November 17, 2025 • 27 mins
(November 17,2025)
President Trump says House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files. The number of women who want to leave the U.S has quadrupled over the last decade, poll says. With the end of the Penny, is the clock ticking on the nickel? McDonald’s is losing its low-income customers… economists call it a symptom of the wealth divide.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty. Better stop singing about NFSTE coming. You don't
talk about five am, six forty Bill Handle.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Here. It is a Monday morning, November seventeenth. Zamy Is
reported this morning, as far as the weather is concerned,
we had some insane rain over the weekend, record breaking rain,
and we have a little bit of a break today
and then it comes back, and then a break and
then it comes back again. So we are looking at
(00:40):
some very very wet weather and we're not hearing much
about the drought, certainly this week. And it looks like
the airports are coming back. Flights are now coming back.
The FAA is released the reduction of flights. Okay night,
(01:00):
and this obviously became big, big news this morning. Late
last night, the President reversed himself and now says that
House Republicans should support the measure that would require the
Just Department a Justice Department, to release the information that
it has related to the Jeffrey Epstein files. And there
(01:23):
are tens of thousands of pages. And why did he
do that? Because even his most ardent supporters have said,
this is going sideways for you mister President, you can
go ahead and call it a democratic hoax. This whole thing.
The problem is, does anybody believe that this is a
(01:44):
democratic hoax? Does anybody believe these women were not molested
and trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Is there a person out there? I have not met them.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Now, as soon as the President said it was a hoax,
for many MAGA supporters, it was a hoax. Now the
President has said, let's release the files, and they say, yes,
let's release the files. And why did he turn around
and change his mind? Because he was going to lose
(02:18):
big time on this one. Even his most ardent supporters said,
you are wrong on this one. We have to release
those files. We're talking about pedophiles here, pedophiles. We're talking
about the traffic and raping of minor women or minor
girls at that time. There's no protecting anyone on this one.
(02:42):
It just doesn't exist.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It could be that the files do not release information.
It could be that there is nothing there. Certainly the
President now has said, we've done nothing wrong, so let's
go ahead and release the files. What I don't understand
is that the President has said to the Republicans in
(03:06):
the House, you go ahead and vote for the release
of those files. In other words, you vote to mandate
that the Justice Department released the files. What I don't
understand is, since the President tells the Justice Department what
to do every day, why he doesn't simply call Pam
Bondi and say you've got the files, release them. He
(03:30):
has the power to do that. Instead, he has said
to the Republicans in the House, release the files.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Now, what's going to happen in the Senate?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Up until the President said he is on the side
of releasing the files, it was probably going to fail.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
In the Senate.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
It was going to be overwhelming. One of his biggest supporter,
Representative Thomas Massey, introduced the legislation to go ahead and
man date the Just Department. And it was done with
a technical provision because Mike Johnson was in favor of
(04:09):
making sure the files were not released. Why is that Well,
because the President told him that, And when the President
calls Mike Johnson said this is what I want you
to do, Mike Johnson, Johnson does the same thing. So
when the President said you don't release the files, Mike
Johnson doesn't put will not let a vote on the floor,
which he has the power, and all of a sudden
(04:29):
you have this procedure which you bypass with enough votes
the speaker, and that's exactly what was going to happen.
Too many Republicans were going to say, this line is
not going to be crossed, or it's that simple. This
is beyond just politics. And so finally, I guess, up
(04:51):
to this point, the president has reversed himself. He's turned
himself one hundred and eighty degrees, and the files are.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Going to be released.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Now there is a caveat here. Okay, there's a fly
in the ointment, and let me tell you.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
What that is.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
That is that he has ordered Pambondy, the Justice Department,
to start investigating the Democrats that were named in the
Epstein files.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
The number of people of high.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Rollers that were named in the Epstein files just goes
on and on. Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Obama at one
point I believe was connected Epstein or.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Went to a party.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Maybe I'm wrong on that, but every high roller that
you can imagine somehow went to either a part party
or somehow connected because Epstein was connected to big name
players more than I think anybody else. And so Here's
what the President said, I have ordered Pambondy to open
an investigation into the Democrats that are listed in or
(05:57):
named in the Epstein files.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So what does that mean.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That means Pam Bondi can say I can't release any
information relating to those names or others because it's under investigation.
If we're investigating, then anything connected I have to not release.
