs that
are right fraudulent, doesn't that be that the people that
we have search go crist should be taking that list. Okay,
where's that list? I have to go through this construct
(37:35):
ticket lock them all up.
Speaker 5 (37:37):
Have a super pride. Yeah, I guess I hadn't.
Speaker 18 (37:40):
Really.
Speaker 5 (37:41):
I'm glad he brought it up because he makes a
good point. Of those programs that didn't revalidate, it would
seem like it would be worthy to go back and
take a to take a look at them to find
to do something. Listen, I know they're not going to
be doing whatever services they were doing before, but it
may be worth worth it to go back and look, Okay,
what happened when they were providing those particular services.
Speaker 14 (38:04):
Yeah, I think that would be the natural next step.
The problem with that is you're relying on Keith Ellison
to do the prosecuting.
Speaker 5 (38:12):
By the way, that's that's thief Ellison Ellison, Tim Walls,
I'm kind of sorry cementing that miracular Brad tab Fee.
Oh that's good. That's a good one too.
Speaker 4 (38:22):
On m H.
Speaker 16 (38:24):
Happy Freedom Friday, guys.
Speaker 5 (38:26):
What a great night for Minnesota sports last night. I
personally can't wait to hear Tim Walls try and take
credit for the Wilds and Timberwolves winning.
Speaker 14 (38:37):
I have a good day real quick because it is
a free and Friday.
Speaker 13 (38:41):
Huh.
Speaker 14 (38:42):
I think yesterday may have been the best day, one
of the best days in Minnesota sports history.
Speaker 5 (38:48):
I know. I woke up surprised, crazy, and even when
I saw the wild headline, I just assumed the Timberwolves lost,
and then I had to double check the headline when
I saw they actually won too. And the Timberwolves beat
a former champion and by the way, a former championship
team was probably the best player in the NBA. With
a bunch of benchwarmers Basically everybody on their team was
injured and they somehow pulled it off in the series.
(39:10):
So all that to be said.
Speaker 14 (39:11):
Sam and I were talking before the show and the
Minnesota Wild in particular. I think you might be looking
at a Minnesota team with the best shot to win
a championship since the two thousand and nine Vikings.
Speaker 5 (39:23):
A bold statement. I stake in the ground on that one.
Grace Keating from Center of the American Experiment. Were you
were you up late last night watching all of the
sports
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