August 31, 2023 • 19 mins
Jim Geraghty is back! Today, Jim and Greg spend the good martini giving a short overview of Jim's trip to Ukraine and what he learned there. Don't miss Monday's 3 Martini Lunch, when they devote their Labor Day episode to the good, bad, and crazy things that Jim observed in Ukraine. They also recoil as the percentages of Americans delinquent on credit card debt, auto loan debt, and and personal loan debt are at their highest levels in more than a decade. Finally, they react to another moment where Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell seems to freeze during a press conference, and Jim says McConnell's team owes the American people a full, honest explanation of the senator's health.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome to the Three Martini Lunch.Grab a stool next to Greg Corumbus of
Radio America and Jim Garritty of NationalReview. Three Martini's coming up. Very
glad to have you with us forthe Thursday edition of the Three Martini Lunch.
Jim Garritty is back, and aswe've been telling you since he had
divulged it in the Morning Jolt,he has spent much of the past week
(00:24):
and a half in Ukraine, invery different parts of Ukraine, and getting
a real sense of where the warstands, where it's going, and what
the past has been. If youread as recent dispatches from Bucca, and
there's another one today based on Odessa, and so many great thanks to Scott
Bertram, to John Gabriel, toAn S. Stepman, to Andy McCarthy
for filling in while Jim is gone. But Jim, it's always great to
(00:47):
have you here, so welcome home. I'm glad you were safe and it
sounds like it was a worthwhile trip. Yes, Greg, first, it
is very good to be back.Listeners. I'm glad to be back with
you. It was an intense trip. I think if I had to summright
with with one word intensely good insome ways, but the people that I've
had a chance to meet and talkto at times intensely dark as they described
(01:08):
the things that they endured and experienced, particularly during the first couple of months
of the war. Fitting this podcast, there were some intensely crazy parts,
whether it was hanging out with aSupreme Court judge on a rooftop on an
anti drone station, or refugee kidsthat were getting animal therapy through rabbits.
(01:29):
My traveling companion and I a friendof mine who has been running relief efforts
out there, or you know,volunteering with the relief efforts out there.
This was his eighth trip to Ukraine. We did not know what we were
going to see from minute to minutein any of these places, and you
had no idea what you were goingto hear next, see next, or
(01:49):
experience next. So great to beback. We'll be talking about this a
bit more in the near future.But oh and for those who are wondering,
if you've read my stuff today andyou're wondering how I can in multiple
places at once, I have notdeveloped teleporting. I am back home.
The Washington Post ran a story without of the interview with Rabbi Osman of
(02:10):
the Brodsky Synagogue and Kiev. Sothat's why that's dateline Kiev that was written
when I was there, in acouple of days in the editing process.
Today the morning joelt is from Odessa. That was a few days ago.
I have one more jolt that willbe about my visit to Transnistria, which
is a Russian affiliated breakaway region ofMoldova that is not recognized by many other
(02:34):
states. It's probably been as closeas you can get to going to Russia
without getting arrested, which I reallydon't want to have happen. And life
will the jolt will kind of goback to its usual US political focus on
I guess not Monday. We're notpublishing Monday because the Labor Day on Tuesday.
But anyway, so that's it.So I'm home all as well.
A lot of air raid alerts,but no particular danger for myself and my
(02:57):
friends. So it is good tobe back. And God just you know
it. It will take me sometime to process and lay out everything I
saw, heard and experienced over there. Yes, and we will be having
a full recounting of Jim's trip orat least the good, bad and crazy
Martini version of the trip. Youcan't pack a week and a half into
twenty five minute podcast, But onLabor Day, make sure, since you
(03:22):
can't read the Morning Jolt, takethat time and listen to the three Martini
Lunch because we're gonna be spending alot of time talking exclusively about the trip.
So you get a little bit ofa taste here and a lot more
on Monday, and this is thegood Martini. The Jim is home,
and that we've learned a whole lotmore about the situation in Ukraine. I
just need to know one thing aboutthe breaking news, Jim. What was
(03:42):
the reaction wherever you were on ifyou're in Kiev at the time, or
where you were when the news camethat Progohan's plane went down and he was
presumed dead. I was indeed inKiev, and okay, less than surprise.
I think it's how I would characterizethe reaction. My friend had been
out in Ukraine when the mini coup, or however you want to characterize Pegozan's
(04:05):
effort out there was going on,and there was enormous excitement. The Ukrainians
generally believed that anything that was internalpressure or descent or stress on the Russian
state was good news. My friendwas actually with a character he calls them
the good Chechens. Uh, theseare not Chechen terrorists. These are not
(04:25):
aligned with the current warlord running Chechnyawho's aligned with Putin. These are anti
Putin Chechens who, as far asI know, are not that terroristic.