I cannot release the files. So we'll see. Are the
(06:23):
files going to be released? I think to some extent
they are. Is are the files going to be sealed
or not released by Pam Bondy. I believe that's going
to happen to because the investigation against the Democrats is
just starting and the Bondi, who is the attorney General,
(06:44):
has said we are now investigating the wrongdoing of Democrats.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
We'll see the politics of this though we're going south
for the President. His position of not releasing the files
was just not going to fly. Marjorie Taylor Green, this
is one of the big issues why she has split
with the President and has now become a trader and
the President, and she was one of the most adamant
(07:10):
supporters of the President. I mean, it was crazy how
much he's supported him, and now she is a trader,
and the President has even said, I am now supporting
anybody who is going to run against her. I am
withdrawing my endorsement of Marjorie Taylor Green. And when that happens,
you know there is a rift going on at least
(07:31):
on this issue for sure. All Right, Okay, A story
about the number of women who want to leave the
US has quadrupled over the last decade. A Gallup survey
found that two in five American women and girls age
fifteen to forty four say they would leave the United
(07:51):
States permanently if they could. And that's the four times
four times what it was in twenty fourteen. Now this
is women who said they would leave. How many are
actually making the moves to leave obviously very very limited.
How many people who have jobs who can afford to leave,
(08:12):
and where they're going to.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Now I'm in the middle of living this.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Among those women who are fanatic about leaving the US
happens to be my wife. And as I have pointed out,
she's having a very very tough time with the politics
of this country, as many people are, except she is
adamant about leaving the United States at least for a
(08:39):
period of years read during this administration. And if you
have the wherewithal to leave, you can actually do it.
And we have many friends who have done exactly that
are either making moves to do it or are planning
to do it. And we do have the wherewithal, I mean,
I can afford to do it. And I'm under pretty
(09:01):
intense pressure to do that. And I say, wait a minute,
I have a contract with KFI that lasts for several
more years.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Now can I walk away from it? Of course?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
You know, I mean, you can't be forced to work.
There's this thing called slavery. You're not allowed to stop
someone you forcing someone to work. It's involuntary servitude. But
the thought of moving is a very big deal. And
let me tell you how close we are and the
(09:32):
argument I am having with Lindsey.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
We got married in Italy.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
She wants to move to Italy, to the point where
a couple of months ago she went to Italy to
start looking for rental property to see what it's going
to cost and where she wants to live. And the
pressure is pretty big on me to move.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I happen to really enjoy Southern California, and when I retire,
don't know when that happens. My idea is to live
a few months there and a few months here because
I just love Europe and I love the lifestyle of Europe,
but I also love living in California. I don't want
(10:20):
to leave California except for maybe a few months a year.
I am not alone. There are so many women two
and five American women. Twice as many women want to
migrate than men. Interestingly enough, it's women that want to leave,
not men. And why is that. I think it's politics
(10:41):
and women's rights. I think that men are not as
engaged in what happened with Roe v. Wade, what happened
with what's going on with transgender You know that now
policy United States, because there's no such thing as anybody
(11:02):
who's transgender. Transgender doesn't exist, either the woman or a man.
And again we're talking about individual gender rights, if you will,
And for some reason, women are much much more affected
by that and are I think, if you look at
(11:25):
women in general and the disapproval of what's going on
politically today, are greater than men. And it happens to
do with younger women fifteen to forty four. So what
was the top destination preference for these women that are
leaving the or want to leave the United States? Number
(11:46):
one was Canada, Number two was New Zealand, and I
think a lot of it has to do with language.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Number three was Italy.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Italy Italian is not that easy to learn for someone
who has never taken Italian.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
And number four was Japan.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
That one I don't understand who in God's name wants
to move and live in Japan. You talk about a
language is impossible to learn, and the sushi is just
as good here as it is there. And to the
extent that we're talking about moving, And this is what
(12:27):
Lindsay is going forward with. My dad happened to be
born in Poland. He went to Yugoslavia as a toddler,
but he was born in Poland because he was Polish.
I can apply for Polish citizenship and that's exactly what
I'm doing, leaving me the opportunity, not that I'm going
(12:50):
to do it, leaving me the opportunity to get a
EU passport, a passport that's part of the European Union,
which means I'm gonna need a visa.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
I can live wherever I want.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
I can work, I can buy a house, I can
do whatever anywhere within the European Union.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
And since.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Lindsey wants to move to Italy, there will be no problem.
But just to give you an idea, I mean, this
happened even before Trump was elected. She was one of
those people when we first went to Italy. And this
is kind of a strange one we first went to Italy.
We got off the airplane, we roll into the baggage area,
(13:34):
go outside and grab a taxi to go to the hotel.
