April 27, 2025 • 30 mins
Federal authorities have arrested a Wisconsin judge and a former New Mexico judge in two separate cases, accusing them of interfering with Trump administration immigration enforcement efforts. Insights on how businesses (and consumers) will be impacted. Plus, tips on what businesses can do to work around this major hurdle as developments continue. E-commerce giants Shein and Temu announced in early April that prices would be rising on both platforms in response to changing trade policy between the U.S. and China. In nearly identical notices shared April 16, the competitors explained that, "Due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs," operating expenses had gone up and so would prices.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I Am six forty the talkback question today. If you're
on the iHeart video app, just hit the microphone icon
that allows you to leave us a message later on
the show here at the six o'clock hour. There's been
a shift worldwide. There's a global shift in the views
on spankings, but in the United States the majority of
adults still support spanking. So the question is, were you
(00:27):
spanked as a kid, and then do you did you
spank your kids or do you spank your kids. I'm
just curious about what you have to say, and a
few of you had thoughts.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Oh boy, oh boy, the threat of getting spanking spanked
was always there. Yeah, and the way till your father
gets home was the worst of the worst. But my
mom did spank me every once in a while. I
always had it coming, and even as a little kid,
I felt so bad because my mother would just be
crying if I don't know why you did this to me.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Ami feels so horrible.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Oh man, it didn't even I didn't think about the
spanking part of it because she felt so bad.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Yeah, mine did the same thing.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
My mom crying while she's spanking you.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
I actually respect his mom for that. I do because
I think far too many people start spanking because they've
they don't know what else to do, and they just go,
I gotta get control, so they just start spanking, right,
And it sounds like his mother was thoughtful about it,
and I'm sure it's she was probably spanked as a child.
(01:32):
You know, we learned from our parents. Doctor Wendy will
tell you about that later on in her show. But
I think his mother was probably like, I don't want
to have to spank you. But this is what I
know is discipline goes so well.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
I get that I am Dutch in Indonesian and for
all of the Dutch and Dutch indos in southern California,
I had the wooden spoon. It wasn't a hand, yeah,
you know, it wasn't a sandal. It was the wooden spoon.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Let's I want to get into your Dutch Indonesian thing
in a little bit, Andrew, because I feel like you
probably were some sort of descendant of an explorer. But
aside from that, I had the same thing, except my
mother started breaking the spoons off on my keyster.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh wow, hit.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, she broke too many spoons. And so then my
folks were having some remodeling done and she had the
carpenter cut her out a paddle that fit her hand,
and she kept that on top of the refrigerator.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
She didn't do the whole drill the holes through it.
Speaker 5 (02:34):
Wait wait a second, hold on, Yeah, your mom had
a custom paddle made.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yes, wow, yeah, and that was she named it. That
was Peter paddle. And you're not making this up. I'm
not making this up. No, your mom leveled up. Wow,
yeah she did. But she also, like this guy's mom,
she says that she could never hit us more than
three times because she felt so horrible about it. So
I think my mom was in the same boat where
(02:59):
it was. She kind of felt like, I have to
do this because this is this is the means of
getting the behavior out of you that I that I desire.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
And so did you ever have the ghost stand in
the corner or sit at the table like or write
sentences out?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
None of that.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I did that in school, But you know, I do remember.
I don't think she even remembers this. There was one
time that I was I must have been I don't know,
five years old or something. And I remember that she
told me I had to sit in the chair for
fifteen minutes, and I remember that being the worst fifteen minutes.
And it was a comfy chair. It wasn't like I
was sitting in a hard wooden kitchen chair. But just
(03:38):
the fact that I couldn't move, I couldn't I wasn't
allowed to speak, and I couldn't move for fifteen minutes,
that was worse than any spanking. Looking back on it now,
I mean, I'm sure I would have chosen the chair
nine times out of ten, or probably ten times out
of ten back then because the fear of the spanking.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
But honestly, that was worse sitting in the chair.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
When I was growing up, I got spank my my mother,
my father, and both of my grandmothers.
Speaker 6 (04:04):
In fact, one time my grandmother broke the yard stick.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Oake me yard stick, amateur. Some kids need it, some
kids don't. I was definitely a kid that needs a spanking.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Sounds like they just lined up like the scene from
Airplane to spank that one. Mom, Dad, grandma, grandma, everybody
bring their own. It's it be my own stick, all right.
Speaker 7 (04:26):
And then finally, yeah, Chris, you got me thinking about this.
Uh Menindez brothers with this whole spanking or no spanking situation. Now,
I'm wondering did they get spanked too much or not enough?
What caused them to be these killer freaks?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I don't know. Can you give me some input on that?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, I mean according to them, it's the sexual abuse
is what did it, which is I think worse than spanking.
But yeah, that's what That's why there may be a
re sentencing hearing. I don't know, but that's what they say.
I'm not going to weigh in as to whether or
not it's true. I don't have any idea. I wasn't there.
Speaking of spankings, there's a Wisconsin judge who's definitely getting
(05:12):
a slamp on the wrist. I don't know that she's
going to get a spanking for it. Because this Wisconsin
judge was protecting an undocumented immigrant and the undocumented immigrant
was in her courtroom when Ice showed up, and she
helped usher the undocumented immigrant out of the back door.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I'm not so sure.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Because you've probably seen the protests around this, I'm not
so sure this is the hill people want to die of.
Speaker 8 (05:39):
According to a federal criminal complaint. Judge Dugan is charged
with two counts of obstruction, including concealing a man illegally
to prevent his arrest. The thirteen page complaint alleges Dugan
helped Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant, avoid arrest by
ICE agents at the court building on April eighteen.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Uh huh.
Speaker 8 (05:58):
Flores Ruiz was before for Judge Dugan for a criminal
court appearance after he was accused of domestic battery following
an alleged fight with a roommate. The Department of Homeland
Security says Flores Ruiz entered the US illegally twice, and
agents were outside Judge Dugan's courtroom waiting to arrest him
on an administrative warrant. Witnesses told federal investigators that when
(06:20):
Dugan learned ICE agents were outside her court she became
visibly angry, calling the situation absurd. The complaint says Judge
Dugan then told the arrest team to go to the
Chief Judge's office to speak with them about the permissibility
of making the arrest inside the courthouse. According to the complaint,
Dugan then allegedly escorted Flores Ruiz out of her courtroom
(06:41):
through a jury door to a non public area.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Oh she pulled a look over there trick.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Yeah, but these are courthouses. There's got to be security
footage of something.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
But even if there's even if there's footage, she still
was just trying to delay the actual the practical action
of old deal.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Well alleged. I mean, like you said, it's probably footage.