Probably didn't inspire any twenty four characters, but those folks looked at it and
said, my god, we're gonnaget to go home. Alas the Pagozan
rebellion coup attempt, however you wantto characterize it, he kind of,
(04:47):
you know, hit hit the stopbutton after a day, and I think
that was kind of disappointment. AndI think at that point no one in
Ukraine had any particular used for Pagosan. And it's worth noting he was a
you know, maniacal, crazed,dangerous, bloody handed warlord as is,
so nobody was really mourning the man. Nobody was at least bit surprised.
(05:08):
And the expert of the region thatthe region that I spoke to that day
he characterized it as like, well, you know, Russia is a mafia
state, is a gangster state.And this is just one more vivid illustration
of that that he could have,you know, Putin theoretically could have brought
up who goes in on charges,He could have had him at a trial.
Whatever brought that plane down. Andwe don't know with one percent certainty
(05:28):
that was Putin, but we allstrongly suspect that is just one more demonstration
that Russia is a lawless state.They don't bother but the rule of law
checks and balances anything like that.When Putin says you gotta die, you
die. Yeah, it's interesting tosee the Russian government now saying, wow,
looks like it might have been targeted, no kidding, be like the
(05:50):
Barzinis, you know, and theGodfather say ah, I can't believe that.
What a terrible thing looks like SonnyCarleoni might have been targeted there at
the toll booth. Well, yes, good footing it all right, Jim,
onto our bad martini now. Andthis is multifaceted. We've got a
problem with Americans falling behind on theirdebt, and there's not a big,
(06:11):
shocking, complicated reason why things aremore expensive so it's harder to pay their
bills. But Yahoo financed with thestory. First of all, Americans are
falling behind on their credit card andauto loan payments as the cost of living
continues to hit them where it hurts. The rate of new credit card delinquencies
hit seven point two percent in thesecond quarter of this year, passing pre
COVID levels, according to the NewYork Fed's latest quarterly debt report. Meanwhile,
(06:35):
the rate of new auto loan delinquencieshit seven point three percent in the
same period, also above pre pandemiclevels. And so we've already had a
major credit card debt problem in thiscountry, but if you look at the
charts, it's the worst now inprobably about a decade. It's not just
auto loan's other consumer loans. Iwould assume that includes mortgages and other things.
(06:56):
People are definitely strapped. And ofcourse we've got student love payments coming
back next month, and so it'sgoing to get even more complicated. Meanwhile,
CBS News reporting that in the lasttwo years, basically over the rise
of this major inflation, the worsethan forty years, the price of school
supplies twenty four percent higher than justtwo years ago. We also saw a
gas price spike. While you weregotten Jim around three seventy five in the
(07:18):
local area. Not sure exactly whatthe average was nationwide. So the fact
that this administration remains mystified that Bidenomicsisn't super duper popular shouldn't be all that
hard to solve. Here. Theyspent money that didn't need to be spent.
Same thing happened in during the COVIDpandemic to a large extent, and
now we're paying for it. Greg. I noticed a story on this and
(07:41):
the fact that more Americans are fallingbehind on car loan credit card payments for
more than at any point in thepast decade. It was on the front
page of the Washington Post today onthe left side. And listeners know I
write for them, and I tryto cheer the good whenever I see it
in that newspaper. And I thinkthat you cannot say that this is that's
(08:01):
not downplaying it, that's not hidingit. That as an open acknowledgement.
I think it explains a great deal. There's been this lament by Democrats,
including the Biden administration. Ah,look at how good the economy is doing.
The economy is hot as hell,Jack, as Biden said last summer.
Why aren't we getting any credit forit? Why do Americans feel so
badly about the economy. Why dothey feel, you know, well,
here's a good example. Actually,no, it's not. It's not doing
(08:24):
that great. And I think thisis it's again a wide variety of reasons,
but I think a very big reasonis the really high inflation we saw
for much of the first two yearsof the Biden administration. Was some of
that, you know, a naturaloutgrowth of the consequences of the ending of
the COVID nineteen pandemic. Okay,maybe a little, but you know,
but throughout the course of the pandemic, and most importantly, like in the
(08:46):
months afterwards in twenty twenty twenty one, where the pandemic's effects were kind of
receding from our lives. You addup all the spending of the US government
throwing into the economist like six trillion, it was way too much money.
You put too much money to theeconomy, the dollar becomes less valuable,
prices get higher, and that's whatwe lived with. And I think,
you know, a point I've triedto attribute to you as often as possible,
(09:07):
Greg, because it was a verysharp one. When you saw the
really high numbers in twenty twenty two. Those were you know, you're usually
the inflation rate we use as one, you know, over the past year,
you know, comparing June twenty twentytwo to prices in June twenty twenty
one, Well they're already jumped higherin June twenty twenty one, so you
really should be thinking about this inkind of a two year span, and
(09:28):
prices have become significantly higher now yearover year, inflation rate has gotten better.
