June 30, 2025 • 43 mins
Michael Toth, resident fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.
Ken Davis, Senior Attorney, Former Deputy Attorney General for Virginia
Ken Davis, Senior Attorney, Former Deputy Attorney General for Virginia
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is Made in America with Rich Rothman.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hey, welcome to everybody. This is Made in America, and
I am your host, Rich Roffman. I am delighted as
always and honored to be able to get into your ear. Now,
that's an interesting thought. I never thought about it that way,
but I am so thanks for being there. We appreciate it.
We have a really important show for you today. We've
got two great guests. Michael Chouth is the resident Fellow
(00:38):
at a Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, and we're
gonna be having a conversation of what's really going on
out there with a big bill. And we're gonna have
a conversation with Ken Davis, who's gonna be talking. He's
the former actually, he's a senior attorney, former Deputy Attorney
General for the state of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and
we're gonna have a pretty strong conversation with him about
(01:01):
tax and things like that, which we had economy, we
have tax. But first, as always, I got to talk
to you a little bit. I am concerned and you
should be concerned. But let me tell you why and
why I think I have a good point of view
about this. I am listening to the mayoral race, which
I know you are too. I know you look at this,
you look at the folks who are running up in
(01:21):
New York and you're saying, wow, Cuomo. Okay, I got
him down. And then we had this other guy, Ma'am Domi,
who is running in the primary for the Democratic ticket,
and he won. He's a Muslim. Not a problem with that.
I we could care less. But he came up, which
I find with some really amazing ideas. Now why do
(01:44):
I have a concern about that? Because he wants to
give you every way for free. Everything is going to
be for free. You're gonna bus this for free, transportation
for free, living for free, school for free. He wants
to start you know, supermarkets and grocery stores owned by
the city that will then have you know, really low
prices for people who can't afford food, which I thought
(02:05):
we had programs for. But okay, he wants to do that.
And he went and how was he going to pay
for this one hundred billion dollar fiasco. He's going to
raise taxes. He's going to defund the police. Great idea,
don't you think. And he's going to uh, he's going
to raise tax and he's going to make everyone else
(02:27):
and corporations pay more in their fair share. So in
other words, it's going to get more expensive if you're
on the successful side and you make money and so forth,
that you own stores, and for those who can't afford
anything will be getting everything for free. Okay, sounds great,
doesn't It? Not a bad idea. It's worked all over
the world. People have been convinced that's a great idea.
(02:47):
I suggest you watch the movie Doctor Chivago. I just
did on the fourteenth of this month, and I noticed
how they went from some form of an Aristotle aristocratic
capitalist society, they went to a socialist communist society and
it didn't play out well at all. And you know
what happened since nineteen seventeen to where we are today.
(03:09):
But I have an office in Cora Gables. I have
offices in Cora Gables, which is basically Miami, and Miami
is a gateway city. That means that we are the
gateway to Latin America. That means we have more Hispanics,
we have more displaced folks coming for freedom than probably
(03:32):
any other city in the United States as it relates
to Latin America and it's now starting Mexico. But certainly
we have more Nicaraguans, Guatemalans, Costa Ricans, more Brazilians. So
we have Portoguese, we have more of Venezuelans, more Chileans,
and so forth and so on. All right, so's you
got that right. You understand that it's a gateway. We
(03:53):
speak not just Spanish, probably seven different variations of Spanish,
but we all have one thing in common that we
learned from the people who came here from, particularly Cuba.
That's obvious, isn't it. Miami is Cuba city number two. Venezuela.
Now what do they have in common? They both went communists,
they were both went socialists, and they both failed radically.
(04:16):
So I sit here from a point of view, I
actually employ these people. They're my best friends. For decades,
I would say, since nineteen seventy seven. I have watched this.
I have seen these people come. I watched the influx
of Mariolitos in nineteen eighty eighty one, when we had
one hundred and eighty thousand married Elitos come here in
like I don't know, ninety days, completely broke the socioeconomics
(04:40):
of the Miami Dade County, and I listened to these people,
and why are they coming here? They're coming here because
socialism fails. You understand what I'm saying. I don't want
to even debate the thing. Socialism as a construct for
a government generally fails. Go find me super societies around
the country that have communist, communist oriented socialist system. They
(05:03):
don't work. Now, having said that, having said that, let
me play a quick SoundBite for you from Bernie Sanders,
one of my favorite persons to humiliate, because I don't
know how he got well, he doesn't never had a job,
He doesn't have a job. He needs the center or
listen to this guy. So I want if we could
play number two, why Mamdani won the offerings as written
(05:29):
and discussed by Bernie Sanders.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
In a time of unprecedented incumbon wealthy equality. Yeah, we
are going to ask. The richest people in New York
City just stopped paying their fair sheriff taxes. So among
other things we can adjuriate, we can address. The major
crisis facing New York and America, by the way, is
soaring housing costs. They got to freeze rent at a
(05:52):
time when families can't afford decent quality food. He's talking
about helping to create publicly funded grocery store so that
people kids can get food that's affordable, making buses free.
He's giving people a positive agenda, not just going after Trump,
but giving something the people can believe in and analysis
(06:13):
which reflects their reality.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
WHOA. So if you listen to that and again, I
advise you to get Doctor Chivago on Netflix this weekend
or Prime and I suggest you watch it. The point
I'm trying to make. I have been to Moscow when
I was much younger. I've been to Cuba. I did
a project with the US Agricultural Coalition for Cuba. I
am telling you I've been there eighteen times since twenty sixteen,
(06:39):
twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen, eighteen times so long that I
had to have a home there for a while to
do the project for eighteen different governors. And you know
what I found there? No food. You know what I
saw on the supermarkets that were run by the government.
No food. You know what I saw that people eat
in Cuba? Little food. You know where the food went.
They took all the food that they had that, by
(07:01):
the way, is organic, because they can't afford the petrochemicals
to you know, for a fertilizer, So everything's organic. I
mean it, actually it tastes pretty good. But the point
of the matter is they do not have food. They
are struggling. What happens in Venezuela. And I've been to
Caracas when I own Latin Trade, Latin CEO. Now I
own Global Miami. I have been there a gazillion times.
(07:24):
The Venezuelan government, the prior to the Socialists, prior to
the Communists, was so successful, such a rich country. The
socialists come in, they make these promises. I'm gonna give
you everything. I'm gonna make your life better. I'm gonna
feed you, I'm gonna house you, I'm gonna transport you.
I am gonna take care of you from birth to
the grave. Oh my god, you're not even gonna have
(07:47):
need an American Express card. And you know what happens.
They fail. They fail. Heart stop right in that word.
I'm not even going beyond that. They fail. I have
seen it. I have seen the despair in Cuba, so
much so that on my eighteenth trip for this project,
I was doing a really important project to the United States,
(08:07):
important project I couldn't go back. Why couldn't I go back?
I couldn't go back because it was bittersweet to see
nothing being offered to the people and the people dying
for an opportunity to have something. So when some cat
tells you, oh, this is great, it's inequitable. Make the
wealthy pay for it. Charge the corporations, he doesn't know
what he's talking about. He's never run a company, he's
(08:29):
never met a payroll, and he hasn't got a clue
what it's like to maintain something and take care of
something and pay for something. Now, on another note, just
to tell you that that's my note. I had to
get it out of my system and I've been waiting
to talk about that for a long long time. We're
gonna have as our first desk when we come back,
Michael Toff. He's the Resident Fellow Foundation for Research Equal Opportunity.
(08:51):
We're gonna tell you where it's at. Don't go anywhere.
I'll be right back. This is Rich. Hey, welcome back
to Mayden in America. I'm Rich Troth and your host.
Delighted to be here today. And by the way, if
you want to communicate with me, and I'm getting a
(09:12):
lot of emails. It's Rich at Rich Roffman, that's our
Oh f as in Frank f as in Frank m
A n dot com. I want to hear from you.
You've got something to say, say it to me. And
if it's really that good, I'm gonna put you on
the air. So uh, Anyway, I want to get back
to Michael right now. Michael Taft is a Resident fellow
at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. And man,
we got to talk about that, but we are gonna
(09:33):
be talking about this big, big, big beautiful bill and
and and you know, it's very interesting every time we propose,
for example, with the tax cuts and Trump number one.