Speaker 8 (07:03):
An attorney representing the judge issuing a statement saying, in part,
Hannessy Dugan has committed herself to the rule of law
and the principles of due process for her entire career
as a lawyer and a judge. Judge Dugan will defend
herself vigorously and looks forward to being exonerated.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
All right, I'm sure she will.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
However, we've heard a bunch of stories about people being
picked up who don't have any criminal history, about family
members being deported, about people who have asylum that are
being deported.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
We've got two people anyway that have been ordered brought back.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Which of course the administration so far as is planting
those orders.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
But I don't know that this is the guy.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I mean, the guy's been deported twice and he's in
court for beating the hell out of his roommate. I mean,
when we talk about immigration and fixing the system and
we say let's deport the bad guys and keep the
good guys.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Pretty sure somebody has been deported twice.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
And then is in court for beating the hell out
of their roommate is one of those that you go
probably not one of the best and the brightest.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I just don't know that that.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
I mean, I understand the rule of law.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
I understand the practical the the practical the ideological argument,
the theoretical argument, the philosophical argument, all of that. I
get it. I get it, But I don't know that
this is the one that's gonna that's gonna focus people.
I just don't think this is gonna focus people very well. Meanwhile,
(08:33):
I feel kind of guilty because a number of people
got arrested, and I think it might have been my fault.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I'll tell you why that is. Next.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Chris Merril caf I AM six forty. We're live everywhere
on the iHeart Radio app.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Chris Merril CAFI AM six forty more stimulating talk on
demand anytime in the iHeart Radio app, you'll find this
show under the featured Segments podcast I appreciate The producer
Kaila keeps telling me to remind people of that. Thank
you kill You're very nice. Coming up here in the
six o'clock hour, there's a story about how views on
spanking have shifted globally, but in the United States, the
(09:14):
majority of people still support being able to wallop your
kid if you think they need it. So were you
spanked as a kid and did you or do you
spank yours? Now that's our talkback question. If you're on
the kfi ise iHeartRadio app the KFI page on there,
you'll see the talkback button. Just click on That allows
(09:36):
you to record a message and if it's worth a crap,
we might play it on the air.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
It's not, well, that's why you didn't hear yourself.
Speaker 9 (09:42):
Hey guys, jen X here checking in. Yeah, when I
was younger, my mom would get this wooden spoon out
and she would spank me with it, and I deserved it,
and I'll never forget she busted that spoon in half
one time and I just couldn't stop laughing. I thought
it was the funniest thing. And then like a week later,
she had like this, like a set of of twelve.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
All my outstanding really the wooden spoon. Yeah, but they
never they never broke one on your highnie though.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Huh No.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
But my mom decided to carry the tradition on to
my younger brothers, okay, a ten year difference, and one
of them did break the wooden spoon. Huh and same reaction.
He laughed so hard.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Oh man, that's when your mom went out and got
one of those nice stainless steel sets.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
No. No, the worst.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Part about the wooden spoon breaking is that mom was
mad at me after that until she got another wooden spoon,
not because she didn't get to fulfill the rest of
the punishment, but because then she didn't have the wooden
spoon to cook with, so that she had to use
like a different like, you know, the slotted spoon or
something she didn't want, So it was kind of a
(10:51):
double whammy.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
It was not her, Chris, Yeah, my mother withheld the fiber,
withheld the fiber. Do you know what that means? No, Kayla,
do you know what that means? Is that is that all?
He said? No idea, Chris, Yeah, my mother withheld the fiber.
(11:15):
Does that mean that his mother made him constipated? That's
what I would That's what I would think to the.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
Bathroom, I get it right, because fiber makes you, makes
you go a lot. So maybe he was staying so
hard that the fiber was like did not work.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
No, No, that that seems pretty made up. Andrew, I
don't know if that makes sense.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
I'm trying to reach I'm trying to decipher what he's
trying to say.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Love when I love when good comedy you have to
kind of connect a two C and you have to
sort of fill in the blank.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
But I'm not finding the blank in that one. Yeah, sorry,
my bad man. His mom didn't starve him. I think
that that's that's the most important thing.
Speaker 7 (11:52):
Yeah, okay, Yeah, Chris epilogue, the spanking no spanking thing
and Menendez and the sexual whole scene and ah god,
the whole thing is just so disgusting. But I just
want you to think about this particular perspective. Maybe spanking,
what's part of this sexual abuse.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Or whatever their claiming.
Speaker 7 (12:15):
I mean, you know, in today's world, it's things possible.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Well it was the eighties world and it was still
anything was possible.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
So I don't know, I don't know. I feel kind
of bad.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Did you guys happen to see the story about the
day laborers that got picked up? And I feel like
this was a suggestion I made a couple of months ago.
I said, if you just want to go and find
people to deport, just cruise through the home depot parking
lot and.
Speaker 10 (12:40):
Lo and behold, several cars abandoned at this home depot
parking lot in Pomona after a group of day workers
were rounded up and taken into custady Tuesday. Fabian Paco
was also a day worker.
Speaker 11 (12:51):
He says he.
Speaker 10 (12:52):
Knows some of the people, but doesn't know where they
are now.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Yeah, they're being the same.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I feel kind of bad because I thought, I mean,
if you just want to have some easy wins, you
want to start patting your numbers a little bit, just
zip on through the home depot parking lot.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
And sure enough they did. So, Uh, that's my bad. Yeah,
you gotta stop giving advice on this show, man.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I know it, I know it. My bad, My bad,
Sorry about that. I feel feel kind of horrible about that.
All right, we'll do the tariff tango here in just
a few moments. And we'll find out if you have
a small business, just how badly or how well might
you be affected.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
That is next.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Chris merril can't f I AM six forty. We're live
everywhere on the iHeart Radio app.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
AM six forty more stimulating talk on demand anytime in
the iHeart Radio App.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
I'm Chris merrill U.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
If you have been to any of the tourist destinations
of late, you may have noticed traffic is a little better.