And on the taxi ride, she's looking around at the
buildings and looking at the streets and the stores, and
she turned to me and said, I'm home, which was
kind of weird.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I'm home. I think she you know, reincarnation.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
She was a an Italian cook in a pizza restaurant
in a previous life. But she is one of those
who are part and parcel of I got to get
out of the United States, and that is something that
I deal with every day because for the most part,
I want to stay at least.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Part of the time. I love America.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Okay, so much for that little personal story I wanted
to share with you. Okay, here's the story that's been
going around happened over the weekend, and that is that
last Wednesday, the US Mint in Philadelphia has stopped production
of the penny. The penny is no longer being minted
(14:44):
because the penny costs a whole lot more than a
penny to mint, so it's a net loss. The nickel
costs a whole lot more than a nickel to mint.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Now take a hundred dollars bill.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
How much you think could cost to print one hundred
dollars bill, far far less than a penny. In the
point of currency, the currency should not cost more than
the value of the currency. Just makes no sense when
you think about it. So what is going on? Well,
the penny is gone and the nicholas on its way
(15:20):
to be gone. However, there are some parts of this
that we have to look at, and that is that
how many billions of pennies are out there? Maybe three
hundred is what they're saying, three hundred billion. And what
do you do with pennies? Does anybody carry pennies? Or
you throw pennies in a jar at home? I don't
(15:42):
take pennies with me in my pocket. So whatever I'm
paying seven dollars and thirty nine cents or seven dollars
and thirty six cents, I get four pennies back. I've
even had the joy of paying something ninety nine cents
and or sorry, seven dollars and one cent and getting
(16:05):
ninety nine cents worth of change.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
I go, come on, really, well, that's the way we work.
I'm sorry. And then people were in line.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
I'll even go down the street and I say, anybody
got a penny?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Does anybody have a penny.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
That I can use? The penny is a waste of time.
It's that simple. New Zealand and Australia. Australia eliminated the
production of their nickels at the beginning of this century,
and that was twenty years after they stopped making their pennies.
The problem is, according to David Smith, who's the professor
(16:42):
of economics at Pepperdine.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Says, there is enough nostalgia for.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
The coins to slow any move towards eliminating them. We're
talking about Nichols now. Eventually it'll happen, even if it
takes what twenty fifteen twenty years so eliminate pnies? Does
that mean pennies are no longer going to be used? No,
they're still legal tender. They still can be used and
(17:08):
some cr I got a call once on Handle on
the law and some guy bought something that was a
couple thousand dollars and he walked in with pennies and
the vendor said, get out of here. I'm not going
to take pennies. And he called up in a huff, said,
but it's legal tender and he has.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
To take it. And the answer is no, he doesn't
have to take it.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
How many places do you know no longer take cash,
it's only credit cards. Get on an airplane, no, we
don't take money. We only take credit cards. Same thing
for parking structures, they take no money. So in many
cases the penny is legal tender, but they don't have
to take it. And I'm willing to bet that there
(17:55):
are going to be more and more places that just
refuse pennies. No, thank you, fuse nichols. Now the issue
is rounding up, rounding down. Does the law allow you
to round up and round down arbitrarily? Not really, So
Congress has to make that change. I mean, what do
(18:17):
I do with my pennies? I throw them in a jar,
and then I don't even know how many. I have
a couple of dollars worth somewhere around Neil.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You have pennies at home? Yeah, in jars and yeah
I know I do keep some in the car. Yeah,
I don't even bother. Amy. Do you have pennies at
home in a jar? And I think I have some
in my wallet? Yeah? Crazy? And what pennies makes a wish? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
You can throw it in? Uh yeah, you go to
the trevy fountain and throw in pennies.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Well what are you supposed to do throwing a dollar bill?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Little just disintegree, No, but you can throw in coins
in Europe it's throwing.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Well, they do have dollar coins and there is a quarter.
Even wishes cost more these days. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
And in Europe coins you can get coins that are
I have a lot of value. For example, the one
pound coin they don't have in your in England they
don't have a one pound bill. It's a one pound coin.
First bill they have is a five pound bill.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
And you have pennies at home? You heavy to carry around?
What pennies? Oh, your pennies the obligatory you know a
little base of pennies.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yeah, Cono, you don't have many pennies.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I know that because you were check.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yes, that is your paycheck, and so all of us
will pennies.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Did I ask you already? No? But yes, so I
have a jarful.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Sure see, that's the whole point. Everybody has a jar full.
