Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Very very pleased to welcome back to the show my friend,
his lordship, Jeff Crank, the newly minted congressman from Colorado
Springs and environs the fifth Congressional District. Jeff and I
can see each other on zoom right now. And Jeff,
you are in an office that on one side has
too an antelope and a deer on the wall, and
(00:21):
the other side has very dark wood.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Where are you.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
In my office? And long Worth out in Washington, d C.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
We just moved in a week ago, so I don't
have everything out, but trust me, I get to put
the animal heads up.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I'm going to do it.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Awesome, all right, and see if you can get the
microphone a little bit closer to you, just to get
the artier quality a little bit better. So you're probably
aware of this. Are you probably met Thomas Massey already
because he knows everybody. But I have a very funny
little Thomas Massey story that I want to relate to
you quickly because I see the pin you're wearing on
your lapel and Massey hates those pins because of what
(00:57):
he thinks they do to people.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And I don't think this is going to happen to you.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
But he calls the pin my precious, like the ring
from Lord of the Rings and the effect it has
on people.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So how do you feel wearing one of those now?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Well, it's very strange and I don't really care to
wear it, but I will tell you, and I tell
Tom Massey this when I see him many of the
police officers. I asked him the other day because I said, Hey,
do I have to have this on? And he said,
you know, it really does help us because we're trying
to protect you.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
We don't know who people are coming.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
In and out, so if you have it on, it's
helpful for us. That's the biggest reason.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
To do it. But yeah, it is. It's a little
weird wearing it, for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So some of my friends were in DC for the
inauguration yesterday and they got a message that we're sorry
to inform you now that your tickets are commemorative because
they don't get you into anything. Now you're in the
big leagues at this point, so you still got to go.
And I just wanted to get just some stories from
(02:01):
somebody who was in the room.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
What was it like being at the inauguration yesterday?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Well, it was surreal. Ross.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
I mean, it was incredible, and it was really disappointing
that we had so many people who's you know, spent
a lot of money out here, poured their heart and
soul into getting out here, and then were disappointed that
they couldn't do it. Most people understood, you know, the reasons,
and so I think people were okay with it, but
they're disappointed, and I understand that. But it was it
(02:31):
was great being in the Roadtunda obviously very unique experience.
The last time we actually did that was when Ronald
Reagan got sworn in in nineteen eighty four after his
reelection or nineteen eighty five after the nineteen eighty four election,
So it's been a long time since that's happened. So
I kind of looked at it as probably something I'll
(02:52):
never get to do again, right, even if I get
to go outside and see another inauguration of a president.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
It was was really surreal.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
I was jammed in the chairs were it was probably
it was i would say, way worse than church, and
that you had maybe maybe a foot between you and
the next row. They were trying to fit everybody that
they could into there. When I walked in I was walking,
uh walking in, and the very first person I saw
(03:21):
were like three of the last speakers, including new Gingrich,
who was who was there in the front row.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I got to say hello to speaker Gingrich, who who
I think is a great mind.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
And uh walk back and I mean I was kind
of honestly in the back row.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
We we did it based on.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Seniority, and so since I'm a new member, all of
the freshmen got to sit way in the back, so
old Tom Massey could as like to wear his pen.
He was probably way up front.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Uh huh.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
By the way, since I uh I usually more often
than not, I see you with the leadership program of
the Rockies annual retreats, and uh I, I hope you'll
be able to get there this year as well. It
looks like Newt Gingrich is going to be the keynote speaker,
so I just wanted to mention that to you. And
there's going to be a lot of other great speakers,
but I definitely hope to hope to see that was
(04:13):
it in the rotunda that the thing happened with Carrie
Underwood where.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
The music didn't work and then she just sang it yeah, And.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
What a great moment that was.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I mean, she was she was expecting the Marine band
to have music and they clearly didn't have music, and
we just, of course everybody saw it live on TV,
but sat there for over a minute. Yeah to me,
maybe ninety seconds, and finally she's like, well, you know
the words, just say with me. It actually turned out
to be such a great moment, and she.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Did an amazing job. I mean, imagine when.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
The whole world's watching to not have music play, but
she's a pro.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
She did so well and it was kind of neat.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Everybody kind of joined in and it was a neat
moment in the Rotonda at that time.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, it seemed like it.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
So one of the things that I noticed in politics
and politics is.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
A team sport.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And sometimes at the end of let's say a hard
fought football game, the two teams will get together, the
players will hug, the handshakes or whatever. It's like, you know,
we're competitors but were in the same game, and sometimes
people are really pissed off and they don't want any
of that. I'm curious how you felt the vibe was
yesterday from Democrats who you were near, and maybe also
(05:21):
to the extent that you saw Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,
what was the vibe you got from them?