Speaker 11 (13:55):
Overseas visitors to the US, excluding Canada and Mexico, we're
down twelve percent this March compared to March of twenty
twenty four. One country in particular is causing concern for
California tourism. Any countries you're not seeing as much of
that you used to see.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
A lot of yeh, Canadians not seeing a lot of Canadians.
And when they do come down here, they got friction,
you know, they got a little bit conflicts. Canadians with friction.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Whoo.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Sometimes they don't even say thank you more than once
or twice.
Speaker 11 (14:25):
Visits from Canadians were down twelve percent in February from
twenty twenty four. According to Visit California, vendors we talked
to are hoping for an improvement, but not necessarily expecting one.
According Latin Karment Diggers and NBC four Naws.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
So Canadians are mad.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Not only are they upset about the whole fifty first
state thing, but they're all so a little miffed about
the tariffs. Remember those tariffs that went into effect early
on with Canada, Mexico and China. Those those are still
in effect, and in fact, so are the other initial tariffs.
It's the the reciprocal to recip tariffs. I know, it
(15:02):
feels like exceptional all of a sudden. Joining us right
now is Ben Johnston. He is the COO of Capitis,
which is a small business lender in marketplace.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Ben, pleasure to have you here.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I think there still is some confusion about the tariffs
because there still are.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
We do have tariffs on globally.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
What are you advising to small businesses right now? This
has got to be This has got to be a
I don't know, confusing time.
Speaker 6 (15:28):
It's a confusing time and it's an expensive time because
for a lot of small businesses, tariffs are driving up
the cost of goods across all of the products that
they're buying and selling. So this means higher cost to
purchase equipment used in production, upgrade facilities, purchase inventory. Since
a lot of small businesses I've used end up financing
(15:52):
these expenses up front, that means higher financing costs for
them across the board as well. So we're seeing wholesalers
and retailers really impacted by this. Manufacturers, construct contractors who
are importing wood and cement, armers who have to import
fertilizer and machinery, Restaurants who need to import fruits and vegetables, seafood, wine,
(16:19):
all the stuff that you know makes going out so exciting.
And then they're dealing many businesses they're dealing with counter
tariffs as well. So small businesses that export goods overseas
are dealing with China's counter tariffs that they've put in.
They've imposed retaliatory tariffs of one hundred and twenty five
(16:41):
percent on most US items. They've suspended imports on certain
agricultural products, and they've imposed export controls on rare interals
which our companies are using. So you know, we're seeing
a lot of impact on small business across the board,
(17:02):
and you know, there are some things that small businesses
can do to try to lessen this impact, although you know,
I really don't think there's a silver bullet out there
for small businesses. One we like to tell our small
businesses if you can look for domestic substitutes. Now. Admittedly,
this is pretty hard given how integrated most global supply
(17:24):
chains are today, and most manufacturers can't easily find a
substitute being manufactured in the US, and even if they can,
well everyone's looking for that right now, so you can
expect the cost of those US manufactured goods to be
going up as well. Another thing we're telling people is
(17:45):
to seek suppliers from lower tariff countries if at all possible. Obviously,
China at one hundred and forty five percent tariffs, that's
a that's a huge number. Mexico and Canada are somewhat
more reasonable for most products that are around twenty five percent,
and then the rest of the global economy is resting
(18:05):
around ten percent right now. So there are some opportunities
for supply chain arbitrage out there, but it's really tough
to make some of those those changes, especially when you're
not sure how long those tariffs are going to be
in place, and if these are in fact final tariffs.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Ben Johnsin is a hang on, Ben, let me just
bring everybody up to speed here. If they're just joining us.
Ben Johnson is the chief operating officer as a capitist,
and they're a small business lender in a marketplace.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Can they play?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Can people play the game and import from not China
by making the you know, the Chinese goods that they
need and then having them shipped, say to Singapore first
and then come to the United States.
Speaker 6 (18:50):
Well, technically that could be possible, but there has to
be some material work done in Singapore in your example,
before it can be legally renamed, retagged, and brought into
the United States. So it's you know, I think people
are trying to play that game, and I definitely think
(19:12):
people are trying to cheat the system by relabeling things
and shipping them to different parts of the world. But
if you want to do it legally, that is a
much more challenging option.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Ben, you talked about some of the small businesses that
are delaying excuse me that you know they're upgrades the
materials that they need in order to upgrade their facilities,
whether it's a planned whether it's a restaurant, whatever that
might be.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Those costs are going up.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Are their businesses you're that you're seeing are slowing expansion
as a result of the the I mean there's an
increased cost now, but also all that uncertainty.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
That's the word.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I mean, that's going to be the word of twenty
twenty times, uncertainty, right, I mean, are they delayed?
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Are they delaying that?
Speaker 6 (19:55):
It's certainly the word of the hour. I think responsible
businesses are pausing a lot of their growth plans for
the moment and trying to understand what the tariffs are
going to be and mean for them long term. They're
exploring their supply chains and trying to figure out where
(20:17):
to position their supply chains for the future. But right now,
given so much uncertainty around tariffs and interest rates and
the state of the global economy, I think a lot
of people are putting expansion plans on pause, and they're
just trying to retrench and make sure that their core
goods that they're selling are profitable and that they can
(20:40):
maintain their bottom line as they are today.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Is there anybody, and maybe this is harder for small businesses.
Is there anybody that's eating some of the cost on
the tariffs? I've heard about early on that you may
have some companies that say, well, we'll absorb this to
start with, but we can't do that forever. Are you
seeing that that? Is that something that can even be
done on a small business scale.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
I think it all depends on the magnitude of the
tariff that's being handled by the small business. I think
if the tariff is a ten percent tariff, they can
probably eat a portion of that. Really depending on the
business's margins. Some businesses a very wide margins, other businesses
of very small margins. I do think that businesses are
(21:27):
trying to tighten their belts as tightly as they can
to limit what they pass on to their customers. But
for someone who's importing from China and has just been
hit by one hundred and forty five percent tariff, you know,
I don't know about business that imports from China that
could withstand that type of tariff and not need to
(21:50):
pass it on to their customer base. I just don't
think that's realistic.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Ben Johnston is the chief operating officer of Capitists, or
a small business lender in a marketplace. Ben, sit tight here.
I got to check on traffic and we'll get a
news update here in just a moment. But I gotta
wonder if if anybody's doing okay right now? In fact,
are we actually seeing a tariff bump for some people?
And you heard Ben say some places are tightening the belt.
