Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good to have Don Bacon back with US Nebraska second
District Congressman. It's been a while. Don.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Good morning, Hey, good morning. It's good to be back home.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And you bet it is. And I asked, I ask
Congressman Bacon to come on because there has been a
ramping up just lately of the dire predictions of calamity
because of the Medicaid cuts in the big beautiful bill
should it pass? And I remember you said, Don, probably
(00:31):
about a month ago, you saw a lot of you like,
billions and billions of legitimate savings uh on the on
the Medicaid front in this bill. What does this do?
What does this not do? Given the fact that there
are people out there saying a lot of people are
going to be without insurance and they're going to die
with these cuts.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, it's absolutely silly. The Democrats in Nebraska are making
a big mistake because once the people really get into
this and hear the facts, seventy two percent I have
already seen polling support the measures that we did in
the House. Don't have to see what the Senate does.
But with what we did in the House was what
I asked to do months before we actually took the vote,
(01:16):
and I said, we should be focusing on work requirements
for able, healthy adults that have health, healthy mentally physically,
but with no small children. They should be working at
least twenty hours a week or looking for a job,
taking classes. They can even volunteer, so it's a very
low bar for twenty twenty hours a week. We also
(01:38):
want to do an audit of all the people on
the Medicaid rolls because CBO and others say there's two
point six million people who are ineligible. They're either earning
too much money, or they're illegal. They're not even supposed
to be on it. And if you do those three things,
work requirements, ineligible people taking them off, taking off illegal
(01:58):
people that shouldn't should be under received. It shouldn't be
in America. That is five hundred billion dollars in savings
to medicate. And I leave that plan out before months
before we took the vote. Eventually the Speaker accepted that plan,
and that's what we did. And I would even tell
you the hospitals come out in support of what I
what I recommend it because it really it goes after
(02:20):
as it protects the people that need it.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
That was the hospital, the hospital part don is interesting
because Jeremy nord Quest, who was very well respected the
head of the Nebraska Hospital Association, says, this is going
to hurt big time a lot of rural hospitals who
are already under stressed. Are they going to be losing
out here?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well, I think the if the Senate plan. There's proposals
in the Senate that do actually have cuts that can
affect the hospitals a lot more so, but we don't
know if that's going to actually be the Senate plan,
And there's proposals, they're not voted on it, so they
don't really know what the Senate version is, but they
stick with our plan and maybe modify. There's a we
(03:03):
had a thing where there's one thing in there that
reduces the amount of taxes the state can charge the hospitals,
and eventually the hospitals get money from the federal government.
So there's one tenant in our plan that reduces the
amount of money that the hospitals eventually get from the
federal government. So we're working through that. But our bill
(03:23):
focuses on people that are not supposed to be on
it or work requirements, and it takes roughly eight or
nine million people that should be that are could go
to work, should be looking for a job, or they're
ineligible or illegal for a lot of time, about eight
to nine million people roughly. That's the savings. But it
(03:46):
protects the children, it protects disabled adults, it protects it
keeps the safety nut. If you're working twenty hours a
week and you're still under the income to ourshold, you
can still get medicaid. So I feel like we did.
I feel like the plan that we did protects the
people that needs it and it takes the people off
that shouldn't be on it.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Okay, more to be said and done on this. Of course,
now onto the biggest issue on the planet right now,
and that's Israel Iran and will the United States be involved?
Scott asked earlier if he would be allowed to ask
a question a question about that, and of course General Bacon,
that's a big issue.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Congressman, General dun Bacon, are we going to war with Iran?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
You know, it's hard to know. I can't tell you
what President Trump it's going to do, but I do
believe he's going to be reluctant to use our air
force or in our navy to go in. If we
do go in, it's because there's no other option to
remove the deep underground bunkers that are in Iran that
have the nuclear capability. I think Israel's doing a pretty
(04:48):
very good job by itself with using our weapons, and
I believe they're probably getting the job done right now,
the Israel Is with our support, you with the equipment
and things that we provide them. I don't know. I'm
I think it's unlikely that the President will decide to
use our air force or navy. And thus the one
(05:10):
thing that we do have, we have the B two
bombers that our stealth. We've got those deep underground, underground
bunker bombs that can penetrate deep but I don't know
that they're going to be needed, and I know the
President will be very very loath or very reluctant to
use our forces. So I don't I don't think likely,
But I don't know what the President's going to do.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Well.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
There are some in the House, including Republicans, who say
they don't like the fact that President Trump hasn't completely
ruled out never doing any military operations against Iran. Is
President Trump doing anything wrong here?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Well, I think He's smartly to put the to keep
his options there. Hey, I ran with a nuclear weapon
as a national security risk to America. There's no doubt
about anti Israel. They've pudged, you know, to way Israel.