They don't go out. They're not used except your given
pennies from the cash register. When you have a figure
that you're buying something that ends up where you get
X number of cents back.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
How about pennies from heaven? No, it is not a
bad song.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I have pennies in a jar and it drives me
completely nuts.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I don't know what I'm gonna do with pennies, melt
them down.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
And by the way, you've ever been to the Trevy
fountain in Italy, you throw the coin in, you know,
you turn your back towards a fountain and you throw
it in. Let me tell you, I embarrassed, Lindsey was
last time we went. When I actually went into the
trevy fountain and want to change for the coins I
threw in. Oh boy, okay, we're done. No cops were around,
(20:41):
so I wasn't gonna be I wasn't gonna get arrested. Okay,
McDonald's McDonald's. You sort of look at McDonald's as a
measure of the economy across all of America. McDonald's is
sort of the fast food establishment that sets the bar.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
It's losing its low income customers.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Now, wait a second, McDonald's is all about low income customers.
What's going on, Well, what's happening at McDonald's is simply
a view of what is going on in America.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
There is something called the K economy.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
You're here going to be hearing a lot more about
the K economy in the next several months.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
And the K economy.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Effectively says the rich you're getting richer moving towards the
top of the K and going towards the bottom is
or are the poor people or people who don't have
a whole lot of money. The bottom line is the
richer getting richer, the poorer getting poorer. And McDonald's proves
the point, and prices have risen so high that traffic
(21:57):
from one of the core customer base is McDonald's low
income households has dropped by double digits. McDonald's is just
too expensive now. McDonald's used to be cheaper than even
making food at home, and when you have people of
(22:18):
low income status, what would the family do.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Well, you'd have a night out, you'd go out.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
To dinner, and if you didn't have much money, it
was all excitement when going to McDonald's. Kids love McDonald's,
so it was a fun night out for dinner.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Well that no longer.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
McDonald's meals have gone through the roof and there is
now an affordability issue, not only McDonald's but across the
board and the only restaurants, the only services, the only
goods hotel rooms that are doing okay are the upper
end of the market. The lower end is going through
(22:58):
the floor. Good analogy, and that is the problem. Why
is that happening? Well, I mean inflation is the number
one issue. The price of meat has exploded. Everything is
more expensive. Flowers gone up, bread, cheese, I mean, all
of it has increased. And McDonald's, like everyone else, has followed.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
The formula has followed, you know, the prices.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
When's the last time you saw a dollar the dollar menu, Neil,
when's the last time we went to McDonald's and there
was the dollar menu. They're trying to bring some of
that back, as is some of the other fast food
play with the five dollar menu, right, Yeah, it's a
five dollar menu now, and it's really unfortunate that people
simply can't afford it. Households were well after the COVID
(23:53):
programs ended. Households were the first to see increase to
linguicy rates increased. Delinquency rates for credit have gone up
like crazy. Inflation has come down from a peak in
twenty twenty two, but people are still struggling with high
prices and astronomical rent increases. Because here's what happens as
(24:19):
the president comes in and of course says I'm going
to chop prices in half. And who believe that the
point is even if prices remain stable, which they have not,
inflation is still here. The inflation was already baked in.
Prices do not drop. Prices either remain stable or they
(24:43):
go up. And there has been no stability in prices,
nor should there be, because you have inflation, and of
course prices are going to go up. You can't have
inflation and prices go down. That's impossible. So the debate
round fast food, here's one for you, particularly here in California.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Labor costs have exploded.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Right, we're now twenty dollars an hour for labor at
fast food establishment. There was an analysis by researchers that
U se Berkeley's Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics studying
two thousand restaurants. The twenty dollars wage did not reduce
fast food employment and it led to minimal menu price
(25:30):
increases equivalent to eight cents on a four dollars burder.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
That's UC Berkeley.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Why such an explosion of prices inflation?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
It's that simple.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
I went to Costco, how unusual the other day, and
I was going to take a couple of people that
are responsible for me making a chunk of money or
a good part of my money, and I was going
to take them to a steakhouse. And I went, wait
a minute, you think I'm going to spend that much
money at a steakhouse. So I went to Costco and
I was buying prime beef and I was going to
(26:05):
put it on the barbecue and make dinner at home.
Still really expensive, because prime beef is insanely expensive, but
it was going to be a lot cheaper than going
to a steakhouse. No one is worth going to a steakhouse.
Matter of fact, very few people in my life were
going to I'm going to spend money on prime beef,
But I did so. I went and I looked at
(26:25):
the prime beef prices, and I was going to buy
it later because I was a week away or two
weeks away from the dinner that I was going to make.