(22:16):
What does that look like and what does that mean
to your future with your company? That is next Chris
merrilf I AM six forty. We live everywhere on the
iHeart Radio app.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand Chris.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Merrill six forty more stimulating talk on demand anytime in
the iHeartRadio app, and our show featured under the featured
segments section of the podcast pages or whatever it is
at KFI AM six forty dot com. The tariff tango
continues on. Some people are trying to figure out their
way around it, and they're getting suckered.
Speaker 12 (22:50):
Chinese merchants claiming to either manufacture actual designer goods or
to repro to make things that are out of the
same factories of those are now green, taking to TikTok
and saying we've got the stuff you want and you
can avoid tariffs by coming straight to us, and we'll
send it straight to you. A very appealing offer. There's
several problems here. First of all, there's a lot of
(23:13):
scams going on here. I mean, these are people who
you don't know, merchants you've never dealt with directly, who
are asking you to send them money. That's always a
red flag, and that alone should end this conversation.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
But yep, that alone should end the conversation.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
People are still doing it is we all want to
save a few dollars, and this feels like an opportunity
for scammers. Ben Johnston is the COO of Capitis, which
is a small business lender in a marketplace, and Ben, well,
we do have scammers that are out there. One of
the things that I'm seeing are actually American companies that
are trying to capitalize on this, not the least of
which are the auto manufacturers. Ford comes out and says,
(23:50):
we do more in the United States than anybody else.
And then they say, and we're offering employee pricing. I
just saw an ad for I think it was Jeep
that said they're offering something like seven grand off or
employee pricing or something.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
Of that nature are these car companies.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I mean, they make it sound like they're not hurting
at all, but we thought that they were. We thought
the car companies were going to get hurt as much
or more than most anywhere else.
Speaker 6 (24:16):
Well, I think they'll be hurt if some of the
threatened tariffs between Canada, Mexico and the United States are
truly implemented. For the automakers, I think the automakers recently
got a reprieve from some of those announced tariffs, least
for a period of time. And while tariffs therefore have
(24:38):
gone up on the rest of the world by ten
percent and that would limit imports from Japan or from Europe,
that certainly is going to help out the Big three
in the United States. But you know, it's a matter
of what will happen next in terms of how tariffs
impact the automakers.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Here, I see that a couple of companies from China,
Shean and Timu, are both staying their prices are going
up because of the tariffs. That, however, I would say,
is an argument for the administration that well, their prices
are going up, which means that that's going to be
good for American companies, right. I mean, could you make
(25:18):
the argument that some of these American companies that were
being undercut by the cheap manufacturers overseas now have a
more level playing field.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
Absolutely, I mean, I think this could be a if
there are if there are manufacturers in the United States
who are directly competing against manufacturers in China, that could
be a boon for any US manufacturer who is manufacturing
for a domestic audience. Okay, The problem is a lot
of US manufacturers actually import their raw materials and their
(25:52):
component parts that they then assemble and put the finishing
touches on in the United States before selling. And if
their raw materials are going up dramatically, you know, that's
almost having the same impact on them as being a
wholesaleer bringing that those goods into the US.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
What does it look like, Ben, you mentioned that some
places are tightening the belt right now. They're being cautious
because of the uncertainty that we have in the environment
right now. So what does that look like tightening the belt?
Does that mean layoffs? Does that mean? I mean we
talked about delaying some upgrades or expansion might be delayed
for a while, But I mean, were we talking about
(26:33):
the potential for jobs being at risk here.
Speaker 6 (26:37):
I certainly think jobs are at risk in the long
run if we stay on the current path. One thing
I would say is that we haven't seen a real
pullback in the economic numbers as of yet.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Now.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
Most of these tariffs have only been in for less
than a month right now, and so I think there's
a wait and see going on to see how the
tariffs are truly impacting the bottom line and how consumer
spending reacts to all of this. At the moment, you know,
(27:12):
we haven't seen CPI numbers spike yet, but I think
we're all waiting to see what the April numbers look
like when they're published in early May, to see if
we start to see some spike in the overall cost
of goods and a pullback from the American consumer. If
we see those things, I definitely expect businesses to start
(27:34):
belt tightening. Maybe that doesn't mean layoffs immediately, but if
a contraction continues to progress throughout the year, for sure
we're going to start seeing layoffs.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Ben Johnson is the chief operating officer at Capitist of
small business lender in a marketplace.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
What does this do for somebody like you?
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I mean your whole You lend money to small businesses
in one to expand this is going to be tricky
for you to navigate.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
It is tricky for us. Fortunately, we have a stable
and strong group of small businesses who have been through
cycles in the past and are doing the prudent thing
and doing the math that we're talking about doing right now,
and we want to be there to support them now.
(28:24):
No matter what happens. Small business owners are incredibly creative
and incredibly flexible, and whenever there is a challenge posed,
they are the first ones to find a creative solution
and a way to work through the issue. And it's
going to be our job to be there for them,
(28:45):
hopefully to help finance what may be a large repatriation
and manufacturing back to the United States. So in the
coming years, certainly that type of work is going to
create a need for tremendous capital and the small business community,
and we want to be there to support them. But
(29:06):
certainly we have to keep an eye on the numbers,
as does everyone else.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Who's going to do those jobs. Are we doing all
robots now?
