Congressman Balderson in Studio 4-22-2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Congressman Troy Balderson has joined me, and uh man, tis
the season baseball is here. We were just talking baseball
when we were coming on, and I.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Love the stony. I love that imitation you did of
your son. Man, that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
I can't even tell you, like, I'm just like, he
started pitching last year and now we got him working
with a pitching coach on mechanics and stuff, and he's
throwing like fifty five fifty six, fifty seven miles an hour.
He's eleven. He's strong as an ox. So I love it.
I love that, and he's he's done it about face
last year or the first year, he was like, I

(00:34):
just I hope I get walked. He would tell I'm
afraid to get hit dad, and I think that's pretty
normal at that age. Oh, but he's he's got it.
He's got like an elbow. I mean, he's got the
gear now and all this stuff, and it's created some
a little bit of confidence. And then he started hitting
and stuff. He's doing well. He goes, we have a

(00:55):
membership and he goes and works on stuff. So it's, man,
it is so fun watching him. I'm I'm living vicariously
through him. He's talking about he's going to buy me
a house and stuff. It's the greatest.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
And I can sure still remember a little stunny with
his ice cream cone melting walking down.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
To the DC like it was like it was so
it was so hot. Oh my gosh. Man, I was
leaving the house today and Josie's there. I go, I'll
tell uncle Troy. He said, hi, he's coming in today.
She's like, oh, yeah, I'll tell him. I said hello.
So yeah, they're all great kids. Yeah, thank you, brother, right,

(01:31):
and they're growing up. You know how it goes, Man,
yours are.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
I got to give a shout out today my one
and known lady Josh was celebrating his birthday today.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Oh wow, that's great, Josh was.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
I got my my Josh's birthday today. And my mom
is turning eighty five on Thursday.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
That's amazing. That's a big week.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
And and the Balderson claims.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Man, that's awesome. That is awesome. Eighty five is a
is fantastic. My dad on the fifteenth, he's tax day,
is his birthday. He just turned eighty three. So born
in forty two. So there it is, man. Your mom
was born in forty forty. Yeah, so there it is.
I got him one of those cards. It's it's enormous,
it's like oversized, and then it says like, you know,

(02:16):
eighty three that means your and then it breaks it
down to like how many days old you are? Hours old? Yeah, second,
excuse me, seconds you're you know how many seconds old
you are? And then it goes through what was in
nineteen forty two, all the different like the Academy Awards
all that stuff, So it kind of it's like a
time capsule almost on the card.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
I go to Hallmark trying to find good cards like that,
and I can't.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Even find Oh yeah no that was an Amazon special.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Amazon.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, I look, and then I got in this other
one and said, you know, it's like a vintage you know.
He is like all original parts and the T shirt
you know, and all of that. So he loves that stuff.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Man.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
It's great. It's great, man, fantastic. I you know, so
blessed you know to have our parents. Yeah, absolutely, the
same with my mom.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, it's all good.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, So everything good. You're You're
off right now? I never know your schedule. I mean
you're like, oh.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Well, I get all excited. I know when you text
it's it's it's gonna be a good day. Yeah, we're here.
We're in district this week, So ran around this morning,
was in Lancaster this morning.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
No rest.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well, it's this is the best part. I mean, this
is when you're able to come back, get in the district.
Tomorrow we're going to be up in Tuscarars County spending
a whole day up there. Uh, Friday, will be in
Holmes County all day. So it's it's good. It gives
you the ability to jump around the district. We'll be
in Friday, will actually be we'll be in Holmes County
and then we'll finish up am Jen and the pharmaceutical

(03:45):
facilities opening up and up outside in Licking County.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
So, man, there's so much stuff happening in Ohio. It's exploding, right.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
It is the great talk of the country. It's crazy,
it really is.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
It's great also too, just going back a little bit.
But I can't help but think of you and and
you know Congressman Jordan, and of course you know Carrie
and all you guys who are flying in and out
all the time to Reagan and watching all of the
craziness that is happening there, and you're and I'm sure

(04:15):
you're like, not me. I'm flying into Philly now, I'm
just gonna drive in Dallas. I'm going to Dallas because
nothing stupid's happening over there, dude with with Reagan, it's
just you know, for a while there and you you
say to yourself, are they target is that the mainstream media?
Because dumb stuff happens at a lot of airports. We