The price went up five dollars a pound. How is
that possible? How is that humanly possible? Now, it was
(26:47):
a lot of money per pound to begin with, but
five bucks a pound, I mean, it's crazy making week
to week prices have exploded, especially in the beef industry. Oh,
all right, enough of that. This is KFI AM six
point forty.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Catch my show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty. Better stop singing about NFSTE coming. You don't
talk about five am, six forty Bill Handle.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Here. It is a Monday morning, November seventeenth. Zamy Is
reported this morning, as far as the weather is concerned,
we had some insane rain over the weekend, record breaking rain,
and we have a little bit of a break today
and then it comes back, and then a break and
then it comes back again. So we are looking at
(00:40):
some very very wet weather and we're not hearing much
about the drought, certainly this week. And it looks like
the airports are coming back. Flights are now coming back.
The FAA is released the reduction of flights. Okay night,
(01:00):
and this obviously became big, big news this morning. Late
last night, the President reversed himself and now says that
House Republicans should support the measure that would require the
Just Department a Justice Department, to release the information that
it has related to the Jeffrey Epstein files. And there
(01:23):
are tens of thousands of pages. And why did he
do that? Because even his most ardent supporters have said,
this is going sideways for you mister President, you can
go ahead and call it a democratic hoax. This whole thing.
The problem is, does anybody believe that this is a
(01:44):
democratic hoax? Does anybody believe these women were not molested
and trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Is there a person out there? I have not met them.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Now, as soon as the President said it was a hoax,
for many MAGA supporters, it was a hoax. Now the
President has said, let's release the files, and they say, yes,
let's release the files. And why did he turn around
and change his mind? Because he was going to lose
(02:18):
big time on this one. Even his most ardent supporters said,
you are wrong on this one. We have to release
those files. We're talking about pedophiles here, pedophiles. We're talking
about the traffic and raping of minor women or minor
girls at that time. There's no protecting anyone on this one.
(02:42):
It just doesn't exist.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It could be that the files do not release information.
It could be that there is nothing there. Certainly the
President now has said, we've done nothing wrong, so let's
go ahead and release the files. What I don't understand
is that the President has said to the Republicans in
(03:06):
the House, you go ahead and vote for the release
of those files. In other words, you vote to mandate
that the Justice Department released the files. What I don't
understand is, since the President tells the Justice Department what
to do every day, why he doesn't simply call Pam
Bondi and say you've got the files, release them. He
(03:30):
has the power to do that. Instead, he has said
to the Republicans in the House, release the files.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Now, what's going to happen in the Senate?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Up until the President said he is on the side
of releasing the files, it was probably going to fail.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
In the Senate.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
It was going to be overwhelming. One of his biggest supporter,
Representative Thomas Massey, introduced the legislation to go ahead and
man date the Just Department. And it was done with
a technical provision because Mike Johnson was in favor of
(04:09):
making sure the files were not released. Why is that Well,
because the President told him that, And when the President
calls Mike Johnson said this is what I want you
to do, Mike Johnson, Johnson does the same thing. So
when the President said you don't release the files, Mike
Johnson doesn't put will not let a vote on the floor,
which he has the power, and all of a sudden
(04:29):
you have this procedure which you bypass with enough votes
the speaker, and that's exactly what was going to happen.
Too many Republicans were going to say, this line is
not going to be crossed, or it's that simple. This
is beyond just politics. And so finally, I guess, up
(04:51):
to this point, the president has reversed himself. He's turned
himself one hundred and eighty degrees, and the files are.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Going to be released.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Now there is a caveat here. Okay, there's a fly
in the ointment, and let me tell you.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
What that is.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
That is that he has ordered Pambondy, the Justice Department,
to start investigating the Democrats that were named in the
Epstein files.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
The number of people of high.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Rollers that were named in the Epstein files just goes
on and on. Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Obama at one
point I believe was connected Epstein or.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Went to a party.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Maybe I'm wrong on that, but every high roller that
you can imagine somehow went to either a part party
or somehow connected because Epstein was connected to big name
players more than I think anybody else. And so Here's
what the President said, I have ordered Pambondy to open
an investigation into the Democrats that are listed in or
(05:57):
named in the Epstein files.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So what does that mean.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That means Pam Bondi can say I can't release any
information relating to those names or others because it's under investigation.
If we're investigating, then anything connected I have to not release.
