November 21, 2025 • 33 mins
President Trump wrote on social media that sedition should be punishable by death. This came about due to Democrat representatives encouraging military service people to defy orders they feel are illegal. Who has all of your money, and why aren’t they sharing it? It’s the Boomers! The economy is great for the olds but lousy for their adult kids. The older generation holds $85 trillion in wealth, which reduces the prospects for the rest of us. A new Harris Poll says six-figure earners now consider their income merely survival mode as they live paycheck to paycheck. McDonald’s is no longer an inexpensive meal option as prices have gone up around 40 percent in the last five years, and visits from low-income households have fallen by double digits.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to k if I AM sixty on demand
KFI AM six forty. You listen anytime on demand the
iHeartRadio app, where you'll also see that little talkback button
that gives you a chance to record a message send
it to us. And I do listen to every message
that comes through, good, bad, and different, whether you hear
it on the air or not.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Just no, I've heard it.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Which, by the way, I had somebody, uh somebody was
saying very mean things about me earlier today, very mean things.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
They were calling for me to be fired.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
What Yeah, they said, I was, I was a grouch
and then I needed I needed a behavioral.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Therapy, behavioral like a shock collar.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
What theraps?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
They said?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Who said that was your parents?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
No?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
No, no, I mean that's that was the obvious joke too.
Yeah no, it was, uh no, just some random It's like,
that's down here, fire the grout, she's grumpy. He needs
behavioral or anger management therapies.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
What are they doing with their life trolling?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, exactly, But it doesn't matter because you know me,
I read comments online and I just assume they're probably right.
You know, what actually makes me feel better? And this
this sound like a dig, but I don't mean it
to me. I was reading some of the uh I
was I was reviewing some of the talkbacks that Handle gets.
I mean, Handle's been around for how long, and he's legendary,
(01:28):
and he's been on he's been on the top of
his game for like forty years. Just the people they
say the most horrible things to him, and I think,
you know what, if he can, if he can have
tough skin about it, I should try. Well, it comes
with the territory. I know.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I'm just the one part of this job that is well.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
That and of course the the evolving media and how
I have to have everything in social media and all
this other stuff. I'm trying to keep up with all
the other the video and socials and all this other
that's hard for me too. But no, that's one area
where I've I've had difficulty. It's just the thick skin stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Are you a Pisces or a cancel?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
No?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Stop, okay, no, we're not doing that stuff. Get that.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Try to imagine how blinded. Try to imagine Chris, how
bland you would have to be for nobody anywhere to
have any problem with you whatsoever. It doesn't exist that
doesn't make me feel better. I know it should, but
it doesn't. And here's the funny thing about it. I
have been to therapy about this too, not specifically about this,
(02:26):
but just it comes up in therapy, like you know,
my massive ego and giant insecurity to.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Go with it.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So I'm honest about it. But no, it's there. You're
vadly Chris. I support you. Oh thanks, guys, I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
I appreciate he would say that he's a cappricorn.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Okay, good, that's it.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
All right, all right, let's bring back hangings in the
public square, says the president.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Tonight. President Trump criticized by members of both parties after
calling six Democratic members of Congress quote traitors and accusing
them of seditious behavior punishable by Representative it Keman response
to video released by the lawmakers, all of whom served
in the military are in US intelligence.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
That was a captain in the United States Navy, former officer,
former Navy.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
In the video, the lawmakers reminding members of the military
they should not obey illegal orders.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, I bear you.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Laws are clear.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
You can refuse illegal orders.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
You can refuse illegal orders.
Speaker 7 (03:25):
You must refuse illegal orders.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
No, one has to carry out orders that violate the
law or our constitution. The lawmakers did not specify which
orders they were talking about.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, that seems a little bit odd, doesn't it just
randomly cutting a video saying don't follow illegal orders.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
But the President enraged, posting a flurry of messages on
social media saying they should be arrested and put on trial.
The words cannot be allowed to stand, adding an example
must be set. The president then writing seditious behavior punishable
by death, and he reposted a message from another account
that said, hey them, George Washington, would democrats accusing the president?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Hold on, hang on, let me just check this real quick.
Did George Washington hang anyone? Just checking this out here?
He did convenience a firing squad. Yeah, he did do that.
(04:26):
There was a court martial, a guy was sentenced to
be hanged. This is great. I had no idea. I'm
just reading the quick previews. I haven't gotten into the story. Well,
George Washington was a general in the Revolutionary War. I
don't believe the situation is very equivalent, do you hm?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
There might be one or two minor subtle differences. Is
what ordered hangings? During the Revolutionary War, notably the execution
of Thomas Hickey in seventeen seventy six. So he hung
a guy named Hickey, and now we call neck Bruce's Hickeys.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Is that a coincidence?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Huh? You get all that off of bing? Yeah, co pilot? Yeah, Okay.
Hickey was a member of Washington's personal guard, convicted of mutiny, sedition,
and treachery after being implicated in a loyalist plot to
assassinate Washington. So that seems a whole lot different than hey,
you don't have to follow illegal orders. That seems different
than yeah, that's a little different some nuance there. Yeah,
(05:34):
I mean the guy was literally planning to assassinate Washington
versus people that said don't follow illegal orders.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Okay, back to the story from ABC.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
News of inciting violence.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
This puts all of our lives in jeopardy, right, What
are we all doing right now? Democrats from Congress are
on the phone with their chiefs of staff beefing up
our security for this weekend and next week because has
a lot of unhinged supporters out there.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Republicans.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Okay, he dies, but I mean I don't the Charlie
kirkshooter wasn't a Trump supporter, right, So, I mean, there's
unhinged all over the place.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Let's just be honest about that.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Republicans clearly uncomfortable. Did the words that the President shows
are not the ones that I would use.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Okay, Obviously I don't think that this is some these
are crimes punishable by death or any of that.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Republican Senator Ran Paul was blunt.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
So Mike Johnson says it's not punishable by death, I
think we round him up too. Look, we got enough
rope Johnson, you're going to keep saying that kind of nonsense.
Disagree with the president. That's that's sedition, death or any
of that.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Republican Senator Ran Paul was blunt.
Speaker 7 (06:45):
That kind of rhetoric isn't credit and stirs up people
among us who may not be stable, who may think
for home traders when we do traders, that's a death.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
I don't think.
Speaker 7 (06:54):
Maybe I'll just take matters into my own hands, which
is not something we should be encouraging.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
At the White House.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, wasn't that the whole thing after the Charlie kirkussassination
is how we needed to tone down the rhetoric, Tone
down the rhetoric.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Kept hearing it.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Tone down the rhetoric, Tone down the rhetoric, Tone down
the rhetoric. But we really don't. No, we say things
that get headlines and click bait, don't we.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
At the White House Press Secretary Kroenline Levitt was asked
to explain, just to be clear, does the President want
to execute members of Congress? No, let's be clear about
what the president is responding to Levit's saying, the six
Democrats are the ones inciting violence?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Wait, god, okay, no, you are no, you are no,
you are no, you are okay? How are they inciting violence?
When they say you don't have to carry out illegal orders?
Speaker 4 (07:43):
They are literally saying to one point three million active
duty service members not to defy the chain of command.
I spoke with Congressman Jason Crowder, who was in that video.