First time he was in the office, you know, everyone said,
oh my god, we can't have the tax cuts. We're
gonna lose revenue. The same thing with Reagan. We're gonna
lose revenue. Everything's gonna go to hell. We're not gonna
have our tax base, You're not gonna be able to
(09:54):
pay for everything. We're gonna have high inflation. The whole
thing's gonna go to hell. Well, we're hearing that to
a degree today. There's a lot of misinformation out there,
so Michael is here to tell us the truth and
what's going on. Michael, welcome to maid in America.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Rich so glad to be with you. And yeah, let
me just get the ball rolling here. I think people
really need to know what's a stake. I mean, let's
just break it down. No big beautiful bill, we're going
to have a four trillion dollar tax cut. All of
your listeners are going to have an average of about
a two thousand dollars tax hike. You put a four
trillion dollar tax hike on the American economy. We're going
(10:31):
into a recession. So that's what's at stake if we
don't pass the one Big Beautiful Bill Act. And there's
a lot of good in it. I'm going to talk
about that in a sec but let's just understand what's
that stake. We don't pass the bill wearing a recession,
and the Democrats are taking both houses of Congress. That's
why not a single Democrat has stood up to support
these common sense provisions. So that's what that steak. I
(10:52):
think the administration, working with the leaders of Congress, have
done some very good work not just in avoiding that
but also in creating what will be the next blue
collar boom. So real excited to talk with you and
your listeners about what that means.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Okay, So I want to go back for a second,
and I want to go back to Trump number one,
and when they first passed the tax cuts that was
really significant. The reality was, it did a really good
thing for America, didn't it.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
It did an incredible thing for America. And it did
an incredible thing for the Americans that needed the most.
I mean, it led to basically a six thousand dollars
increase in real incomes for Americans. I mean, just look
at it. Look at the four years that Trump was
in office relative to the Obama administration. You saw the
average wages of Americans increase about two times what they
(11:41):
increased during the eight years of the Obama administration. So
the Americans who needed it the most got the benefits
from the tax cut of twenty seventeen. And what we're
trying to do now in the Congress is to extend
those provisions, make them permanent, and give tax payers in
small businesses permanent tax really from the government, That's what
it comes down to. Was a big success, and our
(12:03):
leaders in Congress are trying to make it permanent.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Right now, let's let's let's let's cook back to this.
Why is it? You know every time this is when
it was first proposed, you know, the Democrats went and
sang and they said all these horrible things are going
to happen. With Reagan, they did the exact same thing.
And yet when Reagan did it, the economy was incredibly strong.
When Trump did it and Trump number one, the economy
(12:29):
was incredible. I mean so much so that I mean
one of my favorite and I probatrud have had it
on the show today and I didn't pull it. I'm
gonna I'm gonna yell at myself to Phil or producer.
But when when Obama said, what does he have a
magic wand that he's going to create all these jobs?
What is he going to do to create all these jobs? Well,
let me think, maybe with what you're saying, and I'm
going to give you a chance to respond to this,
(12:51):
maybe by creating, you know, the opportunity for people to
keep more money in their pocket, to change the rules
and regulations which basically freeze up the American economy to
do what it does best, which is be I don't know,
be the American economy. We have success. So when Obamas
said what is he gonna do? What does he have
a magic one? I said, no, he actually went to
(13:12):
school and he studied this and he knows what he's
talking about. So when people say that to you, and
I know you probably get challenged. I know I do
all the time. What do you say these cats when
they say wow? You know you know, of course it's
all going to go to hell. Cats and dogs living together.
I mean, this is an outtake from Ghostbusters. What do
you say?
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Well, a couple things and mel do one better? Rich.
I mean, if you look at the result of the
twenty seventeen tax cut, it exceeded even the Trump administration's expectations.
I mean, how about that. I mean, just a touch
of history on that, and then I'll get down to
the details. But he's a touch of history. You know.
We're in a great spot right now. It's the end
of June and we're looking to get in the tax
(13:50):
relief passed around July fourth back in twenty seventeen. That
bill didn't pass until December of President's Trump first year
in office. And I'll give you my answer or on
why it ended up being even better than its supporters thought,
which is that really wasn't the first tax bill of
the year. Every single time the Trump administration cut regulation
(14:12):
has the tax cut for business. Okay, it just comes
in a different form. You know, we get a regulatory cut,
you're not having to spend your own dollars complying with
a rule that doesn't make any sense. You get a
tax cut.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Well, I'm gonna stop watching. I got to stop there.
That's a really important People don't get that. Those who
are not running a company don't get that. And I'm
an entrepreneur and have been for a long long time.
My partner Neil Lasberry for fifteen years, my co host
on Made in America for the first fifteen years, an
incredible man, a self made individual, but an entrepreneur. So
(14:46):
we get it when you had all these when we not,
you don't personalize that. I said, you're a good guy.
When we have all these regulations, that regulation is a
tax on that business. Because I know Neil had a
multi billion dollar company. I only have millions of dollars,
not millions of dollars. I'm poor compared to Neil. But
(15:08):
the compliance that he had with all his employees, with
all the different products that he carried with, all the
different things that he did with energy and so forth,
unbelievable cost him a fortune to comply. I know that
because we talked about it for all those years. Same
thing with me, Same thing with any of my friends
who run these major corporations in the grade of Miami
Fort Lauderdale, South Florida area. Every rule and regulation you
(15:31):
have to comply with is a cost factor. That cost
factor is going to go into the manufacturing, distribution, servicing
of the product, so that means more money. So I
want to hear from Mike. Mike, so how do you
respond to that. I mean, I totally embrace what you said.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
It is one thousand percent true. And I'll tell you something.
Tenrist independence democrats who run businesses they know that's the case. Also,
I mean, look at Jamie Diamond. I mean he recently
referred to not as red tape, but as blue tape.
Because Jamie Diamond is saying it comes a lot of
time from you know, liberal activists to take over these
regulatory agencies. Therefore it's blue tape, it's not red tape.
(16:07):
And you know, his the customers of his bag and
the people they do business with they can't spend money
that the way they'd like to do it. But I
also just want to say one other thing rich before
we go to break, which is I can't imagine a
better program to be on talking about the One Big
Beautiful Bill Act because it is made an America bill.
And you know, again, you go back to the twenty
(16:28):
seven twenty seven tax cuts and you ask why did
it do so well well on the corporate side. Not
only did we bring the corporate rate down, but we
had immediate deductions for investment in America, for investment in
new products, new companies. Investment was given an immediate deduction.
(16:50):
And I cite a good friend of mine, he's also
with the Foundation of Research and Equal Opportunity, John Hartley
has realized that that created two to five times more
economic growth then the CBO estimated. On the front end, Well,
guess what In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, We're
going to have immediate tax deductions for new factories, for
new refineries, for American companies to grow here in the
(17:13):
United States of America. And we know what that did
in twenty seventeen. They're trying to make that permanent in
the One beautiful Bill Act over in the Senate. So
let's hope they get the job done.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Well.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, I mean that's really important, and I think we
have enough time to talk a couple more minutes about it.
The fact that I'm going to I invest in my company.
I do things. Neil did the same thing with his
and he bought big ticket items that manufactured products. I
buy equipment to expand my company because ideal in intellectualism
(17:44):
in publishing and media. But the idea that you can
deduct that on your taxes right away really helps the company,
as opposed to amortizing that over many years, which really
doesn't do the job for you, really doesn't because you
have all the front end expense and it's not going
to get realized until what five years, six years later
(18:06):
or something like that. It doesn't work. It doesn't work
for the for the guy or the lady who's who's
really trying to, you know, do something with it. You
agree with that.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
I'm sure you nailed it one hundred percent, you know.
And and here's the deal. You know, the Congress back
in twenty seventeen with the Trump administration, they realize we
have a problem. I mean, let's go back to the
Obama administration. We have a major deficit of capital investment
in United States of America by companies because the government's
making it so hard. So they solved the problem. They
(18:34):
said to you know, business leaders, like you're rich and
your business partner, guess what you buy something, you get
full deduction for the whole cost a bit right up front.
Thank you for investing. Hey, rich, I just want to
say one last thing. You know, the minute listeners are
surely surely, surely sureley, you know just dialed in with
all concept of forever wars. You know, we think about
(18:56):
that in the middle of East, et cetera. That's a
big part of what the administration is trying to get
away from. But we've had forever wars on the domestic front,
the war on poverty of forever war, right, go back
to the nineteen sixties with a couple moments where leaders
actually tried to solve that problem. Back to the twenty
seventeen tax because that bill was a real war on poverty.
Lifted six million Americans out of poverty. Okay, it's correct,
(19:18):
the most in any administration. So you know, let's keep
this on. The American people needed they deserve.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
It, so all right, So we're going to run out
of time, which is really sad because I think Michael
has so much more to say and I have so
much more to listen to for Mike. So we're gonna
We're gonna definitely get Michael back asap on the show.
We want to talk about why folks are moving to Texas,
why the moving to Miami, how we're going to make
this country even better, and the values that are really
important in terms of making a company successful through legislation.
(19:46):
This is going to be great. Michael Toff, thank you
so much for being Made in America.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Rich, I love you, can't wait to come back, looking.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Forward to it. We're gonna be right back with more
Made in.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
America promoting American industry. This is Made in America with
Rich Rothman.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Welcome back to Made in America. I'm Rich Roffman, your host.
