Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Appearances
Apple News Today
A military helicopter and plane collided near D.C. What to know.
So I'm asking you yes or no, Mr. Kennedy. Did you say that COVID-19 was a genetically engineered bioweapon that targets black and white people, but spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people?
Apple News Today
A military helicopter and plane collided near D.C. What to know.
Another tense moment was when Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island told Kennedy he would need to promise the American people that he would never say vaccines are unsafe.
The Charlie Kirk Show
The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3
Reform. We've had lots of stops and starts over the last probably two to three years on this very issue. And it's holding up construction of critical energy manufacturing, infrastructure, transportation, doesn't matter what kind of energy, renewable energy, pipelines, whatever. So we need to make it easier to build in America.
The Charlie Kirk Show
The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3
I believe that's President Trump's vision as well by modernizing and streamlining our environmental review and permitting processes. Congressman Zeldin, what opportunities do you see for EPA to be able to establish more efficient and predictable permitting processes in addition to working with all the other agencies that play a part in this vital process? on these vital decisions.
The Charlie Kirk Show
The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3
Yeah, I think a lot of times in the public domain, PERMITTING REFORM MEANS TO CERTAIN PEOPLE SKIRTING THE RULES OR BREEZING THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS WITHOUT REALLY TAKING THEM SERIOUSLY OR ACTUALLY HAVING THEM SCIENCE-BASED AS WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT TODAY. THAT'S NOT WHAT PERMITTING REFORM MEANS.
The Charlie Kirk Show
The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3
PERMITTING REFORMS MEANS MAKE THESE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN AIR, CLEAN WATER RULES AND OTHERS AND OTHER AGENCIES work together and work so that we are getting the right result of clean air and clean water, but we're able to move forward. And so I look forward to that. Here's another West Virginia issue very quickly. And it's the Muddy Creek Restoration Project.
The Charlie Kirk Show
The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3
It's 19 miles of waterways that has acid mine drainage. And West Virginia went about with coordination with the past Trump administration. And it was initially championed by the Biden administration to deliver real results in cleaning up this area of our state. It was a true win-win.
The Charlie Kirk Show
The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3
The Biden administration, for some reason, which we can't figure out, flip-flopped on this, and they just started putting more burdensome, costly, and a much, much slower cleanup process. So you're still having your acid mine drainage while we're getting hung up here. It threatens projects like Muddy Creek and discourages other communities from pursuing similar efforts to achieve real,
The Charlie Kirk Show
The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3
environmental remediation and benefits. Will you commit to me, working with me in the state, to try to reverse these counterproductive changes and cut the red tape and restore this for more cost-effective, but also better environmental results?
The Charlie Kirk Show
The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3
Thank you. I understand that a five-minute break would be in our best interest. Would you like to do that now, or do you want to keep going?
The Charlie Kirk Show
The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3
Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
the DNI, Director of National Intelligence, none of them apparently bothered to say, hey, folks, we shouldn't be talking about this shit in a commercial chat, on a commercial app. This is the most negligent handling of highly sensitive information. No one even bothered to say that, which tells me this wasn't the first time.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
Well, there's no sugarcoating it. It's a massive fuck-up dealing with some really highly sensitive national security information. These were detailed war plans, detailed plans to strike military targets. in Yemen, Houthi targets, the time of the attacks, the sequencing of the attacks, the ordinance that's being used.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
It also tells me that beyond negligent, they're just arrogant and feel they can do whatever they want. There's no accountability. Hegzeth, when he's first confronted, basically used the go-to for the Trump administration, and that is he went straight to the lie.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
um accusing jeffrey goldberg of making this up it's all a big lie never discussed war plans etc that's their fallback and the results of this ought to be his resignation i think tulsi gabbard should resign if she can't be trusted to know better with national security information she can't be trusted with the nation's secrets the same is true of ratcliffe and if whitcoff was
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
in texting from the Kremlin or from Russian soil, he should be gone. They should be fired or they should quit.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
Yes, I am. Yes, I am. And, you know, if this were any other administration, it would be a foregone conclusion. They would be gone. But you compound it with the testimony we heard today from many of these same people where Ratcliffe was essentially, no, this wasn't a big mistake. And Gabbard is like, well, this information wasn't classified. All of that is just utter nonsense.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
And, you know, for them to try to pretend this is anything serious, other than a desperately dangerous mishandling of national security information from the same crowd, the same Hillary email crowd, is just the most unconscionable hypocrisy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
Well, if they weren't classified, they should have been classified. And I think what she's doing is the same thing that Hegseth tried to do, which is play with the language. So Hegseth says, well, these weren't war plans. So he's going to fall back on the excuse. We're not in a state of war with the enemy. Therefore, these are not war plans.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
None of that matters if you're discussing details of military strikes. The risk is the same. And what Gabbard is saying basically is this information, because it was in real time, there was no agency opportunity to classify it. Well, that's giving a technical answer to obfuscate the truth, which is this is deeply sensitive national security information, which, by the way, is a crime to mishandle.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
All of this laid out in a commercial app, including people on the app who were in foreign countries at the time, one of whom, Steve Witkoff, the envoy to the Middle East and to Russia, was apparently in Russia, may have been even in the Kremlin while he's texting in this chat. So massive screw up by the administration. And, you know, there's so much to be shocked about by this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
And they recklessly mishandled this information, having this conversation. And while the conversation itself, they can argue about the material contained in the conversation, the details of this attack and the timing and the targets, all of that should be classified.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
Well, you've got Laura Ingraham pretending that, what, I guess she's constantly texting the wrong person detailed military strike plans? Is that something that's a normal thing of her day? That is absurd. And then you get the suggestion that he just plants in there that, well, maybe the reporter somehow inserted himself into this chat, which cannot happen on Signal.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
So he wants to plant some seed and he attacks the reporter, calling the reporter a loser. No, Mike Walz, you're the loser. And frankly, the country loses when we have an incompetent bozo like you as the national security advisor. So, yeah, that conversation is quite revealing at every level.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
They blame the journalist when they get caught mishandling national security information that jeopardizes security. our personnel.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
It is pathetic. Actually, the only good that Elon Musk could do here is if he would riff all these people that are responsible for that chat. It's so pathetic the way they can't acknowledge the magnitude of this screw up. They can't take responsibility for it. Even while Mike Wall's saying the buck stops with him, he's saying he's blaming the reporter for his own screw up and not acknowledging
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
the risk that this meant to our national security. Now, the NSA had already warned people in the intelligence community not to use this app, not to believe that whatever they say on signal is not subject to being hacked or spearfished or whatnot. They've already been warned. The Pentagon put out another warning after this incident. But they don't need to be reminded of this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
This is something that the intelligence community has known for years. uh and everybody on that call should have you know had the most basic training but this is really the problem when you have people appointed like Tulsi Gabbard, who has no experience in the intelligence community. And you have people appointed like Hash Patel, who's just a hack for the president.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
And you have others appointed like Heg Zeth, who, you know, was a fox couch potato and gets appointed. They're all out of their depth. And the ones who get hurt are the American people, our national security, with this colossal screw up on signal.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
I chaired the House Intelligence Committee. When I would travel overseas, I wouldn't bring my personal electronics. I would bring, if anything, a burner phone. I was made aware anything I texted, anything I emailed. I should assume that foreign governments have access to. There is no privacy. They're going to be deeply interested in anything that's said over these communications.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
Well, look, I think the takeaway for the American people is that this crowd is reckless with the nation's security. They don't care if they endanger our service members carrying out missions. They don't care if they endanger the success of the mission. They're gonna lie. They're gonna obfuscate. They're gonna act recklessly. This probably wasn't the first time. It probably won't be the last time.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
These are the consequences when you appoint people on the basis of who said nice things about you or who appeared good on Fox News. This is the criteria the president uses for top level appointments. And the result is we are less safe as a nation. The catalog of irresponsible actions is long.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
Just looking at one of the participants in the signal chat and other events this week, Wyckoff, this envoy to the Kremlin, this envoy to the Middle East, was quoted saying that he thought Putin was a man of his word, talking about Putin praying for Donald Trump.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
I mean, this is someone who has been so easily manipulated by the Kremlin and now potentially has compromised information of a deeply sensitive national security matter to the Kremlin, if not others. So sadly, it's the American people and our security that are gonna be hurt by all this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Exclusive: Senator Schiff Calls for Trump Admin Resignations
So to be discussing this jeopardized potentially the safety of the American pilots conducting these operations, jeopardized the potential success of the mission. And the fact that no one on this chat, not the vice president, not the secretary of defense, not the national security advisor, not the head of the CIA, not the head of the
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
It's incredibly unpopular. I think that there's even a significant amount of the MAGA movement that hates what Elon Musk has been empowered to do. You know, you got the richest man in the world who spent $300 million to elect this president being given the keys to the kingdom, unfettered access to sensitive personal information of Americans. And the incompetence
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
It was a great event, and we did not even do that much promotion. We had thousands of people come out. It just speaks to the energy that there is in opposition to this attack on the rule of law and our Constitution. And it was an opportunity for not just Democrats, but folks across the spectrum in Georgia to speak out together against what this administration is doing to our country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
of firing tens of thousands of people and then realizing that, you know, they fired the folks who protect the nuclear weapons and they fired the folks who protect us from Ebola and they fired the folks who manned the veterans crisis hotline and they're scrambling to rehire them. So it's this combination of corruption of incompetence and elitism.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
The point I made in the speech at the rally is like, you've got the richest cabinet ever. You've got the richest man in the world doing whatever he wants. Their agenda is tax breaks for the wealthy. They're not even talking about anything that matters to ordinary people, healthcare or childcare. They are the elites that they pretend to hate.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
I mean, his mother-in-law's son-in-law is a billionaire and one of the richest and wealthiest people in the country. So maybe she would be okay, but seniors in Georgia who would have to cut their pills in half or turn off the air conditioning in summertime or go without groceries because they didn't get their social security check would be in deep trouble.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
And it is really alarming that they talk about social security in this way in particular, and Musk talking about it as a Ponzi scheme, Because it betrays that they are serious about going after Social Security. I mean, Musk posted on his website just a couple of weeks ago plans to shut down like five Social Security offices in Georgia alone. And again, that's like...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
They are the richest and most elitist and most powerful people in the history of the planet. And they have this like anti-elite populist shtick, but what are they doing? Again, it's the whole agenda is tax breaks for the wealthy, rounding up immigrants, revenge and power.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
And that does nothing for my constituents, for my constituents who voted for Trump, for my constituents who voted against Trump. They're doing nothing for the people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
Well, it's the way that they post about it and talk about it and treat it all like it's a game, right? Like these federal agencies are their playthings and they're mocking the concerns about what happens when they act recklessly. Disabled students and the parents of disabled students in Georgia are calling my office every single day saying, what's this going to mean for me?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
What's this going to mean for my child? And they're posting about it online to own the libs. It just reveals the total lack of concern for ordinary people. And these are not folks, you know, these again are the wealthiest, richest, most powerful people in the world mocking the concerns of the American public who are asking what's going to happen to public education.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
Two thoughts on that. The first is that. It's hard to overstate how alarmed the rest of the free world is that the United States seems to be not just abdicating its leadership of the free world, but aligning itself with the most brutal authoritarians on the planet. Second thought is that, you know, the president's affinity for the Kremlin and his apparent admiration of President Putin
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
That's actually one of the reasons I think it's so important to go right at him. First of all, we have this spiral toward strongman rule and authoritarianism in the United States. In his first
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
When you think about it in the context of what Donald Trump is trying to do domestically, which is to wield the power of government to crush his political opposition, something that we have never seen in American history, not even at the height of McCarthyism, it's really chilling, right? I mean, he is... trying to use every instrument of state to entrench his and his political party's power.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
And I have never seen fear and intimidation used like this in American politics, and certainly not in modern American history has it been used like this in American politics, where the message from our own government is pay tribute, do not criticize us, or face
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
And that is something that should send a chill down the spine of every patriotic American, regardless of our political affiliation, because it is an affront to the basic values of political freedom. that animate our republic and that are embedded in our constitution.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
You even see right now that other countries around the world are advising their nationals not to travel to the United States because the erosion of civil rights and civil liberties in our country is happening at such an alarming rate.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
This is what happens when you have Fox News personalities cosplaying as government officials. I mean, this is the most clownish, amateurish. It honestly, it would be funny, except that it is deadly serious, right? They're talking about the execution of lethal military operations, international diplomacy, intelligence information. And these are people who absolutely should know better.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
few months he's purged the government of independent watchdogs filled the most powerful offices with personal loyalists he's commanded them to go after his opponents we're seeing the use of fear and intimidation against the political opposition unlike anything i think in our republic's history and he's so consumed by
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
It is an embarrassing and dangerous, reckless and amateurish demonstration of just how they lack any... commitment to conscientiously doing their jobs.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
Well, look, first of all, I want to remind folks that I am the only Democratic senator running for reelection in a state that Donald Trump won. And I will win. And we will win in 2026 in a landslide. And we need to get into that mindset. But I'm going to have huge amounts of money, probably from Elon Musk, coming in against me. And I would appreciate support at electjohn.com.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
And my message to the public is, is first of all, we have to reject this un-American attack on our constitution and our core values and the rule of law, but we also have to recognize how we got here. How is it that a demagogue like Donald Trump who threatened to burn down the whole system, was elected twice. And I think we have to look deeper than Trump.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
It's about corruption in American politics that predates him and that gave rise to him. The way that money in politics, since the Citizens United decision, has corrupted policymaking in the United States has caused people to realize that, yes, the system is in fact rigged. Members of Congress live in fear of super PACs. That's why public policy doesn't serve the needs of ordinary families.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
That's why there's such cynicism and resentment of the ruling class in this country. And that is what gave rise in large part to Donald Trump. But Trump is not trying to unrig a rigged system. He is trying to re-rig it for himself, for his political party, and for his cronies.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
It's electjohn.com, electjohn.com, and I'd be grateful for support.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
Thanks for having me. Thank you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ossoff Calls Out Trump’s Attack on America
his efforts to secure revenge and to crush his enemies and, you know, conquering Greenland, that he's doing nothing for the people who elected him. His entire domestic agenda is tax breaks for the wealthy, rounding up immigrants, revenge and centralizing as much power as he can in the presidency.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
This is a fun game we're playing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
Maybe in some of my questions you can elaborate on some of that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
I sent you this statute. You've had three weeks to talk to the lawyers about it. So let's jump in. Mr. Long, is it illegal for the president to direct the IRS to revoke a taxpayer's non-profit status?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
That's not my question, Mr. Long.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