What would your message to the president be, I don't
do fear and intimidation.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Well, and I'm not going to stop. Okay, all right?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So there is there is an obvious question here what
is the difference between sedition and free speech? And if
you are a sitting senator and a military veteran, as
these senators were, is simply saying you don't have to
carry out illegal orders.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Sedition?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I mean, if you are someone who agrees with the
president what he's doing, wherever he's doing it. And I
think this probably has to do with what's going on
in the Caribbean and potentially Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I think that's probably what spark this.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
If you're on the President's side, you don't like what
they just said, you're upset by what they just said.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Is it sedition? Right? Is it sedition?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
And I think we have to be very careful that
anyone who disagrees with the president is now considered a trader,
as he called Marjorie Taylor Green a trader? Is that sedition?
Is it treason us? Is it punishable by death? And
I think most rational Americans would say no, it's not.
And most rational Americans would know that President Trump is
stealing the headlines. He's trolling. It's what he does. He's
(09:13):
very good at it, and he gets the conversation focused
back on him and it allows him to continue to
rule by chaos. It's what he does and he's very
very good at it. So is this going to go anywhere?
I know I don't think. So this is going to
have a few people talking, it hits the news cycle.
(09:34):
We'll be done talking about this by next week.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
This is this is for the weekend news cycle. We're
over it by Monday. So more palace intrigue. Past presidency
is this would have been a controversy. This would have
been you know, this would have been what we talk
about for the next year and oh my gosh, and
you believe he did that and is he unhinged? And
is he is he there? Blah blah blah. But with Trump, no,
(09:58):
it's just is Trump and Trump. And either you support
him and this doesn't bother you, or you can't stand
the guy and you put this on the pile of
the things that he's done that just piss you off.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
But this is, this is what we voted for.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And uh and I don't think anybody's really actually surprised
by it. So don't get don't don't don't be surprised
when President Trump acts like President Trump.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
It's just what happens, all right.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Somebody has got all of your money and they are
not willing to share. Is there anything you can do
about it? Well, you can hope that they die. That's next.
Chris Merril KFI AM six forty were live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app. You're listening to KFI AM six forty
on demand more stimulating talk and on demand anytime and
(10:50):
the iHeartRadio App. When you're on that app, you can
hit the talk back button and let us know what's
on your mind.
Speaker 7 (10:55):
Chris.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Oh yeah, I think you're doing a great job.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Oh, thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (10:59):
I've love hated you since your San Diego days.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Oh, we could be THEFFS, I think, Thanks pal.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I appreciate that we could be the FFS. I like that.
Thanks man, I appreciate that. That's very nice of you, Chris.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
I haven't listening to you since staring on the weekend
and I just love you.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Oh, don't listen to anybody. Haven't anybody else is bs?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Okay, okay, I won't thank you so much. You're very kind.
I appreciate all of you. That it's a your.
Speaker 7 (11:30):
Wonderful americans earning six figure income.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Hang on, that's for later, don't jump ahead here. Yeah,
I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Man. We got Mario on the board there and he
just wants to play all my audio all at once.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Just relax, Pal.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I did it again yesterday and yeah, I know you
could just keep doing it. I don't know what's the
matter with you. I'm just too excited, just like talk back.
I love this show.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I know you love it. You love it.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
He hates you, I love hate you. Just remember your
valid and I support you. You are Thank you for
validating me. You are a kind person. I was talking
to my father here last week. He popped out and
visited me. And not to get too deep into this,
my parents they do a little cross country drive. They're
still in northern Michigan. They do a little cross country
(12:15):
drive every year in November and they always swing by
and they see me for a week, and then they
go visit my brother lives in southern Utah and they
go spend Thanksgiving with him and his kids and stuff. Well,
they got out here and it's been a week and
a half now, and we got a phone call that
my aunt, who lives with my parents in Michigan, had
borrowed my mother's car and was in a real bad
(12:37):
car accident and still in the hospital today. Actually, so
if you're the praying type, I'm sure she would appreciate
it been a tough week and a half. But again,
she was driving my mother's car when it happened. Now,
my mother's in her mid seventies and doesn't need anything fancy,
(12:59):
doesn't really do a whole lot of but then told
my dad that she wants a car. So my father,
who's like me times ten as far as the anxiety goes,
Father's like, oh, I have to find a good car
for your mother. So he's doing all this shopping and
things like that. And I had to go car shopping
with him over the weekend and he ended up buying
(13:20):
He bought a car online and he drove back to Michigan.
He just got back there today actually, and they're gonna
go pick up that car tomorrow from a dealer back there,
and he was trying to figure out how to pay
for it. Now, I know, I don't know how much
money my parents have. They have always lived middle class.
They've been middle class their whole lives. Very Midwestern middle class,
(13:43):
not California middle class, which is like rich anywhere else,
but it's very Midwestern middle class.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
All right.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
But they were always very good with their money, frugal, cheap.
So Pop's just trying to figure out how to pay
for it, and he's trying to figure out with incentives,
what's the best way to do it, is editor to
take the dealer financing and then get the you know,
the rebates, or is he better off to pay cash
up front? And if you pay cash, you'd be pulling
(14:10):
it out of his retirement account, which he assured me
he has enough in there to do that. And I said,
you know, as long as you're cash flowing, okay, you know,
whichever one is the lowest amount, that's the way to
do it. And he says, that's what I thought too.
I'm gonna talk to your mother, YadA, YadA. I give
you this whole backstory because one I'm terrible at getting
to the point, and two I don't have the money
(14:30):
on hand to go buy a car. If somebody wreckx
mine and insurance didn't pay him that much. Insurance gave
him out on like ten grand or something for the
car that got smashed up. So they got all the money.
The bombers have all the money. The headline here Wall
Street Journal the economy that's great for parents and lousy
for their grown up kids. Look, I'm in my late forties.
(14:52):
I'm doing okay. I do have a retirement account. It's okay.
Obviously if I pull money out, I get dinged, untaxed,
things like that. I don't have the money the bank
to go out and buy a new car right now.
If I need two, I would have to finance it.
I'm not paycheck to paycheck, but I'm second. I'm I'm
every other paycheck to every other paycheck. Does that make sense?
Like I ain't broke, but I'm not exactly living super comfortable.
(15:13):
I still got to go to work every day. For
young people like my kids. Oldest is thirty, the youngest
is twenty six. Oldest is doing pretty well. He's he's
his career is on track, he's got retirement account, that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
My youngest is he's struggling. He's like, I'll take you anything.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
At this point, he's really trying to find something and
it's a tough economy for him. And what we find
out is that the older generation has eighty five trillion
dollars in wealth.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
I think we talked about this last name.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Where it gets difficult is that the prospects don't seem
all that all that promising. If you're someone who is
twenty to twenty five right now. I just saw the
undeployment numbers came out. You see that we finally released.
I think they're late. These Did we get the are
they that mark? You know this better than I do.
Are they the September numbers that we got the delayed
ones or did we skip September?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
And now we're doing the octobers now?