I'm delighted to have you here today. We're having a
very good conversation and we had you know, Michael on
for a while and Michael tot we're talking about, you know,
the great big bill that's that's trying to get through
the Senate right now, and we're gonna I think I'm
gonna touch on that with our next guest a little
bit too, But right now we're gonna be talking about
(20:42):
the economy, and this is really important, and particularly as
we get it closer to the next series of elections,
so we can keep what we've got in the presidency,
of course, but the House and the Senate, it's really important.
We have Ken Davis is on the show right now,
the super Senior Attorney served with many many Fortune five
country companies. He's the former Deputy Attorney General for the
(21:03):
Commonwealth of Virginia, so he speaks beautiful state. I think
Kent Virginia is one of the most beautiful states in
the country. And I'm jealous that you're there. But welcome
to Native America.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
Ken, Well, thank you, Rich it's great to be with you.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Well, so let me ask you a question. You know
right now, you know we're told and I think people
are feeling it. I have this although people are very
trepidacious about what's happening in the world for obvious reasons
and certain things that are happening in the country, but
I think when you look at the general trend in
terms of inflation, you know, sense of well being the
(21:40):
ability to you know, to buy corn, you know, the
ability to get sugar, the ability to buy your meat
and your chicken. I mean, things are getting better, and
I can see it. Gasoline's come down, except you know,
in the last few weeks it went up a little bit,
then it came down a little bit. So I think
I think overall things are looking good. So Ken, when
you look at all of that, and we're looking out
(22:00):
on the landscape and over the horizon, you know, the
position of the economy, from my point of view, makes
or breaks the Republicans and the GOP.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Would you agree, well, I certainly do, we both and
I think most of your listeners remember the old statement
years ago now from James Carville, the Glinton advisor and
Democratic strategist, that it's the economy stupid. There are a
lot of issues on people's mind, of course, from day
(22:33):
to day and months to month, but every time, on
a daily or weekly basis, that they have to pay
for some essential gasoline, food, clothing, it comes back to
the economy and they're reminded again and again in stark
(22:55):
dramatic terms, how things are going for the economy is
a whole how prices are going, and therefore where they stand,
where they're personal and family and household welfare stock up.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
That's exactly correct. I mean, the truth of the matter
is every weekend, the average American, that's I mean, that's
when I would do my grocery shopping, particularly when they
had three kids in the house, two Standard Schnauzers, and
my wife was a very busy household, and the Schnauzers
had a lot of guests coming in, which kind of
annoyed me. But but the truth of the matter is
it is the economy. People people vote what they have
(23:36):
in their wallet, what they have in their home, and
what they're able to do. And so you know, I'm
very encouraged. I mean, and we call it, you know, Trumpanomics,
and but you and and you wrote a piece and
I'm very intrigued with it. But you said it's a
little early to declare victory. But you're feeling optimistic, aren't you.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
Well, I certainly am. I mean, look, since the beginning
of President Trump's second term, there have been sort of
two i'll say news feeds about the economy. On the
one hand, there is this catastrophic narrative that's ginned up
(24:15):
by the legacy progressive press and commentators that constantly try
to stir up anxiety and uncertainty. The tariffs are going
to wreck things of Trump's hollowing out the welfare state,
(24:37):
things serve we're you know, we're standing on the precipice
and the eve of destruction. And of course they do
all of that. They beat those drums and spin those
tales every day, every day to weaken the president and
in fact do everything they can to start up a
self fulfilling prophecy when people pull back from their expenditures
(25:01):
and investments. But on the other hand, there's a whole
second source of information, the facts, the numbers, and those
are good and steadily getting better. I mean, the most
recent inflation report for the month of May, using the
(25:28):
Federal Reserves preferred measurement of inflation, finds that inflation was
essentially flat. It did prices didn't increase. Actually they increased
one tenth of one percent for the month of May
compared to April, and for the whole year May twenty
(25:52):
five to May twenty four by the same measure, prices
have just gone up two point three three percent now,
which is very close, very close to where the Fed
declares prices to be stable. They say two percent per
(26:16):
year by this measure is price stability. So we're getting very,
very close, I think, to the point where they will
cut interest rates.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
And you know what, it's like, you had the answer
to the question they wanted to ask. And I think
this is important. You know, people are watching the battle
between you know, the Fed in in uh In President
Trump and you know the Trump president saying well, you
know what, you got to cut rates it and I
think they should. I mean, I found it amazing that
when he became president, immediately with that one hint of inflation,
(26:54):
they raised it four times in the first year, I
mean four times and there was nothing there. When when
by office and there actually is inflation, the first thing
they say is, well, it's transitory. They don't worry about it.
It's going to go away. We all knew that was
a lie. And then in reality, you know, they had
to start raising rates, and they did later down the road,
(27:14):
but for Trump, no, they're going to raise their rates
so they can play with the economy because as you said,
it's the economy stupid, and everything has to go around that.
So when you look at the environment that we're in
right now. I think you made a very valid point.
What do you suggest, what do you think is going
to happen in the next FED meeting? And where do
you think they're going to go with that?
Speaker 5 (27:34):
Well, there are two things about fad as. People have
observed that. Number one, it's hard to decipher what they say,
what the chairman say in statements after a meeting, because
of all the jargon. And number two, of course, it
is very very hard to predict. I think they are
(27:57):
getting close or the economy is getting close to the
point where, by their own measurement, two point zero percent
per year at stable prices, and we're now at two
point three. We're just three tenths of the percent for
(28:18):
the whole year off of where they have always claimed
we need to be in order to justify a rate cut.
So I guess in the in the in the meeting
that's next to come up, they will say they're encouraged,
(28:40):
but sticking for another month with rates where they are.
But again that the measurement, that's measurement.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
I have to tell you something now that you said this,
you're talking about that, you know the FED speaking in
an arcane language to me now having said that Ken.
I have degrees in English. I have a PhD of
Masters and a bachelor's degree, so I understand English really well.
Alan Greenspan, you know, I would listen to Alan and
I would just listen, and I'm pretty good at this stuff.
(29:13):
And I could do transformational grammar. I could take sentences
and diagram them. I hate it, but I can do it.
I would listen to him. I would look at my
friend or my wife and I would say, what the
hell did he just say? I have no idea what
he's saying. I don't know what this guy just said.
I got to read it eight times to understand it.
I wish they would speak in main street language, so
if the average person can understand it, maybe they'd embrace
(29:35):
the role of the FED a little bit more, because
it seems to be, you know, it exists in some
you know, mythical land, these strange people who meet every
now and then vote on pricing, you know, whether they're
going to raise rates or lower rates, and then they
if you raise a rader, it does affect America. It's agnostic,
it goes everywhere, you know. So it's it's very very
interesting that he said that.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Yeah, it certainly does and think with the FED and
in fact, you look across the whole landscape, the whole
Beltway landscape. Part of the mystique that the supposed experts
(30:18):
seek to instill and the respect and difference that they
seek to instill in us. They they try that by
in fact, not speaking plainly, but speaking in the jargon
(30:40):
of their specialty, which they hope we will look at
and say, gosh, I don't understand that, but that must
mean they know what they're doing. And our specialists and up,
very very.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Very one hundred percent. Hey listen, So I want to
I'm want to. I want to play a sound bite
and it's going to be President Trump up in Michigan
and he's talking about some of the ideas that he's
had to really make things made in America, which ironically
is the name of the show. But I think it's
an important sound bite and maybe it'll give us a
little bit chance to talk about the economy. Can we
(31:19):
play number eight?
Speaker 5 (31:20):
Please?
Speaker 6 (31:21):
On interest? I said, why couldn't we if a car
is made in the United States, only because otherwise we
don't care if it's made someplace else. Give the people
to buy the car. A deduction on the interest that
they're paying to buy the car. And people said, what
a great idea. It's so simple. It's like it's like
the paper clip. Somebody came up with the idea of
a paper clip many years ago, eighteen seventeen, and he
(31:44):
became a very rich person, and everybody looked at him
and said, why the hell didn't I think of that?
But it's like the paper clip, but only if the
car is made in America. Remember that, James, We're going
to keep those Michigan auto factories roaring and as.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
You well, and that's right. You know, to me, that's
a brilliant idea, don't you think. I mean, if we're
coming up with clever things to do, that makes sense,
that encouraged manufacturing, which job creation, keep the money in America,
recycle that money, give people a chance to borrow that
money for good purposes, homes other businesses that they can
(32:19):
get create more jobs. I mean, that's what capitalism is
all about, it, I think, and I think it works.
Your thought.
Speaker 5 (32:25):
Well. One of the great things about this Trump administration
is the breath taking scope and volume of concepts and
proposals and he's rolled out that really are well outside
the box, or they're powerful incentives. I mean, all successful policy,
(32:52):
economic policy is based on an appreciation of incentives. And
he's talking about providing an incentive to the purchaser to
insist on or at least look for American made vehicles,
and if they do so in significant numbers, then it's also,
(33:18):
of course an incentive, a further incentive for the manufacturer
to reshore the production process. And so he's it. We
live in some of the most creative, disruptive, remarkable times
(33:39):
of constitutional governance that I have had the privilege to witness.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Well, I think, and you're blessed to have to do
what you do. You're in a great state. I love
your governor, I love your lieutenant governor. I think they're terrific.