I cannot release the files. So we'll see. Are the
(06:23):
files going to be released? I think to some extent
they are. Is are the files going to be sealed
or not released by Pam Bondy. I believe that's going
to happen to because the investigation against the Democrats is
just starting and the Bondi, who is the attorney General,
(06:44):
has said we are now investigating the wrongdoing of Democrats.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
We'll see the politics of this though we're going south
for the President. His position of not releasing the files
was just not going to fly. Marjorie Taylor Green, this
is one of the big issues why she has split
with the President and has now become a trader and
the President, and she was one of the most adamant
(07:10):
supporters of the President. I mean, it was crazy how
much he's supported him, and now she is a trader,
and the President has even said, I am now supporting
anybody who is going to run against her. I am
withdrawing my endorsement of Marjorie Taylor Green. And when that happens,
you know there is a rift going on at least
(07:31):
on this issue for sure. All Right, Okay, A story
about the number of women who want to leave the
US has quadrupled over the last decade. A Gallup survey
found that two in five American women and girls age
fifteen to forty four say they would leave the United
(07:51):
States permanently if they could. And that's the four times
four times what it was in twenty fourteen. Now this
is women who said they would leave. How many are
actually making the moves to leave obviously very very limited.
How many people who have jobs who can afford to leave,
(08:12):
and where they're going to.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Now I'm in the middle of living this.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Among those women who are fanatic about leaving the US
happens to be my wife. And as I have pointed out,
she's having a very very tough time with the politics
of this country, as many people are, except she is
adamant about leaving the United States at least for a
(08:39):
period of years read during this administration. And if you
have the wherewithal to leave, you can actually do it.
And we have many friends who have done exactly that
are either making moves to do it or are planning
to do it. And we do have the wherewithal, I mean,
I can afford to do it. And I'm under pretty
(09:01):
intense pressure to do that. And I say, wait a minute,
I have a contract with KFI that lasts for several
more years.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Now can I walk away from it? Of course?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
You know, I mean, you can't be forced to work.
There's this thing called slavery. You're not allowed to stop
someone you forcing someone to work. It's involuntary servitude. But
the thought of moving is a very big deal. And
let me tell you how close we are and the
(09:32):
argument I am having with Lindsey.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
We got married in Italy.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
She wants to move to Italy, to the point where
a couple of months ago she went to Italy to
start looking for rental property to see what it's going
to cost and where she wants to live. And the
pressure is pretty big on me to move.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I happen to really enjoy Southern California, and when I retire,
don't know when that happens. My idea is to live
a few months there and a few months here because
I just love Europe and I love the lifestyle of Europe,
but I also love living in California. I don't want
(10:20):
to leave California except for maybe a few months a year.
I am not alone. There are so many women two
and five American women. Twice as many women want to
migrate than men. Interestingly enough, it's women that want to leave,
not men. And why is that. I think it's politics
(10:41):
and women's rights. I think that men are not as
engaged in what happened with Roe v. Wade, what happened
with what's going on with transgender You know that now
policy United States, because there's no such thing as anybody
(11:02):
who's transgender. Transgender doesn't exist, either the woman or a man.
And again we're talking about individual gender rights, if you will,
And for some reason, women are much much more affected
by that and are I think, if you look at
(11:25):
women in general and the disapproval of what's going on
politically today, are greater than men. And it happens to
do with younger women fifteen to forty four. So what
was the top destination preference for these women that are
leaving the or want to leave the United States? Number
(11:46):
one was Canada, Number two was New Zealand, and I
think a lot of it has to do with language.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Number three was Italy.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Italy Italian is not that easy to learn for someone
who has never taken Italian.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
And number four was Japan.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
That one I don't understand who in God's name wants
to move and live in Japan. You talk about a
language is impossible to learn, and the sushi is just
as good here as it is there. And to the
extent that we're talking about moving, And this is what
(12:27):
Lindsay is going forward with. My dad happened to be
born in Poland. He went to Yugoslavia as a toddler,
but he was born in Poland because he was Polish.
I can apply for Polish citizenship and that's exactly what
I'm doing, leaving me the opportunity, not that I'm going
(12:50):
to do it, leaving me the opportunity to get a
EU passport, a passport that's part of the European Union,
which means I'm gonna need a visa.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
I can live wherever I want.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
I can work, I can buy a house, I can
do whatever anywhere within the European Union.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
And since.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Lindsey wants to move to Italy, there will be no problem.
But just to give you an idea, I mean, this
happened even before Trump was elected. She was one of
those people when we first went to Italy. And this
is kind of a strange one we first went to Italy.
We got off the airplane, we roll into the baggage area,
(13:34):
go outside and grab a taxi to go to the hotel.