Speaker 6 (29:14):
That is an excellent question, you know, especially given the
curtail and of immigration simultaneous to these tariff changes. You know,
it's hard to imagine bringing back millions of jobs to
the United States when you have an unemployment rate of
(29:34):
four percent and doing it without automation. So I think
automation has to be core to the success of the
future of the US manufacturing space. But certainly it will
also bring jobs back to the United States.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I think those all those geeks from the robotics club
in high school are going to have all the jobs
in the future. They're going to be the ones in
charge of making sure the manufacturing plans run.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
That should be the that's the future, man.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
They've been in high demand for years now, and I
don't see that slowing down.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
Even higher now.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Ben Johnson, the chief operating officer of Capitist Ben Pleasure
talking with you, man. I hope, I hope you get
a chance to do it again. We're gonna keep you
in the rollodex, my man.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Real enjoyed it, yep, thank you? All right?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
All right, geeks, hear that, Raoul, all those guys that
that used to stuff me in the locker, all those
geeks in high school that used to give me the wedgies,
and whatnot because I was actually below them on the
totem pole.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
You know, you had, you had the jocks, the geeks,
and then me.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
They're gonna be running the world, man, just like their
mother's always told them.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
All right in just a moment. There's no business like
show business. Great heads. Kim six forty. We live everywhere
in the iHeartRadio
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Ap KF, I AM sixty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I Am six forty the talkback question today. If you're
on the iHeart video app, just hit the microphone icon
that allows you to leave us a message later on
the show here at the six o'clock hour. There's been
a shift worldwide. There's a global shift in the views
on spankings, but in the United States the majority of
adults still support spanking. So the question is, were you
(00:27):
spanked as a kid, and then do you did you
spank your kids or do you spank your kids. I'm
just curious about what you have to say, and a
few of you had thoughts.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Oh boy, oh boy, the threat of getting spanking spanked
was always there. Yeah, and the way till your father
gets home was the worst of the worst. But my
mom did spank me every once in a while. I
always had it coming, and even as a little kid,
I felt so bad because my mother would just be
crying if I don't know why you did this to me.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Ami feels so horrible.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Oh man, it didn't even I didn't think about the
spanking part of it because she felt so bad.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Yeah, mine did the same thing.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
My mom crying while she's spanking you.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
I actually respect his mom for that. I do because
I think far too many people start spanking because they've
they don't know what else to do, and they just go,
I gotta get control, so they just start spanking, right,
And it sounds like his mother was thoughtful about it,
and I'm sure it's she was probably spanked as a child.
(01:32):
You know, we learned from our parents. Doctor Wendy will
tell you about that later on in her show. But
I think his mother was probably like, I don't want
to have to spank you. But this is what I
know is discipline goes so well.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
I get that I am Dutch in Indonesian and for
all of the Dutch and Dutch indos in southern California,
I had the wooden spoon. It wasn't a hand, yeah,
you know, it wasn't a sandal. It was the wooden spoon.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Let's I want to get into your Dutch Indonesian thing
in a little bit, Andrew, because I feel like you
probably were some sort of descendant of an explorer. But
aside from that, I had the same thing, except my
mother started breaking the spoons off on my keyster.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh wow, hit.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, she broke too many spoons. And so then my
folks were having some remodeling done and she had the
carpenter cut her out a paddle that fit her hand,
and she kept that on top of the refrigerator.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
She didn't do the whole drill the holes through it.
Speaker 5 (02:34):
Wait wait a second, hold on, Yeah, your mom had
a custom paddle made.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yes, wow, yeah, and that was she named it. That
was Peter paddle. And you're not making this up. I'm
not making this up. No, your mom leveled up. Wow,
yeah she did. But she also, like this guy's mom,
she says that she could never hit us more than
three times because she felt so horrible about it. So
I think my mom was in the same boat where
(02:59):
it was. She kind of felt like, I have to
do this because this is this is the means of
getting the behavior out of you that I that I desire.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
And so did you ever have the ghost stand in
the corner or sit at the table like or write
sentences out?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
None of that.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I did that in school, But you know, I do remember.
I don't think she even remembers this. There was one
time that I was I must have been I don't know,
five years old or something. And I remember that she
told me I had to sit in the chair for
fifteen minutes, and I remember that being the worst fifteen minutes.
And it was a comfy chair. It wasn't like I
was sitting in a hard wooden kitchen chair. But just
(03:38):
the fact that I couldn't move, I couldn't I wasn't
allowed to speak, and I couldn't move for fifteen minutes,
that was worse than any spanking. Looking back on it now,
I mean, I'm sure I would have chosen the chair
nine times out of ten, or probably ten times out
of ten back then because the fear of the spanking.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
But honestly, that was worse sitting in the chair.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
When I was growing up, I got spank my my mother,
my father, and both of my grandmothers.
Speaker 6 (04:04):
In fact, one time my grandmother broke the yard stick.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Oake me yard stick, amateur. Some kids need it, some
kids don't. I was definitely a kid that needs a spanking.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Sounds like they just lined up like the scene from
Airplane to spank that one. Mom, Dad, grandma, grandma, everybody
bring their own. It's it be my own stick, all right.
Speaker 7 (04:26):
And then finally, yeah, Chris, you got me thinking about this.
Uh Menindez brothers with this whole spanking or no spanking situation. Now,
I'm wondering did they get spanked too much or not enough?
What caused them to be these killer freaks?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I don't know. Can you give me some input on that?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, I mean according to them, it's the sexual abuse
is what did it, which is I think worse than spanking.
But yeah, that's what That's why there may be a
re sentencing hearing. I don't know, but that's what they say.
I'm not going to weigh in as to whether or
not it's true. I don't have any idea. I wasn't there.
Speaking of spankings, there's a Wisconsin judge who's definitely getting
(05:12):
a slamp on the wrist. I don't know that she's
going to get a spanking for it. Because this Wisconsin
judge was protecting an undocumented immigrant and the undocumented immigrant
was in her courtroom when Ice showed up, and she
helped usher the undocumented immigrant out of the back door.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I'm not so sure.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Because you've probably seen the protests around this, I'm not
so sure this is the hill people want to die of.
Speaker 8 (05:39):
According to a federal criminal complaint. Judge Dugan is charged
with two counts of obstruction, including concealing a man illegally
to prevent his arrest. The thirteen page complaint alleges Dugan
helped Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant, avoid arrest by
ICE agents at the court building on April eighteen.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Uh huh.
Speaker 8 (05:58):
Flores Ruiz was before for Judge Dugan for a criminal
court appearance after he was accused of domestic battery following
an alleged fight with a roommate. The Department of Homeland
Security says Flores Ruiz entered the US illegally twice, and
agents were outside Judge Dugan's courtroom waiting to arrest him
on an administrative warrant. Witnesses told federal investigators that when
(06:20):
Dugan learned ICE agents were outside her court she became
visibly angry, calling the situation absurd. The complaint says Judge
Dugan then told the arrest team to go to the
Chief Judge's office to speak with them about the permissibility
of making the arrest inside the courthouse. According to the complaint,
Dugan then allegedly escorted Flores Ruiz out of her courtroom
(06:41):
through a jury door to a non public area.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Oh she pulled a look over there trick.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Yeah, but these are courthouses. There's got to be security
footage of something.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
But even if there's even if there's footage, she still
was just trying to delay the actual the practical action
of old deal.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Well alleged. I mean, like you said, it's probably footage.