And I thank you. I'm really ken. I'm delighted that
you came on the show today. This is such an
important discussion and everything we're talking about, you know, it's
very interesting. But the economy and taxes and on shoring
(34:10):
and you know, supply chain, all those things that were
kind of behind the scene a little bit and the
average American wasn't taking much notice of. I think that's
all changed. I think it's main street. People understand when
you couldn't get an appliance during COVID. They knew there
was a problem when you couldn't buy a car. They
knew there was a problem when they heard that there
are no chips to make anything, and apparently chips go
(34:32):
into everything. I think my schnauzers have chips. They're so smart.
But you know, they understood that, and all of a sudden,
we migrated with all these economic conversations. So it's not
just a knee jerk respond Hey, those eggs cost more.
Now they know why those eggs cost more. So I
think people are much more engaged. It's part of their DNA.
(34:56):
I'll give you the final word. You got fifteen seconds.
Speaker 5 (34:59):
Well, one of the things, big things that sank the
Biden administration was the fact that wages were not keeping
up with inflation, and so it's very encouraging that the
most recent report issued by the Commerce Department shows that
for April, which was their most recent snapshot month, personal
(35:24):
income increased almost one percent point eight percent, while inflation
only went up point one percent. So real wages in
the near term now are going up under the Trump
administration eight times faster. Than inflation.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
That is remarkable. That's a remarkable statement. And that's going
to hit everyone. It's going to hit everyone, and it
will impact spending power. It will do good things for
the economy. It will create jobs, and it will create wealth.
And that's what it's all about. Ken, Thank you so
much for being my maid in America. We're gonna get
you back in the near future. Thank you so much
(36:08):
for contributing so great you bet hey, we're gonna be
right back with more made in America. So I suggest
you stay right there. Okay, back, We're back. We're back.
This is Rich Rothman speaking. I'm delighted to have you here.
(36:31):
It's been a really fun show. I mean, I have
to tell you, I've really enjoyed myself today. So I'm
enjoying myself. I hope you guys are as well. And
don't forget I want to hear from you Rich at
Rich Roffman role fm a n dot com. Let me
know your thoughts. Got some ideas you want me to
talk about, I'll do that. I'm getting suggestions from people
who want to have guests come on the show, so
(36:52):
we want to hear that too. And I know Phil
does because Phil produces the show. So all the people
we're talking to is because you know, Phil is here,
Phil mcgahon, he's my man. He's it all right. I
want to get back to the idea of New York
and what they're doing. And then this guy that's running
to be the mayor wants to get into the grocery business.
I mean, I'm just stunned. He wants to give everything
(37:12):
away for free. He wants to cap real estate. I'm
sure that's making the real estate people really happy. You know,
when you start capping things, you start screwing with the economy.
When you start screwing with the economy, and once you
get to out of control, it's really hard. You know that,
because look what happened under Obama. You know that things
get out of tilt and you just you got to
fight like hell to get it back. Look how long
(37:32):
it's taking us to get this inflation thing. Thank god
Trump came along. Anyway, I want to understanding that man
Donnie is saying he's gonna give everything away for free,
so one hundred billion dollar tab he's going to charge
the rich, and he's saying that this is the way
to go. And God, they're saying this is great, he's young,
he's smart. All these young kids who know nothing, by
the way, because I watched that on their protests, you know,
(37:54):
for Hamas this last year. Listen to the final comment
this is just unbelievable from Bernie Saunders. This is number three. Hey,
they want to go down with the Titanic comment this
is amazing. Listen to this.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
And the question is, you know, will the Democratic leadership
learn from his campaign?
Speaker 4 (38:13):
I doubt it.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
I think they would rather go down with the Titanic.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
Is that amazing?
Speaker 2 (38:19):
The perspective that Bernie Sanders has I used to love
making fun of him and using his voice, but I'm
not going to do that today, is that if they
don't follow this guy, who obviously is not a capitalist
and listen to some of his other's outtakes, which we're
going to do over the next few weeks. He does
not get capitalism at all. He hates it. But the
(38:39):
going down with the Titanic is not doing the things
that that a communist would do. It's just unbelievable. So
I am stunned by that. So, having said that, the
CEO of Gristiiti is one of the most successful grocery
change in New York City. My mother shopped at Gristiiti's,
although we were favored to Diagusti. My mother's shopped at Christidi's.
(39:02):
And John, who Phil, just tells me that the guy owns,
you know, Red Apple Media owns ABC in New York City, WABC.
John says this, if this guy gets in, if Mandami
gets into New York City, and he's going to go
into the free grocery business. Remember if the grocery stores
are owned by the city, the guy he wants, who
just won the primary for the Democratic Party, is going
(39:23):
to not charge real estate taxes for the city on
these stores. Now, think about that. That's an unfair advantage. Anyway,
listen to what but listen to what the CEO of
Gristudi's had to say.
Speaker 7 (39:34):
Down the poles are open. In the New York City
mayoral primary Socialist candidate Zoran Mandami, he proposes to open
grocery stores owned and operated by the government. Here with
me now is John Cassimetidis. He is the owner of
a very unknown grocery chair. It's called Gristides. And John,
I want to know what you think a government run
(39:54):
grocery store would look.
Speaker 8 (39:56):
Like, well, it didn't work in Moscow. True, And when
I'm growing up, I learned one thing. Don't fight city hall.
So if city hall is running the grocery stores, let
them run it, don't arrest anybody, give it away for free,
and let the people eat.
Speaker 7 (40:14):
You'll not going to close down Christiti's.
Speaker 8 (40:16):
Oh well, I'm not going to fight city hall.
Speaker 4 (40:18):
But you know.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
So what he's really saying is that he's really unhappy.
And anybody who has a brain, I am telling you.
I told you this earlier in the show. I have
spent an enormous amount of time in countries that aren't
really great places to live, Cuba being one, by the way.
It's beautiful, but it's not run well, obviously, but Cuba
has He got to the grocery store and they have
(40:42):
a lot of rum. I will tell you that I
brought a lot of rum back and they have a
lot of cigars. But you can't live on that. You
could drink it for a while and it's pretty good.
It's rum you've never had here, and it's remarkable, but
there's no food. There's no food. You go to Venezuela
and I've been in Caracas. I know other my friends
have been there, like Phil Caracas is in the same boat.
They have no food, they're struggling. These are they're eating
(41:05):
dog in Venezuemen's. It's so whacked out, it's unbelievable. So
why would anybody want to follow a guy like that?
He is derided, he's made fun of in Miami because
those in Miami left countries like that for the opportunity
to have a life to be here. So that just
doesn't work. That doesn't work. That doesn't work. And as
(41:26):
Ken pointed out, you know in our discussion just a
little earlier, that it's all about the economy, and the
economy is really important, and as Mike pointed out, if
we don't pass this big, beautiful bill, we have a
serious problem because we're going to have a four trillion
dollar increase in taxes. It'll be the highest increase ever
(41:48):
in the history of the United States. Now the Democrats
want that to happen. Why, it's obvious because they want
the Republicans to lose. They want to get it back.
And yet they act like they are the smart ones,
they really know what's going on, And the truth of
the matter is they haven't got a clue, not a clue.
I listened to them, and I'm just disgusted. They lost.
They didn't just lose in the last election. It wasn't
just a loss, you know that, it was a trumping.
(42:10):
It was an amazing loss. They lost everything and they
had seventy nine almost eighty percent of the country, you know,
go the other way. So how did they come out
and say, well, we had a better idea? And then
you listen to AOC and those other idiots that are
out there, and I'm sorry, they're idiots. I absolutely, I
do not apologize for this, but they're listening to the
wrong people. They're just not getting it right. But AOC
(42:32):
turned down Jeff Bezos to put Amazon. He was going
to create twenty five thousand jobs in New York City,
middle class paying jobs in Queens to build a major, major,
major hub for Amazon. And AOC, well, she does make
a hell of a drink from what I understand. But AOC,
(42:54):
you know, fought like hell they got to turn down,
and then they did, you know it broke Alfredo, you know,
or tease his heart. Who is that, you know, our
good friend up in New York City on the job network.
But I don't know. You better stay tuned to this
and see where it's going. And let's see what happens
in the next week. I gotta tell you that every
week is an amazing adventure in this country. But the
(43:16):
point of the matter is every week we're finding out
more and more things that are being made in America,
and we have a president that's looking out for us
that way, and he's designing the rules and REGs and
the laws of this country to aid a bet and
encourage everything that we just listened to today, and you're
gonna listen to for a lot more in the week's
coming up. Hey, listen, thanks for being with me on
(43:36):
Made in America again. Get to me Rich at rich
Roffman dot com and want to hear from you. We'll
see you next week. You have a great, great week,
and enjoy yourself. God bless
This is Made in America with Rich Rothman.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hey, welcome to everybody. This is Made in America, and
I am your host, Rich Roffman. I am delighted as
always and honored to be able to get into your ear. Now,
that's an interesting thought. I never thought about it that way,
but I am so thanks for being there. We appreciate it.