They've killed hundreds and hundreds of Americans, you know, whether
it's Iraq, Saudi Arabia, you know, in Lebanon, and for
(06:08):
them to have a nuclear weapon is unacceptable. But I
think Israel's getting the job done. So I don't know
this will be needed. But I find it funny Scott
that there are some Republicans are aligned with AOC and
the most progressive Democrats on us, but we have a
friends at our party that it's there. They've become isolationists
and no force at all, and that's not what Trump
(06:31):
ran on. President Trump is a peace through strength guy.
I do after sitting with him personally several times, I
know he's very reluctant to use our force, but he's
willing to do it if it's an America's interest. And
in the end, I ran with a nuclear weapon is
a bad thing for the world and bad for America.
So he'll have his eyes on it. That said, Israel's
(06:53):
getting the job done.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Do you think just quickly before we go here, don
that they the the Ayatola is a twelvever. He's one
of the twelve vers. He wants uh, he wants armageddon,
blood running in the streets. Uh, to bring back whatever
the hell it is. Uh. So he is crazy, religiously crazy.
(07:15):
Do you think it is likely that if he were
taken out by either Israel or the United States or
anybody else, that there would be a more acceptable leadership
structure in place in Iran?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Well, it's not the goal of the Dual or United
States to do regime change. Does it happens?
Speaker 1 (07:37):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
If the people do it, that's great. It's not to
go cause you ever know what you're gonna get. You
could get somebody worse.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
I don't know, man, you don't know what's.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Going to really happen. But that said, uh, the Iatola
is what she said. He believes he wants a great
conditions to bring back the twelfth Emam as you just mentioned,
which is sort of like our revelations in the Bible.
And he wants to bring he wants bring he wants
his speed up God coming back and and it's and
some have a nuclear confrontations for him that puts that vision.
(08:10):
Who knows what will get after him. It could be worse.
But I do know this. The most pro American people
in the Middle East are the Iranians. They are Western,
They want to be a part of us. They don't
like their government. The people people are very supportive.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Good They have you with us always, Congress been thank
you for the time. This morning, Don Bacon here on
kf AB's morning News
Good to have Don Bacon back with US Nebraska second
District Congressman. It's been a while. Don.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Good morning, Hey, good morning. It's good to be back home.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And you bet it is. And I asked, I ask
Congressman Bacon to come on because there has been a
ramping up just lately of the dire predictions of calamity
because of the Medicaid cuts in the big beautiful bill
should it pass? And I remember you said, Don, probably
(00:31):
about a month ago, you saw a lot of you like,
billions and billions of legitimate savings uh on the on
the Medicaid front in this bill. What does this do?
What does this not do? Given the fact that there
are people out there saying a lot of people are
going to be without insurance and they're going to die
with these cuts.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, it's absolutely silly. The Democrats in Nebraska are making
a big mistake because once the people really get into
this and hear the facts, seventy two percent I have
already seen polling support the measures that we did in
the House. Don't have to see what the Senate does.
But with what we did in the House was what
I asked to do months before we actually took the vote,
(01:16):
and I said, we should be focusing on work requirements
for able, healthy adults that have health, healthy mentally physically,
but with no small children. They should be working at
least twenty hours a week or looking for a job,
taking classes. They can even volunteer, so it's a very
low bar for twenty twenty hours a week. We also
(01:38):
want to do an audit of all the people on
the Medicaid rolls because CBO and others say there's two
point six million people who are ineligible. They're either earning
too much money, or they're illegal. They're not even supposed
to be on it. And if you do those three things,
work requirements, ineligible people taking them off, taking off illegal
(01:58):
people that shouldn't should be under received. It shouldn't be
in America. That is five hundred billion dollars in savings
to medicate. And I leave that plan out before months
before we took the vote. Eventually the Speaker accepted that plan,
and that's what we did. And I would even tell
you the hospitals come out in support of what I
what I recommend it because it really it goes after
(02:20):
as it protects the people that need it.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
That was the hospital, the hospital part don is interesting
because Jeremy nord Quest, who was very well respected the
head of the Nebraska Hospital Association, says, this is going
to hurt big time a lot of rural hospitals who
are already under stressed. Are they going to be losing
out here?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well, I think the if the Senate plan. There's proposals
in the Senate that do actually have cuts that can
affect the hospitals a lot more so, but we don't
know if that's going to actually be the Senate plan,
And there's proposals, they're not voted on it, so they
don't really know what the Senate version is, but they
stick with our plan and maybe modify. There's a we
(03:03):
had a thing where there's one thing in there that
reduces the amount of taxes the state can charge the hospitals,
and eventually the hospitals get money from the federal government.