Speaker 8 (07:03):
An attorney representing the judge issuing a statement saying, in part,
Hannessy Dugan has committed herself to the rule of law
and the principles of due process for her entire career
as a lawyer and a judge. Judge Dugan will defend
herself vigorously and looks forward to being exonerated.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
All right, I'm sure she will.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
However, we've heard a bunch of stories about people being
picked up who don't have any criminal history, about family
members being deported, about people who have asylum that are
being deported.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
We've got two people anyway that have been ordered brought back.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Which of course the administration so far as is planting
those orders.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
But I don't know that this is the guy.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I mean, the guy's been deported twice and he's in
court for beating the hell out of his roommate. I mean,
when we talk about immigration and fixing the system and
we say let's deport the bad guys and keep the
good guys.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Pretty sure somebody has been deported twice.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
And then is in court for beating the hell out
of their roommate is one of those that you go
probably not one of the best and the brightest.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I just don't know that that.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
I mean, I understand the rule of law.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
I understand the practical the the practical the ideological argument,
the theoretical argument, the philosophical argument, all of that. I
get it. I get it, But I don't know that
this is the one that's gonna that's gonna focus people.
I just don't think this is gonna focus people very well. Meanwhile,
(08:33):
I feel kind of guilty because a number of people
got arrested, and I think it might have been my fault.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I'll tell you why that is. Next.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Chris Merril caf I AM six forty. We're live everywhere
on the iHeart Radio app.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Chris Merril CAFI AM six forty more stimulating talk on
demand anytime in the iHeart Radio app, you'll find this
show under the featured Segments podcast I appreciate The producer
Kaila keeps telling me to remind people of that. Thank
you kill You're very nice. Coming up here in the
six o'clock hour, there's a story about how views on
spanking have shifted globally, but in the United States, the
(09:14):
majority of people still support being able to wallop your
kid if you think they need it. So were you
spanked as a kid and did you or do you
spank yours? Now that's our talkback question. If you're on
the kfi ise iHeartRadio app the KFI page on there,
you'll see the talkback button. Just click on That allows
(09:36):
you to record a message and if it's worth a crap,
we might play it on the air.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
It's not, well, that's why you didn't hear yourself.
Speaker 9 (09:42):
Hey guys, jen X here checking in. Yeah, when I
was younger, my mom would get this wooden spoon out
and she would spank me with it, and I deserved it,
and I'll never forget she busted that spoon in half
one time and I just couldn't stop laughing. I thought
it was the funniest thing. And then like a week later,
she had like this, like a set of of twelve.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
All my outstanding really the wooden spoon. Yeah, but they
never they never broke one on your highnie though.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Huh No.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
But my mom decided to carry the tradition on to
my younger brothers, okay, a ten year difference, and one
of them did break the wooden spoon. Huh and same reaction.
He laughed so hard.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Oh man, that's when your mom went out and got
one of those nice stainless steel sets.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
No. No, the worst.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Part about the wooden spoon breaking is that mom was
mad at me after that until she got another wooden spoon,
not because she didn't get to fulfill the rest of
the punishment, but because then she didn't have the wooden
spoon to cook with, so that she had to use
like a different like, you know, the slotted spoon or
something she didn't want, So it was kind of a
(10:51):
double whammy.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
It was not her, Chris, Yeah, my mother withheld the fiber,
withheld the fiber. Do you know what that means? No, Kayla,
do you know what that means? Is that is that all?
He said? No idea, Chris, Yeah, my mother withheld the fiber.
(11:15):
Does that mean that his mother made him constipated? That's
what I would That's what I would think to the.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
Bathroom, I get it right, because fiber makes you, makes
you go a lot. So maybe he was staying so
hard that the fiber was like did not work.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
No, No, that that seems pretty made up. Andrew, I
don't know if that makes sense.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
I'm trying to reach I'm trying to decipher what he's
trying to say.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Love when I love when good comedy you have to
kind of connect a two C and you have to
sort of fill in the blank.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
But I'm not finding the blank in that one. Yeah, sorry,
my bad man. His mom didn't starve him. I think
that that's that's the most important thing.
Speaker 7 (11:52):
Yeah, okay, Yeah, Chris epilogue, the spanking no spanking thing
and Menendez and the sexual whole scene and ah god,
the whole thing is just so disgusting. But I just
want you to think about this particular perspective. Maybe spanking,
what's part of this sexual abuse.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Or whatever their claiming.
Speaker 7 (12:15):
I mean, you know, in today's world, it's things possible.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Well it was the eighties world and it was still
anything was possible.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
So I don't know, I don't know. I feel kind
of bad.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Did you guys happen to see the story about the
day laborers that got picked up? And I feel like
this was a suggestion I made a couple of months ago.
I said, if you just want to go and find
people to deport, just cruise through the home depot parking
lot and.
Speaker 10 (12:40):
Lo and behold, several cars abandoned at this home depot
parking lot in Pomona after a group of day workers
were rounded up and taken into custady Tuesday. Fabian Paco
was also a day worker.
Speaker 11 (12:51):
He says he.
Speaker 10 (12:52):
Knows some of the people, but doesn't know where they
are now.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Yeah, they're being the same.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I feel kind of bad because I thought, I mean,
if you just want to have some easy wins, you
want to start patting your numbers a little bit, just
zip on through the home depot parking lot.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
And sure enough they did. So, Uh, that's my bad. Yeah,
you gotta stop giving advice on this show, man.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I know it, I know it. My bad, My bad,
Sorry about that. I feel feel kind of horrible about that.
All right, we'll do the tariff tango here in just
a few moments. And we'll find out if you have
a small business, just how badly or how well might
you be affected.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
That is next.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Chris merril can't f I AM six forty. We're live
everywhere on the iHeart Radio app.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
AM six forty more stimulating talk on demand anytime in
the iHeart Radio App.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
I'm Chris merrill U.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
If you have been to any of the tourist destinations
of late, you may have noticed traffic is a little better.
Speaker 11 (13:55):
Overseas visitors to the US, excluding Canada and Mexico, we're
down twelve percent this March compared to March of twenty
twenty four. One country in particular is causing concern for
California tourism. Any countries you're not seeing as much of
that you used to see.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
A lot of yeh, Canadians not seeing a lot of Canadians.