We have a really important show for you today. We've
got two great guests. Michael Chouth is the resident Fellow
(00:38):
at a Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, and we're
gonna be having a conversation of what's really going on
out there with a big bill. And we're gonna have
a conversation with Ken Davis, who's gonna be talking. He's
the former actually, he's a senior attorney, former Deputy Attorney
General for the state of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and
we're gonna have a pretty strong conversation with him about
(01:01):
tax and things like that, which we had economy, we
have tax. But first, as always, I got to talk
to you a little bit. I am concerned and you
should be concerned. But let me tell you why and
why I think I have a good point of view
about this. I am listening to the mayoral race, which
I know you are too. I know you look at this,
you look at the folks who are running up in
(01:21):
New York and you're saying, wow, Cuomo. Okay, I got
him down. And then we had this other guy, Ma'am Domi,
who is running in the primary for the Democratic ticket,
and he won. He's a Muslim. Not a problem with that.
I we could care less. But he came up, which
I find with some really amazing ideas. Now why do
(01:44):
I have a concern about that? Because he wants to
give you every way for free. Everything is going to
be for free. You're gonna bus this for free, transportation
for free, living for free, school for free. He wants
to start you know, supermarkets and grocery stores owned by
the city that will then have you know, really low
prices for people who can't afford food, which I thought
(02:05):
we had programs for. But okay, he wants to do that.
And he went and how was he going to pay
for this one hundred billion dollar fiasco. He's going to
raise taxes. He's going to defund the police. Great idea,
don't you think. And he's going to uh, he's going
to raise tax and he's going to make everyone else
(02:27):
and corporations pay more in their fair share. So in
other words, it's going to get more expensive if you're
on the successful side and you make money and so forth,
that you own stores, and for those who can't afford
anything will be getting everything for free. Okay, sounds great,
doesn't It? Not a bad idea. It's worked all over
the world. People have been convinced that's a great idea.
(02:47):
I suggest you watch the movie Doctor Chivago. I just
did on the fourteenth of this month, and I noticed
how they went from some form of an Aristotle aristocratic
capitalist society, they went to a socialist communist society and
it didn't play out well at all. And you know
what happened since nineteen seventeen to where we are today.
(03:09):
But I have an office in Cora Gables. I have
offices in Cora Gables, which is basically Miami, and Miami
is a gateway city. That means that we are the
gateway to Latin America. That means we have more Hispanics,
we have more displaced folks coming for freedom than probably
(03:32):
any other city in the United States as it relates
to Latin America and it's now starting Mexico. But certainly
we have more Nicaraguans, Guatemalans, Costa Ricans, more Brazilians. So
we have Portoguese, we have more of Venezuelans, more Chileans,
and so forth and so on. All right, so's you
got that right. You understand that it's a gateway. We
(03:53):
speak not just Spanish, probably seven different variations of Spanish,
but we all have one thing in common that we
learned from the people who came here from, particularly Cuba.
That's obvious, isn't it. Miami is Cuba city number two. Venezuela.
Now what do they have in common? They both went communists,
they were both went socialists, and they both failed radically.
(04:16):
So I sit here from a point of view, I
actually employ these people. They're my best friends. For decades,
I would say, since nineteen seventy seven. I have watched this.
I have seen these people come. I watched the influx
of Mariolitos in nineteen eighty eighty one, when we had
one hundred and eighty thousand married Elitos come here in
like I don't know, ninety days, completely broke the socioeconomics
(04:40):
of the Miami Dade County, and I listened to these people,
and why are they coming here? They're coming here because
socialism fails. You understand what I'm saying. I don't want
to even debate the thing. Socialism as a construct for
a government generally fails. Go find me super societies around
the country that have communist, communist oriented socialist system. They
(05:03):
don't work. Now, having said that, having said that, let
me play a quick SoundBite for you from Bernie Sanders,
one of my favorite persons to humiliate, because I don't
know how he got well, he doesn't never had a job,
He doesn't have a job. He needs the center or
listen to this guy. So I want if we could
play number two, why Mamdani won the offerings as written
(05:29):
and discussed by Bernie Sanders.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
In a time of unprecedented incumbon wealthy equality. Yeah, we
are going to ask. The richest people in New York
City just stopped paying their fair sheriff taxes. So among
other things we can adjuriate, we can address. The major
crisis facing New York and America, by the way, is
soaring housing costs. They got to freeze rent at a
(05:52):
time when families can't afford decent quality food. He's talking
about helping to create publicly funded grocery store so that
people kids can get food that's affordable, making buses free.
He's giving people a positive agenda, not just going after Trump,
but giving something the people can believe in and analysis
(06:13):
which reflects their reality.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
WHOA. So if you listen to that and again, I
advise you to get Doctor Chivago on Netflix this weekend
or Prime and I suggest you watch it. The point
I'm trying to make. I have been to Moscow when
I was much younger. I've been to Cuba. I did
a project with the US Agricultural Coalition for Cuba. I
am telling you I've been there eighteen times since twenty sixteen,
(06:39):
twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen, eighteen times so long that I
had to have a home there for a while to
do the project for eighteen different governors. And you know
what I found there? No food. You know what I
saw on the supermarkets that were run by the government.
No food. You know what I saw that people eat
in Cuba? Little food. You know where the food went.
They took all the food that they had that, by
(07:01):
the way, is organic, because they can't afford the petrochemicals
to you know, for a fertilizer, So everything's organic. I
mean it, actually it tastes pretty good. But the point
of the matter is they do not have food. They
are struggling. What happens in Venezuela. And I've been to
Caracas when I own Latin Trade, Latin CEO. Now I
own Global Miami. I have been there a gazillion times.
(07:24):
The Venezuelan government, the prior to the Socialists, prior to
the Communists, was so successful, such a rich country. The
socialists come in, they make these promises. I'm gonna give
you everything. I'm gonna make your life better. I'm gonna
feed you, I'm gonna house you, I'm gonna transport you.
I am gonna take care of you from birth to
the grave. Oh my god, you're not even gonna have
(07:47):
need an American Express card. And you know what happens.
They fail. They fail. Heart stop right in that word.
I'm not even going beyond that. They fail. I have
seen it. I have seen the despair in Cuba, so
much so that on my eighteenth trip for this project,
I was doing a really important project to the United States,
(08:07):
important project I couldn't go back. Why couldn't I go back?
I couldn't go back because it was bittersweet to see
nothing being offered to the people and the people dying
for an opportunity to have something. So when some cat
tells you, oh, this is great, it's inequitable. Make the
wealthy pay for it. Charge the corporations, he doesn't know
what he's talking about. He's never run a company, he's
(08:29):
never met a payroll, and he hasn't got a clue
what it's like to maintain something and take care of
something and pay for something. Now, on another note, just
to tell you that that's my note. I had to
get it out of my system and I've been waiting
to talk about that for a long long time. We're
gonna have as our first desk when we come back,
Michael Toff. He's the Resident Fellow Foundation for Research Equal Opportunity.
(08:51):
We're gonna tell you where it's at. Don't go anywhere.
I'll be right back. This is Rich. Hey, welcome back
to Mayden in America. I'm Rich Troth and your host.
Delighted to be here today. And by the way, if
you want to communicate with me, and I'm getting a
(09:12):
lot of emails. It's Rich at Rich Roffman, that's our
Oh f as in Frank f as in Frank m
A n dot com. I want to hear from you.
You've got something to say, say it to me. And
if it's really that good, I'm gonna put you on
the air. So uh, Anyway, I want to get back
to Michael right now. Michael Taft is a Resident fellow
at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. And man,
we got to talk about that, but we are gonna
(09:33):
be talking about this big, big, big beautiful bill and
and and you know, it's very interesting every time we propose,
for example, with the tax cuts and Trump number one.