I'm at 26 USC 7217. Do I need to read it to you?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
All right. So is it illegal?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
Okay, but I want you, that is the law. So I just want to be clear. Is it illegal for the President of the United States to instruct the IRS to remove a taxpayer's non-profit status?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
No, come on. You just read it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see... Look, it says, it shall be unlawful for any applicable person, which in this case includes the President, to request directly or indirectly any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct... or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
Is it illegal for the president to instruct the IRS to remove non-profit status from a taxpayer?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
Why are you not having the answer? You've had three weeks to consult with lawyers. The statute is about as clear as plain English.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
Well, because I want to make sure that you understand what the law says. If you think follow the law means you just get to make it up on the spot, then, Bud, you don't get to be the IRS Commissioner.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
Also, Sekretär Noem, was ist habeus corpus?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
No, let me stop you, ma'am. Habeas corpus, excuse me, that's incorrect. President Lincoln used it. Excuse me. Habeas Corpus ist das legale Prinzip, das bezieht sich darauf, dass die Regierung eine öffentliche Grundlage bietet, um Menschen zu verurteilen und zu verurteilen.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
Wenn nicht für diese Verteidigung, dann könnte die Regierung einfach Menschen verurteilen, auch amerikanische Bürger, und sie für keine Grundlage verurteilen. Habeas Corpus ist das grundlegende Recht, das separiert, Free societies like America from police states like North Korea. As a senator from the live free or die state, this matters a lot to me and my constituents and to all Americans.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
So Secretary Noem, do you support the core protection that habeas corpus provides, that the government must provide a public reason in order to detain and imprison someone?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse on Live TV from Cross-Exam
It has never been done without approval of Congress. Even Abraham Lincoln got retroactive approval from Congress. Well, there you have it, folks.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
And thank you so much for doing that. I really do appreciate that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Well, that was an extraordinary moment. And here is the reality, which is not talked about very much. The reality is that in America today, our life expectancy is about four years less than other wealthy countries. But even worse is the fact that if you're working class in America, on average, you live seven to eight years shorter life than people who are wealthy. Now, why is that?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
And the answer is not just healthcare, which is important. Working class people, low income people do not have access to the kind of healthcare that the rich do, but it is the stress the day-to-day stress that working class people live under. And I grew up in a working class home. I know a little bit about what it's like to have a family living paycheck to paycheck.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
And what I did, that was in Altoona, Wisconsin. I said, okay, all right, tell me what it's like to live under economic stress. And people just stood up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
And one woman says, you know, it's a question of whether I buy shoes for myself or my kids, whether I can afford eyeglasses, whether I can afford to go to the doctor, whether, you know, I'm going to have the money to prepare a decent meal for my kids, that I live every day not knowing, you know, what to expect. How do I survive?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
And what that is about, that is the reality that tens of millions of our people are living under. We don't talk about it. And what I have learned over the years that some of the most important issues are the issues that get least discussion. And one of those issues is not just the working class people who have six years shorter lives, seven years shorter lives than the rich. That's important.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Why is that? But what's equally important is 60% of the American people in the richest country on earth live paycheck to paycheck. That means they go to work. And if their landlord raises the rent, they don't know how they're going to be able to pay for it. Kid gets sick, don't know how to afford to send the kid to the doctor. Car breaks down, don't know how to get it fixed, et cetera, et cetera.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
That is the reality facing tens of millions of Americans in the wealthiest country on earth. And that is the issue that we got to focus on. And that is why we got to transform our economy so that it works for everybody, not just billionaires.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Well, look, you tell me. I mean, this is not hard to understand. I grew up in a family that went through this. If your car breaks down and you can't afford to get it fixed, how do you get to work? And if you can't get to work, you lose your job. If you lose your job, what happens? People struggle every single day and that impacts the doctors.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
There are physicians out there who call this the physiology of poverty. Physiology of poverty. Your body reacts, your mind. The stress of just trying to survive every single day breaks the mind, breaks the body. And that is why people are living shorter lives who are working class than the wealthy. And this is an issue that we have got to deal with.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Let me comment two ways. Number one, of course, what you're seeing precisely is that attitude now being reflected in what Musk is doing to the federal government. Oh, you work for the federal government for 20 years? You're gone. We don't need you anymore. You have a poor performance. Who determined that? Well, I did. I never met you. I never saw you. I never talked to you. You're gone.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
So that is precisely what they're doing. And I want to say this. I know there are people out there who say, well, you know, it's really unfortunate what's happening to these federal employees. People like Musk are great believers in technology, artificial tech, artificial intelligence and robotics.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
And when that revolution sweeps across the private sector and threatens the jobs of tens of millions of workers, you know what the Musks of the world are going to say? You're out of here. Have a nice day. Goodbye. They could care less about what happens to working people. But to answer your question more deeply, why did people vote for Trump? Which is a good question.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Well, the goal of the tour is to go to areas where there are Republican congressmen and women who won by slim margins. and educate the people in those districts to demand that their member of Congress not vote for huge tax breaks for billionaires while at the same time support cuts to Medicaid, education, and healthcare.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Why do many working class people? Vote for Trump. The answer has, I think, less to do, to be honest with you, with Trump and Musk than it does with the Democratic Party.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
And in my view, you have a Democratic Party, which over the years has been very strong and effective, I think, in fighting for women's rights, terribly important, fighting for gay rights, fighting for civil rights, all of which is important. But in terms of standing up and taking on powerful special interests and fighting for the working class, Democrats were not there.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
And I hope you know, and I think many of your listeners may know, that unbelievably, it's not just that we have today massive income and wealth inequality, where three people on top own more wealth than the bottom half of American society. The reality, the economic reality of today is that over the last 50 years, five zero years,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Real inflation accounted for wages, despite huge increases in worker productivity, have not gone up. Workers are making the same, maybe a little bit less than they were 50 years ago. And during that time, there was a $75 trillion transfer of wealth from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. So the average worker out there says, yeah, I hear the Democrats, they're this, they're that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Do they understand what I am going through? Do they understand that I used to have a decent job in manufacturing that's gone and now I'm making half as much as I used to? Do they understand that I can't afford health care? I can't afford child care. I can't afford to send my kids to college. That I'm working 50 or 60 hours a week. That my wife is working. Do they really understand it?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
And the answer is no, they don't. So to my mind, the reason that Trump did so well with working people is he said, look, the system is broken. And Democrats said, well, not really. It's just we need a little bit of changes. Trump is right. The system is broken. The problem is his quote unquote solutions are going to make a bad situation even worse. Is the system broken? Yes.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Are you living in a democracy today? Well, maybe. but we have a corrupt campaign finance system which gives you one vote, but Elon Musk the ability to spend $270 million to elect Donald Trump as the next president. That's a broken anti-democratic campaign finance system. We have a healthcare system where despite spending twice as much per capita on healthcare as any other country,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
85 million are uninsured or underinsured. The cost of healthcare is soaring. We don't have doctors, nurses, mental health counselors, dentists. Is our healthcare system working well? No, it is broken. Is our educational system working well? No, nobody can afford childcare. Usually expensive. Kids are going deeply into debt to get a higher education. That system is broken. What about housing?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
Well, we've got 800,000 people who are homeless, but that's only half the problem. There are 20 million people who are spending 50% of their limited incomes on housing. I talked to people in Vermont trying to bring in a teacher from out of state. They signed up a good teacher. Teacher couldn't come because the cost of housing was so high. True in Vermont, true all over this country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
So the system is broken for working class, for the middle class, for low-income people. For the people on top, they're doing fantastically well. So what the Democratic Party has to do is understand that reality, can't keep defending the status quo, and say, you know what, we are prepared to take on the oligarchs who have so much economic and political power.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
We are prepared to take them on and create an economy that works for working people, not just the 1%.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
So the goal is to make sure that we do not pass a terrible, what is called a reconciliation bill. But most importantly, it is an effort to bring people together
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
It means that this is a critical and unprecedented moment in American history. It means that despair is not an option. And it means that you've got to stand up and fight back not only for yourselves, but for your kids and in terms of climate change for the future of the planet. So what does that mean? It means you got to get out of your zone of comfort.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
It means you must be involved in the political process. And that means maybe running for school board, running for city council, running for state legislature, or supporting good candidates who are prepared to stand up for the working class.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
It means right now, when we're facing a major Republican reconciliation bill, which wants to give over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1% and cut Medicaid and education, it means making sure that your member of Congress does not vote for that terrible piece of legislation. And by and large, it means in any way that you think is effective, Get involved in the political process.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
The truth of the matter is that what goes on in Washington is way, way, way out of touch. with where the American people are. The American people don't think billionaires need a tax break. American people don't want to cut Medicaid.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
The American people are sick and tired of paying the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, of being the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people, of having the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth, a nation in which 22% of seniors are trying to get by on $15,000 a year or less.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
to take on the oligarchs who now run this country, to take on the people who are moving us toward authoritarianism, and to make the point that the overwhelming majority of the American people want to see a government and an economy that works for all and not just a few.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
In other words, the American people do not support the status quo. But what we have got to do is educate and organize and get people involved in whatever way works for them in the political process. And ultimately, we need to create a government with members of Congress who are standing proudly with the working class and not with the 1% and campaign contributors. That's what it means.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
We're going to be in Las Vegas on Thursday, and then we are going to Denver, Colorado, and then we're going to be in Greeley, Colorado, and then we're going to be in Arizona. both in Phoenix and in Tucson. And already I'm told by my staff that we have some 20,000 RSVPs for the rally in Denver, which will I think be the largest rally, which is kind of off the charts.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
But the turnout looks like it's very good. I'm going to be going
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Bernie Sanders on how to Fight Oligarchy
with my good friend uh alexandria ocasio-cortez who i think as everybody knows is has been an inspiration for young people all over this country she's a real fighter she's doing a great job in the house so it's an honor to be uh hitting the road with alexandria it's an honor to have you here on the midas touch podcast senator bernie sanders will be covering all of those rallies here thank you for all you do thank you very much keep up the good work
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Glitches Out on Live TV as His Mind Deteriorates
Well, like I said, the president speaks for himself. What I want to see is a peaceful result, a peaceful outcome. And I think right now there's a negotiation going on. And let's see where that ultimately leads. Hopefully it'll get to the outcome we all want to see.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
You say you've had personal issues in your past, yet when asked about those very issues, you blame an anonymous smear campaign, even when many of these claims are not anonymous. Which is it? Have you overcome personal issues or are you the target of a smear campaign? It can't be both.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
It's clear to me that you're not being honest with us or the American people because you know the truth would disqualify you from getting the job. And just as concerning as each of these specific disqualifying accusations are, what concerns me just as much is the idea of having a Secretary of Defense who is not transparent. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
You needed to be carried out of the event for being intoxicated. Senator Anonymous smears. Just true or false? Very simple. Summer of 2014 in Cleveland, drunk in public with the CVA team. Anonymous smears. I'm just asking for true or false questions. True or false answers.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
An event in North Carolina, drunk in front of three young female staff members after you had instituted a no alcohol policy and then reversed it. True or false? Anonymous smears. December of 2014 at the CVA Christmas party at the Grand Hyatt at Washington, DC, you were noticeably intoxicated and had to be carried up to your room. Is that true or false? Anonymous smears.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
Another time, a CBA staffer stated that you passed out in the back of a party bus. Is that true or false?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
That wasn't my question. I'm just asking, have you been involved? You're about to be the Secretary of Defense, potentially. Have you been involved in discussions about using the active duty military inside the United States?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
No, no, just have you been in conversations? Again, you're going to be in charge of 3 million people. The active duty that I know you care about, I believe you care about. So have you been in conversations about using the active duty in any way? whether it's setting up in detention camps, policing dangerous cities. Have you been involved in any of those conversations?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
Do you have nondisclosure agreements with either of those organizations? Not that I'm aware of, Senator. Many of your work colleagues have said that you show up for work under the influence of alcohol or drunk. I know you've denied that, but you would agree with me, right, that if that was the case, that would be disqualifying for somebody to be Secretary of Defense.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
One of your colleagues said that you got drunk at an event at a bar and chanted, kill all Muslims. Another colleague, not anonymous, we have this, said that you took coworkers to a strip club. You were drunk. You tried to dance with strippers. You had to be held off the stage. And one of your employees in that bar event filed a sexual harassment charge as a result of it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
Now, I know you deny these things, but isn't that the kind of behavior that, if true, would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
charges well no fully investigated and i was completely cleared and i'm so grateful for the marriage i have to this no you've admitted you've admitted that you had sex at that hotel on october 2017 you said it was consensual isn't that correct anything uh You've admitted that it was consensual and you were still married and you just had a child by another woman.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
Again, how do you explain your judgment? False charges against me. You fully investigated and I'm completely clear. You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two after you just had fathered a child by wife three. You've admitted that. Now, if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn't it?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
If it's a false claim then and a false claim now? If it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be Secretary of Defense, wouldn't it? That was a false claim. He's talking about a hypothetical. So you can't tell me whether someone who has committed a sexual assault is disqualified from being Secretary of Defense?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
But you acknowledge that you cheated on your wife and that you cheated on the woman by whom you had just fathered a child. You have admitted that. I will allow your words to speak for them. You're not retracting that today. That's good. I assume that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
qualified to that. You could do acquisition and cross-servicing agreements, which essentially are security agreements. You can't even mention that. You've done none of those. You talked about the Indo-Pacific a little bit, and I'm glad that you mentioned it. Can you name the importance of at least one of the nations in ASEAN and what type of agreement we have with at least one of those nations?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
And how many nations are in ASEAN, by the way?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
None of those three countries that you've mentioned are in ASEAN. I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
I want you to be able to tell me what kind of guidance will be given to those employees, what will happen if, whether or not you pass that audit. Have you led an audit of any organization, yes or no? I don't want a long answer, yes or no, have you led an audit of any organization of which you were in charge?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
Yes or no, did you lead an audit?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
You can't answer this question. Yes or no, did you lead an audit? Do you not know this answer?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
What were the findings? There were no findings because you've never led an audit.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