(04:37):
probably don't need to know about all of it because
some of it would probably and I think it happens everywhere.
Let's face it, there were humans involved in getting planes
up and down and in and out and all of that.
But that's what that's scary. Part of this. Was it
really a near miss? Well, some of it, I would

(04:58):
imagine is you could quantify as a near miss. But
it seems like there it was like the mainstream media
wanted to focus on that, and it was.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Well they do they want to focus on anything like
that because they think it's been impact and look.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
And they want to go The Transportation secretary sucks, you know, better.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Than boota jag name is right, who's sporting a beard now?
I did not know that. I saw him on TV.
He's a beard and at that particular airport, it's a
little airport. I mean it's it's smaller than Columbus and
it's a lot of traffic.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
I just.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, man, you said you saw what I was like,
and it's just it's it's basically on an island on
the Potomac there, So it's it's a small airport.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
You know.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
It's got nothing to do with those. It's just those
are some of the mishaps that unfortunately happened. But every
like you said, every little thing that's going to happen
over there is going to be announced and they're going
to try to attribute to something that's happened under the
Trump administration, right, which is not true.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
Well, there are some things that are I mean, you know,
the stuff that they report is happening. But the thing
is that the thing to remember is most likely it
was already. There are all these other instances where it's
happened over the years as well. Either way you stack it,
it doesn't sit well with people, especially when they're privy
to it. Now exactly, they shine a light on it,

(06:24):
an extra light, an extra bright light, and you know,
as busy as that place is. And then as you know,
you saw what happened with the helicopter and the crash
there got oh my gosh, they're.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
No longer flying helicopters anymore. That's done.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
And that was the first thing. You know, Chuck and
I were on the air and I said, man, I
am a simple minded person as it gets. I really am.
Here and there all have some common sense that makes sense.
But the first thing I thought of, I'm like, why
would they be flying near any path of any commercial aircraft?

Speaker 2 (06:58):
They did before all the time I was seeing them
coming in.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
That's my thing that I didn't understand. I was like,
why are they doing why? And They're like, well, they're
just preparing for real, a real world emergency or whatever.
And I'm like, they need to prepare that somewhere else. Sorry,
I mean, this is that was just it was so unavoidable.
It's like why all those people perished for nothing? For nothing?

(07:22):
I mean, it was like, I know, you guys had
to all be stunned.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Stunned. And then you know, I flew back that first
week and you know, after the first after it happened,
and I could you could still see everything. The debris,
I mean, it was there. It's just and look, you
know I've talked about that.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
You can't help the thing.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Can't say prayers on that plane. Yeah, and uh, it's
just it's just it was hard broken.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
Heart when I when I came in in January to
watch the certification in the in the chambers. When I
flew in for that, Uh, coming in, we bounced around
like that was pretty rough.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
I mean for me and I've flown not a lot,
not even close to as much as you, but I
was like, uh, it was it was pretty I was
looking around on the plane to see if anybody else
had like the white knuckle. Yeah, and I'm like looking
around and everybody else was just kind of looking at
their their phones and stuff. And I'm guessing most of
those people flew that that path all the time. I

(08:19):
don't know what it is cross winds, man, I'm telling you, dude.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
It was like it is always bumpy coming in there,
and sometimes it'll just that plane just drops.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
I did it. I didn't like it. I was like,
WHOA did not like it?

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Dollars flying the dollars to forty five minute drive though
from Dollars to the Capitol. Yeah, that's that's that's the downside,
and that's why you.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
Or whatever, don't you or you know.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
My no, no, I do. My staff will pick me up.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
Oh okay.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
And that's for most part. I mean sometimes we'll we'll
catch up together. I mean, if if Jimy's on the
same flight, we'll all tag team up together to I mean,
could we all go the same off this building right
just right over again? Yeah, carpool carpool. Yeah, I couldn't
think of the word. Yeah, carpool, not very much, but
sometimes right, so.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
Yeah, I don't know. That wasn't even it just popped
into my head thinking because you're just back and forth
so much. So it was you know that traveling that
route and then seeing you know, something else where, uh,
you know, a Southwest plane just a near miss or
when wings clip almost clipped when they're on the ground,
and it's just silly stuff and you never really hear

(09:32):
about that. Think about I don't know how much is
going in and out of DC, but you know how
much I go to Las Vegas. I mean, think about
the air traffic going in and out of Harry Reid. Yeah,
and it has to rival. I would think DC, maybe not,
though I don't know.

