Civics 101 (Part II)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
American Civics one oh one is in session. Professor Rose
reporting for duty as the country wrestles with President Trump's
impactful trade policy. What's behind it? Well, ignore what happened
yesterday in light of the outpouring from other countries. A
ninety day pause allows time for everybody to get a deal,
But he still drilled China one hundred and twenty five

(00:21):
percent tariff on our third largest trading partner. Trump is
determined to launch the third industrial revolution in American history.
That only happens if we return manufacturing to our shores
from where they have vacated over the last thirty five years.
Do you realize that in twenty twenty three, we imported

(00:41):
eight hundred and fifty nine billion in capital goods, not
including cars, electrical devices, computers, tellco equipment, industrial machinery, semiconductors.
We imported seven hundred and fifty seven billion in pharmaceuticals,
cell phones, household goods, furniture that oil painting on the wall,
all your clothes, another six hundred and seventy five billion

(01:04):
in crude oil industrial supplies. Translation, we stopped making the
very things we need and use every day, things that
we can't do without What if your iPhone suddenly went
blank or your laptop. They and all of their parts
are made in China. At the time, nobody imagined we'd

(01:26):
ever be replaced as the world's manufacturing leader. But the
truth is the only thing we export today are services,
ai IP finance patents, which are often stolen by our
trading partners Canada, Mexico and China. We do export some food,
but by comparison, not much. All of that is a
national security problem, but it's also a symptom of how

(01:49):
wrong our government has shepherded the economy for the last
fifty years. Our trade deals are so lopsided it looks
like we have to buy our friends. I'll desk they
made my economy to prop up yours, so long as
you stay my friend. We let them flood the country
with cheap goods at the expense of our factories, factory workers.

(02:10):
Big business loved it. They crunched production costs and moving
everything to another country was great for the bottom line,
which was good for campaign contributions. These policies deflated wages
and got all of us hooked on garage sale prices,
never mind the stuff is crap, and had the collateral
effect of driving down the quality of American made goods

(02:32):
just to compete if a key voting demographic howld Washington
just paid them off with subsidies. All of it led
to year after year of exploding spending and deficits. A
contrary to what you're hearing from the anti trumpers, they
are caused by tax cuts. No consumer spending and business
investment make money. The government doesn't make money. It prints money.

(02:56):
The government doesn't create wealth, except in the case of
the Green New Deal. The private economy creates wealth. Government
makes the middle class dependent. Capitalism makes the middle class wealthy.
Until now, the biggest tax cutter and free trader in
American presidential history was Ronald Reagan. Did it work well,
you decide. The day he left office, our economy was

(03:20):
thirty percent bigger than the day he took office. His
plan pulled millions of us out of poverty. These are
not theories. They are proven, historical, intellectual facts. So why
is it so hard for so many to understand and
embrace it? Because as a country we've grown scared, reluctant.
For the first two hundred years, we were self reliant.

(03:43):
We took care of ourselves, and each other. But the
last two generations have seen a shift. Now we let
the government do that, and those who profit from government
dependence for riches and votes are growing desperate. Their grip
on us may be loosening, which means a loss of power.
President Trump is capitalizing on that fear, while growing tired

(04:05):
of watching his country bow to such lesser rivals, and
in the four years of his presidential exile, he planned
convene the smartest economic minds study the folly of Joe
Biden's feckless leadership, perfected a strategy. The two assassination attempts
reminded him the time is no ally and deliberation in Washington,

(04:25):
d C. Is a death warrant for good ideas. For
the first time in fifty years, America is finally betting
on itself again