Speaker 4 (05:28):
You know, For the other Democrats who were there, I mean,
I think that they had reverence for what was happening.
Obviously they self selected to go, so they're going to
be I didn't see AOC. There's a you know, a
certain group of Democrats you're just never going to see
at that because they just kind of want to go around.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
And fight everyone. And we have some on our side.
They are Republicans that do the same thing, right.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
But there were definitely Democrats, not a gigantic number of them,
but I would say, I mean, I would say fifty
to sixty Democrats.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Who showed up.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
We all went to the House Chamber and met there
and then walked through the Capitol to.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Get into the rotunda.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
So for those that I was around, they were taking
pictures and kind of in awe of the whole process
as well.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
You know, the vibe I got off of Joe Biden.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And I wasn't very close to him, of course, but
you know, just just this sort of sullen, almost almost petulant.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
A demeanor to him.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Obviously they signed it.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I think I knew before the president knew that he
had pardoned his entire family, you know, but to do
some of the things that were done just seemed very disrespectful,
as if they're kind of handing over the keys grudgingly
to their teenager who they don't like very much.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
That's kind of the way I thought that they were acting.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
A friend of mine asked me, Russ, you know, how
did you like Trump's move on his first day? And
I said, well, there were a lot of them, and
I can't say I've read all of them, but my
gut instinct is that I like about eighty five percent, you.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Know, something something like that.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I think a couple of them are questionable, But I
wanted to ask you about about some of them, some
that I love and some that I.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Don't love as much.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And I think I heard you be on Koai News earlier.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
But some of the stuff that he's.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Doing with the border and cracking down on illegal alien criminals,
I think is great and I think is a necessary
and expected reaction to the disastrous policies of Biden. You
want to comment on Trump and immigration.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Yeah, well, I totally agree, Ross. I mean, you know,
there are people who are just a gas that were
actually going to you know, enforce the law. Well, that's
what we have to do. We just passed the Lake
and Riley Act in Congress. Send it over to the Senate.
They voted it an amended version. It's coming back to
us this week and we'll pass it and send it
to the President.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
But what is the Lake and Riley Act.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
It's a restatement of current law, like you shall deport
people who are here and have committed crimes that make
them deportable. It's unfortunate that we have to state the obvious,
but that's exactly what's being done. But look, I think
this is what the American people expect. I always laugh
when I hear reporters, particularly talk about They'll say, well,
(08:19):
what about mass deportations? And they always throw the word
mass in there. Well, first, can't we start with the criminals.
Can't we start with the felons. Can't we start with
the people that we all kind of agree should not
be here. The answer is, yes, we can. But they're
trying to scare us into it. But the reality is
most of the American people want this to happen. Most
(08:40):
of the American people were fully on board with enforcing
the law. It is a crime to enter the United
States not through a port of entry, and.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
People have been doing it, and we have to restore
the rule along.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I think I am within a significant percentage of Americans
who so prior to the Biden administration would have been
kind of lukewarm at best very aggressive federal deportations of
illegal aliens. One of the kind of ironic results of
the Biden administration is they turned lots of people like
(09:15):
me into being in favor of.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Much more aggressive deportation policy.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Well, look, you get Tom tank Crado one time, and
there's nobody more of a border hawk probably than Tom
tank Crado.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
But Tom tank Credo one time.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Told me, he said, look, if you you can have
a law, or you can change a law, but you
can't just continually ignore a law, because if you do,
pretty soon you have no rule of law. And that's
exactly what's happened at the border. Like, you know, you
may disagree with deporting folks or whatever, but you can't
just ignore the system and let anybody who comes come,
(09:53):
you know, regardless of that they're a felon or are
they just there's just no law at the border.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
And we're a nation of laws, and so we have
to restore that rule of laws. That's simple.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
We're talking with Congressman Jeff Crank. He represents Collos, Colorado's
fifth congressional district, Colorado Springs and some areas around there.