But you didn't reveal any of this to President Trump or the transition team as they were considering you to be nominated for Secretary of Defense. You didn't reveal the action. You didn't reveal the criminal complaint. You didn't reveal the criminal investigation. You didn't reveal the settlement. You didn't reveal the cash payment.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
Why didn't you inform the commander in chief of the transition team of this very relevant event?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
But you chose not to reveal this, right? Because you knew it would hurt your chances. So you chose not to reveal this really important thing to the commander-in-chief of the transition team because you were worried about your chances rather than trying to be candid with the future president of the United States.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
Are there any other important facts that you chose not to reveal to the president-elect and his team as they were considering you to be Secretary of Defense?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
With multiple non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements tying the hands of many people who would like to comment to us.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
So there is plenty of precedent for military members enforcing our southern border. Our U.S. military is not trained in law enforcement roles. I think you know that, right? We've seen how that mission is difficult for them in places like Iraq and Afghanistan because that's not the training a uniformed military comes with. Do you support the use of active duty military in supporting detention camps?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
President Ilik has attacked our allies in recent weeks, refusing to rule out using military force to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal, and threatening to make Canada the 51st state, which you carry out in order from President Trump to seize Greenland, a territory of our NATO ally Denmark, by force, or would you comply with an order to take over the Panama Canal?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
We're not talking about the election. My question is, would you use our military to take over Greenland or an ally of Denmark?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
That sounds to me that you would contemplate carrying out such an order to basically invade Greenland and take over the Panama Canal.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
In addition to the sexual assault allegations, and by the way, the answer to my second question should have been yes. I have read multiple reports of your regularly being drunk at work, including by people who worked with you at Fox News. Do you know that being drunk at work is prohibited for service members under the UCMJ?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
In your opening statement, Mr. Hicks said you commit to holding leaders accountable at all levels. That includes you, of course.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
Are there any other important facts that you chose not to reveal to the president-elect and his team as they were considering you to be Secretary of Defense?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
With multiple non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements tying the hands of many people who would like to comment to us.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV
I've made mistakes. And Jennifer, thank you for loving him through that mistake. Because the only reason why I'm here and not in prison is because my wife loved me too.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Furious Canada Destroys Trump as War Escalates
We have to start from talking about the truth. One of the things they say with Canada is, oh, there's a 270% tariff on dairy products going from the US into Canada. Well, you know what the real tariff is? Zero. That's a big difference between what the truth is. So there's a certain amount of goods, dairy goods, that go to Canada every year, and they go at 0%.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Furious Canada Destroys Trump as War Escalates
If we exceed a certain amount, there's this ridiculous 270% tariff, but we've never encountered it. And the USMC renegotiated it and raised the level that's under zero. Trump should be congratulated for USMC raising the amount of dairy that goes in at zero. But we have to have an honest debate. We can't go around saying that there's a 270% tariff when that's not really the truth.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fed Up Dems Smack Down Trump for Total Failure
Play this clip. Unfortunately, he's wrecking our economy. I think people have seen their retirement savings on fire. And there he is out on the golf course. That may end up being the most enduring image of the Trump presidency. That is the president out on a golf cart while people's retirement is in flames.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fed Up Dems Smack Down Trump for Total Failure
The Treasury Secretary saying that people aren't looking at where the retirement savings are. Maybe he doesn't have to. He's got the wealth. He doesn't have to. Maybe the president with his wealth doesn't have to. But... What I'm hearing from Californians is those that have just retired, those who are on the eve of retiring, they're terrified of this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fed Up Dems Smack Down Trump for Total Failure
And I hope and pray we stay out of recession, but if we head into a recession, it will be the Trump recession. He will completely own it. This is a completely self-destructive economic act that he's engaged in.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fed Up Dems Smack Down Trump for Total Failure
Listen, I listened to your segment. I've never heard so much about fuzzy math in my life. And the notion that that chart is getting so much national attention, you know, the letters in Greek, all this stuff that makes no sense. That's what people, consumers are saying. How is this helping me in a time of inflation? You're adding to my costs with a tax on my consumer goods.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fed Up Dems Smack Down Trump for Total Failure
And so I think that's why we're gaining support from these organizations today.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fed Up Dems Smack Down Trump for Total Failure
You know, God bless Kevin, but I've never seen an administration in my lifetime do something so monumentally wrong and that so staggeringly hurts American people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fed Up Dems Smack Down Trump for Total Failure
You know, I've been hearing all day yesterday from frightened Americans who've saved for their entire lives for retirement in the coming months, but now know they can't because in one fell swoop, Donald Trump has devastated their retirement counts, their 401Ks.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fed Up Dems Smack Down Trump for Total Failure
I know millions of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck who already in their administration have seen rising prices, even though he promised they would go down, rising inflation, even though he promised it would go down. And now they're bracing themselves for seeing their monthly bills go up because of what this president did. And that will devastate them.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
We have to really, really look at nuclear. And I think that's something that Democrats don't usually engage in.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
But in order for us to make sure that working class people are going to be able to have affordable energy and still keep the lights on and still be able to have the kind of high tech jobs we want, we're going to have to do a massive investment in nuclear, which, by the way, will also keep our carbon footprint down.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And it's one of the things I'm working on right now, actively is trying to figure out how we can get more nuclear energy deployed across the country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
There you go. You didn't see that one coming, did you?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
The fact that they're deporting people that aren't criminals, that they're separating families, all these things that either, A, a lot of these voters lied to themselves and said that that wasn't going to happen, or, you know, let's be clear, Trump at different points in time will actually say the same thing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And he just said it two weeks ago, like, we shouldn't be deporting anybody that's here working, right? And he'll kind of drop these nuggets here and there to kind of give hope to some of these people that for some reason would want to believe them. But the economy is the other thing that kind of has really pushed these guys back out of at least not being big supporters of Donald Trump.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
Latinos are much like, especially Latino men, just like black men, they're the first to fire and the last to hire. When wages get stagnant, they're the ones that feel it right away. It's all these things that they are more sensitive when things start going bad. And I guarantee you that if the economy, which it is, is slowing down, they're the ones that are feeling it right now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And I think that's why you're seeing these numbers kind of change. Yeah.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
Yeah, so these Latinos, men and women, aren't basing their feelings on the stock market. Not that some of them don't invest in the stock market, some of them that I'm sure have 401ks or IRAs or aren't invested themselves. What they're responding to is the slowdown in the economy, right? These are the men and women that are your truck drivers, your delivery guys.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
uh you know short haul delivery people they're the ones that work at factories or the ones that do hourly work and when they feel the contraction in the economy they're the first ones that feel it right they're the waiters so like if they start seeing tips being uh less tips coming in you know they're the ones that are working at factories the ones that are working on construction sites and so if there's any slowdown they're the first ones to feel it and that that is what
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
um they're responding to so besant and the president can come and say whatever they want to kind of ease the market if these men and women feel that they are unstable uncertain about their future they're getting fired or they're getting their hours reduced they're going to be unhappy it doesn't matter what the stock market is doing and you know if you look at what happened in the first quarter you know gdp contracted by 0.3 percent um
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And that's, you know, not that's even before terrorists are fully get queued in. Wait to see what happens second term. So this is this is something that is going to negatively give an opinion.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
They're just not going to, you know, right now they're not going to trust Republicans when it comes to the economy and immigration, which are the two things that a lot of them did trust last time going around.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
Yeah, yeah. Well, I never talk, I never try to talk to anybody about like bring objective data to the conversation. You know, I try to keep it extremely as close to reality as possible. And like,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
you know what they understand and which without not not just latinos but everyone understands like you know are your wages going higher have prices gone down and normally they just tell me uh no that that's not the case and you know if you do that enough they'll they'll figure it out and
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
You know, I think there's going to be a lot of spinning that's going to happen from the right, from Donald Trump. At the end of the day, you know, inflation is still high. You still can't buy a house in Arizona. Rent is still high. You can't buy a vehicle cheaply anymore. And now there's a really good chance that you're going to be losing your job.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
So everything that any trust that they've had for this president is now quickly, quickly eroding.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
Yeah, let's start with two separate things. Number one, this administration is the most anti-veteran administration in the history of this country. And I'm not even close, right? You know, today we had the VA secretary at our committee hearing, and he could not pinpoint why and where he came about that he wanted to cut the workforce of the VA by 15%. There's no logical reason to it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
There's no study. There's nothing. They just came up with this number. Some doge boy out of San Jose, California, who has zero experience with, you know, the VA came up with this number and now they're executing it. You know, this recently they tried to float the idea of changing Veterans Day to World War Two Day, World War One Day. Like, how stupid are you to even think about that?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
You know, there's veterans that are starting to see the effects of some of these cuts, you know, where we're hearing about, you know, therapists that have to have some of their sessions in open, you know, open air cubicles, which is horrible for privacy matters. It is all bad. And it doesn't surprise me. Again, this man has zero concept of selflessness, self-service or service to the country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And, you know, he thinks if he just acts tough, that the veterans would be happy with him in the end. And that's that's not the case. On the military side, the lack of leadership from Hegseth as well as just the fact that they're entirely eroding our world alliances and making the world more unstable is what I think also pisses off a lot of veterans.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
We feel that the president's pissing away years and years of a stable relationship, stable and reliable alliance with our European partners. They're making us weaker versus China. All these things that, you know, some of these veterans and people that were military did not think would happen are now happening.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
In addition to just, you know, again, the hypocrisy of something like Hexeth talking about, you know, the security, operational security that, you know, we need and then engaging in such really, really risky information sharing that would have gotten me thrown in jail when I was in the Marines.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
Well, we're going there because we got invited to go and we've gotten invites to a lot of places to speak about Medicaid and Democrats. And this is something that I've done before being a senator traveling the country. You know, even in Arizona, this last couple of months, I've been traveling to red parts of Arizona to talk about
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
the cuts they want to do to Medicaid, how people are going to get kicked off healthcare, how hospitals are going to shut down, maternity wards are going to shut down, all because these guys want to give a massive, massive tax cut to billionaires that don't need it and won't even notice it. The one, the Bucks County actually works within my schedule. I have a
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
Pretty busy schedule, largely because I have two kids and I have a third one coming June 12th. But again, I look forward to talking to the people in Bucks County. They're much like the swing voters in Arizona. They want to hear the straight truth. They want to know that the government's looking out for them.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And they certainly don't want to be seeing really critical programs like food stamps, like Medicaid being cut just to help the mega, mega rich.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
Well, it is a big deal. We do need to get some legislation through and reason why, because every other country now has some level of stable coin legislation. And we want to also have that industry, that economy here. But we also want consumer protections. We want national security protections, anti-money laundering protections. And these are things that are fairly reasonable.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And I had been working with Republicans and five Democrats on the committee who had worked and actually passed. And we we said when we passed, like, there's more to do, but we want to continue in a spirit by person to work on this. And all of a sudden the language changed. They backtracked on some of the stuff we had already approved. They weren't even moving forward with further legislation.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And then they announced the date of the first vote. And I think the purpose of that was really to put Democrats in a bad position and try to force us to vote for it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And as the ranking member on the committee, I just cannot allow them to just jam us and pass bad legislation that has open loopholes that will create really bad situations for consumers, for investors, all these kinds of things, especially when We're here. We're here to work. We're here to speak and try to come up with a good bipartisan bill. But don't try to fuck us on it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
That's not going to happen. And they're trying to do these threats where like, oh, if you do this, the crypto industry is going to say that you're anti-crypto. We're all going to label you guys as anti-crypto. And that only... Makes me even more intensely mad at them because now you're just doing more and more threats. We can get a good bill.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
We could get a good bill that protects consumers, protects investors, brings back a lot of this innovation back to the United States. And we have the time to do it. But you can't throw us in the corner. You can't try to fuck us and then say, like, hey, you know, deal with it. Like, that's just not going to work, especially when you still need our votes no matter what.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
So we have had an understanding that there was going to be, this is not a Trump-focused thing, that there's going to be a general understanding of what you would do with any type of industry currency altogether. And that means that the president, the vice president, and members of the executive cannot engage in this because it is essentially self-dealing, right?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
Same with senators, by the way, and same with members of Congress. They should not be able to issue their own stable coin, issue their own coin in general, anything like that. You should not be able to do it. So that was our understanding. And again, this isn't a Trump-focused thing. He is going to be able to do his meme coins all he wants. That's a totally different subject matter.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
But no one is going to have an exemption at all on this. And that's not the biggest hang up on this at all. It's the fact that, you know, they're backsliding on their word and again, trying to basically force our hands. And, you know, that's my opinion. I think that's going to work.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
look i'm focused on a couple of things housing we just need to figure out how to get as much housing uh online as fast as possible you know when we talk about it like everyone thinks about it in the way like yes it's important for us to ask for people to be housed right we want homeless people but it's also important for a couple reasons number one financial stability you know people that have homes
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
are more likely to, are less likely to end up below the poverty line, are more likely to have better healthcare outcomes. Children, when raised in a stable housing environment, end up also having better healthcare and educational and societal outcomes, right? The fact is right now, you know, people in their mid-30s are not going to be able to buy a home for quite a while.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
Well, I certainly have seen a reversal, mostly among Latino men. And I would say it started about three to four weeks ago. So it's a combination really of
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
There's just not enough market that, not being brought to the market, and when you're Even when it is there, it's extremely expensive and interest rates are so high. And then you're also creating generational wealth. And then also, at some point, it's just damn depressing, right? I was lucky enough. I used the VA home bill at 26 to buy my first condo.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
But there are men and women that are at home with their parents leading up into their 40s. Look, no matter what we say, that's just not good for society, right? You want people to be happy, proud of themselves, be able to start families or not start families, but living on their own independent lives. And we need to make sure that government is focused on figuring out how does that look like?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
And it could be a combination of things, like making sure we have housing subsidies, low-income housing, affordable mortgages. We need to make sure that cities don't – over-regulate and under-zone those areas. That's one of those areas that we should be working on intensely as Democrats. And the other area is energy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Ruben Gallego on Trump’s Failing Presidency