I think it's down to about threepercent, it's compared to the nine
percent it was in the summer,but that's still pretty darn bad. And
that just means you're paying more atthe pump for your groceries. Chances are
your rent or your interest rates.Your your rent's gone high. Mortgage,
your your interest rate may have gonehigh if you have an adjustable rate mortgage,
(09:50):
if you're trying to, you know, get a loan from a bank,
things have gotten harder. Americans arebeing just squeezed financially at a whole
bunch of different fronts, and we'reseeing it and the fact that they're trying
to decide how are we going topay for this? And in some cases
they're just you know, not paying. There is this you know, rather
you know, eye popping quote wherethey say, look, you know,
the sheer number of Americans who aretrying to decide do I pay my electric
(10:13):
bill? Do I pay my energybill? Do I pay my grocery bill?
Do I pay my rent? Alot? A lot? And so
you're just kind of in this situation. Got help you if you need to
know, your car breaks down,you need to buy a car, something
like that, some unexpected expense orsomething like that. So Americans are not
you know, there're a whole lotof Americans who are not thriving, who
are not prospering. And yes,it is good that the unemployment rate is
down, but the Biden administration isgoing to pull a muscle how much they
(10:35):
weren't around patting themselves in the backfor this date of the economy. And
remember Biden wants to run on Bidenomicsand argue that he's you know, he's
fixed the American economy. No hehas not. And if it's you know,
if he's not finding this message veryresonant. You know, the actual
economic statistics we laid out here area pretty good example of why exactly,
and Americans as a whole are notgreat at saving. We all can do
(10:56):
better at a job of saving ina lot of cases. CNBC with a
story today that's sixty one percent ofAmericans right now living paycheck to paycheck,
seventy eight percent of consumers earning lessthan fifty thousand a year, and sixty
five percent of those earning between fiftythousand and one hundred thousand. We're living
paycheck to paycheck in July, bothup from a year ago. And then
it says of those earning one hundredthousand dollars or more, only forty four
(11:20):
percent reported living paycheck to paycheck.Only I think is misused their Jim.
If nearly half of the people makingsix figures are living paycheck to paycheck,
either the prices are way too high, which they are, or saving needs
to be better, which it probablydoes. But the fact that nearly half
of people in that condition are strugglingfinancially means a ton of people in this
(11:41):
country are really, really suffering asa result of this. All right,
let's talk about our crazy martini now, Jim and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was inhis home state yesterday, and unfortunately,
it seems like we got a rerunof that frightening moment up on Capitol Hill
a number of weeks go where hewas in the middle of giving an update
on legislation and then he just stoppedtalking, kind of froze, didn't say
(12:07):
anything, had to be ushered away, and then he came back and said
everything was fine, didn't need tosee a doctor. Eventually, the explanation
was he briefly got lightheaded. Butyesterday the question here was, hey,
you know you're up for reelection intwenty twenty six. What are you thinking
about that? At first he didn'thear it real well, and then he
just didn't answer. And so here'show that sounded. What are your thoughts
(12:28):
on running for re election in twentytwenty six? What am I sollege about?
What running for re election in twentyThat's good. This is the point
where McConnell simply stops talking. Didyou hear the question senator running for re
election in twenty twenty six? Allright, I'm sorry you all. We're
(12:50):
gonna need a minute sooner. Anny, yep, A couple of aids come
in here. Ask him if hewants to leave for a moment, what's
okay? Somebody else have a question, please speak up? And so then
(13:16):
McConnell says he was ready to go. But if you listen to the responses
later, he was coherent, buthe sounded extraordinarily weak, and so Jim.
The questions obviously are escalating tremendously.Now, what's going on with Mitch
McConnell. We know he hit hishead and had a severe concussion a number
of months ago. That could bepart of it. He's also eighty one
years old. Now. The anonymousword from his office is that he will
(13:37):
see a doctor, or that he'sexpected to. We would certainly hope so.
But of course this gets us backto our long time discussion of what
condition should people be and if they'regoing to be holding the most powerful positions
in our government. Yeah, thefirst one on Capitol Hill was frightening.
I think this one was even morefrightening. I'm glad we played the audio.
(13:58):
Greg. I would urge listeners ofI haven't seen it in they're trying
to figure out what to what towhat to make of it. To watch
the video. It's almost as ifMcConnell like if he had an off switch
and someone just flipped it. Imean, he just kind of staring there
blankly, and it's it's not likehe's struggling to get some words out.
He's just kind of, you know, I guess it's just staring blankly.
(14:18):
It's just like something's something clearly verywrong. The first one they said it
was just a temporary about of dizziness. And look, you know, my
folks are getting up there in years. You get older, you just dehydration
could be a factor for things likethat. It's very hard to believe though,
that this is not something more seriousthan brief, you know, dizziness
(14:39):
or dehydration or something like that.Not only do I certainly hope McConnell saw
a doctor and is getting everything checkedout and they're running a battery of tests
to get to the bottom of whatthe issue is. I really I said
this after the first McConnell incident onChuck Todd's program, that I would feel
better if we got, first ofall, a report from the doctor.