So one more on this general area. So Donald Trump
also announced an executive order regarding his intention to no
longer recognize birthright citizenship. And you may or may not
be aware of this, but Colorado's Attorney General, Phil Wiser,
(10:26):
with some others, has already filed a lawsuit against that,
and they they reference a maybe late eighteen hundred Supreme
Court case about a guy who was born in the
US to two Chinese parents who left the US to
go visit relatives in China and then was not allowed
back in. And the argument was he's not a citizen.
(10:48):
The Supreme Court ruled that he was. And the people
who are going to go after Trump on this say
that's controlling that case. To me is a little bit
different though, because both of.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
His parents we're legally in the United States.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
They were not permanent residents, but they were legally here
and working here. So what Trump is saying as I
read the executive order is if a woman comes here
illegally or comes here legally but overstays the visa and
gives birth and the father is not an American citizen
and not in the US, that baby is not a citizen.
(11:24):
I actually think it's a very interesting legal argument. I
don't think it's as clear cut as Phil Wiser wants
us to think.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
I also think the.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Politics are fascinating, all right, So I talked a lot there,
say whatever you want about this.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
I think this is something that we're going to have
to have the discussion. We haven't had the discussion much
in the past, right because there's just kind of been
this assumption that you have birthright citizenship. But I think
Donald Trump's executive order and his position, the administration's position
on this is going to.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Have to force this issue into the courts to try
and figure out what that means. Right and UH.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Senator Leady Mike Lee of Utah has very very forcefully
argued that he believes that, you know, the Constitution says
that those that are under the jurisdiction of the of
the government of the United States.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
So so we have to see what this.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Is and I think President Trump obviously is going to
be as tough as he possibly can on on the
on the border stuff, and we'll we'll see where it
all ends up.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
But I don't think it's a bad thing for.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Us to have that discussion about whether or not it
is right, because there are certain people who are abusing.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Both right citizenship.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Let's just be honest, right, they're coming to the United
States knowing that if they can have a child here,
that's their t that's their golden ticket right to get here, uh,
and to to to stay and get citizenship in the
United States.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
I'm very sympathetic with Trump's position, and I think it's
one of the more interesting areas of law that we're
going to talk about.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
You said earlier, you know, presidents can't ignore the law
because at some point then we don't have rule of
law anymore. And some people believe, and I think I'm
with them, that Donald Trump's executive order regarding TikTok falls
into that category. Congress passed the law, President Biden signed it.
It says what it says, the Supreme Court up held
(13:19):
it unanimously, and Donald Trump just issued in order to
his own law enforcement agencies. Saying don't enforce it. I
think Donald Trump's action is illegal. Do you have an opinion?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Well, look, yeah, I'm a little troubled, but I understand
what President Trump's trying to do. And look, I've never
been for shutting down TikTok. I was for the bill,
and I thought the bill that Congress passed last year
was a good one.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Which says a TikTok should be able to operate.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
It just can't operate in the United States of its
own too majority ownership by the Communist Chinese Party.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
And so it sort of forced them to look at this.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
They could have gotten a deal done, but didn't get
a deal done in time.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
But I do think you're right.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
There's many people who argue that if you look at
the law, he was two days a day or too
late in allowing that to happen. They had to get
it done by the deadline and didn't get it done.