If you're on your phone and you're doing anything with your phone, with computers, AI, or anything else like that, you are causing a lot of energy. And the United States is going to have a big problem in about 10 years if we don't upgrade our energy, energy grids, as well as trying to bring more energy on. And of course, a lot of that will be renewables, but I also do believe that
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
they didn't vote for this what are you hearing senator so hearing a lot of the same fury a lot of the same frustration and people coming to the realization donald trump lied to them his whole campaign his platform his promises were all a lie and it's coming home to roost
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
uh because you're right whether it's the the tariffs we know who's going to pay the price ultimately it's not foreign countries as donald claims it's going to be working families here in the country when prices will go up this is a president who said he was going to tackle inflation and bring down prices on day one the opposite has happened prices are up in all categories and now he's i guess the one thing he has said that's truthful just this last weekend he says he doesn't care
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
He can care less specifically is what he said if prices go up because they're going up on everything from cars to fruits and vegetables and everything in between.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
Yeah, I mean, this is just insult after insult after insult to the group that you started this segment with, the agricultural interest in the Central Valley of California, the growers that supported him in his election. They're going to pay the price when it comes to tariffs, number one.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
They're already feeling workforce concerns because of the over-aggressive detention and deportation operations. So many farm workers that are afraid to show up to work, afraid to send their kids to school, afraid to show up to hospitals for doctor's appointments. It's having a real impact in the fields. And now this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
Just for show, for the sake of being able to post to social media accounts, a release of so much water in the middle of winter. Trying to make a point. This was not for the fires in Los Angeles. By the time the water was released, the fires were already contained. Second, where they released the water, there was no way, literally, for that water to make its way to Southern California.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
But the worst part, what nobody's thinking about yet is come the summer, come the hot, dry summer months, when farmers need the water for irrigation, there's now so much that water has gone, and you cannot get it back. So insult after insult after insult, it's gonna hurt growers, it's gonna hurt the agricultural industry, it's gonna cost jobs, and it's gonna raise food prices.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
argument that maybe there's short-term pain but long-term gain here but but you just mentioned some of those countries i mean i was looking at the numbers 95 of montana's imported goods come from canada mexico and china is this going to hurt people in your state you think there's absolutely
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
yeah uh when uh senator he says donald trump has been clear about that let's be clear he's been clear about that after taking office throughout the course of the campaign he promised the opposite so he lied it was a bait and switch he promised to lower costs costs are going up this short-term pain uh only now he's he's realizing what it means, but the pain is real.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
So my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, you know, there's inconvenience and there's pain. If you're remodeling a house, hey, you know, good for you, but that can be an inconvenience. That's not pain. Pain is being left homeless, which a lot of people will be when they lose their jobs or can't afford to pay the rent because of Donald Trump's policies. That is very, very real.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
Another impact of his tariffs on again, off again, and on again, on again, prices going up is what's happening with the stock market. Now, I don't say this because I'm sympathetic to traders on Wall Street. I bring this up because so many people's pensions, so many people's 401k, some people's retirement savings are tied to the economy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
So when the stock market crashes, that's literally dollars that Duke no longer have for retirement. It's gone up in smoke. But once again, if you ask Donald Trump what he thinks of all this, he could care less.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
Yeah, so first of all, thank you for bringing this up because all the chaos in the flood of executive orders that continuously comes out of the White House, you know, this one is important to pay attention to. First of all, it's not his first attempt to try to get the personal information of every voter in America. He tried it in his first term.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
I remember vividly because I was serving as California Secretary of State at the time. We refused to cooperate with his sham of a commission. And ultimately, it was opposed by both Republican and Democratic Secretaries of State. So it failed. But now he's got Elon Musk by his side. And so he's trying again to get everybody's personal information across the country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
We're not going to stand for it. Number two, when he says this executive order is important so that we make sure that non-citizens don't vote in our elections, it's already the law that you have to be a citizen to be eligible to register to vote and vote in our election. So it is a a solution in search of a problem. And it's a problematic solution at that. And here's the real rub.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
The way it's crafted new requirements for being able to register and to cast ballots will only have the effect of disenfranchising a lot of eligible voters.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
in to have to carry around a passport half the country doesn't have a current valid passport so now you won't be able to vote because of a requirement that is not necessary number one service members who move around may have an id that doesn't reflect their current address because of deployments so you're going to disenfranchise members of the military from voting Really?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
Or how about women, when they get married and may change their name, and there's a lag between changing their name in one document, but their driver's license or IED, and so they won't be allowed to vote? That's what Donald Trump wants. And the last thing, because this is, you know, the hypocrisy is rich on so many fronts with our Republican colleagues.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
When President Biden was in the White House and we tried a number of things to strengthen our democracy by improving voter registration and getting more people to participate, Republicans were kicking and screaming, we cannot federalize elections. States administer elections and we shouldn't impose federal requirements on them.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
But now when Donald Trump has ideas of how he wants elections to run, Republicans are silent. The hypocrisy is offensive.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
Yeah, we're going to push back, right? We're going to continue to challenge through litigation at every turn. And for the most part, we have been successful since the beginning of the year, whether it's temporary restraining orders on a lot of his overreach. or actual overturning his policies through the judicial system. We're going to legislate as best we can.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
We don't have a ton of leverage points because Democrats are in the minority at the moment, but whenever we do have these leverage points, we have to exercise them and we've got to spread the word. When the general public learns more and more about what's happening,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
whether it's how it's going to be harder for them maybe to register and vote in the future, or prices going up for their daily living expenses, we have to channel that energy into organizing because the midterm elections will be here before we know it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
I know we have a few minutes left, but I got to say this, as soon as we wrap here in a couple of minutes, I'm going to go do another piece, support my friend, my colleague, Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey, who is holding the floor.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
He's filibustering, calling attention to the chaos coming out of the White House and all the damage that they're trying to do because we have to use every tool in our toolbox to continue to highlight and to continue to push back.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Padilla Responds to Trump Destruction & Attacks on Voting Rights
I have confidence in him. I think he can. I think he should only be righteous because the days that we're living in, the threats to our Constitution and the future of our country is also unprecedented. So I'm going to be proud to stand with him. And, you know, people are watching. People are paying attention. We need people to be talking and we need people to be organizing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicking Trump Goes Nuts on Tariff Day
Anyone who says there may be a little bit of pain before we get things right need to talk about farmers who are one crop away from bankruptcy. They don't have time. So we've got to be crisp on this implementation.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicking Trump Goes Nuts on Tariff Day
Let's get back to the ideals that others are threatening. Let's get back to our founding documents, that those imperfect geniuses had some very special words at the end of the Declaration of Independence. It was one of the greatest in all of humanity, declarations of interdependence. When our founder said we must mutually pledge, pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicking Trump Goes Nuts on Tariff Day
We need that now from all Americans. This is a moral moment. It's not left or right, it's right or wrong. It's getting good trouble. My friend, Madam President, I yield the floor.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicking Trump Goes Nuts on Tariff Day
You know, newsflash, these guys are incompetent. They don't know what they're doing. I mean, we hired a weekend Fox News host with no diplomatic or management experience with a checkered personal history of abuse and alcoholism to be our chief national security official. And it's going very badly. I don't know that anybody could have seen this coming.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicking Trump Goes Nuts on Tariff Day
The reality is that these revelations are really worrying, but their contempt for remediation is even more worrying. They opened and closed an investigation in about 48 hours. They haven't announced any change in practice. For all they know, they're continuing to conduct sensitive business on Signal or on
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Panicking Trump Goes Nuts on Tariff Day
Gmail, for all we know, they are continuing to include non-administration officials on those message threads.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Freaks Out as Dem Intros Impeachment Against Trump
On the jet, I do think the jet probably sends the wrong signal to people and I don't like the look or appearance of it. So I would hope that he would reject it. The constitution specifically says you can't take gifts from foreign leaders. It doesn't say you can't take gifts unless they're gonna be for official use. We also do a lot of business with Qatar. And so we sell them a lot of arms.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Freaks Out as Dem Intros Impeachment Against Trump
Essentially, the United States is the biggest arms merchant in the world. We sell arms everywhere. And there are lucrative deals for the arms manufacturers. But I have actually tried to hold up arms sales before to both Saudi Arabia and Qatar because of their human rights records.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Freaks Out as Dem Intros Impeachment Against Trump
So I don't know that we can have an honest appraisal of their human rights record and decisions on arms sales if we're receiving $400 billion gifts from a country. So I'm not for it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
So this just shows exactly what we were saying about Donald Trump before he got in here, what his own former chief of staff was saying, what his own former secretary of defense was saying. All these people said that he was a danger to the national security, a danger to our economy, a danger and a real risk of the continuance of our country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Well, first of all, God bless the Canadians. Their strength and their resolve, their unwillingness to kowtow to this petty threats by Donald Trump. God bless our northern neighbors, because in many ways, their strength is our strength. I stand for America and what is in America's interest is to stand with perhaps their strongest ally throughout my lifetime has been the Canadians.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
But in terms of what I'm hearing from other leaders, it's painful. It is painful. on the Foreign Relations Committee for these past years, I've developed great relationships with everybody from European leaders to African leaders, Middle East leaders, and more. And all of them will say to me in private that they have for their lifetime looked to America for light and example.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
They know that we are not a perfect nation. They know that we have made real mistakes. but they have never believed that our intentions weren't noble. Our intentions weren't good. This is the first time they really are questioning American intent and seeing a president that was elected once, you know, that fool me once, shame on,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
shame on you, but fool me twice, elect him twice, shame on you Americans. And I'm hearing that from a lot of folks who just are so disappointed that our country, knowing who he is, would allow him to the presidency again, for him to shake up, not just the rules-based world order, but at a time that authoritarian governments are on the rise and you're seeing democracies
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
a decline, seeing democratic traditions under assault, they just can't believe that America, the United States of America, would be part and parcel of the undermining of the values and principles of free democracies.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Look, we are far more connected on this planet and in this nation than we realize. I think that goodness, decency, mercy, grace, these are viral spirits.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
In fact, I know at Stanford they have a researcher that has shown that doing one act of kindness, even like walking down the street and bending down and picking up a piece of trash, not realizing that people are seeing you do that, actually could affect the behavior of people three degrees of separation. So I always tell people, use your power.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Be a force of good and kindness and decency in a world that really needs more of it. The problem is that meanness, cruelty can also be viral as well. And we now have in the White House somebody who does not embody the best of our virtues, doesn't embody the kind of ideals that we want to see in this world. And I tell you, the echoes of presidents of past, George Washington, I cannot tell a lie.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Look, it was bad, really bad for Americans before these tariffs. Inflation was up. Costs of living was up. Consumer confidence was down. We saw all of these things that were already betraying what his promises were to a lot of people that put their faith in him that he would make their cost of living better.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Well, we have a president now that cannot tell the truth. In the midst of the most divisive period imaginable in our country's history, the Civil War, you had a president stand up and said, with malice towards none and charity towards all. When yet now we have a president that is all about malice and doesn't know charity, that spirit at all.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
You had presidents that said, you know, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. And now you have a president saying, Hey, Mr. Putin, have that Ukraine. I'll support you. We're having negotiations for quote unquote peace. We'll start the negotiation and giving away 20% of your land that was taken by this authoritarian leader. I could go on and on and on.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
A president named Kennedy said, ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Well, Trump clearly, the way he's treating law firms, the way he's treating corporations, it's not ask not what you can do for your country. It's ask not what you can do for your country, ask what you can do for Donald Trump. What tribute can you pay?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
How will you supplicate yourself before me? What will you offer me so I will take my personal vendetta that I'm directing towards you away? This is a very dangerous time with a president that is, in so many ways, not just assaulting Social Security and Medicare and veterans and senior citizens, He is actually assaulting the very dignity and values and virtues of our nation.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
We are a good people, but this president is acting in betrayal of that. Now, this goes also to the reality that I'm hoping more Americans will realize. It is a fundamental truth that this idea of due process written in our constitution doesn't say American citizens. It says due process is for all people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Now I've heard Anton Scalia, a conservative justice, speak to this point about the importance of due process. And so when you disappear somebody off of a street, And the next time you see them is in one of the most awful prisons. And that person's due process was completely violated. And even our government admits they made a mistake.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
If you think that that is horrible what's happening to those people over there, I want you to know that if you attack the due process rights of anyone in our country, you are jeopardizing the due process rights of everyone in our country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
If they could disappear, a man who came here, a gay human being who's escaping violence and discrimination, is on the street and was disappeared in the way he was. Do not fool yourself that this is paving a way of creating a slippery slope for the violations that you hold dear, a violation of the values you hold dear in your very due process. These are extraordinarily dangerous times.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And we need to be waking folks up to know that the rights that he is taking away from others are putting directly in jeopardy the rights that you hold most dear as an American.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And again, I get a chance to meet every once in a while these veterans from World War II, and it's very moving when you meet them, especially people that faced unimaginable challenges fighting the Nazis. You know, we're the country that, you know, bled on those beaches in Europe.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
I've seen fields of cemeteries of Americans who gave their lives in the fight against fascism, the fight against authoritarians who thought they could conquer the world, take on weaker countries. I'll tell you, you meet these veterans and you're reminded that who we are at our core, we're the nation of the Berlin Airlift. We're the nation of the Marshall Plan.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
We are the station that has so much nobility in our stands against the bully, against the authoritarian leader. And it is so insulting now to watch Donald Trump suddenly kowtow, talk about how much he respects and admires somebody like Putin. and how much he insults somebody like Zelensky. We are the country that condemns dictators and defends heroes. Donald Trump seems to have that twisted.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And so I am proud to see other democratic nations rallying together. And I am looking forward to the time where we could end this time of Trump and rejoin a community of nations and provide leadership and example again in this world. But that's not going to happen inevitably. It's only going to happen if we show the same kind of strength that foot soldiers for justice and freedom did in the past.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
You know, I know from doing a lot of studying strategists, from Lao Tzu to great generals is understanding the motivations of your opposition does help in designing strategy. But I'm going to tell you this right now. I don't give a damn why he's doing it. I am going to fight this guy. We need to fight this guy because whatever his motivations,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And not just foot soldiers in war, but foot soldiers here at home, foot soldiers in the suffrage movement, in the labor movement, in the civil rights movement.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And in the abolitionist movement, foot soldiers in the disabilities rights movements and the LGBTQ movements, every great stride against oppression, against tyranny, against division, against demagoguery has been led by foot soldiers who are willing to get in good trouble and stand for something. And this is one of those calls. This is that kind of moral moment in American history right now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