(15:01):
This is my I've checked him out, this is my conclusion. It would
be good if they could, youknow, if they felt comfortable disclosing the
results of the tests. That wouldbe really good, And it would be
really really good if the doctors wereavailable to answer questions from reporters. I
realize that's a lot to ask,But on the other hand, you're the
minority leader in the Senate, andI'm thinking a great deal about how you
know the old saying from Uncle Benfrom Spider Man, with great power comes
(15:24):
great responsibility. Well, if youwant the power of having a high level
position in the United States government,like US senator, and this applies to
Diane Feinstein as well President United Statesfor President Biden. Former President Donald Trump
wants to be there. He's alsowell into his seventies. If you want
that power of that position, Ithink you have a responsibility to give the
(15:45):
American people straightforward, honest and timelyinformation about the state of your health.
It is not just that they're old. You know. We've talked to this
program about Chuck Grassley and how hekeeps, you know, winning push up
contests with people, and if youlisten to Grassly, he's he's still pretty
darn sharp. That doesn't seem tobe an issue with him, at least
at this point. But unfortunately we'veseen with the elderly, like they can
(16:07):
decline pretty fast. How you aretoday is no guarantee of what condition you're
going to be in a year fromnow, or two years from now or
three years, you know. Andthese guys are running for six year terms.
In the case of the presidency,they're running for four year terms.
They can't, you know. Thisis a very big bet about the state
of mind they're going to be inand the state of their health a couple
of years down the road. I'mkind of frustrated that McConnell office keeps saying,
(16:32):
Oh, it's nothing, it's fine. It's no. We can't take
you at your word anymore. We'rewe're gonna need to hear from an independent
doctor to say, yes, you'refine, and I you know, again,
we've generally been fans of McConnell onthis podcast. We've had some disagreements,
but by and large, like Iwant the man to live happily the
rest of his days, and ifyou're having incidents like this, it's very
hard to believe this doesn't affect hisability to do his job in some fashion.
(16:55):
And I think every Republican Senator whovery much wishes McConnell. Well is
wondering about this. Is ken McConnelldo perform his duties the way he used
to if he's having these issues,maybe from that fall, or maybe apparently
there was a second fall he hadat the airport a couple of months ago.
Clearly there's something wrong with the man, and we want to get it
checked out. We want to gethim the best treatment he can. And
(17:18):
it's conceivable that beat remaining a USSenator is just not a good option for
him. From here, we needmore information. I thinks McConnell and his
staff are obligated to give more information. And this is a situation I suspect
people will be watching pretty darn closely. In the days and weeks and months
ago. Yeah, I saw acouple of things. I want to say
here, a couple of people onTwitter, we're suggesting, Wow, there's
a democratic governor. He wants towait till this year's governor's races overs and
(17:41):
hopes there's a Republican that's not necessaryanymore. Shortly after he won re election
in twenty twenty, he got theRepublicans in the state legislature to change the
law there. And so what Iunderstand the law to be is that whatever
party the person who either dies inoffice or has to resign or whatever the
situation is, that party then presentsthe governor with a list of three people
has to choose from. So it'snot that like the governor's going to pick
(18:02):
a Democrat to replace Mitch McConnell.Secondly, you mentioned Chuck Grassly. He's
going to be ninety in September,so next month. Just this week he
was giving us his regular updates onthe size of the ears of corn in
Iowa, and he was at DairyQueen as he just want to do.
You have to follow him on Twittercelebrating once again visiting all ninety nine counties
in Iowa, the full Grassly asthey call it. So it's about capacity,
(18:25):
it's about ability to do the job. And obviously, as the person
gets older, whether you think theycan do that for six years becomes a
dice yer proposition. But Grassly,clearly it's capable of doing that. Maybe
running laps around the mall of herday and doing tons of push ups really
does make a huge difference. Iguess it does. Greg one of my
colleagues, cracked the one thing thatwe know for certain that absolutely positively always
(18:47):
runs well on ethanol. Is chucksamazing? All right, well, Jim,
I'll let you go and continue toadjust to the jet lag and being
home so we can once again dearlisteners. Gregg is letting you know I'm
gonna nap as soon as exactly right. The good thing is, Jim,
we'll tell you this. The thing'shappiest about other than being home and back
(19:07):
with his family, is that hedidn't have to cover the debate last week.
I had a few friends who werewatching this and saying, you went
to a country being invaded by Russiajust to get up covering the debate,
didn't you. Yeah, there's moreof those coming, so you're gonna have
to come up with an even betterexcuse next time, I guess. But
nonetheless, go on not that faraway. Great to have you back,
(19:29):
Jim Gartty, National Review. I'mGreg Columbus of Radio America. Thanks for
being with us today. Please subscribeto the podcast if you don't already,
and tell some friends about us aswell. Thank you for your five star
ratings and your kind reviews. Pleasekeep those coming. Get us on your
home devices. All you have tosay is play three Martini Lunch podcast.