And on the taxi ride, she's looking around at the
buildings and looking at the streets and the stores, and
she turned to me and said, I'm home, which was
kind of weird.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I'm home. I think she you know, reincarnation.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
She was a an Italian cook in a pizza restaurant
in a previous life. But she is one of those
who are part and parcel of I got to get
out of the United States, and that is something that
I deal with every day because for the most part,
I want to stay at least.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Part of the time. I love America.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Okay, so much for that little personal story I wanted
to share with you. Okay, here's the story that's been
going around happened over the weekend, and that is that
last Wednesday, the US Mint in Philadelphia has stopped production
of the penny. The penny is no longer being minted
(14:44):
because the penny costs a whole lot more than a
penny to mint, so it's a net loss. The nickel
costs a whole lot more than a nickel to mint.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Now take a hundred dollars bill.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
How much you think could cost to print one hundred
dollars bill, far far less than a penny. In the
point of currency, the currency should not cost more than
the value of the currency. Just makes no sense when
you think about it. So what is going on? Well,
the penny is gone and the nicholas on its way
(15:20):
to be gone. However, there are some parts of this
that we have to look at, and that is that
how many billions of pennies are out there? Maybe three
hundred is what they're saying, three hundred billion. And what
do you do with pennies? Does anybody carry pennies? Or
you throw pennies in a jar at home? I don't
(15:42):
take pennies with me in my pocket. So whatever I'm
paying seven dollars and thirty nine cents or seven dollars
and thirty six cents, I get four pennies back. I've
even had the joy of paying something ninety nine cents
and or sorry, seven dollars and one cent and getting
(16:05):
ninety nine cents worth of change.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
I go, come on, really, well, that's the way we work.
I'm sorry. And then people were in line.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
I'll even go down the street and I say, anybody
got a penny?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Does anybody have a penny.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
That I can use? The penny is a waste of time.
It's that simple. New Zealand and Australia. Australia eliminated the
production of their nickels at the beginning of this century,
and that was twenty years after they stopped making their pennies.
The problem is, according to David Smith, who's the professor
(16:42):
of economics at Pepperdine.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Says, there is enough nostalgia for.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
The coins to slow any move towards eliminating them. We're
talking about Nichols now. Eventually it'll happen, even if it
takes what twenty fifteen twenty years so eliminate pnies? Does
that mean pennies are no longer going to be used? No,
they're still legal tender. They still can be used and
(17:08):
some cr I got a call once on Handle on
the law and some guy bought something that was a
couple thousand dollars and he walked in with pennies and
the vendor said, get out of here. I'm not going
to take pennies. And he called up in a huff, said,
but it's legal tender and he has.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
To take it. And the answer is no, he doesn't
have to take it.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
How many places do you know no longer take cash,
it's only credit cards. Get on an airplane, no, we
don't take money. We only take credit cards. Same thing
for parking structures, they take no money. So in many
cases the penny is legal tender, but they don't have
to take it. And I'm willing to bet that there
(17:55):
are going to be more and more places that just
refuse pennies. No, thank you, fuse nichols. Now the issue
is rounding up, rounding down. Does the law allow you
to round up and round down arbitrarily? Not really, So
Congress has to make that change. I mean, what do
(18:17):
I do with my pennies? I throw them in a jar,
and then I don't even know how many. I have
a couple of dollars worth somewhere around Neil.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You have pennies at home? Yeah, in jars and yeah
I know I do keep some in the car. Yeah,
I don't even bother. Amy. Do you have pennies at
home in a jar? And I think I have some
in my wallet? Yeah? Crazy? And what pennies makes a wish? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
You can throw it in? Uh yeah, you go to
the trevy fountain and throw in pennies.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Well what are you supposed to do throwing a dollar bill?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Little just disintegree, No, but you can throw in coins
in Europe it's throwing.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Well, they do have dollar coins and there is a quarter.
Even wishes cost more these days. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
And in Europe coins you can get coins that are
I have a lot of value. For example, the one
pound coin they don't have in your in England they
don't have a one pound bill. It's a one pound coin.
First bill they have is a five pound bill.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
And you have pennies at home? You heavy to carry around?
What pennies? Oh, your pennies the obligatory you know a
little base of pennies.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yeah, Cono, you don't have many pennies.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I know that because you were check.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yes, that is your paycheck, and so all of us
will pennies.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Did I ask you already? No? But yes, so I
have a jarful.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Sure see, that's the whole point. Everybody has a jar full.