What future generations are going to ask, what did you do? Where did you stand? Well, I knew where my grandparents stood from their war bonds they bought to the victory gardens they had to my grandfather working on the little run bomber assembly line in Michigan. I know where my parents stood. My mom was at a sit-in in Charlotte. the indignities of people that wouldn't serve them.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
I know where my parents' generation stood on the March on Washington and more. But we are not going to be called to storm beaches in Normandy. We're not going to be called to get on Freedom Rides knowing that our buses will be bombed or do marches knowing we'll get beaten like they did on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. But this is still our test. This is still our time. This is still our moment.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
I believe from what I saw this past week that the movement is now growing, that people realize the moment is now here. But folks like you, frankly, and folks like me have to do more and more, everything that we can to try to be one in that number of folks that are inspiring action at a time that we so urgently need it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
But I'm really thankful. What I said is really sincere. You all have become such a powerful voice in doing the things I tell my office that we should be doing all the time, informing people, engaging people, inspiring people, and most importantly, activating others. Because the real test of leadership, which I think you guys are showing, is not saying, hey, follow me. I'm your leader.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
The real test of leadership, I think, is what you are showing is reminding people, as Ella Baker said, that you are the leaders. We are the leaders we've been looking for. I have a responsibility to lead in a time of trouble like this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Whoever you are in this country, whether you're a senior citizen, whether you're a mother, an expected mother, whether you're a young kid who's in grade school, whether you're labor and seeing what he's doing, the labor laws, whether you're a consumer and what he's doing, the consumer protections, whether you're just a family trying to make ends meet, he is coming after you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And so screw him and his motivations. I don't want to try to get in that head because, frankly, that is an odyssey upon which I do not want to embark. What my job is, what all of our jobs are as Americans, as patriots, is to protect our country and protect people. And so that's the question right now is how do we stop him? from doing what he's doing. He's already proven who he is.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
If he promised us that he was gonna lower prices, look at his 100 plus executive orders. Immediately he was doing things to gut ethical laws, to allow more corruption to come into our government.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
to gut the ability to protect our nation and our democratic pillars, like voting from foreign adversaries, to gut, frankly, a lot of the things we put in place during the Biden administration to give people more access to health care, more access to lower prescription drugs. These were the things he did right off the bat, frankly, what he did to environmental protections.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And for a guy that lives in a city that has four times the asthma rates of the towns around us, the guy who lives in a community where kids suffer from all kinds of environmental toxins. He's allowing polluters to pollute more, which is gonna raise rates of asthma and emphysema deaths from those things and therefore raise healthcare costs and more people being rushed to the emergency room.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Everywhere I look, He is hurting people. He is hurting Americans. And the voices that I tried to read from the Senate floor, as many of them I could center as possible, they were Republican voices and Democratic voices. They were young voices and old voices.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
They were Republican elected officials and Democratic elected officials all screaming to the moral moment that we're in, that we are in a crisis. We are in a crisis. We cannot allow this guy to stay the course of what he's doing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
But now it is a true just taking a battle axe to the economic well-being of Americans and, frankly, having an effect that's going across the globe. And so let's just start with the reality is that this is going to drive prices even higher. for Americans, thousands of dollars to the average American's annual cost of living.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Well, look, and I think you all have covered this place long enough. I think everybody kind of knows my views on tariffs. But the fact of the matter is the president ran on this There wasn't a campaign event where he didn't talk about the importance of getting other countries to treat us more fairly when it comes to trade, bilateral trade, multilateral trade in this country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And 77 million people voted for him and his agenda. And I think he deserves the opportunity to see what kind of deals he can get from some of our trading partners.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
I mean, again, we are as a Senate – or abandoning our constitutional obligations. The Senate was not created, Congress was not created to bow down to the will of an executive and let them do whatever they want. The Article I branch of government was to create a check and a balance on that kind of authority, on presidential power.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And so, again, somebody who won, by the way, he did not win the majority of votes, one of the narrowest margins in the history of our country, a majority of people voted against him. So that argument to me is just so insufficient to justify any of the kind of behavior of Congress.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
But if you were just talking about what your constitutional duty is, it's to provide checks and balances, provide oversight. We haven't had one hearing
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
on the outrageousness that we're seeing, whether it's Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, and what he's doing, not one oversight hearing to his gutting of Social Security Administration, to his gutting of Health and Human Services, not a hearing on his gutting of the VA, 80,000 people. No hearings whatsoever on that behavior. No hearings on the national security breach in Signalgate.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Not one hearing to ask the right questions we should be asking. Is this the pattern and practice of the way they've been communicating? Have they had other instances of using a commercial app to communicate classified information? I could go on and on and on. We have abdicated our constitutional obligations.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
We are not just to lay down to a president, Democrat or Republican, who gets elected to that office. That's not the role. And it's unfortunate to hear him say that when he disagrees. He basically is admitting that he disagrees with this policy, but is not doing anything to create accountability for it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Well, first of all, let me just give credit to the American people that were demanding of me. I had constituents coming here with awful stories of what was happening to them. And they were saying the truth. You're not doing enough. You need to do more. You need to take some risks. And so the motivation of that 25 hours were the voices of my constituents were calling for us to step up more.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
For people that have 401 accounts, their retirement security, they've lost thousands and thousands. I've been hearing from people who had helped to retire this year after working for 25, 30, 35 years, but now don't think they have the money because he's taken $6 trillion overall out of the markets.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And it's one of the reasons why we were so determined to center their voices now. And so this is a time that Congress is what it is. They have the majorities in the House and the Senate, but it doesn't mean that we still don't have agency and we don't have the ability to think of creative tactics and stance to make. And especially when we have
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
leverage, whether it is the coming continuing resolution, whether it is the debt ceiling rise or whether especially it is for any legislation that they might propose. We've got to exercise that leverage. We've got to continue to fight in the courts. I know historically that can be important, necessary, but not sufficient.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
As we saw with Brown versus Board of Education, it was a tremendous legal victory. but it didn't result in the integration of American schools. We had to do a lot more marching, a lot more fighting. You had to see the courageous stands of people like Ruby Bridges being escorted by federal authorities into school. But the final area, I always say the three buckets, you fight in the courts,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
You fight using every legislative and procedural tactic you can. But the third most important way to fight, which is, again, part of my 25-hour stand, but more importantly than that, part of the millions of people who stood over the weekend in the hands-off rallies around this country between 1,000 and 2,000 of them,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
is that we have to exercise the greatest power in a democracy, which is the power of the people. And I'm a firm believer that history shows that the power of the people is greater than the people in power, no matter how obstinate, stubborn, or determined those powerful foes are. And I know that because it was just in 2017 that I witnessed
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins changed their votes. And as much as my ego would like to say it was because of the persuasiveness of their Democratic Senate colleagues, it wasn't that. It was Americans who went to extraordinary lengths to demonstrate, to protest, to exercise their free speech rights.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
It was powerful little lobbyists that came here in their wheelchairs, rolling up on Congress people, and letting their voices be heard. It was veterans who came to demonstrate. It was seniors who came to demonstrate and others that eventually called to the conscience of a few Republicans to change their vote.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And so right now, perhaps the most powerful tool we have in our toolbox is our ability to exercise First Amendment rights, to assemble, to protest, to speak up, to stand up, to rise up as a people and not let them do it. And there are a lot of House members
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
that are in districts where they now know, especially with the success we had, not just in Wisconsin, but even in narrowing the gap in heavily Republican districts as we did in Florida, there are people that are in Congress right now who are seeing their chances of reelection go further and further down as they continue to stand with Trump and Musk.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
and refuse to stand with what the people in their district are saying to them.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
The more we pressure people like that to change their votes, the more likely we are to be able to stop them from gutting Medicaid, from continuing to put tariffs that raise prices, from gutting Social Security and the other things that are in their crosshairs, all to give perhaps some of the historic largest tax cuts to the wealthiest in our country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And then just to see all these big economic indicators start to project a recession, it just shows that this man, first of all, knows nothing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
No, I mean, look, this is everything they're saying is a is factually you can show it's a law. This is not about ending government corruption. They have taken out Inspector General's. They have taken down rules to stop corruption. They've opened up more corruption, starting with the president himself, who's violating the emoluments codes. This is not a government efficiency.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
They've done things to dismantle things that created more transparency and efficiency in government operations. And as you just said, it's not about lowering government spending. They are ratcheting it up, including their immigration play, which is adding tens of billions of dollars to our budget expenses by funding principally private prisons to warehouse overwhelmingly nonviolent people
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
Even his right-wing supporters, right-leaning think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute have said even the justification that he's making, the data that he's relying on is flawed and convoluted and not based in any kind of strategy or science or economics.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
But on top of that, they're taking important government work like the ATF. They're dismantling the ATF and redirecting those resources towards their immigration efforts, which, again, are not going after the violent criminals. Simply, they're going after the parents of American children, the spouses of American people who came here legitimately fleeing violence with legitimate asylum claims.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
And so what this is to me, it's a tyranny play. It's a tyranny play. It's about a chaotic and capricious Craven president who is trying to get more power by violating constitutional norms, by assaulting the Article 3 branch of the judiciary, so much so that the chief justice of the Supreme Court had to come back at him. Really
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
using every way he can to beat Article I branch into submission, as far as literally threatening to run primaries funded by Elon Musk at tunes of $100 million against anybody that steps out of line. This is a tyranny play. And again, I return to the wisdom of Frederick Douglass, who said, the limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of of those they seek to oppress.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
The limits of tyrants is prescribed by the endurance of those they seek to oppress. How much is enough for us? When will we as a people say enough? Enough. We had millions of people marching over the weekend, but we need millions more. When are people going to go from being bystanders to upstanders?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
When are people going to go from just sitting back and doing nothing and understanding that is the only thing necessary for bad people to be triumphant is for good people to do nothing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
When are we going to realize the wisdom of Martin Luther King, that what we are ultimately going to have to repent for in this day and age is not just the vitriolic words or violent actions of bad people, but the appalling silence and inaction of good people. It's time for everybody to say enough is enough.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Cory Booker Reacts to Market Crash and More
As another great activist, Sojourner Truth said, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, and we need to all get out there and do more and demand more and make government finally bend to the will of the people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
YIKES! Senate Hearing GOES OFF THE RAILS over Trump Picks
And here's what this nominee himself has said about using his office to prosecute journalists. We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media, We're going to come after you, whether it's criminally or civilly. Is that a correct quotation, Mr. Patel?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
And understand this, they even lose 2% of their budget. They work so efficiently using every dollar to its maximum benefit. That really means they got to stop offering services. So what? They cut out care for little babies. They cut out emergency care. They cut out preventive care. None of that is good. You want to force people to go to the hospitals.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
You want to force people to give up the care they need. In the long run, that just costs us more money and a whole lot more misery.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
My response is... I care about people and I know you do too. And what I really care about is that we don't give a bunch of tax breaks to billionaires and pay for it on the backs of hard working people. People who a lot of times are putting together two and three jobs just to be able to keep their families and themselves above water. Come on. We don't want to cut health care for those people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
We don't want to cut access to nursing homes for their grandmas and grandpas. This is just basic who you think this country ought to run for. And that's true whether you're Democrat or Republican, an independent, a libertarian, a vegetarian. You've got to care about who this country works for. And this Republican budget plan is all about billionaires win, everybody else loses.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
We just can't do that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
Look, the Republicans are following Donald Trump's lead here when he said to his donors, make him president and he would give his richest hell donors, those are his words, fabulous tax cuts. And that's exactly what this is about. Look, there may be a lot of ways we should be doing tax cuts for working people, for middle class families.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
More than you can measure. Think of it this way. The bumper sticker for this budget proposal is billionaires win, everybody else loses. And when I say everybody else loses, I really do mean everybody. So big hunk of these cuts are for the program called Medicaid. And that's like in Massachusetts, my home state, two out of every three people in a nursing home is there funded by Medicaid.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
But that doesn't mean you have to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. And that's the real difference here. The people who are sucking up all those tax cuts are the people at the very top. Last week in the United States Senate, about 4 o'clock in the morning, we're running through our first version of how the budget's going to work.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
And the Republicans have put forward a bunch of the same stuff. So I stood up and said, is there anybody, anybody who is rich enough they shouldn't get a tax cut? And I said, how about, here's my amendment, anybody who makes more than $10 million in a year That's it for them. They don't get a tax cut. All the Democrats said, yes, we vote for that amendment.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
And the Republicans said, no, not going to do that. So then Mark Kelly stood up and he said, OK, OK. He said, not that. How about if we make it for $100 million? Anybody making more than $100 million doesn't get a tax cut. Democrats said, yes. All of the Republicans, no. So then Angus King, independent from Maine, stood up, he said, okay, how about $500 million?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
Anybody who's making at least $500 million doesn't get a tax cut under the Republican plan. Can we agree on that? All the Democrats said yes, and the Republicans shouted no. So then Chuck Schumer stands up and says, okay, how about a billion dollars? Could we agree that if you're making a billion dollars in the income in a single year, No tax cut for you under the Republican plan.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
And every single Republican said no. And that tells you a lot. This is about tax cuts for the very, very, very richest Americans. paid for on the backs of little kids with serious disabilities who need an aid to be able to be in public school, paid for on the backs of people who get meals on wheels, paid for on the backs of your community hospital and health care system. That's just not right.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
So, Ben, here's our big strategy. tell everyone what's really in this bill. Because if people get it, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, whether they live in red states or blue states, whether they voted for Donald Trump or Joe Biden or nobody at all, They don't want a tax package that says huge giveaways to rich people and then make everybody else in this country pay for it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
That's the part we got to fight back against. I get that there's a lot of stuff we need to go back and forth on what's right, what's wrong. I'm all for that. But can we just agree as we start out that we're not giving tax cuts
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
to a handful of millionaires and billionaires and giant corporations and making our little kids and old people and people who need health care be the ones who are going to pay for it.