Follow us on Twitter. He's atJim Garretty, I'm at Dateline, Underscore
DC. Have a terrific Thursday,and join us again on Friday for the
(19:51):
next three Martini Lunch
Welcome to the Three Martini Lunch.Grab a stool next to Greg Corumbus of
Radio America and Jim Garritty of NationalReview. Three Martini's coming up. Very
glad to have you with us forthe Thursday edition of the Three Martini Lunch.
Jim Garritty is back, and aswe've been telling you since he had
divulged it in the Morning Jolt,he has spent much of the past week
(00:24):
and a half in Ukraine, invery different parts of Ukraine, and getting
a real sense of where the warstands, where it's going, and what
the past has been. If youread as recent dispatches from Bucca, and
there's another one today based on Odessa, and so many great thanks to Scott
Bertram, to John Gabriel, toAn S. Stepman, to Andy McCarthy
for filling in while Jim is gone. But Jim, it's always great to
(00:47):
have you here, so welcome home. I'm glad you were safe and it
sounds like it was a worthwhile trip. Yes, Greg, first, it
is very good to be back.Listeners. I'm glad to be back with
you. It was an intense trip. I think if I had to summright
with with one word intensely good insome ways, but the people that I've
had a chance to meet and talkto at times intensely dark as they described
(01:08):
the things that they endured and experienced, particularly during the first couple of months
of the war. Fitting this podcast, there were some intensely crazy parts,
whether it was hanging out with aSupreme Court judge on a rooftop on an
anti drone station, or refugee kidsthat were getting animal therapy through rabbits.
(01:29):
My traveling companion and I a friendof mine who has been running relief efforts
out there, or you know,volunteering with the relief efforts out there.
This was his eighth trip to Ukraine. We did not know what we were
going to see from minute to minutein any of these places, and you
had no idea what you were goingto hear next, see next, or
(01:49):
experience next. So great to beback. We'll be talking about this a
bit more in the near future.But oh and for those who are wondering,
if you've read my stuff today andyou're wondering how I can in multiple
places at once, I have notdeveloped teleporting. I am back home.
The Washington Post ran a story without of the interview with Rabbi Osman of
(02:10):
the Brodsky Synagogue and Kiev. Sothat's why that's dateline Kiev that was written
when I was there, in acouple of days in the editing process.
Today the morning joelt is from Odessa. That was a few days ago.
I have one more jolt that willbe about my visit to Transnistria, which
is a Russian affiliated breakaway region ofMoldova that is not recognized by many other
(02:34):
states. It's probably been as closeas you can get to going to Russia
without getting arrested, which I reallydon't want to have happen. And life
will the jolt will kind of goback to its usual US political focus on
I guess not Monday. We're notpublishing Monday because the Labor Day on Tuesday.
But anyway, so that's it.So I'm home all as well.
A lot of air raid alerts,but no particular danger for myself and my
(02:57):
friends. So it is good tobe back. And God just you know
it. It will take me sometime to process and lay out everything I
saw, heard and experienced over there. Yes, and we will be having
a full recounting of Jim's trip orat least the good, bad and crazy
Martini version of the trip. Youcan't pack a week and a half into
twenty five minute podcast, But onLabor Day, make sure, since you
(03:22):
can't read the Morning Jolt, takethat time and listen to the three Martini
Lunch because we're gonna be spending alot of time talking exclusively about the trip.
So you get a little bit ofa taste here and a lot more
on Monday, and this is thegood Martini. The Jim is home,
and that we've learned a whole lotmore about the situation in Ukraine. I
just need to know one thing aboutthe breaking news, Jim. What was
(03:42):
the reaction wherever you were on ifyou're in Kiev at the time, or
where you were when the news camethat Progohan's plane went down and he was
presumed dead. I was indeed inKiev, and okay, less than surprise.
I think it's how I would characterizethe reaction. My friend had been
out in Ukraine when the mini coup, or however you want to characterize Pegozan's
(04:05):
effort out there was going on,and there was enormous excitement. The Ukrainians
generally believed that anything that was internalpressure or descent or stress on the Russian
state was good news. My friendwas actually with a character he calls them
the good Chechens. Uh, theseare not Chechen terrorists. These are not
(04:25):
aligned with the current warlord running Chechnyawho's aligned with Putin. These are anti
Putin Chechens who, as far asI know, are not that terroristic.
Probably didn't inspire any twenty four characters, but those folks looked at it and
said, my god, we're gonnaget to go home. Alas the Pagozan
rebellion coup attempt, however you wantto characterize it, he kind of,
(04:47):
you know, hit hit the stopbutton after a day, and I think
that was kind of disappointment. AndI think at that point no one in
Ukraine had any particular used for Pagosan. And it's worth noting he was a
you know, maniacal, crazed,dangerous, bloody handed warlord as is,
so nobody was really mourning the man. Nobody was at least bit surprised.