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Well, I've been struggling with that because we were told
the jobs numbers would not be released, but then some
new ones came out today, and so I'm trying to
track down what's valid and what isn't. Well, I'm wondering
if are these the September numbers that didn't get released
in October or I don't have it. Anyway, I did
see that whatever the latest number is, is that if
you're twenty to twenty five year olds, the unemployment rate
is almost at ten percent. And that's scary, man, that
(16:26):
is really scary. And where's the money. Well, with everyone
living longer and retaining that wealth, the money is not
flowing back into the economy, unless, of course, somebody smashes
the car and you have to go buy one, you know,
right away. But for the most part, and I totally
get this. I would do the same thing if I
were my parents. I'm not going to blow through my
savings and then live to ninety and be broke. I
(16:48):
want to make sure I have enough savings in case
I lived to ninety. Although I've made very clear to
my parents. I said, I would love it if you
spent your last penny on your deathbed. I said, you
spend every thing you've ever earned. I don't need a
dime of it, you know, because my dad's worried about
inherented I want to make sure you've got something. I
don't need anything. My wife and I are fine, my
brother is fine. Everybody's fine. You go spend your stuff.
(17:11):
But he's worried about leaving inheritance. The trouble is if
if he's saving money for inheritance, that money is not
circulating in the economy.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
It's not doing what it's supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And you multiply that by the thirty million baby boomers
that are out there, or more fifty sixty however many
there are, and all of a sudden, you've got a
real situation where the money that could be stimulating things
is not moving. So that's bad, or, in the words
of Mark Ronner, that's un good. That's a little more
(17:42):
well for you.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I like that, And if it's really bad, you can
call it double plus un good. We're only at just
single on good right now. I got the numbers here.
What if the economy tanks, it's gonna get worse?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
What do you got?
Speaker 1 (17:55):
The Labor Department says US employers added one hundred nineteen
thousand jobs in September. Analysts expected a gain of fifty thousand.
The data was delayed for weeks because of the government shutdown.
The October jobs report's been canceled. Okay, okay, okay, So
it is September delayed, and now we're getting So this
is the September one. And I'm constantly seeing, especially on
(18:17):
X from actual news sources that were just hamorrhaging jobs
across the country. I also saw that they revised those
jobs numbers for July and August. They revised them down.
And that's even after we fired the last person that
gave a bad jobs report. Yeah, exactly. It's getting difficult
to do a fact check on this stuff. Really is.
That's a great point. That's double plus I'm good. You know,
(18:42):
maybe you're making six figures and you thought, WHOA if
I make six figures, Now I got a little breathing
room in California. You don't, that's for sure. And maybe
you're thinking, oh, I guess i'll just eat cheap at McDonald's. Well, yeah,
that ain't cheap any longer either. Now, what it is
that we're seeing in the economy, some of these cracks
and Mark's talking about they are starting to trick down.
It's trickled down bad economics or on good economics. Next,
(19:05):
Chris Meryl, I Am six forty live everywhere in the iheartradiop.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
God demand anytime iHeartRadio app. Oh, Nikki just sent me
a very disturbing video. I'll tell you more about why
Southern California Classic is no more all in the name
of cleaning up the streets, that is, we'll talk about
that coming up here after nine o'clock. Do a little
entertainment because it was always an entertaining site and no
(19:37):
longer will it be. Okay, so that is still to come.
How about this. Imagine you are considered a high earner
now there's a poll out from Harris and they were
talking about six figure earners. And I have to adjust
this a little bit because when you talk about a
six figure earner in Omaha, it's a whole lot different
(19:58):
than a six figure earner in you know, in Orange County.
Totally different, right, So you got to make what one
hundred and fifty in Orange County is the same as
one hundred or maybe as one hundred and seventy in
Orange County is the same as making one hundred grand
in you know, the average midwestern city, whatever it might be.
(20:19):
So when they do a national poll they talk about
one hundred thousand dollars six figure incomes, A little bit
different six figure income here, Okay, I made my point
just the same. Even people in those places where simply
hitting that six figures is considered a milestone, it just
isn't enough.
Speaker 7 (20:39):
Americans earning six figure incomes in twenty twenty five are
increasingly finding themselves in survival mode.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Oh is this AI or not? This is from a
place called Bazora. I pulled the video. They obviously spent
a lot of time editing the video. It had four views.
So everyone wants to be a podcaster, is this AI voice?
I can't tell?
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Rather than enjoying the financial comfort traditionally associated with such salaries.
According to a recent Harris poll, having a six figure
salary no longer guarantees financial stability or success.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Around one in three.
Speaker 7 (21:16):
Six figure earners described themselves as financially distressed, and two
thirds feel their income does not reflect real wealth. Inflation
and rising living costs have eroded the purchasing power of
these incomes, forcing many to live paycheck to paycheck despite
earning one hundred thousand dollars or more annually.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I have been in that situation before and was paycheck
to paycheck. Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
So that happened to me when I was in San Diego.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
It's making I was pretty close to that, and I
was I was living paycheck to paycheck. And then I
got another job in Phoenix and still felt like I
was living paycheck to paycheck even though I was making
good money. And then I lost that job. And it's
a lot harder to make up for lost income when
(22:10):
you make a lot. I had a friend asked me,
They said, do you think that feeling stressed about income
is different for somebody that makes one hundred thousand dollars
versus somebody that makes thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
They said, I think it's totally different.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
And my logic is this, if you make thirty thousand dollars,
and again adjusted for California, so you know whatever I said,
If you make thirty thousand dollars, that's the kind of
job that you can lose and you go now I
have nothing. However, because you were only making thirty thousand dollars,
your lifestyle was also one that wasn't extravagant. You can
(22:49):
also make up for a thirty thousand dollars job by
getting another thirty thousand dollar job. Those are easier to
find than another high paying job. If you're making one
hundred thousand dollars, you're a little bit higher on the
ladder or one hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand
or whatever else.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
It is a going to adjust for location.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And if you are paycheck to paycheck and you're making
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and all of a
sudden it's gone, it won it's tough to go find
another one hundred and fifty thousand dollars job real fast.
And two chances are that your lifestyle and your bills
are a whole lot more than they are for the
person who's thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Hold on it makes thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
It's one of those things where I've done this before
on the air, where I asked people, have you ever
quit a job and taken a lower paying job and
how did that work out? And I was amazed. I
did this years ago. I was doing a music morning show,
and I was amazed. Everyone that called said that they
were happier, every single one of them. They said that
(23:47):
the higher paying job that they had and the reason
that they quit was that it was very stressful, and
that they took the lower paying job and they adjusted
their lifestyles obviously because they weren't making as much and
they were much much happier. So what's that? What's that
old adage, MO money more problems, MO money more problems.
(24:09):
In the meantime, it's getting to the point where you
have to be the upper crust if you want to
eat at McDonald's. Yeah, the latest from McDonald's is crazy.
McDonald's telling investors that visits from low income households fell
by double digits, while visits from higher income consumers rose
nearly as much forty percent. McDonald's average menu prices increased
(24:30):
from twenty nineteen to twenty twenty four. A big part
of the value menu erosion, they say, is why so
McDonald's is going up forty percent in the last five years.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And we noticed that.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
And the thing is is that the people who continue
to eat there, the people that aren't worried about about
the dollar. And I can tell you this, my wife
and I both do Okay, all right, nobody's getting rich.
I don't make handle money, but my wife is a professional.
I am very in fact, I would say I'm a
complete pro. That's one for me, zero for Ronner tonight.