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Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
So let's back up just a tiny little bit and remember what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is all about. We put it in place after the big crash in 2008 when 10 million people, 10 million families lost their homes. And the idea was we had all these consumer protection laws. They were scattered among seven agencies. Those agencies didn't enforce them. It was nobody's first job.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
So it turned out to be nobody's job at all. We gathered those up, we put them with one agency, and then we said to that agency, enforce the law, that's your job. So over the last dozen years, what that agency has done is it's found more than $21 billion in fraud. where people got cheated on various financial products and they didn't just find the fraud.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
So what exactly is the Donald Trump Republican plan here? That those old folks who don't have anything else, they don't have like some retirement plan or big fancy checking account to draw on. Are they just going to set them out on the corner to be picked up with the trash? Those are the kind of cuts we're talking about. Medicaid also helps fund community health centers all across this country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
Thank you, Ben. I'm just delighted to be here with you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
They found the fraudsters and made them give the money back to the people they cheated. More than $21 billion, it's gone to about 200 million people. This is government that really works. So Elon Musk comes in, shuts it all down. And now here comes the best part. It pays to fight back because that's what's happened. People have taken to the street over this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
People are telling their stories about how the agency helps them. And it appears that there's some moving in reverse here. For right now, we're in the courts because what Elon Musk did is plainly illegal. But this is a place where people are starting to say, damn it, this is government that works for me, and I want those cops back on the beat so I'm not getting cheated.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
They understand that what Elon Musk has done is kind of like draw a target on anybody who has a credit card a mortgage, a car loan, a payday loan, a student loan, a checking account, even those online transactions, all of them. The CFPB is just the cop on the beat to say, you got to follow the law. You can't make your profits by cheating people. Elon doesn't like that, but the American people do.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
And we're pushing back against him.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
Elon, stop being such a coward. You say that you are for maximum transparency, then get out of your bunker. And come over here where there are people who ask serious questions, not people who just suck up to you, but people have serious questions about what you're doing because you're affecting the lives of millions of people across this country in really terrible ways. And people want to know.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
So why is it, for example, that you want to get rid of the one cop on the beat that protects Americans from scams? Is it because you want to launch X money? You've made that quite public. And if you do that, that would be the one cop that would make sure you have to follow the law. Are you just trying to push that cop out of the way before you start?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
Or are you over at the CFPB rummaging through all of their data so that you can get the information the CFPB already has? on the other sites that would be like your ex money, those same peer to peer platforms. Are you going to just try to get all of your competitors information so you can decide how to exploit that for your own use?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
Look, you want to be transparent, then show up and answer some real questions, serious questions about the kinds of changes you're trying to make to our government and to our country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
I do. I think that I think this is one of those things where they kind of build their alternative reality. And Elon spends all of his time with people who don't contradict it. The only people who contradict him are online. He's got his thumbs out and he can have a torrent of clever tweets and emojis and laugh and still
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
If you're not going to a community health center, you really ought to try one out. They do everything from little tiny babies to seniors. They do all kinds of care, preventive care, really the soup to nuts of taking care of people. And they give that high quality care. at the lowest possible cost. Cuts to Medicaid means that they could lose as much as half their budget.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
Just live in this completely cloistered environment where people say, yes, Elon, yes, Elon, yes, Elon. You know, Elon, there's a whole real world out here. And the real world has some serious questions about what you're up to.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warren Calls Musk “Scared” for Not Testifying
Thank you for having me, Ben. Let's do it again.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
Before you even got to all these really extraordinary findings, you had a guy who Donald Trump was proposing to be the top prosecutor for the United States of America, whose only experience with criminal investigations was to be the subject of them. before you even get to the conduct. That alone should have been disqualifying.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
So to your earlier point, the reflection of this on the judgment of Donald Trump is perhaps the most remarkable part of this whole story, setting aside all the grim and salacious details.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
Well, I'm glad you asked that question, because I released a report just last week, and that's what this is about. One of the things that they're trying to do is make this about work requirements, as they call it. The issue is that they're looking for $800 billion. And there's not that much waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid, not $800 billion. We're not even close. And so they use tricks.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
They use schemes. They use scams, like so-called work requirements. It's really work reporting requirements because the data shows, my report shows, that if you really want more people to work, if you want to strengthen the workforce, the way to do that is to make the workforce healthier, to give people a basic safety net of health care.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
And when you burden people who are already working, sometimes two jobs and trying to make it through school with having to literally account for themselves month after month, what you're really doing is increasing the likelihood
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
uh that they will not be able to get the health care that they will not access it i'm not telling you my opinion i'm telling you that this is what the cbo the congressional budget office nonpartisan entity said that the result of this is that we're going to see about 7 million people kicked off of the Medicaid rolls. And apparently that is the point.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
That is what they want to do in order to justify an unnecessary tax cut for billionaires like Elon Musk.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
and trying to upgrade his new Qatari jet. Meanwhile, ordinary folks in Georgia are trying their best to make their lives work. I've been on the front lines when these storms have hit our state. I know what it has done to rural communities in particular, to farming, to farmers, to the agricultural sector of our state.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
Well, look, the first objective of government is to ensure that the people are protected and that they can make the best out of their lives. Washington Republicans led by Donald Trump are focused on billionaires. They are not focused on the most vulnerable. They're focused on those who are most well-connected.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
And it's the reason why I've always been willing to work with other leaders, Democrat and Republican. I've worked with the Republican governor of Georgia when we've had to respond to that state with hurricanes, with tornadoes, with making sure that people in the middle of our state get the care that they need. And yes, we're seeing these agencies being stripped
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
bear in search of waste, fraud and abuse. Well, I think a Qatari jet that you want to somehow turn into into Air Force One. I think of that old television program, Pimp My Ride. I think that's what waste, fraud and abuse looks like.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
Meanwhile, ordinary people are just trying to make their lives work as the same Republican Congress wants to cut $800 billion out of Medicaid, $300 billion out of SNAP, literally taking healthcare and food out of the mouths of hungry children in order to take care of his billionaire friends. That's the agenda.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
And sadly, too many of my colleagues right here in the Senate and in the Congress are aiding and abetting that agenda. And many of them like me are in somebody's church on Sunday morning. I continue to pastor my church. And I often say I'm a Matthew 25 Christian where Jesus said, I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty. And you gave me something to drink.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
He also says, I was hungry and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty. You didn't give me anything to drink. And somebody said, Master, when did that happen to you? He said, well, in as much as you've done it until the least of these, you've done it also unto me. We must center the people and center their needs. And when we do that, we have a shot at getting the public policy right.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
And there's no explanation otherwise for this type of policy that would literally take health care from children in order to give billionaires a tax cut. That's what they're up to. They'll name it and try to frame it in various ways.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
What's your response to that? It's shameful. And as an American, it's embarrassing. We're seeing in real time, right, what's at stake. This is not about him. This is about us. This is about our country, where you literally have, in real time, the leader of another nation state, in this case, South Africa, there to talk to him about trade.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
And he's saying, sorry, Mr. President, we don't have a plane to offer you. You see why we have an emoluments clause in the first place. This is a matter of national security. This is a matter of the credibility of the United States on the world stage. And this is a dark and dismal moment for our country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
Well, here's the thing. In addition to the horrible policy, in addition to the cuts of Medicaid, the cuts of SNAP, in addition to the attacks on farmers and on our economy with these tariffs that are really are a tax on everything for ordinary people. Here's the other work that they're doing in addition to enriching themselves. and enriching his friends. This is the work they're focused on.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
They are trying to weaponize despair. They're trying to convince us that in this flooding of the zone, they've already won the fight. And I can tell you that as an heir to the civil rights movement, as pastor of the very church where Martin Luther King Jr.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
served, as someone who had the humble privileges serving as John Lewis's pastor, I'm not about to buy that lie any more than I buy any of the other lies that they sell. We are not without hope. And my party may be out of power, but we are not without power. And every single day I intend to use my power, use my voice to raise these issues.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
But at the end of the day, this is about giving billionaires a tax cut on the backs of the poorest, the most vulnerable, and those who can't afford high-priced lobbyists here in Washington, DC.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
And I want to encourage every one of your viewers to do the same. Don't give in to those who are trying to weaponize despair. Don't give in to those who are trying to rob you of hope and thus the willingness to stand up and fight. I was John Lewis's pastor.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Warnock Responds to Trump’s Destruction of America
He had no reason to believe that when he was crossing that bridge, that he was going to be brute force right on the other side of the bridge with the force of law. And yet history has proven that they were weak and he was strong. The people, it's about the people. It's not about the people in power. It's about the power in the people. We are strong and it's our moment to stand up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Trump Forces GOP to Humiliate Itself on Live TV
And I think it's in everybody's best interest to Ukraine, Russia, Europe, the United States, if they can bring about a peaceful conclusion to the war. So that's what this is about right now, and I think most of us want to support their efforts as they move in that direction and hopefully to a successful outcome.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Trump Forces GOP to Humiliate Itself on Live TV
Well, look, I think we all know that the new administration is giving a very careful scrub to the government, to all the agencies of the government, to figure out how we can do things more efficiently and save money for the American taxpayer. It's important in doing that that you don't undermine important services. In many cases, as you point out, there are some that affect my state.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Trump Forces GOP to Humiliate Itself on Live TV
There are some that affect all of my colleagues' states around the country. And we will work with the administration as they move forward to ensure that important services that have to do with health and safety, for example, are protected and preserved.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Trump Forces GOP to Humiliate Itself on Live TV
But I think we all understand that this government, federal government, is long in need of the kind of scrub that is being done to figure out how we can do things better. And I think most of us support that effort. And we will, with our individual states, respond to the administration if there are things that we think that need to be addressed that perhaps they're not.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Trump Forces GOP to Humiliate Itself on Live TV
that they're not considering as they make some of these decisions. But at the end of the day, the American people, I think, demanded in the election that we have a smaller, more limited, more efficient federal government that costs less and delivers the important services that they expect their government to deliver. Thank you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Trump Forces GOP to Humiliate Itself on Live TV
There's no way some of these places actually receive this money. So it's going to be interesting to watch. But again, I hate it for the American people. They've had to go through this. But again, tough times get hard. President Trump is going to he's going to expose all this. And then after we expose it, we correct it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Trump Forces GOP to Humiliate Itself on Live TV
And that's why Doge is so important. Whether he finds $500 billion, a trillion dollars, or even, aspirationally, $2 trillion, that probably multiplies to $10 trillion in private sector activity over a 10-year period of time. Those numbers are real dollars in the pockets of the American people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Trump Forces GOP to Humiliate Itself on Live TV
Thank God almighty, we have a president who made promises on the campaign trail, and now he's keeping those promises. Okay.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Trump Forces GOP to Humiliate Itself on Live TV
I think what I'm in support of is a peaceful outcome and result in Ukraine. And I think right now the administration, the president, and his team are working to achieve that. And I think right now you've got to give them some space, honestly. This is something this war has been ground on now for three years. There's been a lot of cost, a lot of death, a lot of injury associated with it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News in Total Panic as Trump Approval Falls
And the FDA administrative release, we assume it would be, is Dr. McCary coming up with new nutrition guidelines and helping America eat healthy once again.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News in Total Panic as Trump Approval Falls
You know, I think there's like anything as a physician, it's education of my patients. We need to reeducate America, but we can also stop funding federal government funding of processed food. 70% of America's calories come from ultra processed food. There's no reason that those need to be in our school lunches, in our senior citizen meals as well.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News in Total Panic as Trump Approval Falls
But we can redevelop those habits and we'll get it done eventually. But we need to cut back on the ultra processed foods. I cut back on the sodas, the sugar sodas that Snap is funding. So there's opportunity in the federal government as well.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Rude Awakening as Zelenskyy Strikes Back
No. Putin is a war criminal and should be in jail for the rest of his life, if not executed.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Rude Awakening as Zelenskyy Strikes Back
Well, I read a pamphlet back when I was in junior high called... you can trust the Russians. And then parenthetically, it was to be clearly on their side and to violate the rule of law. I think that's what we can trust the Russians to do, is to do anything to their advantage, to take temporary steps. But Vladimir Putin has violated every tenet of international law.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
You also said specific to the measles vaccine that you support the measles vaccine, but you have consistently been undermining the measles vaccine. You told the public that the vaccine wanes very quickly. You went on the Dr. Phil show and said that the measles vaccine was never fully tested for safety. You said there's fetal debris in the measles vaccine. And this morning. All true. All true.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
The incidence of serious adverse health events. So my question to you is this. You previously testified at the committee that you would do a top-to-bottom review of Mifepristone. Mifepristone is subject to a REMS currently. You have said you'll do a top-to-bottom review. Do you continue to stand by that?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
And don't you think that this new data shows that the need to do a review is, in fact, very pressing?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
One thing that might be helpful is you've previously said you've vaccinated your children. Just because I think this is a helpful answer and this isn't a gotcha, I promise. If you had a child today, would you vaccinate that child for measles?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
This morning. Do you want me to lie to the public? That's not none of that. Of course, it's true. Of course, it's true.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Right, no, I got that. And I'm not asking you to give them medical advice, but would you vaccinate your child for measles?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
But that's kind of your jurisdiction because CDC does give advice. Right.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
I didn't ask for a response yet. I understand that. I'd like to lay out the predicate of my question before I'm interrupted by the witness. He should have some respect for this committee.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Just this morning in front of the House of Representatives, you also said that you, in fact, would not recommend that kids get vaccinated for measles. You said you would just lay out the pros and cons. So this is the summation of everything that you have said to compromise people's faith in the measles vaccine in particular. is contrary to what you said before this committee.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
You said you support the measles vaccine, but then you have laid out a set of facts that are contested. And I will submit information for the record from experts who contest what you've said about the vaccine. And the result is to undermine faith in the vaccine. It's kind of like saying, listen, I think you should swim in that lake.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
But, you know, the lake is probably toxic and there's probably a ton of snakes and alligators in that lake. But I think you should swim in it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Well, then you can you name, sir, which office the safe to sleep campaign operates out of?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Well, that's the one that the senator just asked you about two minutes ago that prevents babies from dying in their sleep. a 30-year program inside your agency, you would agree that it's important.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Or ACF. It's ACF. No, actually, it's in Health and Human Services.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
No, actually the name of the organization of children and families. No, let me tell you what it is. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. This is actually the one that your aunt Eunice Kennedy Shriver is the person who it's named after. And you you've noted just a moment ago, the senator reminded you that although.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
This is a very important agency, prevents babies from dying. This is the same one you fired every single person in this office as of April the 1st.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
but to delay her treatment by an additional four weeks. Now, an extra four weeks may not sound like a long time, but I will tell you, for stage four cancer patients like Natalie, this could mean the difference between life and death. Secretary Kennedy, how many staff have been cut from the NIH's clinical center? I want a specific number.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Well, that is not acceptable. I want an answer back by that. She deserves it. I do it. She doesn't have much time. She deserves an answer back.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
You are here to defend your budget. I'm here to ask you questions about the impact of that. That's how you do it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
APPROPRIATED BY CONGRESS FOR THE PURPOSE OF VACCINATION PROGRAMS. THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED. YOU'VE DONE THE OPPOSITE. YOU CANCELLED $12 BILLION IN GRANTS TO THE STATES, INCLUDING MY STATE, THAT ARE USED TO ADMINISTER AND TRACK VACCINES. YOU PROMISED CHAIRMAN CASSIDY WHEN DID I DO THAT? MADAM CHAIR, WOULD YOU ALLOW ME TO FINISH MY QUESTION? Let me finish my question.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
You don't care about Natalie.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
I am asking you a question, and it is critical. You are here to defend cutting NIH by half. Do you genuinely believe that that won't result in more stories like Natalie's?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Well, and I asked you, have you personally assessed what this is doing to patients? And I am telling you one story of one person. It is impacting life or death situation.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Well, you did. I am not.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Well, I will just say that it is my job to be a voice for people like Natalie and countless other patients who are like her. So you've got to fix this. I want to know and I want a personal update on Natalie's case. And you offered that. Please give that to me in the next 24 hours. And I expect details and transparency about the state of NIH clinical care.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
How will the NIH successfully do more with less? How will we build those new scientists to find these cures and to compete with geopolitical rivals?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