(05:08):
And the expert of the region thatthe region that I spoke to that day
he characterized it as like, well, you know, Russia is a mafia
state, is a gangster state.And this is just one more vivid illustration
of that that he could have,you know, Putin theoretically could have brought
up who goes in on charges,He could have had him at a trial.
Whatever brought that plane down. Andwe don't know with one percent certainty
(05:28):
that was Putin, but we allstrongly suspect that is just one more demonstration
that Russia is a lawless state.They don't bother but the rule of law
checks and balances anything like that.When Putin says you gotta die, you
die. Yeah, it's interesting tosee the Russian government now saying, wow,
looks like it might have been targeted, no kidding, be like the
(05:50):
Barzinis, you know, and theGodfather say ah, I can't believe that.
What a terrible thing looks like SonnyCarleoni might have been targeted there at
the toll booth. Well, yes, good footing it all right, Jim,
onto our bad martini now. Andthis is multifaceted. We've got a
problem with Americans falling behind on theirdebt, and there's not a big,
(06:11):
shocking, complicated reason why things aremore expensive so it's harder to pay their
bills. But Yahoo financed with thestory. First of all, Americans are
falling behind on their credit card andauto loan payments as the cost of living
continues to hit them where it hurts. The rate of new credit card delinquencies
hit seven point two percent in thesecond quarter of this year, passing pre
COVID levels, according to the NewYork Fed's latest quarterly debt report. Meanwhile,
(06:35):
the rate of new auto loan delinquencieshit seven point three percent in the
same period, also above pre pandemiclevels. And so we've already had a
major credit card debt problem in thiscountry, but if you look at the
charts, it's the worst now inprobably about a decade. It's not just
auto loan's other consumer loans. Iwould assume that includes mortgages and other things.
(06:56):
People are definitely strapped. And ofcourse we've got student love payments coming
back next month, and so it'sgoing to get even more complicated. Meanwhile,
CBS News reporting that in the lasttwo years, basically over the rise
of this major inflation, the worsethan forty years, the price of school
supplies twenty four percent higher than justtwo years ago. We also saw a
gas price spike. While you weregotten Jim around three seventy five in the
(07:18):
local area. Not sure exactly whatthe average was nationwide. So the fact
that this administration remains mystified that Bidenomicsisn't super duper popular shouldn't be all that
hard to solve. Here. Theyspent money that didn't need to be spent.
Same thing happened in during the COVIDpandemic to a large extent, and
now we're paying for it. Greg. I noticed a story on this and
(07:41):
the fact that more Americans are fallingbehind on car loan credit card payments for
more than at any point in thepast decade. It was on the front
page of the Washington Post today onthe left side. And listeners know I
write for them, and I tryto cheer the good whenever I see it
in that newspaper. And I thinkthat you cannot say that this is that's
(08:01):
not downplaying it, that's not hidingit. That as an open acknowledgement.
I think it explains a great deal. There's been this lament by Democrats,
including the Biden administration. Ah,look at how good the economy is doing.
The economy is hot as hell,Jack, as Biden said last summer.
Why aren't we getting any credit forit? Why do Americans feel so
badly about the economy. Why dothey feel, you know, well,
here's a good example. Actually,no, it's not. It's not doing
(08:24):
that great. And I think thisis it's again a wide variety of reasons,
but I think a very big reasonis the really high inflation we saw
for much of the first two yearsof the Biden administration. Was some of
that, you know, a naturaloutgrowth of the consequences of the ending of
the COVID nineteen pandemic. Okay,maybe a little, but you know,
but throughout the course of the pandemic, and most importantly, like in the
(08:46):
months afterwards in twenty twenty twenty one, where the pandemic's effects were kind of
receding from our lives. You addup all the spending of the US government
throwing into the economist like six trillion, it was way too much money.
You put too much money to theeconomy, the dollar becomes less valuable,
prices get higher, and that's whatwe lived with. And I think,
you know, a point I've triedto attribute to you as often as possible,
(09:07):
Greg, because it was a verysharp one. When you saw the
really high numbers in twenty twenty two. Those were you know, you're usually
the inflation rate we use as one, you know, over the past year,
you know, comparing June twenty twentytwo to prices in June twenty twenty
one, Well they're already jumped higherin June twenty twenty one, so you
really should be thinking about this inkind of a two year span, and
(09:28):
prices have become significantly higher now yearover year, inflation rate has gotten better.
I think it's down to about threepercent, it's compared to the nine
percent it was in the summer,but that's still pretty darn bad. And
that just means you're paying more atthe pump for your groceries. Chances are
your rent or your interest rates.Your your rent's gone high. Mortgage,
your your interest rate may have gonehigh if you have an adjustable rate mortgage,
(09:50):
if you're trying to, you know, get a loan from a bank,
things have gotten harder. Americans arebeing just squeezed financially at a whole
bunch of different fronts, and we'reseeing it and the fact that they're trying
to decide how are we going topay for this? And in some cases
they're just you know, not paying. There is this you know, rather
you know, eye popping quote wherethey say, look, you know,
the sheer number of Americans who aretrying to decide do I pay my electric
(10:13):
bill? Do I pay my energybill? Do I pay my grocery bill?