And so look, I'm all for us finding some solution
that we can allow folks to continue to use TikTok.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
I'm for free speech.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I'm for allowing platforms to go out and do the
things that they want to do as a as a
private business. But at the same time, we can do
that and still have national security. So I am a
little troubled by by the way that has transpired. We
need to see how it takes shape if they get
a deal with in the next couple of days, you
(14:49):
know where where they can maybe figure out a way
to sell TikTok.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
You know, I'm I'm open to looking at that, But
we've got the rule.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Of law is important, and we got to fo and
you know, they'll probably be smarter attorneys out there who
could render a verdict on whether or not the president
what he did with TikTok was legal or not.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Republicans tend to not love government by executive order, and
I don't love it either. Although there are things that
are clearly within the power of the president and that
stuff is fine, when they do executive orders that really
start treading on the powers of Congress, I really I
object to that. But of course, in order to not
have too many executive orders, just on an ongoing basis,
(15:33):
Congress is going to need to be able to be functional,
and right now at least Republicans have majorities in both
but the majority and where you are in the House
of Representatives feels a little fragile.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
How does it feel.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
To you talking with people, talking with the moderates, talking
with Chip Roy, talking, I'm sure you've talked with Massey,
And do you think Republicans are going to be able
to kind of hold it together and get along well
enough to look look like a party that can govern,
Because if you don't look like a party that can govern,
you're going to get crushed in two years.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yeah, it's a great, great question. And the last part
of your statement is exactly right. We can't get crushed
in two years. Right, We're either going to hang together
or we're going to hang separately as a as a majority.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
And I think that's right. There's going to be we're doing.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Much of what we're trying to do, we're going to
have to do through reconciliation because it lowers the threshold
in the Senate from sixty votes down to fifty and
we have fifty three votes in the Senate, actually have
a bigger majority in the Senate that we have in
the House when it comes to reconciliation. So a lot
of this is going to have to be put into
what is called reconciliation. And you know there's going to
(16:45):
be a lot of stuff in there that's really good stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
That the extension of the tax cuts, the permanent extension
of the tax cuts. Many of the tax cuts will
be in there, but those are going.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
To cost five trillion dollars to do those tax cuts.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
So we've got to do, you.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Know, where do we come up with the spending cuts
from other places? You know, we can get some revenue
from oil and gas leasas, for instance, on federal lands,
and so all of that gets put into reconciliation.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
But we can't allow you know, the perfect to be
the enemy of the good here.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
There's gonna be things in that reconciliation package that I
don't like. There's gonna be things in there that Tom
Massey doesn't like. But the fact of the matter is
we've got to get this done for the American people.
This is our hope to save America, quite frankly, and
my biggest fear ross is.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
We've got to get it done.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
But then we've also got to make sure that we're
not just constantly focused on spending money.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
You know, I heard the President came out today and
talk about some massive infrastructure plant.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Well, I got to see where are the money is
gonna come from to do something like that. We can't just,
you know, four years from now look back and say, well,
we got tax cuts and we got all these other things,
but we didn't really address the national debt. We've got
to address spending and the problem that we have with spending.
So I think right now most Republicans in the House
(18:12):
understand that we have to stay together. We don't have
votes to lose, and I get leadership a lot of credit.
They're doing this kind of bottom up where they're telling folks,
tell us now what you're don't if you've got a
red line, tell us what it is we need to
know now, don't surprise us on the floor and say.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
No, I'm not going to hold my vote.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
And one last thing ross that really kind of bothers
me about this place. It seems like the people who
fuss the most and complain and try to kind of
hold the whole process hostage, they're the ones that in
the past.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Have gotten what they what they wanted.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
If you're kind of just going along and being the
team player and saying yes, at the end of the day,
I'm going to support the president's policies here, you don't
get much attention, but we need to change that, right.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
We need to change it to where we're rewarding.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
People from blowing up the system, because I think that's
happened here in the past.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Congressman Jeff Crank represents Colorado's fifth congressional district. Thanks for
your time. I'm glad you had fun at the inauguration.