(25:11):
By the way, I'm a complete pro. She is a
she's a professional. We do fine, bills are covered. Like
I told you, I'm not paycheck to paycheck, but I'm
every other paycheck, every other paycheck. She's the one that saves.
I'm the one that spends. Okay, that said, we also
don't waste our money. So when we go through the
last time we went out to eat through a fast
food place, we couldn't believe it. We got out there
(25:33):
and and for the two of us. It was twenty
five twenty. No, it was more than that. It was
that it was like thirty two dollars or something like
that at McDonald's and she I can't remember which fast
food place it was, but I just remember, plus I
always get like a little side, little little snacky, you know,
I always get the little extra thing. And and we went, well,
we're not doing that again. We're just we're just not
(25:55):
We'll go to the grocery store and buy sandwich, meet
and make our own sandwiches from now on. If we're
on the road, just forget about that. We're not paying
that much for two people to eat to eat lunch. Yeah,
I mean, if you're buying a if you're buying a
value meal and it's fifteen bucks, times too, you're at
thirty plus tax, right, So forget that. Forget it. And
(26:16):
if you're low income, you can't. You can't do it
at all. The people that are doing it and the
people that go I don't care. The people that don't
pay attention to price because they are they are, you know,
they're doing okay, and they don't worry about how much
money they're spending when it's you know, relatively small mouse. Granted,
they're probably not going out and blowing a grand here
in a grand there, but yeah, they're not going to
worry about the how much of the cost of their
(26:37):
lunch is. Those are the people still leading McDonald's. It's
not the people that are worried about paying fifteen dollars
for it.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
It's just not.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Meanwhile, the crunch that we're having that I'm talking about
right now is creating another bit of a crisis. The
American Ponzi scheme is falling apart. You'll find out why next.
Chris Merril KFI AM six forty we're live ever and
the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 6 (27:02):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Donate anytime KFI AM six forty dot com slash pastathon
or you can find pasta and sauce drop off locations
there as well. Not just with Conway. It's Smart and
Final your Belinda Tomorrow, but any Smart and Final. You
can donate any amount at the checkout. Of course you
won't be able to meet up with Conway. You can
also go to any Wendy's restaurants Southern California donate five
(27:30):
dollars and more to Katerina's Club, get a coupon book,
go to Yamava Resort and Casino. When you cast your
winning ticket at the kiask gonna ask you if you
want to donate your change. You say yes, and then
you pick Katerina's Club from the options that pop up.
The fifteenth Aniel Cafi Pastathon going on Chef Bruno's charity,
Katerina's Club providing more than twenty five thousand meals every
week to kids in even southern California. Your generosity, of course,
(27:53):
is what makes that happen. And the live broadcast the
Big One, The Big One is going on on Tuesday
from five until eight pm. Anaheim White House, Anaheim Boulevard. Hey, Mark,
are you gonna be there at the at the Big One?
I will be here in the news booth that camp.
I got word today that I am working that night here,
(28:15):
So it's you and me after all the fun is over.
We got this. Yeah, boy, you talk about it, come down.
It means we don't get any food either. No, we're
not gonna get squat and everybody's gonna be like it
was so exciting, What a great job they did. Look
they raised like a million and a half dollars. Look
at it's an amazing thing, and it's like, then back
to the studio. Well, maybe we'll get a talk back
from somebody who's on the indica. I got another talkback
(28:40):
from a guy who is he doesn't like me at all.
He also sounds like I don't think he's all there either.
He's mad at us.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Now.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
The only reason they got you out of your parents
trailer and nodding, Missige is because kfis I and I.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Draw. I do handle insults better when it sounds like
whoever is giving me the insult is on a.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Record that is slowly, slowly dying. I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
It's a forty five turned down to thirty three. That's right.
I was actually okay with that one. I'm fine with that.
What's happening? Oh yes, So I think I've told you before.
I got three kids. They are all of child child
rearing age thirty twenty eight, twenty six. You know how
many grandkids? I have zero, which is wonderful for a
(29:42):
couple of reasons. One on buy more Christmas presents. Two
my sister in law has grandkids and I get to
call her old. And three I can't think of a
third one, although, to be perfectly honest, there is a
little part of me that does want to do the
whole grandpa thing. I'm not fifty yet though, so I
(30:04):
feel like I'm not ready for it, but there is
a part of me that wants to do the grandpa thing.
And I realized that my neighbors have a little boy
who when we moved in, he was like, I think
he was five or six. Now he's I don't know,
eight nine. I have no idea. It could be thirty.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
I don't know. Anyway, I just love this kid.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
He's the funniest He's the funniest guy, full of energy.
And then his parents like, he'll talk to me about
whatever happened at school, you know, over the fence. It's
very like, leave it to beaver, right, it's over the fence.
We did this is school, and my friend did this
and I did that, And I just love the excitement
and that his parents go it's time to eat. He's like, Okay,
I got to go. I'll talk to you later, and
then he leaves. And then the sweetest thing he came
(30:44):
over knocked on the door one day and he gave
me an invitation of his birthday party.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Isn't that great? Watch out?
Speaker 1 (30:49):
You could be like mister Wilson to Dennis de Menace kinda.
I could, and I have been the grumpy old man
keep your guard up.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I could do it.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
So there is a little.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
I did.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I did, although it was gonna be a bunch of kids.
So what I did is I went. I went before
and I went and I got him a president. I
got like a massive NERF gun, and I took that
over beforehand, and I said, I want you to have
fun at your party, but I want to make sure
I got your present. He was really excited. Okay, nerf
guns are cool. I have a NERF gun. Yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Oh if I'm a drum kit.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Yeah, Remember he lives next door.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
I know. Yeah, he doesn't live far enough away for
me to be gifting him a drum kit. Anyway, we
are saying a declining birth rate, and according to a
lending Tree study, the annual cost of raising a child
in California right now is over thirty thousand dollars a year.
So if you apply that annually over seventeen years, that
means conservatively, if you have a kid today, it's gonna
(31:52):
cost you half a million dollars to get him too
their senior year of high school.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Stick with cats. Whoo baby.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
That's why I'm kind of glad I'm not a grandparent
because my kids couldn't pull it off. They couldn't do it. Now,
we all look, having kids is never a value proposition.
I think we all know that. But that is a
lot no wonder. Nobody wants to have multiple kids. I mean,
if you got two of them, you're at a million
dollars right there for Pete's sake. So then what are
you cutting back on. Imagine you're twenty four years old,
(32:22):
twenty five years old, right, it's about the age my
parents were when they had me. But today you've got
student loans that are more than they've ever been, You've
got housing costs that are higher than they've ever been,
you got wages that haven't kept up with all of
these other issues.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
So why are you dropping out more?