Speaker 2 (09:48):
Yeah, I would know, And they just came out the
top ten airport so I can't remember that list was.
We need to dig that up on our next commercial break,
I'll find it. The top ten airports, the ten busiest.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Oh yeah, I have that, you do. Okay, here we
go at number one.

Speaker 2 (10:03):
You you're on it.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
I know. How about that? Well, have you been to
Shanghai that's at ten? Wow? I have not been saying,
You're like, uh yeah about three weeks ago. Why, I'm like,
what got something against it? No, that's fine. New Delhi
is at nine. Then you got Chicago. Now they don't.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
I flew in the Chicago. It's recently.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
It's O R D. So that is not there's uh,
there's one big Midway than that, that's O'Hare. Yeah, right, okay,
because Midway is in the middle of a neighborhood.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
It's in the middle of the neighborhood. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
Literally. As a matter of fact, I remember now I've
connected through Midway when I've been going to Vegas before,
and uh, I don't. I don't remember which airline it was.
All I know is I do remember reading as a pilot.
You have to have logged so many hours to fly
in and out of there if you're going to be
the guy in control of getting the plane off the

(11:00):
ground and onto the ground, so you could be the copilot,
but you can't be you have to have so many hours.
Now that was once upon a time. I don't know
if that's still the case. But because the plane comes
in like this, it almost has to go and then land,
it's not it can't come in at this side. Well
there's some sort of ordnance noise or yeah, because they

(11:20):
have to stay up so high before they come down
or else. Think about if you lived anywhere in that vicinity,
you'd be like your house would just shake all the time.
That'd be horrible. Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, Well I was just say I love golfing at
the airport golf course. Oh number I mean they'd fly over,
but any of the noise.

Speaker 1 (11:37):
Yeah, yeah, keep on. At number seven is Stanbul? Where's
that Turkey? Okay? Okay, I hear uh? At number six Denver,
I've flown into Denver too, Yep. Number five London, Heathrow.
Never never been to London, I haven't either. Tokyo at
number four, then Dallas Fort Worth at.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Three blown in there before. It's a huge airport.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
And then have you been to Dubai No, I haven't.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
No, And that's a good They got a good golf
course over there, don't there.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
Oh a couple yeah, memorates that place. Is it's Richie
rich over there. That's at number two and the number
one busiest airport Atlanta. Yeah, so so Dallas and Reagan. No,
they didn't even make it in the top ten for
as far as world's ten busiest, these are the ten
busiest airports. So it's funny that you bring that up.

(12:31):
I'm like, Oh, I happen to have that info right
in front of me. That story just dropped today.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
I saw it somewhere in the last twenty four hours,
so it just didn't know.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, and again I'm a little surprised that there weren't
some but there were four US airports in the top
ten there, so not surprised. Yeah. Atlanta is ridiculous. I've
flown into there too. So if you fly Delta, I
would think just about every time you're gonna end up
somehow going through Atlanta. Yeah, somehow, Someway.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
Is and that's America is a hub now for Reagan,
So that's a lot of transfers have done there. I
think Columbus Airport Joe out there is doing a fantastic job.
I mean he's managed in the construction site.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
I can't wait for it to be finished. It's gonna
be really beautiful.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
I've been on a plane a couple of times with
people that have just their first time flying in the
Columbus and they saw they said, like, man, this is awesome.
I mean, this is a nice airport and you can
maneuver and get around really easy. And so I'm excited
for him.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
It is easy to get around that all the different concourses.
There's nothing confusing there. And but when we get when
everything is complete, it's I don't know how long it's
going to be a lot.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
Twenty seven eight, I think is what it was.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
Really.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
I think so real years now. I don't want to
get the listeners all pumped out here. Maybe I shouldn't
say that, but that's incredible. Yeah, I mean it's moving fast.
I mean I like Mike may and that McDonald's was.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
Gone, I know, bummer yeah. So uh more with Congressman
Troy Balderson, who's here, Harvard University suing the Trump administration
to stop the funding freeze. Can we laugh, Yes, we
can laugh, absolutely,