Do I pay my rent? Alot? A lot? And so
you're just kind of in this situation. Got help you if you need to
know, your car breaks down,you need to buy a car, something
like that, some unexpected expense orsomething like that. So Americans are not
you know, there're a whole lotof Americans who are not thriving, who
are not prospering. And yes,it is good that the unemployment rate is
down, but the Biden administration isgoing to pull a muscle how much they
(10:35):
weren't around patting themselves in the backfor this date of the economy. And
remember Biden wants to run on Bidenomicsand argue that he's you know, he's
fixed the American economy. No hehas not. And if it's you know,
if he's not finding this message veryresonant. You know, the actual
economic statistics we laid out here area pretty good example of why exactly,
and Americans as a whole are notgreat at saving. We all can do
(10:56):
better at a job of saving ina lot of cases. CNBC with a
story today that's sixty one percent ofAmericans right now living paycheck to paycheck,
seventy eight percent of consumers earning lessthan fifty thousand a year, and sixty
five percent of those earning between fiftythousand and one hundred thousand. We're living
paycheck to paycheck in July, bothup from a year ago. And then
it says of those earning one hundredthousand dollars or more, only forty four
(11:20):
percent reported living paycheck to paycheck.Only I think is misused their Jim.
If nearly half of the people makingsix figures are living paycheck to paycheck,
either the prices are way too high, which they are, or saving needs
to be better, which it probablydoes. But the fact that nearly half
of people in that condition are strugglingfinancially means a ton of people in this
(11:41):
country are really, really suffering asa result of this. All right,
let's talk about our crazy martini now, Jim and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was inhis home state yesterday, and unfortunately,
it seems like we got a rerunof that frightening moment up on Capitol Hill
a number of weeks go where hewas in the middle of giving an update
on legislation and then he just stoppedtalking, kind of froze, didn't say
(12:07):
anything, had to be ushered away, and then he came back and said
everything was fine, didn't need tosee a doctor. Eventually, the explanation
was he briefly got lightheaded. Butyesterday the question here was, hey,
you know you're up for reelection intwenty twenty six. What are you thinking
about that? At first he didn'thear it real well, and then he
just didn't answer. And so here'show that sounded. What are your thoughts
(12:28):
on running for re election in twentytwenty six? What am I sollege about?
What running for re election in twentyThat's good. This is the point
where McConnell simply stops talking. Didyou hear the question senator running for re
election in twenty twenty six? Allright, I'm sorry you all. We're
(12:50):
gonna need a minute sooner. Anny, yep, A couple of aids come
in here. Ask him if hewants to leave for a moment, what's
okay? Somebody else have a question, please speak up? And so then
(13:16):
McConnell says he was ready to go. But if you listen to the responses
later, he was coherent, buthe sounded extraordinarily weak, and so Jim.
The questions obviously are escalating tremendously.Now, what's going on with Mitch
McConnell. We know he hit hishead and had a severe concussion a number
of months ago. That could bepart of it. He's also eighty one
years old. Now. The anonymousword from his office is that he will
(13:37):
see a doctor, or that he'sexpected to. We would certainly hope so.
But of course this gets us backto our long time discussion of what
condition should people be and if they'regoing to be holding the most powerful positions
in our government. Yeah, thefirst one on Capitol Hill was frightening.
I think this one was even morefrightening. I'm glad we played the audio.
(13:58):
Greg. I would urge listeners ofI haven't seen it in they're trying
to figure out what to what towhat to make of it. To watch
the video. It's almost as ifMcConnell like if he had an off switch
and someone just flipped it. Imean, he just kind of staring there
blankly, and it's it's not likehe's struggling to get some words out.
He's just kind of, you know, I guess it's just staring blankly.
(14:18):
It's just like something's something clearly verywrong. The first one they said it
was just a temporary about of dizziness. And look, you know, my
folks are getting up there in years. You get older, you just dehydration
could be a factor for things likethat. It's very hard to believe though,
that this is not something more seriousthan brief, you know, dizziness
(14:39):
or dehydration or something like that.Not only do I certainly hope McConnell saw
a doctor and is getting everything checkedout and they're running a battery of tests
to get to the bottom of whatthe issue is. I really I said
this after the first McConnell incident onChuck Todd's program, that I would feel
better if we got, first ofall, a report from the doctor.