You have canceled $12 billion in public health grants to states, whether you know this or not. That funding is used by the states in part to be able to administer and dispense information about vaccines. Mr. Secretary, let me give you the full panoply of the things you said before this committee that didn't turn out to be true.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
But every other country, Mr. Secretary, every other country guarantees health care to all people as a right. Should we, as Americans?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
I don't want the choice to be uninsured.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
The request for federal assistance was denied because of lack of staff. The entire childhood lead poisoning branch has been fired. In the words of a Milwaukee mom, it really sends a message of, you don't matter. I don't know what you would say to parents who must now test their children for lead and deal with school closures, but do you intend to eliminate this branch at CDC, yes or no?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Okay. because you cannot tell us that you want to make America healthy again when you are willfully destroying programs that keep children safe and healthy from lead poisoning. Congress dedicated $51 million in funding for this particular program. But when a community asks for help to prevent lifelong complications for children, and there was no one there to pick up the phone,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
And it's not because this program is ineffective. It's because you fired the entire team whose job it is to support communities like Milwaukee.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
It's to provide expert support. And the entire staff has been fired.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
Another great clip here of Senator Alsa Brooks. Let's play it. You've been unable to answer specific questions, sir. You are the wrong person for this job. And you had in this hearing today the unmitigated gall to say at the beginning of your testimony that China is ahead of the United States in health care because China does not have DEI. I didn't say that. Well, we can roll back the tape.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
You absolutely did say that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
That is absolutely what you said.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Collapse Under Cross-Exam at Hearing
You also promised Chairman Cassidy that the FDA would not change vaccine standards from quote, historical norms. But what happened as soon as you were sworn in? You announced new standards for vaccine approvals that you proudly referred to in your own press release as a radical departure from current practice. And experts say that that departure will delay approvals.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
That's what these idiots are saying. Play this clip. We all love a good stock market, but the reality is that stock market imbalance didn't necessarily benefit the smaller mid-sized companies and average shareholders across the country. It didn't necessarily benefit Main Street that much. So I think we are going to see a correction there. But the reality is the stock market is not the economy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
The economy is not the stock market. It's not uncommon for uncertainty to cause disruptions in that as they digest a new environmental, a new economic landscape.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
And Trump's tariffs making America great again. It's a great strategy. If somebody's finally doing something out of the White House, President Trump that is, that says you have to take an action in another country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
Yeah, no pain, no gain. That's what we used to tell our football players. There's going to be some pain with tariffs, but tariffs got us back as the strongest economy in the world when President Trump was in the first time. He knows what he's doing. Democrats get out of the way, shut up. You have no answers. You didn't do anything right in the last four years with Joe Biden. We have a game plan.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
Trump has a game plan along with Howard Ludnick and the other people that are pushing the tariffs. We can turn this thing around. But folks, let me tell you, this is our last chance. If we can't get it done now with tariffs and with pulling regulations and getting people back to work and cutting our debt and cutting the amount of spending, we're not going to have the country that we've had before.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
So people need to just listen, learn from this, understand it's short-term pain. We're going to get this turned around. President Trump knows exactly what he's doing, and he has a game plan, something Democrats didn't know anything about.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
Well, yeah, first of all, that was kind of a surprise to me. When I was flying in combat over Iraq during the first Gulf War, getting shot at on, you know, almost every time I went up on missions, I didn't expect that there was a 10-year-old kid you know, sitting in South Africa, who one day was going to become the richest guy in the world and was going to call me a traitor for doing my job.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
I mean, I mean, who saw this coming? It was, uh, it was quite the surprise. I don't take him very seriously. You know, now he kind of acts like a 12 year old kid, uh, just, you know, hurling around insults. He supposedly has this big job in the Trump administration. He's just doing an incredible amount of damage.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dems Finally Smack Down the GOP Over Trump Disaster
to our institutions, to our workforce, but to the missions that this government needs to keep people safe, to keep our economy moving forward, he's doing significant damage. So I don't take the guy incredibly seriously. But at the same time, I do worry significantly about the damage he's doing. I got to mention this one more video here.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Crashes Hard on Live TV as Trump Tanks Fast
Here, play this clip. Says you can be deported if you support a terrorist organization. Here's the bottom line. Mr. Khalil hates America, as you said in your monologue. You know, if you're not happy where you are, move. You're not a tree.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
And one woman says, you know, it's a question of whether I buy shoes for myself or my kids, whether I can afford eyeglasses, whether I can afford to go to the doctor, whether, you know, I'm gonna have the money to prepare a decent meal for my kids, that I live every day not knowing, you know, what to expect, how do I survive? And what that is about, that is the reality
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
that tens of millions of our people are living under. We don't talk about it. And what I have learned over the years, that some of the most important issues are the issues that get least discussion. And one of those issues is not just the working class people who have six years shorter lives, seven years shorter lives than the rich. That's important. Why is that?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
But what's equally important is 60% of the American people in the richest country on earth live paycheck to paycheck. That means they go to work, And if their landlord raises the rent, they don't know how they're going to be able to pay for it. Kid gets sick, don't know how to afford to send the kid to the doctor. Car breaks down, don't know how to get it fixed, et cetera, et cetera.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
That is the reality facing tens of millions of Americans in the wealthiest country on earth. And that is the issue that we got to focus on. And that is why we got to transform our economy so that it works for everybody, not just billionaires.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
That's not America. What our Constitution is about is a separation of power, executive, judiciary, legislative, and independent judiciary. You don't threaten and intimidate judges because they rule against you. That is a movement toward authoritarianism. And I would hope very much that not only Democrats and independents, but my Republican colleagues, we can disagree on all the issues,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
But for God's sake, let us not become an authoritarian country where one guy, one guy assumes all of the power. That is not what people fought and died to create in this country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
The idea that the president of the United States would threaten and harass attorneys and law firms that defended people he did not like is a major step forward toward authoritarianism. And by the way, some of these big law firms, was it Paul Weiss is one of them, one of the biggest, caved in.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
We look to these law firms who have hundreds of well-paid lawyers to defend the Constitution, to defend the rule of law, and these guys, big law firms, who often, by the way, defended Democrats,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
They were more interested in getting millions of dollars from their lobbying or whatever the hell they do in Washington, D.C., making huge amounts of money than standing tall and defending the Constitution. They should be ashamed of themselves.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
Raise your hand if you think the American health care system is broken. Raise your hand. Majority? Everyone? Not a majority. Everybody in the room. I can see behind that guy. And that is, all right, question again. How many nations, wealthy nations in the world, do not guarantee health care to all people as a human right? Anybody know the answer? Which country?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
Now, you're not going to hear much about that on corporate television. You're not going to hear much about that in the United States Congress. We're the only major country on earth that doesn't guarantee health care to all people. 85 million of us are uninsured or underinsured. 60,000 die each year because we can't get to a doctor on time. That's the bad news. You know what the good news is?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
The insurance companies are making tens of billions of dollars every year denying you coverage. The drug companies charge us the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
So how does it happen that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, we're spending twice as much per capita as the people in other countries, and yet we have one of the worst outcomes, healthcare outcomes, of any country on earth?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
And it gets back to money in politics and the domination of big money, in this case insurance companies, drug companies, over the Republican and Democratic.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
I know you do, but I want to talk about... I know. No, I want to, you know, sometimes these issues... about health care, about income and wealth inequality are not talked about in the corporate media. And it's time that we did talk about them. That's why the question a moment ago, why are people losing faith in the American system? We don't talk about it on CNN. We don't talk about it in Congress.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
It's because they understand that a handful of billionaires exert enormous influence. And that has got to change.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
I think many people are saying, wow, that's outrageous. I really feel for these federal employees thrown out on the street. But I want you to think about this. If Musk can do this to federal employees, some of whom are in unions, some of whom have worked for years, what do you think he's going to be doing when artificial intelligence and robotics comes for your job. Guess what?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
The job you have today ain't going to be here in 10 or 15 years. And you think Musk and his friends are saying, oh my goodness, how do we protect American workers from the explosion in technology that we're seeing? They don't give a damn about you. If this is what they could do to federal employees, think about what they could do to people in the private sector. So bottom line there,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
is I am not a Luddite. I think technology has many positive things to say. But we have got to understand that new technology, AI, robotics, has got to work for working people, not just for the billionaires and Mr. Musk.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
So when I'm running around the country with Alexandria and other people, what we are trying to do is demand that working class people begin to stand up and fight for their rights. There is no reason we should be the only major country not to have health care, not to have paid family and medical leave, etc., etc. Why we have the highest rate of childhood poverty almost any major country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
22% of our seniors living on $15,000 a year. Anybody here think that makes sense? All right, it doesn't. But you gotta get CNN to talk about these issues. You gotta get your members of Congress to talk about these issues.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
I noticed that. And that's just one of the other outrageous things. Imagine Do I have? I don't know for a fact. But would I be surprised if there were people who hours before knew exactly what Trump was going to do in rescinding his tariff proposals, understanding that the stock market would soar and you make huge amounts? Would I be shocked if we learned about that in the days to come?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
Well, what it does do, look, if you know two hours earlier that the stock market's going to go, what are you going to do? You're going to buy a hell of a lot of stock. You're going to invest in the stock market. But it's not only that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
I mean, you've got a president of the United States who is now working to give government cover to crypto and who now, whose family is involved in crypto, makes money by selling coins, crypto coins. Anybody can contribute, which is a direct line to the president. So, you know, I have serious problems about all that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
They are ashamed of themselves. And when Trump is out of office, and others gain power, I hope we do not forget the cowardice, not only of these law firms, but by the way, you've got major universities like Harvard and Columbia. These are some of the great universities in the world.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
Answer Nate's question. Look, What I think is tariffs used selectively are a good idea if they're going to protect American jobs. But to arbitrarily, out of nowhere, come up with a tariff that they can't even justify or explain to virtually every country on earth is absolutely counterproductive.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
I don't know the answer to that. But what I do know is the immediate harm is going to be very significant. And it is going to— I was just in Target the other day buying something, and I looked around there. Virtually all of those products sold in stores like Target are going to see significant increases in prices if Trump gets his way with tariffs. That's going to hurt working people a whole lot.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
Because I know tariffs are in everybody's mind. I think we all want this to be a serious discussion about some of the most important issues facing America. And as you indicated, I've been running all over the country. And what I hope we can do tonight is do something pretty radical. That is tell the truth. It's a radical idea here in Washington, D.C.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
And that is to really take a look together, all of us together, no matter what your political point of view may be about what is in fact going on in this country today. And as you indicated, I have been running all over the country. And I got to tell you that there is a lot of anxiety out there. There's a lot of fear.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
People in the richest country in the history of the world are wondering why 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. Do all of you guys know what paycheck to paycheck is? All right. You know, I grew up in a family that was living paycheck to paycheck.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
And yet, out of fear of losing their grants, and I understand that, they've got a lot of money there, they are willing to change their curriculum to bow down before Trump. You add all of that together, the attack on, the attack on law firms, you have Trump for the first time in history saying to a judge, oh, you ruled against me. I don't like the decision you rendered. We're going to impeach you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
And one of the manifestations of living paycheck to paycheck is working class people in America now live six years shorter lives than the rich. Anyone have an idea why that is? Poverty and what else? Stress. When you are living paycheck to paycheck and you're wondering whether you can pay the rent,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
whether you can provide, get your kid to a doctor when you need to, that eats away at your mind and it eats away at your body and you die younger. And what I have seen, Anderson, all over this country is people living under incredible stress, wondering why in the richest country in the world they can't afford health care, they can't afford child care. why the cost of housing is soaring.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
And in the midst of all of that, while 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, why is it that three people on top now own more wealth than the bottom half of American society? And you got some zillionaire named Mr. Musk going all over Washington, D.C., dismantling Social Security and the Veterans Administration. So those are some of the issues.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
And here is the reality, which is not talked about very much. The reality is that in America today, our life expectancy is about four years less than other wealthy countries. But even worse is the fact that if you're working class in America, on average, you live seven to eight years shorter life than people who are wealthy. Now, why is that?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
And the answer is not just healthcare, which is important. Working class people, low income people do not have access to the kind of healthcare that the rich do, but it is the stress the day-to-day stress that working class people live under. And I grew up in a working class home. I know a little bit about what it's like to have a family living paycheck to paycheck.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall
And what I did, that was in Altoona, Wisconsin. I said, okay, all right, tell me what it's like to live under economic stress. And people just stood up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
President Trump said, Mr. Greer, that he had no choice in terms of Canada. And I live 50 miles away from the Canadian border. He had no choice but to bypass Congress and to impose an emergency 25 percent tariff on Canada to stop, quote, the massive, end quote, amount of fentanyl and, quote, the millions and millions of undocumented immigrants coming from the northern border.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
unfortunately, that's a lie. The truth is that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported just 43 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the Canadian border last year, representing just two tenths of one percent of the total. Further, he said among he talked about millions and millions of undocumented immigrants coming from Canada.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
In fact, last year, there were 24000 people, not millions of millions. First question, really, we can argue about tariffs, but why does the president have to lie? all of the time in order to make his point.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Drugs are a real emergency. Two-tenths of one percent. You can then argue drugs, illegal drugs come from every country in the world. If you declare that as an emergency, you're giving the president of the United States unbelievable power.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
I'm not a trade expert and I'm not gonna question it at this point. I do have a question about at the end of the day, the other thing in management consulting we like to focus on is this concept of one throat to choke. In other words, when you're finally taking a look at a strategy, someone has to own it. And you can't say that it's the president or the vice president.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
So my first question to you, in this scenario, the decision maker who decided the alla prima approach, who has obviously had to have spent time anticipating what we saw in the markets and some of the pushback, I'm assuming this all got gamed out, because it's a novel approach, it needed to be thought out. Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
But are you at the tip of the spear?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Did you propose the a la prima approach?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Section 232 and 301. We know particularly section 232 is still in aluminum. Section 301 is Chinese imports where there's no other I overheard you say that maybe I thought I heard you say in response to another question that for the near term, there won't be any exclusions. Is that true of China, where they have said the U.S.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
is unilaterally bullying and completely groundless and they're going to fight to the end? Are the 232 and 301 tariffs exclusions on the shelves until we get to a reasonable agreement with China? I'm just trying to answer a question that I have several people in North Carolina asking.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
There will not be any exclusions on steel, aluminum, or any products that are only manufactured in China for the foreseeable future until... China determines what the end is, because they said they're going to fight to the end. Again, I'm just trying to communicate the questions that I've asked, so there will be no exclusions. I won't waste your time asking for them.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
That's the main reason I wanted to ask the question. So again, I'm just trying to get my head around the logic of an alla prima approach, and I'm waiting to see it be successful. But it just seems like we've decided to begin a trade war on all fronts. And that's okay if the person who thought this through has an answer for why you go after...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
partners that we have a very long story relationship with.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
There is a trade. We already have a free trade agreement. We have a trade surplus. So getting the least bad, why did they get whacked in the first place?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Ambassador Clear, answer the question on Australia. We have a trade surplus with Australia. We have a free trade agreement. Why? They are an incredibly important national security partner. Why were they whacked with a tariff?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
With your Greek letter formula, the fact that we have a trade surplus.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
I think that answer... Sir, you're a much smarter person than that answer. The idea that we are going to whack friend and foe alike... and particularly friends with this level is both, I think, insulting the Australians, undermines our national security, and frankly makes us not a good partner going forward.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
The lack of trust from friends and allies based upon this ridiculous policy that goes into full effect at midnight tonight, is extraordinary.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Sales tax is increasing prices for families. It's also causing huge losses in Americans' retirement savings. Ambassador Greer, would the administration reverse course if the president's tariffs led to 10% inflation?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
I understand your justification for the policy, even though there are some very contradictory justifications coming out of the administration. But my question is, what's the inflation rate? where you guys would reverse course. 10% inflation that I just asked you about, that is higher inflation than we saw at the peak of the COVID economic crisis.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
But you aren't gonna say here today that you would reverse course even if you created inflation as high as we had at the peak of the COVID economic crisis.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Let's just be really clear that the Trump administration is here today to say that even if inflation hits Americans' pocketbooks at 10% because of these tariffs, then the Trump administration is still going to go charging ahead.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