First time he was in the office, you know, everyone said,
oh my god, we can't have the tax cuts. We're
gonna lose revenue. The same thing with Reagan. We're gonna
lose revenue. Everything's gonna go to hell. We're not gonna
have our tax base, You're not gonna be able to
(09:54):
pay for everything. We're gonna have high inflation. The whole
thing's gonna go to hell. Well, we're hearing that to
a degree today. There's a lot of misinformation out there,
so Michael is here to tell us the truth and
what's going on. Michael, welcome to maid in America.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Rich so glad to be with you. And yeah, let
me just get the ball rolling here. I think people
really need to know what's a stake. I mean, let's
just break it down. No big beautiful bill, we're going
to have a four trillion dollar tax cut. All of
your listeners are going to have an average of about
a two thousand dollars tax hike. You put a four
trillion dollar tax hike on the American economy. We're going
(10:31):
into a recession. So that's what's at stake if we
don't pass the one Big Beautiful Bill Act. And there's
a lot of good in it. I'm going to talk
about that in a sec but let's just understand what's
that stake. We don't pass the bill wearing a recession,
and the Democrats are taking both houses of Congress. That's
why not a single Democrat has stood up to support
these common sense provisions. So that's what that steak. I
(10:52):
think the administration, working with the leaders of Congress, have
done some very good work not just in avoiding that
but also in creating what will be the next blue
collar boom. So real excited to talk with you and
your listeners about what that means.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Okay, So I want to go back for a second,
and I want to go back to Trump number one,
and when they first passed the tax cuts that was
really significant. The reality was, it did a really good
thing for America, didn't it.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
It did an incredible thing for America. And it did
an incredible thing for the Americans that needed the most.
I mean, it led to basically a six thousand dollars
increase in real incomes for Americans. I mean, just look
at it. Look at the four years that Trump was
in office relative to the Obama administration. You saw the
average wages of Americans increase about two times what they
(11:41):
increased during the eight years of the Obama administration. So
the Americans who needed it the most got the benefits
from the tax cut of twenty seventeen. And what we're
trying to do now in the Congress is to extend
those provisions, make them permanent, and give tax payers in
small businesses permanent tax really from the government, That's what
it comes down to. Was a big success, and our
(12:03):
leaders in Congress are trying to make it permanent.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Right now, let's let's let's let's cook back to this.
Why is it? You know every time this is when
it was first proposed, you know, the Democrats went and
sang and they said all these horrible things are going
to happen. With Reagan, they did the exact same thing.
And yet when Reagan did it, the economy was incredibly strong.
When Trump did it and Trump number one, the economy
(12:29):
was incredible. I mean so much so that I mean
one of my favorite and I probatrud have had it
on the show today and I didn't pull it. I'm
gonna I'm gonna yell at myself to Phil or producer.
But when when Obama said, what does he have a
magic wand that he's going to create all these jobs?
What is he going to do to create all these jobs? Well,
let me think, maybe with what you're saying, and I'm
going to give you a chance to respond to this,
(12:51):
maybe by creating, you know, the opportunity for people to
keep more money in their pocket, to change the rules
and regulations which basically freeze up the American economy to
do what it does best, which is be I don't know,
be the American economy. We have success. So when Obamas
said what is he gonna do? What does he have
a magic one? I said, no, he actually went to
(13:12):
school and he studied this and he knows what he's
talking about. So when people say that to you, and
I know you probably get challenged. I know I do
all the time. What do you say these cats when
they say wow? You know you know, of course it's
all going to go to hell. Cats and dogs living together.
I mean, this is an outtake from Ghostbusters. What do
you say?
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Well, a couple things and mel do one better? Rich.
I mean, if you look at the result of the
twenty seventeen tax cut, it exceeded even the Trump administration's expectations.
I mean, how about that. I mean, just a touch
of history on that, and then I'll get down to
the details. But he's a touch of history. You know.
We're in a great spot right now. It's the end
of June and we're looking to get in the tax
(13:50):
relief passed around July fourth back in twenty seventeen. That
bill didn't pass until December of President's Trump first year
in office. And I'll give you my answer or on
why it ended up being even better than its supporters thought,
which is that really wasn't the first tax bill of
the year. Every single time the Trump administration cut regulation
(14:12):
has the tax cut for business. Okay, it just comes
in a different form. You know, we get a regulatory cut,
you're not having to spend your own dollars complying with
a rule that doesn't make any sense. You get a
tax cut.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Well, I'm gonna stop watching. I got to stop there.
That's a really important People don't get that. Those who
are not running a company don't get that. And I'm
an entrepreneur and have been for a long long time.
My partner Neil Lasberry for fifteen years, my co host
on Made in America for the first fifteen years, an
incredible man, a self made individual, but an entrepreneur. So
(14:46):
we get it when you had all these when we not,
you don't personalize that. I said, you're a good guy.
When we have all these regulations, that regulation is a
tax on that business. Because I know Neil had a
multi billion dollar company. I only have millions of dollars,
not millions of dollars. I'm poor compared to Neil. But
(15:08):
the compliance that he had with all his employees, with
all the different products that he carried with, all the
different things that he did with energy and so forth,
unbelievable cost him a fortune to comply. I know that
because we talked about it for all those years. Same
thing with me, Same thing with any of my friends
who run these major corporations in the grade of Miami
Fort Lauderdale, South Florida area. Every rule and regulation you
(15:31):
have to comply with is a cost factor. That cost
factor is going to go into the manufacturing, distribution, servicing
of the product, so that means more money. So I
want to hear from Mike. Mike, so how do you
respond to that. I mean, I totally embrace what you said.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
It is one thousand percent true. And I'll tell you something.
Tenrist independence democrats who run businesses they know that's the case. Also,
I mean, look at Jamie Diamond. I mean he recently
referred to not as red tape, but as blue tape.
Because Jamie Diamond is saying it comes a lot of
time from you know, liberal activists to take over these
regulatory agencies. Therefore it's blue tape, it's not red tape.
(16:07):
And you know, his the customers of his bag and
the people they do business with they can't spend money
that the way they'd like to do it. But I
also just want to say one other thing rich before
we go to break, which is I can't imagine a
better program to be on talking about the One Big
Beautiful Bill Act because it is made an America bill.
And you know, again, you go back to the twenty
(16:28):
seven twenty seven tax cuts and you ask why did
it do so well well on the corporate side. Not
only did we bring the corporate rate down, but we
had immediate deductions for investment in America, for investment in
new products, new companies. Investment was given an immediate deduction.
(16:50):
And I cite a good friend of mine, he's also
with the Foundation of Research and Equal Opportunity, John Hartley
has realized that that created two to five times more
economic growth then the CBO estimated. On the front end, Well,
guess what In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, We're
going to have immediate tax deductions for new factories, for
new refineries, for American companies to grow here in the
(17:13):
United States of America. And we know what that did
in twenty seventeen. They're trying to make that permanent in
the One beautiful Bill Act over in the Senate. So
let's hope they get the job done.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Well.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, I mean that's really important, and I think we
have enough time to talk a couple more minutes about it.
The fact that I'm going to I invest in my company.
I do things. Neil did the same thing with his
and he bought big ticket items that manufactured products. I
buy equipment to expand my company because ideal in intellectualism
(17:44):
in publishing and media. But the idea that you can
deduct that on your taxes right away really helps the company,
as opposed to amortizing that over many years, which really
doesn't do the job for you, really doesn't because you
have all the front end expense and it's not going
to get realized until what five years, six years later
(18:06):
or something like that. It doesn't work. It doesn't work
for the for the guy or the lady who's who's
really trying to, you know, do something with it. You
agree with that.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
I'm sure you nailed it one hundred percent, you know.
And and here's the deal. You know, the Congress back
in twenty seventeen with the Trump administration, they realize we
have a problem. I mean, let's go back to the
Obama administration. We have a major deficit of capital investment
in United States of America by companies because the government's
making it so hard. So they solved the problem. They
(18:34):
said to you know, business leaders, like you're rich and
your business partner, guess what you buy something, you get
full deduction for the whole cost a bit right up front.
Thank you for investing. Hey, rich, I just want to
say one last thing. You know, the minute listeners are
surely surely, surely sureley, you know just dialed in with
all concept of forever wars. You know, we think about
(18:56):
that in the middle of East, et cetera. That's a
big part of what the administration is trying to get
away from. But we've had forever wars on the domestic front,
the war on poverty of forever war, right, go back
to the nineteen sixties with a couple moments where leaders
actually tried to solve that problem. Back to the twenty
seventeen tax because that bill was a real war on poverty.
Lifted six million Americans out of poverty. Okay, it's correct,
(19:18):
the most in any administration. So you know, let's keep
this on. The American people needed they deserve.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
It, so all right, So we're going to run out
of time, which is really sad because I think Michael
has so much more to say and I have so
much more to listen to for Mike. So we're gonna
We're gonna definitely get Michael back asap on the show.
We want to talk about why folks are moving to Texas,
why the moving to Miami, how we're going to make
this country even better, and the values that are really
important in terms of making a company successful through legislation.
(19:46):
This is going to be great. Michael Toff, thank you
so much for being Made in America.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Rich, I love you, can't wait to come back, looking.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Forward to it. We're gonna be right back with more
Made in.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
America promoting American industry. This is Made in America with
Rich Rothman.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Welcome back to Made in America. I'm Rich Roffman, your host.
I'm delighted to have you here today. We're having a
very good conversation and we had you know, Michael on
for a while and Michael tot we're talking about, you know,
the great big bill that's that's trying to get through
the Senate right now, and we're gonna I think I'm
gonna touch on that with our next guest a little
bit too, But right now we're gonna be talking about
(20:42):
the economy, and this is really important, and particularly as
we get it closer to the next series of elections,
so we can keep what we've got in the presidency,
of course, but the House and the Senate, it's really important.