So there's one tenant in our plan that reduces the
amount of money that the hospitals eventually get from the
federal government. So we're working through that. But our bill
(03:23):
focuses on people that are not supposed to be on
it or work requirements, and it takes roughly eight or
nine million people that should be that are could go
to work, should be looking for a job, or they're
ineligible or illegal for a lot of time, about eight
to nine million people roughly. That's the savings. But it
(03:46):
protects the children, it protects disabled adults, it protects it
keeps the safety nut. If you're working twenty hours a
week and you're still under the income to ourshold, you
can still get medicaid. So I feel like we did.
I feel like the plan that we did protects the
people that needs it and it takes the people off
that shouldn't be on it.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Okay, more to be said and done on this. Of course,
now onto the biggest issue on the planet right now,
and that's Israel Iran and will the United States be involved?
Scott asked earlier if he would be allowed to ask
a question a question about that, and of course General Bacon,
that's a big issue.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Congressman, General dun Bacon, are we going to war with Iran?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
You know, it's hard to know. I can't tell you
what President Trump it's going to do, but I do
believe he's going to be reluctant to use our air
force or in our navy to go in. If we
do go in, it's because there's no other option to
remove the deep underground bunkers that are in Iran that
have the nuclear capability. I think Israel's doing a pretty
(04:48):
very good job by itself with using our weapons, and
I believe they're probably getting the job done right now,
the Israel Is with our support, you with the equipment
and things that we provide them. I don't know. I'm
I think it's unlikely that the President will decide to
use our air force or navy. And thus the one
(05:10):
thing that we do have, we have the B two
bombers that our stealth. We've got those deep underground, underground
bunker bombs that can penetrate deep but I don't know
that they're going to be needed, and I know the
President will be very very loath or very reluctant to
use our forces. So I don't I don't think likely,
But I don't know what the President's going to do.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Well.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
There are some in the House, including Republicans, who say
they don't like the fact that President Trump hasn't completely
ruled out never doing any military operations against Iran. Is
President Trump doing anything wrong here?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Well, I think He's smartly to put the to keep
his options there. Hey, I ran with a nuclear weapon
as a national security risk to America. There's no doubt
about anti Israel. They've pudged, you know, to way Israel.
They've killed hundreds and hundreds of Americans, you know, whether
it's Iraq, Saudi Arabia, you know, in Lebanon, and for
(06:08):
them to have a nuclear weapon is unacceptable. But I
think Israel's getting the job done. So I don't know
this will be needed. But I find it funny Scott
that there are some Republicans are aligned with AOC and
the most progressive Democrats on us, but we have a
friends at our party that it's there. They've become isolationists
and no force at all, and that's not what Trump
(06:31):
ran on. President Trump is a peace through strength guy.
I do after sitting with him personally several times, I
know he's very reluctant to use our force, but he's
willing to do it if it's an America's interest. And
in the end, I ran with a nuclear weapon is
a bad thing for the world and bad for America.
So he'll have his eyes on it. That said, Israel's
(06:53):
getting the job done.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Do you think just quickly before we go here, don
that they the the Ayatola is a twelvever. He's one
of the twelve vers. He wants uh, he wants armageddon,
blood running in the streets. Uh, to bring back whatever
the hell it is. Uh. So he is crazy, religiously crazy.
(07:15):
Do you think it is likely that if he were
taken out by either Israel or the United States or
anybody else, that there would be a more acceptable leadership
structure in place in Iran?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Well, it's not the goal of the Dual or United
States to do regime change. Does it happens?
Speaker 1 (07:37):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
If the people do it, that's great. It's not to
go cause you ever know what you're gonna get. You
could get somebody worse.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
I don't know, man, you don't know what's.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Going to really happen. But that said, uh, the Iatola
is what she said. He believes he wants a great
conditions to bring back the twelfth Emam as you just mentioned,
which is sort of like our revelations in the Bible.
And he wants to bring he wants bring he wants
his speed up God coming back and and it's and
some have a nuclear confrontations for him that puts that vision.
(08:10):
Who knows what will get after him. It could be worse.
But I do know this. The most pro American people
in the Middle East are the Iranians. They are Western,
They want to be a part of us. They don't
like their government. The people people are very supportive.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Good They have you with us always, Congress been thank
you for the time. This morning, Don Bacon here on
kf AB's morning News
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