Let me know if you're going down to LPR. I
hope to see you there or somewhere else when you're
in town.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
We'd love to do that.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I don't know what my schedule is or they just
kind of keep us hostage back here until they let.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Us go home, so but hopefully i'll be home.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
I'd love to see you there, and i'd certainly love
to hear Newt Gingrich at that.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
He's just a great mind for us.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
So thanks for your time, Jeff, talk to you again
soon you got ross.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Thank you all right, Bye,
Very very pleased to welcome back to the show my friend,
his lordship, Jeff Crank, the newly minted congressman from Colorado
Springs and environs the fifth Congressional District. Jeff and I
can see each other on zoom right now. And Jeff,
you are in an office that on one side has
too an antelope and a deer on the wall, and
(00:21):
the other side has very dark wood.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Where are you.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
In my office? And long Worth out in Washington, d C.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
We just moved in a week ago, so I don't
have everything out, but trust me, I get to put
the animal heads up.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I'm going to do it.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Awesome, all right, and see if you can get the
microphone a little bit closer to you, just to get
the artier quality a little bit better. So you're probably
aware of this. Are you probably met Thomas Massey already
because he knows everybody. But I have a very funny
little Thomas Massey story that I want to relate to
you quickly because I see the pin you're wearing on
your lapel and Massey hates those pins because of what
(00:57):
he thinks they do to people.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And I don't think this is going to happen to you.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
But he calls the pin my precious, like the ring
from Lord of the Rings and the effect it has
on people.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So how do you feel wearing one of those now?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Well, it's very strange and I don't really care to
wear it, but I will tell you, and I tell
Tom Massey this when I see him many of the
police officers. I asked him the other day because I said, Hey,
do I have to have this on? And he said,
you know, it really does help us because we're trying
to protect you.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
We don't know who people are coming.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
In and out, so if you have it on, it's
helpful for us. That's the biggest reason.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
To do it. But yeah, it is. It's a little
weird wearing it, for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So some of my friends were in DC for the
inauguration yesterday and they got a message that we're sorry
to inform you now that your tickets are commemorative because
they don't get you into anything. Now you're in the
big leagues at this point, so you still got to go.
And I just wanted to get just some stories from
(02:01):
somebody who was in the room.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
What was it like being at the inauguration yesterday?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Well, it was surreal. Ross.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
I mean, it was incredible, and it was really disappointing
that we had so many people who's you know, spent
a lot of money out here, poured their heart and
soul into getting out here, and then were disappointed that
they couldn't do it. Most people understood, you know, the reasons,
and so I think people were okay with it, but
they're disappointed, and I understand that. But it was it
(02:31):
was great being in the Roadtunda obviously very unique experience.
The last time we actually did that was when Ronald
Reagan got sworn in in nineteen eighty four after his
reelection or nineteen eighty five after the nineteen eighty four election,
So it's been a long time since that's happened. So
I kind of looked at it as probably something I'll
(02:52):
never get to do again, right, even if I get
to go outside and see another inauguration of a president.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
It was was really surreal.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
I was jammed in the chairs were it was probably
it was i would say, way worse than church, and
that you had maybe maybe a foot between you and
the next row. They were trying to fit everybody that
they could into there. When I walked in I was walking,
uh walking in, and the very first person I saw
(03:21):
were like three of the last speakers, including new Gingrich,
who was who was there in the front row.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I got to say hello to speaker Gingrich, who who
I think is a great mind.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
And uh walk back and I mean I was kind
of honestly in the back row.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
We we did it based on.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Seniority, and so since I'm a new member, all of
the freshmen got to sit way in the back, so
old Tom Massey could as like to wear his pen.
He was probably way up front.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Uh huh.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
By the way, since I uh I usually more often
than not, I see you with the leadership program of
the Rockies annual retreats, and uh I, I hope you'll
be able to get there this year as well. It
looks like Newt Gingrich is going to be the keynote speaker,
so I just wanted to mention that to you. And
there's going to be a lot of other great speakers,
but I definitely hope to hope to see that was
(04:13):
it in the rotunda that the thing happened with Carrie
Underwood where.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
The music didn't work and then she just sang it yeah, And.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
What a great moment that was.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I mean, she was she was expecting the Marine band
to have music and they clearly didn't have music, and
we just, of course everybody saw it live on TV,
but sat there for over a minute. Yeah to me,
maybe ninety seconds, and finally she's like, well, you know
the words, just say with me. It actually turned out
to be such a great moment, and she.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Did an amazing job. I mean, imagine when.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
The whole world's watching to not have music play, but
she's a pro.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
She did so well and it was kind of neat.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Everybody kind of joined in and it was a neat
moment in the Rotonda at that time.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, it seemed like it.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
So one of the things that I noticed in politics
and politics is.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
A team sport.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And sometimes at the end of let's say a hard
fought football game, the two teams will get together, the
players will hug, the handshakes or whatever. It's like, you know,
we're competitors but were in the same game, and sometimes
people are really pissed off and they don't want any
of that. I'm curious how you felt the vibe was
yesterday from Democrats who you were near, and maybe also
(05:21):
to the extent that you saw Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,
what was the vibe you got from them?