We have Ken Davis is on the show right now,
the super Senior Attorney served with many many Fortune five
country companies. He's the former Deputy Attorney General for the
(21:03):
Commonwealth of Virginia, so he speaks beautiful state. I think
Kent Virginia is one of the most beautiful states in
the country. And I'm jealous that you're there. But welcome
to Native America.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
Ken, Well, thank you, Rich it's great to be with you.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Well, so let me ask you a question. You know
right now, you know we're told and I think people
are feeling it. I have this although people are very
trepidacious about what's happening in the world for obvious reasons
and certain things that are happening in the country, but
I think when you look at the general trend in
terms of inflation, you know, sense of well being the
(21:40):
ability to you know, to buy corn, you know, the
ability to get sugar, the ability to buy your meat
and your chicken. I mean, things are getting better, and
I can see it. Gasoline's come down, except you know,
in the last few weeks it went up a little bit,
then it came down a little bit. So I think
I think overall things are looking good. So Ken, when
you look at all of that, and we're looking out
(22:00):
on the landscape and over the horizon, you know, the
position of the economy, from my point of view, makes
or breaks the Republicans and the GOP.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Would you agree, well, I certainly do, we both and
I think most of your listeners remember the old statement
years ago now from James Carville, the Glinton advisor and
Democratic strategist, that it's the economy stupid. There are a
lot of issues on people's mind, of course, from day
(22:33):
to day and months to month, but every time, on
a daily or weekly basis, that they have to pay
for some essential gasoline, food, clothing, it comes back to
the economy and they're reminded again and again in stark
(22:55):
dramatic terms, how things are going for the economy is
a whole how prices are going, and therefore where they stand,
where they're personal and family and household welfare stock up.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
That's exactly correct. I mean, the truth of the matter
is every weekend, the average American, that's I mean, that's
when I would do my grocery shopping, particularly when they
had three kids in the house, two Standard Schnauzers, and
my wife was a very busy household, and the Schnauzers
had a lot of guests coming in, which kind of
annoyed me. But but the truth of the matter is
it is the economy. People people vote what they have
(23:36):
in their wallet, what they have in their home, and
what they're able to do. And so you know, I'm
very encouraged. I mean, and we call it, you know, Trumpanomics,
and but you and and you wrote a piece and
I'm very intrigued with it. But you said it's a
little early to declare victory. But you're feeling optimistic, aren't you.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
Well, I certainly am. I mean, look, since the beginning
of President Trump's second term, there have been sort of
two i'll say news feeds about the economy. On the
one hand, there is this catastrophic narrative that's ginned up
(24:15):
by the legacy progressive press and commentators that constantly try
to stir up anxiety and uncertainty. The tariffs are going
to wreck things of Trump's hollowing out the welfare state,
(24:37):
things serve we're you know, we're standing on the precipice
and the eve of destruction. And of course they do
all of that. They beat those drums and spin those
tales every day, every day to weaken the president and
in fact do everything they can to start up a
self fulfilling prophecy when people pull back from their expenditures
(25:01):
and investments. But on the other hand, there's a whole
second source of information, the facts, the numbers, and those
are good and steadily getting better. I mean, the most
recent inflation report for the month of May, using the
(25:28):
Federal Reserves preferred measurement of inflation, finds that inflation was
essentially flat. It did prices didn't increase. Actually they increased
one tenth of one percent for the month of May
compared to April, and for the whole year May twenty
(25:52):
five to May twenty four by the same measure, prices
have just gone up two point three three percent now,
which is very close, very close to where the Fed
declares prices to be stable. They say two percent per
(26:16):
year by this measure is price stability. So we're getting very,
very close, I think, to the point where they will
cut interest rates.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
And you know what, it's like, you had the answer
to the question they wanted to ask. And I think
this is important. You know, people are watching the battle
between you know, the Fed in in uh In President
Trump and you know the Trump president saying well, you
know what, you got to cut rates it and I
think they should. I mean, I found it amazing that
when he became president, immediately with that one hint of inflation,
(26:54):
they raised it four times in the first year, I
mean four times and there was nothing there. When when
by office and there actually is inflation, the first thing
they say is, well, it's transitory. They don't worry about it.
It's going to go away. We all knew that was
a lie. And then in reality, you know, they had
to start raising rates, and they did later down the road,
(27:14):
but for Trump, no, they're going to raise their rates
so they can play with the economy because as you said,
it's the economy stupid, and everything has to go around that.
So when you look at the environment that we're in
right now. I think you made a very valid point.
What do you suggest, what do you think is going
to happen in the next FED meeting? And where do
you think they're going to go with that?
Speaker 5 (27:34):
Well, there are two things about fad as. People have
observed that. Number one, it's hard to decipher what they say,
what the chairman say in statements after a meeting, because
of all the jargon. And number two, of course, it
is very very hard to predict. I think they are
(27:57):
getting close or the economy is getting close to the
point where, by their own measurement, two point zero percent
per year at stable prices, and we're now at two
point three. We're just three tenths of the percent for
(28:18):
the whole year off of where they have always claimed
we need to be in order to justify a rate cut.
So I guess in the in the in the meeting
that's next to come up, they will say they're encouraged,
(28:40):
but sticking for another month with rates where they are.
But again that the measurement, that's measurement.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
I have to tell you something now that you said this,
you're talking about that, you know the FED speaking in
an arcane language to me now having said that Ken.
I have degrees in English. I have a PhD of
Masters and a bachelor's degree, so I understand English really well.
Alan Greenspan, you know, I would listen to Alan and
I would just listen, and I'm pretty good at this stuff.
(29:13):
And I could do transformational grammar. I could take sentences
and diagram them. I hate it, but I can do it.
I would listen to him. I would look at my
friend or my wife and I would say, what the
hell did he just say? I have no idea what
he's saying. I don't know what this guy just said.
I got to read it eight times to understand it.
I wish they would speak in main street language, so
if the average person can understand it, maybe they'd embrace
(29:35):
the role of the FED a little bit more, because
it seems to be, you know, it exists in some
you know, mythical land, these strange people who meet every
now and then vote on pricing, you know, whether they're
going to raise rates or lower rates, and then they
if you raise a rader, it does affect America. It's agnostic,
it goes everywhere, you know. So it's it's very very
interesting that he said that.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Yeah, it certainly does and think with the FED and
in fact, you look across the whole landscape, the whole
Beltway landscape. Part of the mystique that the supposed experts
(30:18):
seek to instill and the respect and difference that they
seek to instill in us. They they try that by
in fact, not speaking plainly, but speaking in the jargon
(30:40):
of their specialty, which they hope we will look at
and say, gosh, I don't understand that, but that must
mean they know what they're doing. And our specialists and up,
very very.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Very one hundred percent. Hey listen, So I want to
I'm want to. I want to play a sound bite
and it's going to be President Trump up in Michigan
and he's talking about some of the ideas that he's
had to really make things made in America, which ironically
is the name of the show. But I think it's
an important sound bite and maybe it'll give us a
little bit chance to talk about the economy. Can we
(31:19):
play number eight?
Speaker 5 (31:20):
Please?
Speaker 6 (31:21):
On interest? I said, why couldn't we if a car
is made in the United States, only because otherwise we
don't care if it's made someplace else. Give the people
to buy the car. A deduction on the interest that
they're paying to buy the car. And people said, what
a great idea. It's so simple. It's like it's like
the paper clip. Somebody came up with the idea of
a paper clip many years ago, eighteen seventeen, and he
(31:44):
became a very rich person, and everybody looked at him
and said, why the hell didn't I think of that?
But it's like the paper clip, but only if the
car is made in America. Remember that, James, We're going
to keep those Michigan auto factories roaring and as.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
You well, and that's right. You know, to me, that's
a brilliant idea, don't you think. I mean, if we're
coming up with clever things to do, that makes sense,
that encouraged manufacturing, which job creation, keep the money in America,
recycle that money, give people a chance to borrow that
money for good purposes, homes other businesses that they can
(32:19):
get create more jobs. I mean, that's what capitalism is
all about, it, I think, and I think it works.
Your thought.
Speaker 5 (32:25):
Well. One of the great things about this Trump administration
is the breath taking scope and volume of concepts and
proposals and he's rolled out that really are well outside
the box, or they're powerful incentives. I mean, all successful policy,
(32:52):
economic policy is based on an appreciation of incentives. And
he's talking about providing an incentive to the purchaser to
insist on or at least look for American made vehicles,
and if they do so in significant numbers, then it's also,
(33:18):
of course an incentive, a further incentive for the manufacturer
to reshore the production process. And so he's it. We
live in some of the most creative, disruptive, remarkable times
(33:39):
of constitutional governance that I have had the privilege to witness.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Well, I think, and you're blessed to have to do
what you do. You're in a great state. I love
your governor, I love your lieutenant governor. I think they're terrific.