(15:01):
This is my I've checked him out, this is my conclusion. It would
be good if they could, youknow, if they felt comfortable disclosing the
results of the tests. That wouldbe really good, And it would be
really really good if the doctors wereavailable to answer questions from reporters. I
realize that's a lot to ask,But on the other hand, you're the
minority leader in the Senate, andI'm thinking a great deal about how you
know the old saying from Uncle Benfrom Spider Man, with great power comes
(15:24):
great responsibility. Well, if youwant the power of having a high level
position in the United States government,like US senator, and this applies to
Diane Feinstein as well President United Statesfor President Biden. Former President Donald Trump
wants to be there. He's alsowell into his seventies. If you want
that power of that position, Ithink you have a responsibility to give the
(15:45):
American people straightforward, honest and timelyinformation about the state of your health.
It is not just that they're old. You know. We've talked to this
program about Chuck Grassley and how hekeeps, you know, winning push up
contests with people, and if youlisten to Grassly, he's he's still pretty
darn sharp. That doesn't seem tobe an issue with him, at least
at this point. But unfortunately we'veseen with the elderly, like they can
(16:07):
decline pretty fast. How you aretoday is no guarantee of what condition you're
going to be in a year fromnow, or two years from now or
three years, you know. Andthese guys are running for six year terms.
In the case of the presidency,they're running for four year terms.
They can't, you know. Thisis a very big bet about the state
of mind they're going to be inand the state of their health a couple
of years down the road. I'mkind of frustrated that McConnell office keeps saying,
(16:32):
Oh, it's nothing, it's fine. It's no. We can't take
you at your word anymore. We'rewe're gonna need to hear from an independent
doctor to say, yes, you'refine, and I you know, again,
we've generally been fans of McConnell onthis podcast. We've had some disagreements,
but by and large, like Iwant the man to live happily the
rest of his days, and ifyou're having incidents like this, it's very
hard to believe this doesn't affect hisability to do his job in some fashion.
(16:55):
And I think every Republican Senator whovery much wishes McConnell. Well is
wondering about this. Is ken McConnelldo perform his duties the way he used
to if he's having these issues,maybe from that fall, or maybe apparently
there was a second fall he hadat the airport a couple of months ago.
Clearly there's something wrong with the man, and we want to get it
checked out. We want to gethim the best treatment he can. And
(17:18):
it's conceivable that beat remaining a USSenator is just not a good option for
him. From here, we needmore information. I thinks McConnell and his
staff are obligated to give more information. And this is a situation I suspect
people will be watching pretty darn closely. In the days and weeks and months
ago. Yeah, I saw acouple of things. I want to say
here, a couple of people onTwitter, we're suggesting, Wow, there's
a democratic governor. He wants towait till this year's governor's races overs and
(17:41):
hopes there's a Republican that's not necessaryanymore. Shortly after he won re election
in twenty twenty, he got theRepublicans in the state legislature to change the
law there. And so what Iunderstand the law to be is that whatever
party the person who either dies inoffice or has to resign or whatever the
situation is, that party then presentsthe governor with a list of three people
has to choose from. So it'snot that like the governor's going to pick
(18:02):
a Democrat to replace Mitch McConnell.Secondly, you mentioned Chuck Grassly. He's
going to be ninety in September,so next month. Just this week he
was giving us his regular updates onthe size of the ears of corn in
Iowa, and he was at DairyQueen as he just want to do.
You have to follow him on Twittercelebrating once again visiting all ninety nine counties
in Iowa, the full Grassly asthey call it. So it's about capacity,
(18:25):
it's about ability to do the job. And obviously, as the person
gets older, whether you think theycan do that for six years becomes a
dice yer proposition. But Grassly,clearly it's capable of doing that. Maybe
running laps around the mall of herday and doing tons of push ups really
does make a huge difference. Iguess it does. Greg one of my
colleagues, cracked the one thing thatwe know for certain that absolutely positively always
(18:47):
runs well on ethanol. Is chucksamazing? All right, well, Jim,
I'll let you go and continue toadjust to the jet lag and being
home so we can once again dearlisteners. Gregg is letting you know I'm
gonna nap as soon as exactly right. The good thing is, Jim,
we'll tell you this. The thing'shappiest about other than being home and back
(19:07):
with his family, is that hedidn't have to cover the debate last week.
I had a few friends who werewatching this and saying, you went
to a country being invaded by Russiajust to get up covering the debate,
didn't you. Yeah, there's moreof those coming, so you're gonna have
to come up with an even betterexcuse next time, I guess. But
nonetheless, go on not that faraway. Great to have you back,
(19:29):
Jim Gartty, National Review. I'mGreg Columbus of Radio America. Thanks for
being with us today. Please subscribeto the podcast if you don't already,
and tell some friends about us aswell. Thank you for your five star
ratings and your kind reviews. Pleasekeep those coming. Get us on your
home devices. All you have tosay is play three Martini Lunch podcast.
Follow us on Twitter. He's atJim Garretty, I'm at Dateline, Underscore
DC. Have a terrific Thursday,and join us again on Friday for the
(19:51):
next three Martini Lunch
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