Speaker 4 (05:28):
You know, For the other Democrats who were there, I mean,
I think that they had reverence for what was happening.
Obviously they self selected to go, so they're going to
be I didn't see AOC. There's a you know, a
certain group of Democrats you're just never going to see
at that because they just kind of want to go around.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
And fight everyone. And we have some on our side.
They are Republicans that do the same thing, right.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
But there were definitely Democrats, not a gigantic number of them,
but I would say, I mean, I would say fifty
to sixty Democrats.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Who showed up.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
We all went to the House Chamber and met there
and then walked through the Capitol to.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Get into the rotunda.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
So for those that I was around, they were taking
pictures and kind of in awe of the whole process
as well.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
You know, the vibe I got off of Joe Biden.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And I wasn't very close to him, of course, but
you know, just just this sort of sullen, almost almost petulant.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
A demeanor to him.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Obviously they signed it.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I think I knew before the president knew that he
had pardoned his entire family, you know, but to do
some of the things that were done just seemed very disrespectful,
as if they're kind of handing over the keys grudgingly
to their teenager who they don't like very much.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
That's kind of the way I thought that they were acting.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
A friend of mine asked me, Russ, you know, how
did you like Trump's move on his first day? And
I said, well, there were a lot of them, and
I can't say I've read all of them, but my
gut instinct is that I like about eighty five percent, you.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Know, something something like that.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I think a couple of them are questionable, But I
wanted to ask you about about some of them, some
that I love and some that I.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Don't love as much.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And I think I heard you be on Koai News earlier.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
But some of the stuff that he's.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Doing with the border and cracking down on illegal alien criminals,
I think is great and I think is a necessary
and expected reaction to the disastrous policies of Biden. You
want to comment on Trump and immigration.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Yeah, well, I totally agree, Ross. I mean, you know,
there are people who are just a gas that were
actually going to you know, enforce the law. Well, that's
what we have to do. We just passed the Lake
and Riley Act in Congress. Send it over to the Senate.
They voted it an amended version. It's coming back to
us this week and we'll pass it and send it
to the President.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
But what is the Lake and Riley Act.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
It's a restatement of current law, like you shall deport
people who are here and have committed crimes that make
them deportable. It's unfortunate that we have to state the obvious,
but that's exactly what's being done. But look, I think
this is what the American people expect. I always laugh
when I hear reporters, particularly talk about They'll say, well,
(08:19):
what about mass deportations? And they always throw the word
mass in there. Well, first, can't we start with the criminals.
Can't we start with the felons. Can't we start with
the people that we all kind of agree should not
be here. The answer is, yes, we can. But they're
trying to scare us into it. But the reality is
most of the American people want this to happen. Most
(08:40):
of the American people were fully on board with enforcing
the law. It is a crime to enter the United
States not through a port of entry, and.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
People have been doing it, and we have to restore
the rule along.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I think I am within a significant percentage of Americans
who so prior to the Biden administration would have been
kind of lukewarm at best very aggressive federal deportations of
illegal aliens. One of the kind of ironic results of
the Biden administration is they turned lots of people like
(09:15):
me into being in favor of.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Much more aggressive deportation policy.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Well, look, you get Tom tank Crado one time, and
there's nobody more of a border hawk probably than Tom
tank Crado.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
But Tom tank Credo one time.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Told me, he said, look, if you you can have
a law, or you can change a law, but you
can't just continually ignore a law, because if you do,
pretty soon you have no rule of law. And that's
exactly what's happened at the border. Like, you know, you
may disagree with deporting folks or whatever, but you can't
just ignore the system and let anybody who comes come,
(09:53):
you know, regardless of that they're a felon or are
they just there's just no law at the border.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
And we're a nation of laws, and so we have
to restore that rule of laws. That's simple.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
We're talking with Congressman Jeff Crank. He represents Collos, Colorado's
fifth congressional district, Colorado Springs and some areas around there.