And I thank you. I'm really ken. I'm delighted that
you came on the show today. This is such an
important discussion and everything we're talking about, you know, it's
very interesting. But the economy and taxes and on shoring
(34:10):
and you know, supply chain, all those things that were
kind of behind the scene a little bit and the
average American wasn't taking much notice of. I think that's
all changed. I think it's main street. People understand when
you couldn't get an appliance during COVID. They knew there
was a problem when you couldn't buy a car. They
knew there was a problem when they heard that there
are no chips to make anything, and apparently chips go
(34:32):
into everything. I think my schnauzers have chips. They're so smart.
But you know, they understood that, and all of a sudden,
we migrated with all these economic conversations. So it's not
just a knee jerk respond Hey, those eggs cost more.
Now they know why those eggs cost more. So I
think people are much more engaged. It's part of their DNA.
(34:56):
I'll give you the final word. You got fifteen seconds.
Speaker 5 (34:59):
Well, one of the things, big things that sank the
Biden administration was the fact that wages were not keeping
up with inflation, and so it's very encouraging that the
most recent report issued by the Commerce Department shows that
for April, which was their most recent snapshot month, personal
(35:24):
income increased almost one percent point eight percent, while inflation
only went up point one percent. So real wages in
the near term now are going up under the Trump
administration eight times faster. Than inflation.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
That is remarkable. That's a remarkable statement. And that's going
to hit everyone. It's going to hit everyone, and it
will impact spending power. It will do good things for
the economy. It will create jobs, and it will create wealth.
And that's what it's all about. Ken, Thank you so
much for being my maid in America. We're gonna get
you back in the near future. Thank you so much
(36:08):
for contributing so great you bet hey, we're gonna be
right back with more made in America. So I suggest
you stay right there. Okay, back, We're back. We're back.
This is Rich Rothman speaking. I'm delighted to have you here.
(36:31):
It's been a really fun show. I mean, I have
to tell you, I've really enjoyed myself today. So I'm
enjoying myself. I hope you guys are as well. And
don't forget I want to hear from you Rich at
Rich Roffman role fm a n dot com. Let me
know your thoughts. Got some ideas you want me to
talk about, I'll do that. I'm getting suggestions from people
who want to have guests come on the show, so
(36:52):
we want to hear that too. And I know Phil
does because Phil produces the show. So all the people
we're talking to is because you know, Phil is here,
Phil mcgahon, he's my man. He's it all right. I
want to get back to the idea of New York
and what they're doing. And then this guy that's running
to be the mayor wants to get into the grocery business.
I mean, I'm just stunned. He wants to give everything
(37:12):
away for free. He wants to cap real estate. I'm
sure that's making the real estate people really happy. You know,
when you start capping things, you start screwing with the economy.
When you start screwing with the economy, and once you
get to out of control, it's really hard. You know that,
because look what happened under Obama. You know that things
get out of tilt and you just you got to
fight like hell to get it back. Look how long
(37:32):
it's taking us to get this inflation thing. Thank god
Trump came along. Anyway, I want to understanding that man
Donnie is saying he's gonna give everything away for free,
so one hundred billion dollar tab he's going to charge
the rich, and he's saying that this is the way
to go. And God, they're saying this is great, he's young,
he's smart. All these young kids who know nothing, by
the way, because I watched that on their protests, you know,
(37:54):
for Hamas this last year. Listen to the final comment
this is just unbelievable from Bernie Saunders. This is number three. Hey,
they want to go down with the Titanic comment this
is amazing. Listen to this.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
And the question is, you know, will the Democratic leadership
learn from his campaign?
Speaker 4 (38:13):
I doubt it.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
I think they would rather go down with the Titanic.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
Is that amazing?
Speaker 2 (38:19):
The perspective that Bernie Sanders has I used to love
making fun of him and using his voice, but I'm
not going to do that today, is that if they
don't follow this guy, who obviously is not a capitalist
and listen to some of his other's outtakes, which we're
going to do over the next few weeks. He does
not get capitalism at all. He hates it. But the
(38:39):
going down with the Titanic is not doing the things
that that a communist would do. It's just unbelievable. So
I am stunned by that. So, having said that, the
CEO of Gristiiti is one of the most successful grocery
change in New York City. My mother shopped at Gristiiti's,
although we were favored to Diagusti. My mother's shopped at Christidi's.
(39:02):
And John, who Phil, just tells me that the guy owns,
you know, Red Apple Media owns ABC in New York City, WABC.
John says this, if this guy gets in, if Mandami
gets into New York City, and he's going to go
into the free grocery business. Remember if the grocery stores
are owned by the city, the guy he wants, who
just won the primary for the Democratic Party, is going
(39:23):
to not charge real estate taxes for the city on
these stores. Now, think about that. That's an unfair advantage. Anyway,
listen to what but listen to what the CEO of
Gristudi's had to say.
Speaker 7 (39:34):
Down the poles are open. In the New York City
mayoral primary Socialist candidate Zoran Mandami, he proposes to open
grocery stores owned and operated by the government. Here with
me now is John Cassimetidis. He is the owner of
a very unknown grocery chair. It's called Gristides. And John,
I want to know what you think a government run
(39:54):
grocery store would look.
Speaker 8 (39:56):
Like, well, it didn't work in Moscow. True, And when
I'm growing up, I learned one thing. Don't fight city hall.
So if city hall is running the grocery stores, let
them run it, don't arrest anybody, give it away for free,
and let the people eat.
Speaker 7 (40:14):
You'll not going to close down Christiti's.
Speaker 8 (40:16):
Oh well, I'm not going to fight city hall.
Speaker 4 (40:18):
But you know.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
So what he's really saying is that he's really unhappy.
And anybody who has a brain, I am telling you.
I told you this earlier in the show. I have
spent an enormous amount of time in countries that aren't
really great places to live, Cuba being one, by the way.
It's beautiful, but it's not run well, obviously, but Cuba
has He got to the grocery store and they have
(40:42):
a lot of rum. I will tell you that I
brought a lot of rum back and they have a
lot of cigars. But you can't live on that. You
could drink it for a while and it's pretty good.
It's rum you've never had here, and it's remarkable, but
there's no food. There's no food. You go to Venezuela
and I've been in Caracas. I know other my friends
have been there, like Phil Caracas is in the same boat.
They have no food, they're struggling. These are they're eating
(41:05):
dog in Venezuemen's. It's so whacked out, it's unbelievable. So
why would anybody want to follow a guy like that?
He is derided, he's made fun of in Miami because
those in Miami left countries like that for the opportunity
to have a life to be here. So that just
doesn't work. That doesn't work. That doesn't work. And as
(41:26):
Ken pointed out, you know in our discussion just a
little earlier, that it's all about the economy, and the
economy is really important, and as Mike pointed out, if
we don't pass this big, beautiful bill, we have a
serious problem because we're going to have a four trillion
dollar increase in taxes. It'll be the highest increase ever
(41:48):
in the history of the United States. Now the Democrats
want that to happen. Why, it's obvious because they want
the Republicans to lose. They want to get it back.
And yet they act like they are the smart ones,
they really know what's going on, And the truth of
the matter is they haven't got a clue, not a clue.
I listened to them, and I'm just disgusted. They lost.
They didn't just lose in the last election. It wasn't
just a loss, you know that, it was a trumping.
(42:10):
It was an amazing loss. They lost everything and they
had seventy nine almost eighty percent of the country, you know,
go the other way. So how did they come out
and say, well, we had a better idea? And then
you listen to AOC and those other idiots that are
out there, and I'm sorry, they're idiots. I absolutely, I
do not apologize for this, but they're listening to the
wrong people. They're just not getting it right. But AOC
(42:32):
turned down Jeff Bezos to put Amazon. He was going
to create twenty five thousand jobs in New York City,
middle class paying jobs in Queens to build a major, major,
major hub for Amazon. And AOC, well, she does make
a hell of a drink from what I understand. But AOC,
(42:54):
you know, fought like hell they got to turn down,
and then they did, you know it broke Alfredo, you know,
or tease his heart. Who is that, you know, our
good friend up in New York City on the job network.
But I don't know. You better stay tuned to this
and see where it's going. And let's see what happens
in the next week. I gotta tell you that every
week is an amazing adventure in this country. But the
(43:16):
point of the matter is every week we're finding out
more and more things that are being made in America,
and we have a president that's looking out for us
that way, and he's designing the rules and REGs and
the laws of this country to aid a bet and
encourage everything that we just listened to today, and you're
gonna listen to for a lot more in the week's
coming up. Hey, listen, thanks for being with me on
(43:36):
Made in America again. Get to me Rich at rich
Roffman dot com and want to hear from you. We'll
see you next week. You have a great, great week,
and enjoy yourself. God bless
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