Speaker 1 (32:42):
There's no way people are gonna have a big fanis
the idea of a big family now that's gone. You
just can't. You can't do it. And people are concerned
about the declining birth right. It's not about people not
getting it on. It's about knowing what the consequences are,
and easy access to contraception too. But I'm telling you
(33:04):
that people we've got, we've got politicians worried about declining
birth rate.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I think the writing is on the wall.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
We gotta we have to address the other systemic issues
if you want that birth rate to come back up
it's there. Or incentivize them all with nerf guns. You
thought binge watching and late night shows were safe. You
thought wrong. Between Hollywood job blood letting and a TV
war that was sparked by the White House, your screen
is getting uglier, and we have some really sad news
(33:33):
for a classic Southern California entertainer that is next. I'm
Chris Merril KFI AM six forty live everywhere in the
iHeartRadio
Speaker 6 (33:38):
App, KFI AM sixty on demand
You're listening to k if I AM sixty on demand
KFI AM six forty. You listen anytime on demand the
iHeartRadio app, where you'll also see that little talkback button
that gives you a chance to record a message send
it to us. And I do listen to every message
that comes through, good, bad, and different, whether you hear
it on the air or not.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Just no, I've heard it.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Which, by the way, I had somebody, uh somebody was
saying very mean things about me earlier today, very mean things.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
They were calling for me to be fired.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
What Yeah, they said, I was, I was a grouch
and then I needed I needed a behavioral.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Therapy, behavioral like a shock collar.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
What theraps?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
They said?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Who said that was your parents?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
No?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
No, no, I mean that's that was the obvious joke too.
Yeah no, it was, uh no, just some random It's like,
that's down here, fire the grout, she's grumpy. He needs
behavioral or anger management therapies.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
What are they doing with their life trolling?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, exactly, But it doesn't matter because you know me,
I read comments online and I just assume they're probably right.
You know, what actually makes me feel better? And this
this sound like a dig, but I don't mean it
to me. I was reading some of the uh I
was I was reviewing some of the talkbacks that Handle gets.
I mean, Handle's been around for how long, and he's legendary,
(01:28):
and he's been on he's been on the top of
his game for like forty years. Just the people they
say the most horrible things to him, and I think,
you know what, if he can, if he can have
tough skin about it, I should try. Well, it comes
with the territory. I know.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I'm just the one part of this job that is well.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
That and of course the the evolving media and how
I have to have everything in social media and all
this other stuff. I'm trying to keep up with all
the other the video and socials and all this other
that's hard for me too. But no, that's one area
where I've I've had difficulty. It's just the thick skin stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Are you a Pisces or a cancel?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
No?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Stop, okay, no, we're not doing that stuff. Get that.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Try to imagine how blinded. Try to imagine Chris, how
bland you would have to be for nobody anywhere to
have any problem with you whatsoever. It doesn't exist that
doesn't make me feel better. I know it should, but
it doesn't. And here's the funny thing about it. I
have been to therapy about this too, not specifically about this,
(02:26):
but just it comes up in therapy, like you know,
my massive ego and giant insecurity to.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Go with it.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So I'm honest about it. But no, it's there. You're
vadly Chris. I support you. Oh thanks, guys, I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
I appreciate he would say that he's a cappricorn.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Okay, good, that's it.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
All right, all right, let's bring back hangings in the
public square, says the president.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Tonight. President Trump criticized by members of both parties after
calling six Democratic members of Congress quote traitors and accusing
them of seditious behavior punishable by Representative it Keman response
to video released by the lawmakers, all of whom served
in the military are in US intelligence.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
That was a captain in the United States Navy, former officer,
former Navy.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
In the video, the lawmakers reminding members of the military
they should not obey illegal orders.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, I bear you.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Laws are clear.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
You can refuse illegal orders.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
You can refuse illegal orders.
Speaker 7 (03:25):
You must refuse illegal orders.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
No, one has to carry out orders that violate the
law or our constitution. The lawmakers did not specify which
orders they were talking about.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, that seems a little bit odd, doesn't it just
randomly cutting a video saying don't follow illegal orders.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
But the President enraged, posting a flurry of messages on
social media saying they should be arrested and put on trial.
The words cannot be allowed to stand, adding an example
must be set. The president then writing seditious behavior punishable
by death, and he reposted a message from another account
that said, hey them, George Washington, would democrats accusing the president?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Hold on, hang on, let me just check this real quick.
Did George Washington hang anyone? Just checking this out here?
He did convenience a firing squad. Yeah, he did do that.
(04:26):
There was a court martial, a guy was sentenced to
be hanged. This is great. I had no idea. I'm
just reading the quick previews. I haven't gotten into the story. Well,
George Washington was a general in the Revolutionary War. I
don't believe the situation is very equivalent, do you hm?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
There might be one or two minor subtle differences. Is
what ordered hangings? During the Revolutionary War, notably the execution
of Thomas Hickey in seventeen seventy six. So he hung
a guy named Hickey, and now we call neck Bruce's Hickeys.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Is that a coincidence?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Huh? You get all that off of bing? Yeah, co pilot? Yeah, Okay.
Hickey was a member of Washington's personal guard, convicted of mutiny, sedition,
and treachery after being implicated in a loyalist plot to
assassinate Washington. So that seems a whole lot different than hey,
you don't have to follow illegal orders. That seems different
than yeah, that's a little different some nuance there. Yeah,
(05:34):
I mean the guy was literally planning to assassinate Washington
versus people that said don't follow illegal orders.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Okay, back to the story from ABC.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
News of inciting violence.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
This puts all of our lives in jeopardy, right, What
are we all doing right now? Democrats from Congress are
on the phone with their chiefs of staff beefing up
our security for this weekend and next week because has
a lot of unhinged supporters out there.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Republicans.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Okay, he dies, but I mean I don't the Charlie
kirkshooter wasn't a Trump supporter, right, So, I mean, there's
unhinged all over the place.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Let's just be honest about that.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Republicans clearly uncomfortable. Did the words that the President shows
are not the ones that I would use.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Okay, Obviously I don't think that this is some these
are crimes punishable by death or any of that.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Republican Senator Ran Paul was blunt.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
So Mike Johnson says it's not punishable by death, I
think we round him up too. Look, we got enough
rope Johnson, you're going to keep saying that kind of nonsense.
Disagree with the president. That's that's sedition, death or any
of that.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Republican Senator Ran Paul was blunt.
Speaker 7 (06:45):
That kind of rhetoric isn't credit and stirs up people
among us who may not be stable, who may think
for home traders when we do traders, that's a death.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
I don't think.
Speaker 7 (06:54):
Maybe I'll just take matters into my own hands, which
is not something we should be encouraging.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
At the White House.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, wasn't that the whole thing after the Charlie kirkussassination
is how we needed to tone down the rhetoric, Tone
down the rhetoric.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Kept hearing it.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Tone down the rhetoric, Tone down the rhetoric, Tone down
the rhetoric. But we really don't. No, we say things
that get headlines and click bait, don't we.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
At the White House Press Secretary Kroenline Levitt was asked
to explain, just to be clear, does the President want
to execute members of Congress? No, let's be clear about
what the president is responding to Levit's saying, the six
Democrats are the ones inciting violence?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Wait, god, okay, no, you are no, you are no,
you are no, you are okay? How are they inciting violence?
When they say you don't have to carry out illegal orders?
Speaker 4 (07:43):
They are literally saying to one point three million active
duty service members not to defy the chain of command.
I spoke with Congressman Jason Crowder, who was in that video.