So one more on this general area. So Donald Trump
also announced an executive order regarding his intention to no
longer recognize birthright citizenship. And you may or may not
be aware of this, but Colorado's Attorney General, Phil Wiser,
(10:26):
with some others, has already filed a lawsuit against that,
and they they reference a maybe late eighteen hundred Supreme
Court case about a guy who was born in the
US to two Chinese parents who left the US to
go visit relatives in China and then was not allowed
back in. And the argument was he's not a citizen.
(10:48):
The Supreme Court ruled that he was. And the people
who are going to go after Trump on this say
that's controlling that case. To me is a little bit
different though, because both of.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
His parents we're legally in the United States.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
They were not permanent residents, but they were legally here
and working here. So what Trump is saying as I
read the executive order is if a woman comes here
illegally or comes here legally but overstays the visa and
gives birth and the father is not an American citizen
and not in the US, that baby is not a citizen.
(11:24):
I actually think it's a very interesting legal argument. I
don't think it's as clear cut as Phil Wiser wants
us to think.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
I also think the.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Politics are fascinating, all right, So I talked a lot there,
say whatever you want about this.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
I think this is something that we're going to have
to have the discussion. We haven't had the discussion much
in the past, right because there's just kind of been
this assumption that you have birthright citizenship. But I think
Donald Trump's executive order and his position, the administration's position
on this is going to.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Have to force this issue into the courts to try
and figure out what that means. Right and UH.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Senator Leady Mike Lee of Utah has very very forcefully
argued that he believes that, you know, the Constitution says
that those that are under the jurisdiction of the of
the government of the United States.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
So so we have to see what this.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Is and I think President Trump obviously is going to
be as tough as he possibly can on on the
on the border stuff, and we'll we'll see where it
all ends up.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
But I don't think it's a bad thing for.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Us to have that discussion about whether or not it
is right, because there are certain people who are abusing.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Both right citizenship.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Let's just be honest, right, they're coming to the United
States knowing that if they can have a child here,
that's their t that's their golden ticket right to get here, uh,
and to to to stay and get citizenship in the
United States.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
I'm very sympathetic with Trump's position, and I think it's
one of the more interesting areas of law that we're
going to talk about.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
You said earlier, you know, presidents can't ignore the law
because at some point then we don't have rule of
law anymore. And some people believe, and I think I'm
with them, that Donald Trump's executive order regarding TikTok falls
into that category. Congress passed the law, President Biden signed it.
It says what it says, the Supreme Court up held
(13:19):
it unanimously, and Donald Trump just issued in order to
his own law enforcement agencies. Saying don't enforce it. I
think Donald Trump's action is illegal. Do you have an opinion?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Well, look, yeah, I'm a little troubled, but I understand
what President Trump's trying to do. And look, I've never
been for shutting down TikTok. I was for the bill,
and I thought the bill that Congress passed last year
was a good one.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Which says a TikTok should be able to operate.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
It just can't operate in the United States of its
own too majority ownership by the Communist Chinese Party.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
And so it sort of forced them to look at this.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
They could have gotten a deal done, but didn't get
a deal done in time.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
But I do think you're right.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
There's many people who argue that if you look at
the law, he was two days a day or too
late in allowing that to happen. They had to get
it done by the deadline and didn't get it done.