They don't go out. They're not used except your given
pennies from the cash register. When you have a figure
that you're buying something that ends up where you get
X number of cents back.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
How about pennies from heaven? No, it is not a
bad song.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I have pennies in a jar and it drives me
completely nuts.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I don't know what I'm gonna do with pennies, melt
them down.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
And by the way, you've ever been to the Trevy
fountain in Italy, you throw the coin in, you know,
you turn your back towards a fountain and you throw
it in. Let me tell you, I embarrassed, Lindsey was
last time we went. When I actually went into the
trevy fountain and want to change for the coins I
threw in. Oh boy, okay, we're done. No cops were around,
(20:41):
so I wasn't gonna be I wasn't gonna get arrested. Okay,
McDonald's McDonald's. You sort of look at McDonald's as a
measure of the economy across all of America. McDonald's is
sort of the fast food establishment that sets the bar.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
It's losing its low income customers.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Now, wait a second, McDonald's is all about low income customers.
What's going on, Well, what's happening at McDonald's is simply
a view of what is going on in America.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
There is something called the K economy.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
You're here going to be hearing a lot more about
the K economy in the next several months.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
And the K economy.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Effectively says the rich you're getting richer moving towards the
top of the K and going towards the bottom is
or are the poor people or people who don't have
a whole lot of money. The bottom line is the
richer getting richer, the poorer getting poorer. And McDonald's proves
the point, and prices have risen so high that traffic
(21:57):
from one of the core customer base is McDonald's low
income households has dropped by double digits. McDonald's is just
too expensive now. McDonald's used to be cheaper than even
making food at home, and when you have people of
(22:18):
low income status, what would the family do.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Well, you'd have a night out, you'd go out.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
To dinner, and if you didn't have much money, it
was all excitement when going to McDonald's. Kids love McDonald's,
so it was a fun night out for dinner.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Well that no longer.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
McDonald's meals have gone through the roof and there is
now an affordability issue, not only McDonald's but across the
board and the only restaurants, the only services, the only
goods hotel rooms that are doing okay are the upper
end of the market. The lower end is going through
(22:58):
the floor. Good analogy, and that is the problem. Why
is that happening? Well, I mean inflation is the number
one issue. The price of meat has exploded. Everything is
more expensive. Flowers gone up, bread, cheese, I mean, all
of it has increased. And McDonald's, like everyone else, has followed.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
The formula has followed, you know, the prices.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
When's the last time you saw a dollar the dollar menu, Neil,
when's the last time we went to McDonald's and there
was the dollar menu. They're trying to bring some of
that back, as is some of the other fast food
play with the five dollar menu, right, Yeah, it's a
five dollar menu now, and it's really unfortunate that people
simply can't afford it. Households were well after the COVID
(23:53):
programs ended. Households were the first to see increase to
linguicy rates increased. Delinquency rates for credit have gone up
like crazy. Inflation has come down from a peak in
twenty twenty two, but people are still struggling with high
prices and astronomical rent increases. Because here's what happens as
(24:19):
the president comes in and of course says I'm going
to chop prices in half. And who believe that the
point is even if prices remain stable, which they have not,
inflation is still here. The inflation was already baked in.
Prices do not drop. Prices either remain stable or they
(24:43):
go up. And there has been no stability in prices,
nor should there be, because you have inflation, and of
course prices are going to go up. You can't have
inflation and prices go down. That's impossible. So the debate
round fast food, here's one for you, particularly here in California.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Labor costs have exploded.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Right, we're now twenty dollars an hour for labor at
fast food establishment. There was an analysis by researchers that
U se Berkeley's Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics studying
two thousand restaurants. The twenty dollars wage did not reduce
fast food employment and it led to minimal menu price
(25:30):
increases equivalent to eight cents on a four dollars burder.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
That's UC Berkeley.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Why such an explosion of prices inflation?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
It's that simple.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
I went to Costco, how unusual the other day, and
I was going to take a couple of people that
are responsible for me making a chunk of money or
a good part of my money, and I was going
to take them to a steakhouse. And I went, wait
a minute, you think I'm going to spend that much
money at a steakhouse. So I went to Costco and
I was buying prime beef and I was going to
(26:05):
put it on the barbecue and make dinner at home.
Still really expensive, because prime beef is insanely expensive, but
it was going to be a lot cheaper than going
to a steakhouse. No one is worth going to a steakhouse.
Matter of fact, very few people in my life were
going to I'm going to spend money on prime beef,
But I did so. I went and I looked at
(26:25):
the prime beef prices, and I was going to buy
it later because I was a week away or two
weeks away from the dinner that I was going to make.
The price went up five dollars a pound. How is
that possible? How is that humanly possible? Now, it was
(26:47):
a lot of money per pound to begin with, but
five bucks a pound, I mean, it's crazy making week
to week prices have exploded, especially in the beef industry. Oh,
all right, enough of that. This is KFI AM six
point forty.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Catch my show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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