What would your message to the president be, I don't
do fear and intimidation.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Well, and I'm not going to stop. Okay, all right?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So there is there is an obvious question here what
is the difference between sedition and free speech? And if
you are a sitting senator and a military veteran, as
these senators were, is simply saying you don't have to
carry out illegal orders.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Sedition?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I mean, if you are someone who agrees with the
president what he's doing, wherever he's doing it. And I
think this probably has to do with what's going on
in the Caribbean and potentially Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I think that's probably what spark this.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
If you're on the President's side, you don't like what
they just said, you're upset by what they just said.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Is it sedition? Right? Is it sedition?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
And I think we have to be very careful that
anyone who disagrees with the president is now considered a trader,
as he called Marjorie Taylor Green a trader? Is that sedition?
Is it treason us? Is it punishable by death? And
I think most rational Americans would say no, it's not.
And most rational Americans would know that President Trump is
stealing the headlines. He's trolling. It's what he does. He's
(09:13):
very good at it, and he gets the conversation focused
back on him and it allows him to continue to
rule by chaos. It's what he does and he's very
very good at it. So is this going to go anywhere?
I know I don't think. So this is going to
have a few people talking, it hits the news cycle.
(09:34):
We'll be done talking about this by next week.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
This is this is for the weekend news cycle. We're
over it by Monday. So more palace intrigue. Past presidency
is this would have been a controversy. This would have
been you know, this would have been what we talk
about for the next year and oh my gosh, and
you believe he did that and is he unhinged? And
is he is he there? Blah blah blah. But with Trump, no,
(09:58):
it's just is Trump and Trump. And either you support
him and this doesn't bother you, or you can't stand
the guy and you put this on the pile of
the things that he's done that just piss you off.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
But this is, this is what we voted for.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And uh and I don't think anybody's really actually surprised
by it. So don't get don't don't don't be surprised
when President Trump acts like President Trump.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
It's just what happens, all right.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Somebody has got all of your money and they are
not willing to share. Is there anything you can do
about it? Well, you can hope that they die. That's next.
Chris Merril KFI AM six forty were live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app. You're listening to KFI AM six forty
on demand more stimulating talk and on demand anytime and
(10:50):
the iHeartRadio App. When you're on that app, you can
hit the talk back button and let us know what's
on your mind.
Speaker 7 (10:55):
Chris.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Oh yeah, I think you're doing a great job.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Oh, thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (10:59):
I've love hated you since your San Diego days.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Oh, we could be THEFFS, I think, Thanks pal.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I appreciate that we could be the FFS. I like that.
Thanks man, I appreciate that. That's very nice of you, Chris.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
I haven't listening to you since staring on the weekend
and I just love you.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Oh, don't listen to anybody. Haven't anybody else is bs?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Okay, okay, I won't thank you so much. You're very kind.
I appreciate all of you. That it's a your.
Speaker 7 (11:30):
Wonderful americans earning six figure income.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Hang on, that's for later, don't jump ahead here. Yeah,
I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Man. We got Mario on the board there and he
just wants to play all my audio all at once.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Just relax, Pal.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I did it again yesterday and yeah, I know you
could just keep doing it. I don't know what's the
matter with you. I'm just too excited, just like talk back.
I love this show.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I know you love it. You love it.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
He hates you, I love hate you. Just remember your
valid and I support you. You are Thank you for
validating me. You are a kind person. I was talking
to my father here last week. He popped out and
visited me. And not to get too deep into this,
my parents they do a little cross country drive. They're
still in northern Michigan. They do a little cross country
(12:15):
drive every year in November and they always swing by
and they see me for a week, and then they
go visit my brother lives in southern Utah and they
go spend Thanksgiving with him and his kids and stuff. Well,
they got out here and it's been a week and
a half now, and we got a phone call that
my aunt, who lives with my parents in Michigan, had
borrowed my mother's car and was in a real bad
(12:37):
car accident and still in the hospital today. Actually, so
if you're the praying type, I'm sure she would appreciate
it been a tough week and a half. But again,
she was driving my mother's car when it happened. Now,
my mother's in her mid seventies and doesn't need anything fancy,
(12:59):
doesn't really do a whole lot of but then told
my dad that she wants a car. So my father,
who's like me times ten as far as the anxiety goes,
Father's like, oh, I have to find a good car
for your mother. So he's doing all this shopping and
things like that. And I had to go car shopping
with him over the weekend and he ended up buying
(13:20):
He bought a car online and he drove back to Michigan.
He just got back there today actually, and they're gonna
go pick up that car tomorrow from a dealer back there,
and he was trying to figure out how to pay
for it. Now, I know, I don't know how much
money my parents have. They have always lived middle class.
They've been middle class their whole lives. Very Midwestern middle class,
(13:43):
not California middle class, which is like rich anywhere else,
but it's very Midwestern middle class.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
All right.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
But they were always very good with their money, frugal, cheap.
So Pop's just trying to figure out how to pay
for it, and he's trying to figure out with incentives,
what's the best way to do it, is editor to
take the dealer financing and then get the you know,
the rebates, or is he better off to pay cash
up front? And if you pay cash, you'd be pulling
(14:10):
it out of his retirement account, which he assured me
he has enough in there to do that. And I said,
you know, as long as you're cash flowing, okay, you know,
whichever one is the lowest amount, that's the way to
do it. And he says, that's what I thought too.
I'm gonna talk to your mother, YadA, YadA. I give
you this whole backstory because one I'm terrible at getting
to the point, and two I don't have the money
(14:30):
on hand to go buy a car. If somebody wreckx
mine and insurance didn't pay him that much. Insurance gave
him out on like ten grand or something for the
car that got smashed up. So they got all the money.
The bombers have all the money. The headline here Wall
Street Journal the economy that's great for parents and lousy
for their grown up kids. Look, I'm in my late forties.
(14:52):
I'm doing okay. I do have a retirement account. It's okay.
Obviously if I pull money out, I get dinged, untaxed,
things like that. I don't have the money the bank
to go out and buy a new car right now.
If I need two, I would have to finance it.
I'm not paycheck to paycheck, but I'm second. I'm I'm
every other paycheck to every other paycheck. Does that make sense?
Like I ain't broke, but I'm not exactly living super comfortable.
(15:13):
I still got to go to work every day. For
young people like my kids. Oldest is thirty, the youngest
is twenty six. Oldest is doing pretty well. He's he's
his career is on track, he's got retirement account, that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
My youngest is he's struggling. He's like, I'll take you anything.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
At this point, he's really trying to find something and
it's a tough economy for him. And what we find
out is that the older generation has eighty five trillion
dollars in wealth.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
I think we talked about this last name.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Where it gets difficult is that the prospects don't seem
all that all that promising. If you're someone who is
twenty to twenty five right now. I just saw the
undeployment numbers came out. You see that we finally released.
I think they're late. These Did we get the are
they that mark? You know this better than I do.
Are they the September numbers that we got the delayed
ones or did we skip September?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
And now we're doing the octobers now?
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Well, I've been struggling with that because we were told
the jobs numbers would not be released, but then some
new ones came out today, and so I'm trying to
track down what's valid and what isn't. Well, I'm wondering
if are these the September numbers that didn't get released
in October or I don't have it. Anyway, I did
see that whatever the latest number is, is that if
you're twenty to twenty five year olds, the unemployment rate
is almost at ten percent. And that's scary, man, that
(16:26):
is really scary. And where's the money. Well, with everyone
living longer and retaining that wealth, the money is not
flowing back into the economy, unless, of course, somebody smashes
the car and you have to go buy one, you know,
right away. But for the most part, and I totally
get this. I would do the same thing if I
were my parents. I'm not going to blow through my
savings and then live to ninety and be broke. I
(16:48):
want to make sure I have enough savings in case
I lived to ninety. Although I've made very clear to
my parents. I said, I would love it if you
spent your last penny on your deathbed. I said, you
spend every thing you've ever earned. I don't need a
dime of it, you know, because my dad's worried about
inherented I want to make sure you've got something. I
don't need anything. My wife and I are fine, my
brother is fine. Everybody's fine. You go spend your stuff.