And so look, I'm all for us finding some solution
that we can allow folks to continue to use TikTok.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
I'm for free speech.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I'm for allowing platforms to go out and do the
things that they want to do as a as a
private business. But at the same time, we can do
that and still have national security. So I am a
little troubled by by the way that has transpired. We
need to see how it takes shape if they get
a deal with in the next couple of days, you
(14:49):
know where where they can maybe figure out a way
to sell TikTok.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
You know, I'm I'm open to looking at that, But
we've got the rule.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Of law is important, and we got to fo and
you know, they'll probably be smarter attorneys out there who
could render a verdict on whether or not the president
what he did with TikTok was legal or not.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Republicans tend to not love government by executive order, and
I don't love it either. Although there are things that
are clearly within the power of the president and that
stuff is fine, when they do executive orders that really
start treading on the powers of Congress, I really I
object to that. But of course, in order to not
have too many executive orders, just on an ongoing basis,
(15:33):
Congress is going to need to be able to be functional,
and right now at least Republicans have majorities in both
but the majority and where you are in the House
of Representatives feels a little fragile.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
How does it feel.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
To you talking with people, talking with the moderates, talking
with Chip Roy, talking, I'm sure you've talked with Massey,
And do you think Republicans are going to be able
to kind of hold it together and get along well
enough to look look like a party that can govern,
Because if you don't look like a party that can govern,
you're going to get crushed in two years.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yeah, it's a great, great question. And the last part
of your statement is exactly right. We can't get crushed
in two years. Right, We're either going to hang together
or we're going to hang separately as a as a majority.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
And I think that's right. There's going to be we're doing.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Much of what we're trying to do, we're going to
have to do through reconciliation because it lowers the threshold
in the Senate from sixty votes down to fifty and
we have fifty three votes in the Senate, actually have
a bigger majority in the Senate that we have in
the House when it comes to reconciliation. So a lot
of this is going to have to be put into
what is called reconciliation. And you know there's going to
(16:45):
be a lot of stuff in there that's really good stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
That the extension of the tax cuts, the permanent extension
of the tax cuts. Many of the tax cuts will
be in there, but those are going.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
To cost five trillion dollars to do those tax cuts.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
So we've got to do, you.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Know, where do we come up with the spending cuts
from other places? You know, we can get some revenue
from oil and gas leasas, for instance, on federal lands,
and so all of that gets put into reconciliation.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
But we can't allow you know, the perfect to be
the enemy of the good here.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
There's gonna be things in that reconciliation package that I
don't like. There's gonna be things in there that Tom
Massey doesn't like. But the fact of the matter is
we've got to get this done for the American people.
This is our hope to save America, quite frankly, and
my biggest fear ross is.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
We've got to get it done.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
But then we've also got to make sure that we're
not just constantly focused on spending money.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
You know, I heard the President came out today and
talk about some massive infrastructure plant.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Well, I got to see where are the money is
gonna come from to do something like that. We can't just,
you know, four years from now look back and say, well,
we got tax cuts and we got all these other things,
but we didn't really address the national debt. We've got
to address spending and the problem that we have with spending.
So I think right now most Republicans in the House
(18:12):
understand that we have to stay together. We don't have
votes to lose, and I get leadership a lot of credit.
They're doing this kind of bottom up where they're telling folks,
tell us now what you're don't if you've got a
red line, tell us what it is we need to
know now, don't surprise us on the floor and say.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
No, I'm not going to hold my vote.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
And one last thing ross that really kind of bothers
me about this place. It seems like the people who
fuss the most and complain and try to kind of
hold the whole process hostage, they're the ones that in
the past.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Have gotten what they what they wanted.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
If you're kind of just going along and being the
team player and saying yes, at the end of the day,
I'm going to support the president's policies here, you don't
get much attention, but we need to change that, right.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
We need to change it to where we're rewarding.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
People from blowing up the system, because I think that's
happened here in the past.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Congressman Jeff Crank represents Colorado's fifth congressional district. Thanks for
your time. I'm glad you had fun at the inauguration.
Let me know if you're going down to LPR. I
hope to see you there or somewhere else when you're
in town.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
We'd love to do that.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I don't know what my schedule is or they just
kind of keep us hostage back here until they let.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Us go home, so but hopefully i'll be home.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
I'd love to see you there, and i'd certainly love
to hear Newt Gingrich at that.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
He's just a great mind for us.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
So thanks for your time, Jeff, talk to you again
soon you got ross.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Thank you all right, Bye,
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
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