And when they do come down here, they got friction,
you know, they got a little bit conflicts. Canadians with friction.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Whoo.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Sometimes they don't even say thank you more than once
or twice.
Speaker 11 (14:25):
Visits from Canadians were down twelve percent in February from
twenty twenty four. According to Visit California, vendors we talked
to are hoping for an improvement, but not necessarily expecting one.
According Latin Karment Diggers and NBC four Naws.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
So Canadians are mad.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Not only are they upset about the whole fifty first
state thing, but they're all so a little miffed about
the tariffs. Remember those tariffs that went into effect early
on with Canada, Mexico and China. Those those are still
in effect, and in fact, so are the other initial tariffs.
It's the the reciprocal to recip tariffs. I know, it
(15:02):
feels like exceptional all of a sudden. Joining us right
now is Ben Johnston. He is the COO of Capitis,
which is a small business lender in marketplace.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Ben, pleasure to have you here.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I think there still is some confusion about the tariffs
because there still are.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
We do have tariffs on globally.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
What are you advising to small businesses right now? This
has got to be This has got to be a
I don't know, confusing time.
Speaker 6 (15:28):
It's a confusing time and it's an expensive time because
for a lot of small businesses, tariffs are driving up
the cost of goods across all of the products that
they're buying and selling. So this means higher cost to
purchase equipment used in production, upgrade facilities, purchase inventory. Since
a lot of small businesses I've used end up financing
(15:52):
these expenses up front, that means higher financing costs for
them across the board as well. So we're seeing wholesalers
and retailers really impacted by this. Manufacturers, construct contractors who
are importing wood and cement, armers who have to import
fertilizer and machinery, Restaurants who need to import fruits and vegetables, seafood, wine,
(16:19):
all the stuff that you know makes going out so exciting.
And then they're dealing many businesses they're dealing with counter
tariffs as well. So small businesses that export goods overseas
are dealing with China's counter tariffs that they've put in.
They've imposed retaliatory tariffs of one hundred and twenty five
(16:41):
percent on most US items. They've suspended imports on certain
agricultural products, and they've imposed export controls on rare interals
which our companies are using. So you know, we're seeing
a lot of impact on small business across the board,
(17:02):
and you know, there are some things that small businesses
can do to try to lessen this impact, although you know,
I really don't think there's a silver bullet out there
for small businesses. One we like to tell our small
businesses if you can look for domestic substitutes. Now. Admittedly,
this is pretty hard given how integrated most global supply
(17:24):
chains are today, and most manufacturers can't easily find a
substitute being manufactured in the US, and even if they can,
well everyone's looking for that right now, so you can
expect the cost of those US manufactured goods to be
going up as well. Another thing we're telling people is
(17:45):
to seek suppliers from lower tariff countries if at all possible. Obviously,
China at one hundred and forty five percent tariffs, that's
a that's a huge number. Mexico and Canada are somewhat
more reasonable for most products that are around twenty five percent,
and then the rest of the global economy is resting
(18:05):
around ten percent right now. So there are some opportunities
for supply chain arbitrage out there, but it's really tough
to make some of those those changes, especially when you're
not sure how long those tariffs are going to be
in place, and if these are in fact final tariffs.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Ben Johnsin is a hang on, Ben, let me just
bring everybody up to speed here. If they're just joining us.
Ben Johnson is the chief operating officer as a capitist,
and they're a small business lender in a marketplace.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Can they play?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Can people play the game and import from not China
by making the you know, the Chinese goods that they
need and then having them shipped, say to Singapore first
and then come to the United States.
Speaker 6 (18:50):
Well, technically that could be possible, but there has to
be some material work done in Singapore in your example,
before it can be legally renamed, retagged, and brought into
the United States. So it's you know, I think people
are trying to play that game, and I definitely think
(19:12):
people are trying to cheat the system by relabeling things
and shipping them to different parts of the world. But
if you want to do it legally, that is a
much more challenging option.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Ben, you talked about some of the small businesses that
are delaying excuse me that you know they're upgrades the
materials that they need in order to upgrade their facilities,
whether it's a planned whether it's a restaurant, whatever that
might be.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Those costs are going up.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Are their businesses you're that you're seeing are slowing expansion
as a result of the the I mean there's an
increased cost now, but also all that uncertainty.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
That's the word.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I mean, that's going to be the word of twenty
twenty times, uncertainty, right, I mean, are they delayed?
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Are they delaying that?
Speaker 6 (19:55):
It's certainly the word of the hour. I think responsible
businesses are pausing a lot of their growth plans for
the moment and trying to understand what the tariffs are
going to be and mean for them long term. They're
exploring their supply chains and trying to figure out where
(20:17):
to position their supply chains for the future. But right now,
given so much uncertainty around tariffs and interest rates and
the state of the global economy, I think a lot
of people are putting expansion plans on pause, and they're
just trying to retrench and make sure that their core
goods that they're selling are profitable and that they can
(20:40):
maintain their bottom line as they are today.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Is there anybody, and maybe this is harder for small businesses.
Is there anybody that's eating some of the cost on
the tariffs? I've heard about early on that you may
have some companies that say, well, we'll absorb this to
start with, but we can't do that forever. Are you
seeing that that? Is that something that can even be
done on a small business scale.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
I think it all depends on the magnitude of the
tariff that's being handled by the small business. I think
if the tariff is a ten percent tariff, they can
probably eat a portion of that. Really depending on the
business's margins. Some businesses a very wide margins, other businesses
of very small margins. I do think that businesses are
(21:27):
trying to tighten their belts as tightly as they can
to limit what they pass on to their customers. But
for someone who's importing from China and has just been
hit by one hundred and forty five percent tariff, you know,
I don't know about business that imports from China that
could withstand that type of tariff and not need to
(21:50):
pass it on to their customer base. I just don't
think that's realistic.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Ben Johnston is the chief operating officer of Capitists, or
a small business lender in a marketplace. Ben, sit tight here.
I got to check on traffic and we'll get a
news update here in just a moment. But I gotta
wonder if if anybody's doing okay right now? In fact,
are we actually seeing a tariff bump for some people?
And you heard Ben say some places are tightening the belt.
(22:16):
What does that look like and what does that mean
to your future with your company? That is next Chris
merrilf I AM six forty. We live everywhere on the
iHeart Radio app.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand Chris.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Merrill six forty more stimulating talk on demand anytime in
the iHeartRadio app, and our show featured under the featured
segments section of the podcast pages or whatever it is
at KFI AM six forty dot com. The tariff tango
continues on. Some people are trying to figure out their
way around it, and they're getting suckered.