(17:11):
But he's worried about leaving inheritance. The trouble is if
if he's saving money for inheritance, that money is not
circulating in the economy.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
It's not doing what it's supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And you multiply that by the thirty million baby boomers
that are out there, or more fifty sixty however many
there are, and all of a sudden, you've got a
real situation where the money that could be stimulating things
is not moving. So that's bad, or, in the words
of Mark Ronner, that's un good. That's a little more
(17:42):
well for you.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I like that, And if it's really bad, you can
call it double plus un good. We're only at just
single on good right now. I got the numbers here.
What if the economy tanks, it's gonna get worse?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
What do you got?
Speaker 1 (17:55):
The Labor Department says US employers added one hundred nineteen
thousand jobs in September. Analysts expected a gain of fifty thousand.
The data was delayed for weeks because of the government shutdown.
The October jobs report's been canceled. Okay, okay, okay, So
it is September delayed, and now we're getting So this
is the September one. And I'm constantly seeing, especially on
(18:17):
X from actual news sources that were just hamorrhaging jobs
across the country. I also saw that they revised those
jobs numbers for July and August. They revised them down.
And that's even after we fired the last person that
gave a bad jobs report. Yeah, exactly. It's getting difficult
to do a fact check on this stuff. Really is.
That's a great point. That's double plus I'm good. You know,
(18:42):
maybe you're making six figures and you thought, WHOA if
I make six figures, Now I got a little breathing
room in California. You don't, that's for sure. And maybe
you're thinking, oh, I guess i'll just eat cheap at McDonald's. Well, yeah,
that ain't cheap any longer either. Now, what it is
that we're seeing in the economy, some of these cracks
and Mark's talking about they are starting to trick down.
It's trickled down bad economics or on good economics. Next,
(19:05):
Chris Meryl, I Am six forty live everywhere in the iheartradiop.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
God demand anytime iHeartRadio app. Oh, Nikki just sent me
a very disturbing video. I'll tell you more about why
Southern California Classic is no more all in the name
of cleaning up the streets, that is, we'll talk about
that coming up here after nine o'clock. Do a little
entertainment because it was always an entertaining site and no
(19:37):
longer will it be. Okay, so that is still to come.
How about this. Imagine you are considered a high earner
now there's a poll out from Harris and they were
talking about six figure earners. And I have to adjust
this a little bit because when you talk about a
six figure earner in Omaha, it's a whole lot different
(19:58):
than a six figure earner in you know, in Orange County.
Totally different, right, So you got to make what one
hundred and fifty in Orange County is the same as
one hundred or maybe as one hundred and seventy in
Orange County is the same as making one hundred grand
in you know, the average midwestern city, whatever it might be.
(20:19):
So when they do a national poll they talk about
one hundred thousand dollars six figure incomes, A little bit
different six figure income here, Okay, I made my point
just the same. Even people in those places where simply
hitting that six figures is considered a milestone, it just
isn't enough.
Speaker 7 (20:39):
Americans earning six figure incomes in twenty twenty five are
increasingly finding themselves in survival mode.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Oh is this AI or not? This is from a
place called Bazora. I pulled the video. They obviously spent
a lot of time editing the video. It had four views.
So everyone wants to be a podcaster, is this AI voice?
I can't tell?
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Rather than enjoying the financial comfort traditionally associated with such salaries.
According to a recent Harris poll, having a six figure
salary no longer guarantees financial stability or success.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Around one in three.
Speaker 7 (21:16):
Six figure earners described themselves as financially distressed, and two
thirds feel their income does not reflect real wealth. Inflation
and rising living costs have eroded the purchasing power of
these incomes, forcing many to live paycheck to paycheck despite
earning one hundred thousand dollars or more annually.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I have been in that situation before and was paycheck
to paycheck. Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
So that happened to me when I was in San Diego.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
It's making I was pretty close to that, and I
was I was living paycheck to paycheck. And then I
got another job in Phoenix and still felt like I
was living paycheck to paycheck even though I was making
good money. And then I lost that job. And it's
a lot harder to make up for lost income when
(22:10):
you make a lot. I had a friend asked me,
They said, do you think that feeling stressed about income
is different for somebody that makes one hundred thousand dollars
versus somebody that makes thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
They said, I think it's totally different.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
And my logic is this, if you make thirty thousand dollars,
and again adjusted for California, so you know whatever I said,
If you make thirty thousand dollars, that's the kind of
job that you can lose and you go now I
have nothing. However, because you were only making thirty thousand dollars,
your lifestyle was also one that wasn't extravagant. You can
(22:49):
also make up for a thirty thousand dollars job by
getting another thirty thousand dollar job. Those are easier to
find than another high paying job. If you're making one
hundred thousand dollars, you're a little bit higher on the
ladder or one hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand
or whatever else.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
It is a going to adjust for location.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And if you are paycheck to paycheck and you're making
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and all of a
sudden it's gone, it won it's tough to go find
another one hundred and fifty thousand dollars job real fast.
And two chances are that your lifestyle and your bills
are a whole lot more than they are for the
person who's thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Hold on it makes thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
It's one of those things where I've done this before
on the air, where I asked people, have you ever
quit a job and taken a lower paying job and
how did that work out? And I was amazed. I
did this years ago. I was doing a music morning show,
and I was amazed. Everyone that called said that they
were happier, every single one of them. They said that
(23:47):
the higher paying job that they had and the reason
that they quit was that it was very stressful, and
that they took the lower paying job and they adjusted
their lifestyles obviously because they weren't making as much and
they were much much happier. So what's that? What's that
old adage, MO money more problems, MO money more problems.
(24:09):
In the meantime, it's getting to the point where you
have to be the upper crust if you want to
eat at McDonald's. Yeah, the latest from McDonald's is crazy.
McDonald's telling investors that visits from low income households fell
by double digits, while visits from higher income consumers rose
nearly as much forty percent. McDonald's average menu prices increased
(24:30):
from twenty nineteen to twenty twenty four. A big part
of the value menu erosion, they say, is why so
McDonald's is going up forty percent in the last five years.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And we noticed that.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
And the thing is is that the people who continue
to eat there, the people that aren't worried about about
the dollar. And I can tell you this, my wife
and I both do Okay, all right, nobody's getting rich.
I don't make handle money, but my wife is a professional.
I am very in fact, I would say I'm a
complete pro. That's one for me, zero for Ronner tonight.
(25:11):
By the way, I'm a complete pro. She is a
she's a professional. We do fine, bills are covered. Like
I told you, I'm not paycheck to paycheck, but I'm
every other paycheck, every other paycheck. She's the one that saves.