Speaker 12 (22:50):
Chinese merchants claiming to either manufacture actual designer goods or
to repro to make things that are out of the
same factories of those are now green, taking to TikTok
and saying we've got the stuff you want and you
can avoid tariffs by coming straight to us, and we'll
send it straight to you. A very appealing offer. There's
several problems here. First of all, there's a lot of
(23:13):
scams going on here. I mean, these are people who
you don't know, merchants you've never dealt with directly, who
are asking you to send them money. That's always a
red flag, and that alone should end this conversation.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
But yep, that alone should end the conversation.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
People are still doing it is we all want to
save a few dollars, and this feels like an opportunity
for scammers. Ben Johnston is the COO of Capitis, which
is a small business lender in a marketplace, and Ben, well,
we do have scammers that are out there. One of
the things that I'm seeing are actually American companies that
are trying to capitalize on this, not the least of
which are the auto manufacturers. Ford comes out and says,
(23:50):
we do more in the United States than anybody else.
And then they say, and we're offering employee pricing. I
just saw an ad for I think it was Jeep
that said they're offering something like seven grand off or
employee pricing or something.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
Of that nature are these car companies.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I mean, they make it sound like they're not hurting
at all, but we thought that they were. We thought
the car companies were going to get hurt as much
or more than most anywhere else.
Speaker 6 (24:16):
Well, I think they'll be hurt if some of the
threatened tariffs between Canada, Mexico and the United States are
truly implemented. For the automakers, I think the automakers recently
got a reprieve from some of those announced tariffs, least
for a period of time. And while tariffs therefore have
(24:38):
gone up on the rest of the world by ten
percent and that would limit imports from Japan or from Europe,
that certainly is going to help out the Big three
in the United States. But you know, it's a matter
of what will happen next in terms of how tariffs
impact the automakers.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Here, I see that a couple of companies from China,
Shean and Timu, are both staying their prices are going
up because of the tariffs. That, however, I would say,
is an argument for the administration that well, their prices
are going up, which means that that's going to be
good for American companies, right. I mean, could you make
(25:18):
the argument that some of these American companies that were
being undercut by the cheap manufacturers overseas now have a
more level playing field.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
Absolutely, I mean, I think this could be a if
there are if there are manufacturers in the United States
who are directly competing against manufacturers in China, that could
be a boon for any US manufacturer who is manufacturing
for a domestic audience. Okay, The problem is a lot
of US manufacturers actually import their raw materials and their
(25:52):
component parts that they then assemble and put the finishing
touches on in the United States before selling. And if
their raw materials are going up dramatically, you know, that's
almost having the same impact on them as being a
wholesaleer bringing that those goods into the US.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
What does it look like, Ben, you mentioned that some
places are tightening the belt right now. They're being cautious
because of the uncertainty that we have in the environment
right now. So what does that look like tightening the belt?
Does that mean layoffs? Does that mean? I mean we
talked about delaying some upgrades or expansion might be delayed
for a while, But I mean, were we talking about
(26:33):
the potential for jobs being at risk here.
Speaker 6 (26:37):
I certainly think jobs are at risk in the long
run if we stay on the current path. One thing
I would say is that we haven't seen a real
pullback in the economic numbers as of yet.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Now.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
Most of these tariffs have only been in for less
than a month right now, and so I think there's
a wait and see going on to see how the
tariffs are truly impacting the bottom line and how consumer
spending reacts to all of this. At the moment, you know,
(27:12):
we haven't seen CPI numbers spike yet, but I think
we're all waiting to see what the April numbers look
like when they're published in early May, to see if
we start to see some spike in the overall cost
of goods and a pullback from the American consumer. If
we see those things, I definitely expect businesses to start
(27:34):
belt tightening. Maybe that doesn't mean layoffs immediately, but if
a contraction continues to progress throughout the year, for sure
we're going to start seeing layoffs.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Ben Johnson is the chief operating officer at Capitist of
small business lender in a marketplace.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
What does this do for somebody like you?
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I mean your whole You lend money to small businesses
in one to expand this is going to be tricky
for you to navigate.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
It is tricky for us. Fortunately, we have a stable
and strong group of small businesses who have been through
cycles in the past and are doing the prudent thing
and doing the math that we're talking about doing right now,
and we want to be there to support them now.
(28:24):
No matter what happens. Small business owners are incredibly creative
and incredibly flexible, and whenever there is a challenge posed,
they are the first ones to find a creative solution
and a way to work through the issue. And it's
going to be our job to be there for them,
(28:45):
hopefully to help finance what may be a large repatriation
and manufacturing back to the United States. So in the
coming years, certainly that type of work is going to
create a need for tremendous capital and the small business community,
and we want to be there to support them. But
(29:06):
certainly we have to keep an eye on the numbers,
as does everyone else.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Who's going to do those jobs. Are we doing all
robots now?
Speaker 6 (29:14):
That is an excellent question, you know, especially given the
curtail and of immigration simultaneous to these tariff changes. You know,
it's hard to imagine bringing back millions of jobs to
the United States when you have an unemployment rate of
(29:34):
four percent and doing it without automation. So I think
automation has to be core to the success of the
future of the US manufacturing space. But certainly it will
also bring jobs back to the United States.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I think those all those geeks from the robotics club
in high school are going to have all the jobs
in the future. They're going to be the ones in
charge of making sure the manufacturing plans run.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
That should be the that's the future, man.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
They've been in high demand for years now, and I
don't see that slowing down.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
Even higher now.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Ben Johnson, the chief operating officer of Capitist Ben Pleasure
talking with you, man. I hope, I hope you get
a chance to do it again. We're gonna keep you
in the rollodex, my man.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Real enjoyed it, yep, thank you? All right?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
All right, geeks, hear that, Raoul, all those guys that
that used to stuff me in the locker, all those
geeks in high school that used to give me the wedgies,
and whatnot because I was actually below them on the
totem pole.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
You know, you had, you had the jocks, the geeks,
and then me.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
They're gonna be running the world, man, just like their
mother's always told them.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
All right in just a moment. There's no business like
show business. Great heads. Kim six forty. We live everywhere
in the iHeartRadio
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Ap KF, I AM sixty on demand
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