I'm the one that spends. Okay, that said, we also
don't waste our money. So when we go through the
last time we went out to eat through a fast
food place, we couldn't believe it. We got out there
(25:33):
and and for the two of us. It was twenty
five twenty. No, it was more than that. It was
that it was like thirty two dollars or something like
that at McDonald's and she I can't remember which fast
food place it was, but I just remember, plus I
always get like a little side, little little snacky, you know,
I always get the little extra thing. And and we went, well,
we're not doing that again. We're just we're just not
(25:55):
We'll go to the grocery store and buy sandwich, meet
and make our own sandwiches from now on. If we're
on the road, just forget about that. We're not paying
that much for two people to eat to eat lunch. Yeah,
I mean, if you're buying a if you're buying a
value meal and it's fifteen bucks, times too, you're at
thirty plus tax, right, So forget that. Forget it. And
(26:16):
if you're low income, you can't. You can't do it
at all. The people that are doing it and the
people that go I don't care. The people that don't
pay attention to price because they are they are, you know,
they're doing okay, and they don't worry about how much
money they're spending when it's you know, relatively small mouse. Granted,
they're probably not going out and blowing a grand here
in a grand there, but yeah, they're not going to
worry about the how much of the cost of their
(26:37):
lunch is. Those are the people still leading McDonald's. It's
not the people that are worried about paying fifteen dollars
for it.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
It's just not.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Meanwhile, the crunch that we're having that I'm talking about
right now is creating another bit of a crisis. The
American Ponzi scheme is falling apart. You'll find out why next.
Chris Merril KFI AM six forty we're live ever and
the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 6 (27:02):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Donate anytime KFI AM six forty dot com slash pastathon
or you can find pasta and sauce drop off locations
there as well. Not just with Conway. It's Smart and
Final your Belinda Tomorrow, but any Smart and Final. You
can donate any amount at the checkout. Of course you
won't be able to meet up with Conway. You can
also go to any Wendy's restaurants Southern California donate five
(27:30):
dollars and more to Katerina's Club, get a coupon book,
go to Yamava Resort and Casino. When you cast your
winning ticket at the kiask gonna ask you if you
want to donate your change. You say yes, and then
you pick Katerina's Club from the options that pop up.
The fifteenth Aniel Cafi Pastathon going on Chef Bruno's charity,
Katerina's Club providing more than twenty five thousand meals every
week to kids in even southern California. Your generosity, of course,
(27:53):
is what makes that happen. And the live broadcast the
Big One, The Big One is going on on Tuesday
from five until eight pm. Anaheim White House, Anaheim Boulevard. Hey, Mark,
are you gonna be there at the at the Big One?
I will be here in the news booth that camp.
I got word today that I am working that night here,
(28:15):
So it's you and me after all the fun is over.
We got this. Yeah, boy, you talk about it, come down.
It means we don't get any food either. No, we're
not gonna get squat and everybody's gonna be like it
was so exciting, What a great job they did. Look
they raised like a million and a half dollars. Look
at it's an amazing thing, and it's like, then back
to the studio. Well, maybe we'll get a talk back
from somebody who's on the indica. I got another talkback
(28:40):
from a guy who is he doesn't like me at all.
He also sounds like I don't think he's all there either.
He's mad at us.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Now.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
The only reason they got you out of your parents
trailer and nodding, Missige is because kfis I and I.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Draw. I do handle insults better when it sounds like
whoever is giving me the insult is on a.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Record that is slowly, slowly dying. I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
It's a forty five turned down to thirty three. That's right.
I was actually okay with that one. I'm fine with that.
What's happening? Oh yes, So I think I've told you before.
I got three kids. They are all of child child
rearing age thirty twenty eight, twenty six. You know how
many grandkids? I have zero, which is wonderful for a
(29:42):
couple of reasons. One on buy more Christmas presents. Two
my sister in law has grandkids and I get to
call her old. And three I can't think of a
third one, although, to be perfectly honest, there is a
little part of me that does want to do the
whole grandpa thing. I'm not fifty yet though, so I
(30:04):
feel like I'm not ready for it, but there is
a part of me that wants to do the grandpa thing.
And I realized that my neighbors have a little boy
who when we moved in, he was like, I think
he was five or six. Now he's I don't know,
eight nine. I have no idea. It could be thirty.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
I don't know. Anyway, I just love this kid.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
He's the funniest He's the funniest guy, full of energy.
And then his parents like, he'll talk to me about
whatever happened at school, you know, over the fence. It's
very like, leave it to beaver, right, it's over the fence.
We did this is school, and my friend did this
and I did that, And I just love the excitement
and that his parents go it's time to eat. He's like, Okay,
I got to go. I'll talk to you later, and
then he leaves. And then the sweetest thing he came
(30:44):
over knocked on the door one day and he gave
me an invitation of his birthday party.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Isn't that great? Watch out?
Speaker 1 (30:49):
You could be like mister Wilson to Dennis de Menace kinda.
I could, and I have been the grumpy old man
keep your guard up.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I could do it.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
So there is a little.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
I did.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I did, although it was gonna be a bunch of kids.
So what I did is I went. I went before
and I went and I got him a president. I
got like a massive NERF gun, and I took that
over beforehand, and I said, I want you to have
fun at your party, but I want to make sure
I got your present. He was really excited. Okay, nerf
guns are cool. I have a NERF gun. Yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Oh if I'm a drum kit.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Yeah, Remember he lives next door.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
I know. Yeah, he doesn't live far enough away for
me to be gifting him a drum kit. Anyway, we
are saying a declining birth rate, and according to a
lending Tree study, the annual cost of raising a child
in California right now is over thirty thousand dollars a year.
So if you apply that annually over seventeen years, that
means conservatively, if you have a kid today, it's gonna
(31:52):
cost you half a million dollars to get him too
their senior year of high school.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Stick with cats. Whoo baby.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
That's why I'm kind of glad I'm not a grandparent
because my kids couldn't pull it off. They couldn't do it. Now,
we all look, having kids is never a value proposition.
I think we all know that. But that is a
lot no wonder. Nobody wants to have multiple kids. I mean,
if you got two of them, you're at a million
dollars right there for Pete's sake. So then what are
you cutting back on. Imagine you're twenty four years old,
(32:22):
twenty five years old, right, it's about the age my
parents were when they had me. But today you've got
student loans that are more than they've ever been, You've
got housing costs that are higher than they've ever been,
you got wages that haven't kept up with all of
these other issues.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
So why are you dropping out more?
Speaker 1 (32:42):
There's no way people are gonna have a big fanis
the idea of a big family now that's gone. You
just can't. You can't do it. And people are concerned
about the declining birth right. It's not about people not
getting it on. It's about knowing what the consequences are,
and easy access to contraception too. But I'm telling you
(33:04):
that people we've got, we've got politicians worried about declining
birth rate.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I think the writing is on the wall.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
We gotta we have to address the other systemic issues
if you want that birth rate to come back up
it's there. Or incentivize them all with nerf guns. You
thought binge watching and late night shows were safe. You
thought wrong. Between Hollywood job blood letting and a TV
war that was sparked by the White House, your screen
is getting uglier, and we have some really sad news
(33:33):
for a classic Southern California entertainer that is next. I'm
Chris Merril KFI AM six forty live everywhere in the
iHeartRadio
Speaker 6 (33:38):
App, KFI AM sixty on demand
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