So, Ambassador, would the administration reverse course if the president's tariffs caused a 50 percent stock market crash, which would hurt Americans' retirement savings even more than they've been hurt in the last 10 days or so?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
So again, your answer is even if the stock market crashes 50%, which is how much the stock market crashed in the Great Recession, you're not going to say here today that you would reverse course even if you crash the stock market and harm retirement savings as drastically as happened during the Great Recession in 2017.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
My hypotheticals are based on the fact that a lot of Americans are looking at their 401ks today and wondering how much of a lifestyle change they are going to have to have or whether they're going to be able to retire when they plan to because of the recklessness and haphazard nature of the Trump administration's imposition of tariffs. Nothing was... thought out about this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
This has been a haphazard, incompetent effort, and it's showing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
What are you doing about the impact of international tourism and now these blanket tariffs having a negative impact?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
So what are you doing to impact the negative impact of tourism right now?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
I'm asking you, what are you doing in this administration to address now the impact that you're having with these blanket tariffs, not targeted tariffs, blanket tariffs on international tourism that is a big impact for our economy? What are you doing to address that?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Well, let me say I only have so much time and apparently you're not. So here's what I would like, because you haven't thought about this and the administration hasn't really thought about it because I haven't heard anybody talking about tourism. So why don't you come talk to me in my office and let's talk about and put a plan together because these blanket tariffs are having an impact.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
on tourism in my state and across the country. So instead of just defending it, why don't you just come sit down with some of us and try to address the concerns that we are seeing and feeling in our states that this administration has not taken into account.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Ambassador Greer, we lost 700,000 jobs each month in the last recession. If 700,000 Americans lose their jobs, will the Trump administration suspend these tariffs?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Mr. Greer, let me just stop you there. I'm not asking about projections. I'm asking if the numbers show that 700,000 people have lost their jobs because of these new tariffs that Trump has slapped on, will the administration reverse course and lift those tariffs?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Now, let me just ask this, because this is also true, and I so appreciate Senator Lankford asking this. Time matters. How long did it take to negotiate that agreement, the USMCA, that you were part of?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Two years. And now you're telling us you have nearly 50 countries coming to you, approaching you to enter in a negotiation, and you think that you can do that overnight? Yes. India, you're pretty superhuman here, if that's the case. So let's be realistic. That's all we're asking. Common sense.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
Questions for members. But you can see all my colleagues. We are thoughtful people with specific issues about our constituencies. I just met with raspberry growers. They're concerned. They want to know if they're going to get some seat on a council so they can have their issues heard. I'm for trade. I represent trade. I represent a trade economy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
I represent the success of what innovation and trade get you. But you're coming here this morning with this not only tanking of the market and 401s, now you're coming here telling me that tariff is the tool. And I'm telling you innovation is the tool. You're telling us in your testimony you want a tariff on semiconductors.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witness Crumbles Under Cross-Exam at Hearings
I'm saying that the last administration and this organization here passed the Chips and Science Act so we could reshore semiconductors here in the United States. So you're not going to win the innovation economy by tariffing semiconductors and reshoring that. I don't know what you think.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Market Manipulation Red Flags Surface on Trump Decision
Senator Schiff, tell us about it. So today, Trump removed many of the tariffs he had imposed against in this on again, off again, it must be Wednesday, tariffs are off again kind of policy. This has just wreaked havoc on the markets, of course, but there is another profound danger as well, and that is insider trading within the White House, within the administration.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Market Manipulation Red Flags Surface on Trump Decision
You may have seen early in the day, Trump tweet this. Now, this is a good time to buy. So the question is, between that tweet and Donald Trump's announcement that he was reducing the tariffs on most other nations apart from China, the question is, who knew what the president was going to do?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Market Manipulation Red Flags Surface on Trump Decision
And did people around the president trade stock knowing the incredible gyration the market was about to go through? Because look, this is a president who is trading in his own meme coin, even as he's president. His kids are trading in their own cryptocurrency. You've got people like Elon Musk who are doing their own conflicted self-dealing in the administration. In any administration this corrupt,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Market Manipulation Red Flags Surface on Trump Decision
It is more than necessary to ask, were people personally profiting from insider information while people's savings, their retirement accounts, were being torched? So we're writing to the White House to demand answers. Now, I am fully cognizant of the fact that the White House is probably the last place to be forthcoming about this or any other corruption in the administration.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Market Manipulation Red Flags Surface on Trump Decision
We in Congress need to do more than demand answers. We need to do the oversight necessary to get those answers. To date, Republicans have not been willing to do this. Not when it comes to insider trading potentiality, not when it comes to anything. But we have been very fortunate in the minority that so many whistleblowers have come forward with information about corruption in the administration.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Market Manipulation Red Flags Surface on Trump Decision
Just a few days ago, I held a hearing with people who had to quit the Justice Department, were fired at the Justice Department because they were observing corrupt activity that they would not participate in. we have tremendously benefited from courageous people coming forward. So we invite whistleblowers to step forward.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Market Manipulation Red Flags Surface on Trump Decision
But at the end of the day, we're gonna get to the bottom of this, whether people were profiting off the pain of the American people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Tammy Baldwin on Trump Cabinet Disaster Hearings
We've got administrators. We're cutting waste. We're cutting duplicative programs.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Tammy Baldwin on Trump Cabinet Disaster Hearings
We're spending less on administration of those programs.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Tammy Baldwin on Trump Cabinet Disaster Hearings
Many of the grants were terminated because they were grants that were not advanced.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Tammy Baldwin on Trump Cabinet Disaster Hearings
We spend 70% of the world's biomedical research out of NIH. 70%. And we're the sickest country in the world.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Tammy Baldwin on Trump Cabinet Disaster Hearings
And we are the sickest country in the world. So that money has not been well spent. We've had a 38% increase. and our agency, growth in our agency over the past four years.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
The corruption is why hedge funds get to buy up all the houses in your neighborhood and Congress doesn't do anything about it. See, this is why so many have lost faith in our system. Because the system really is rigged but Trump's not unrigging it, he's re-rigging it for himself.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
And then on top of the chaos, you have the corruption. It was just reported that dinner with the president at Mar-a-Lago is on sale for just $5 million. And really, the whole royal family is cashing in. Don Jr. is setting up a new business empire. Jared's investment firm got $2 billion from the Saudi royal family. Hunter Biden should have been more ambitious.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
In my Senate office, just over my desk, there's a portrait of Congressman Lewis. And I promise you, his spirit is with us in this place right now. Right now. The power is still with the people, Atlanta. Atlanta, are you ready to get in good trouble? Atlanta, Atlanta, are you ready to speak out? Atlanta, are you ready to organize? Atlanta, are you ready to march? Georgia will bow to no king.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
And Georgia will lead the way again. Thank you all. Thank you, Georgia. Thank you so much.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
They are busy attacking ordinary people. They don't understand what it's like to have to fight to cover the cost of child care. They don't understand what it's like to have to ration your prescription drugs. or what it's like to try to figure out how to afford groceries, even the price of a dozen eggs. In the words of that prophet who just spoke at the Super Bowl, they not like us.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
In fact, Mr. Musk had the unmitigated audacity to call Social Security a Ponzi scheme. I guess that's easy for a billionaire who's been living on the government dole to say. He doesn't understand the struggles of ordinary people, and that is the problem with this administration. They are incapable of understanding the experiences of ordinary people. They've gone out of their way to target seniors.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
And none of this is on the administration's agenda. They just do not care. They do not care. Trump's cabinet is worth like $60 billion. That's not even including Elon. They are literally the elites they pretend to hate. The president is not at his palace in Florida thinking about whether you can afford daycare for your daughter.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
This administration just announced that they are offering fewer services by phone, so folks have to wait up to a month for an in-person appointment. And that's what I call government efficiency.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
Quite honestly, I've been stunned by a turn of events that would appear that we might abandon Ukraine and collapse longstanding alliances from NATO to NORAD. And then we've got two close neighbors here in Alaska. We've got Russia over here. We've got Canada over here. How we came to a place where we're fighting now with Canada and we're making nice with Russia, it's beyond me.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
how to stop insurance companies from denying your claim or anything that matters to our daily lives. When is the last time you even heard Donald Trump talk about healthcare or childcare? He's talking about invading Greenland.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
And as long as we've got to send up fighter jets to chase off Russian bear bombers from our addies, I'm not going to trust Putin here, and I'm not going to be quiet about it. I'm going to stand up and say so. Thank you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
In our form of government, unless you are a coward, you don't sue the media because they report on things you don't like. You don't sue the Des Moines Register because they did a poll whose results you don't like.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
If we were, look, if we were a poor country, I would come before you and I'd say, I'm sorry that you got to work 50 hours a week. I'm sorry that you really have to do dangerous and dirty work. I am sorry that you can't afford to send your kid to college. I'm sorry that the elementary school your kid goes through is inadequate or that you can't afford childcare, but we're a poor country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
We just can't afford that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
We are not a poor country. There is no excuse in God's earth that people have to make a choice between food and the medicine they need to stay alive.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
BOOM! GOP Gets Stunned as Dems Finally Start Fighting
And see, this is why things don't work for ordinary people. It's not because of trans kids or woke college students. It's not because of our new arch enemy, Canada. The corruption is why you pay a fortune for prescriptions. The corruption is why your insurance claim keeps getting denied.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
So you put it together exactly right. What you've got is somebody who is able to move the markets, who clearly wants to make money off this, wants to admire friends who made money off this. And now the question is, ooh, who had information just a little bit ahead of the public announcement? Did they or did their friends and family get that information and trade on it?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
Because that one happens to be flatly illegal. Look, the facts are out there. It is time for an independent investigation.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
Right. So I just want to say here, it is still their job. They may not do their job and we may have to be realistic about that, but dammit, we ought to call them out because it is the job of the SEC. It is the job of the DOJ to investigate exactly this kind of activity, whether it happens on Main Street or in the Oval Office.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
However, having said that, this happens to be a place where it's not just the DOJ and SEC who have jurisdiction and power. It's the state attorneys general all across the country. And for that, a group of us, I have just sent out a letter to every state attorney general asking them to make an independent investigation.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
you know we got 50 different actors out there uh rubbing their hands together ready to go
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
So look, it's not that you can never have a good tariff policy and that tariffs can't be one tool in the economic toolbox. It's the way Donald Trump has done this. He has done a big tariff on virtually every country, on virtually every product that they sell to the United States. He's put it in place immediately across the board. You know, a kind of everything, everywhere, all at once.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
That creates economic chaos. And economic chaos is the exact opposite of getting investors to come into the United States and say, hmm, good place to build a factory or to rehab an old factory. Good time to be able to buy tools and put together a team to have manufacturing here in the United States. The price of the chaos that Donald Trump has created is to drive our economy over a cliff.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
Consumer sentiment has collapsed because people on the ground experience this. They know what it means. They're watching it. Prices are going up. They're looking left, looking right, seeing those pink slips start to come out. they know that what Donald Trump is doing is not gonna produce jobs for them. And it's not gonna produce the lower prices, remember, that he promised on day one.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
Sure, so understand this about treasuries, for example. These are treasury bonds, the government issues. Whenever there's a crisis anywhere in the world, terrible things happen, and investors, people who've got money that they can afford to invest in different places, you know what they do? They go to U.S. treasuries. It's called flight to safety.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
In other words, when there's economic danger in the world, a war has broken out. There have been massive earthquakes that will disrupt the economy. COVID. What happens? Investors go to the United States government treasuries because, damn, it just doesn't get any safer than that. except with Donald Trump as president.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
And what we watched happen on Wednesday is that investors around the world for the first time really started easing back out in the middle of chaos, saying, I'm not so sure I want my money. in the United States and held by the United States government. I'm not sure I want those treasuries. That is not just a flashing red light.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
That one now you can hear the sirens going off and you can feel things taking the really sharp dive down. That's part of the cost of the Trump chaos from the tariffs. And it really is a reminder he's driving this economy over a cliff.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
He made $4.5 billion today and he made $900 million.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
You know, multiple pieces. First of all, what happened to your $2 trillion buster? I don't even believe the $150 billion. I want to see the receipts on that before I'm going to believe Elon Musk because he does things like cancels a contract and claims it's the full contract price. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. You still have to pay for the things people have already done.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
But, you know, for me, the part that really gets me, it's the laughter. It's the yucking it up over the fact that they're trying to close the Department of Education. So what does that really mean? It means bigger classes for our kids in public schools.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
It means our kids with serious disabilities, the kids who need an aid with them for part of the day, they lose the aid so they don't get to be in public school anymore. It means ending the after school programs. It means cutting back at the department of the VA so that those promises we made to the people who put their lives on the line to defend us, we just don't honor those promises anymore.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
But hey, Doge saved some money on that by firing a bunch of veterans who work at the Veterans Affairs Department. and you just keep going on through it. Sure, cut back on the consumer financial protection barrier.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
You save a lot of money by getting rid of the financial cops, the people who found over the last dozen years, $21 billion, which they returned directly to the American people who got cheated. Yeah, cut those financial cops and claim that that is a savings. Well, it's sure not a savings for the people who get scammed.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
And that's the whole heart of this, because it's all about Elon Musk, Donald Trump, a handful of billionaires, which is mostly what that cabinet is, saying, how can we run this country to just make the grift work better for the billionaires? And who's going to pay for it? It's going to be our little kids. It's going to be seniors on Social Security. It's going to be our veterans.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
It's going to be our public school kids. It's going to be people who get scammed. That's what I hear when I watch that cabinet meeting. And it starts to make me sick, and then it just makes me furious.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
So we've actually gone further even right now. Remember, the authority that Trump is using has built right into it that all Congress has to do is pass a resolution and say, sorry, no emergency. We are not in an emergency with France or with Canada or with South Korea. We're not in an emergency.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
And it rolls back Trump's ability to do any of these tariffs, all the ones he's announced and all of his red light, green light with tariffs. All of the Democrats are lined up, ready to go. Ron Wyden and I introduced the resolution yesterday. It has to be voted on in the floor of the Senate. So we'll be doing that in a couple of weeks. We just need to get the Republicans to join us.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
We don't have to have all of them, but we need some of the Republicans to join us. And when we do that, Donald Trump will lose the ability to create the chaos, at least with the tariffs, and Congress will reassert its rightful role over its job in setting tariff policy, excuse me, as the Constitution of the United States anticipates.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Evidence of Trump’s Stock Manipulation
Thank you. I appreciate it. It's always good to have a chance to visit with you. Let's do it again soon.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Outmaneuvered by World Leaders Instantly
We give foreign aid. We do so because it furthers our national interest. That's why we give foreign aid. Now, obviously, there's a component to foreign aid that's humanitarian in scope, and that's important too. I promise you it's going to be a lot harder to recruit someone to anti-Americanism, anti-American terrorism. If the United States of America was the reason why they're even alive today.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Outmaneuvered by World Leaders Instantly
Anybody who tells you that we can slash foreign aid and that will bring us to balance is lying to you. Foreign aid is less than 1% of our budget. It's just not true.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Outmaneuvered by World Leaders Instantly
I have felt for a long time that USAID is our way to combat the Belt and Road Initiative, which is China's effort to really gain influence around the world, including Africa and South America and the Western Hemisphere. So we need an aid program to match the Chinese effort. but it needs to be done in a way that the policymakers of the United States have decided ought to be done.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Outmaneuvered by World Leaders Instantly
And so I'm eager to see an audit and see the sort of mismanagement that the Secretary of State has told us about today.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Uh Oh! Dems Torch the GOP in Their Own Turf
I want to ask about how we're going to do that. Will you agree this morning, since you want to cherish Medicaid, to oppose any cuts to the Medicaid program? And I want a yes or no because we all agree that we need to do more to fight fraud and such matters. But what I want to know, yes or no, is since you cherish Medicaid, will you agree to oppose cuts in the Medicaid program?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Uh Oh! Dems Torch the GOP in Their Own Turf
That's not the question, doctor. The question is, will you oppose cuts to this program you say you cherish? Time's short.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Uh Oh! Dems Torch the GOP in Their Own Turf
Let the record show that I asked a witness who said he cherishes this program, will you agree to oppose cuts? And he would not answer a yes or no question.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
But with his tariff policy, this has been very, very harmful. It creates a tremendous amount of uncertainty. And I think he's done a rather horrible job. I can't think of what he could have done to make the first 50 days worse.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
Look, we have to remember, step back for just one second. We have to remember that if Kamala Harris had won on November 5th, the stock market would be down 50%. Business climate would be a total disaster and this country would have been on a path to ruin.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
It would have been worse. They're going with it. Yeah, it would be where this is like upside down world. Right. I mean, it's just pretty, pretty crazy. You would have had some of the policies with certainly some changes from President Biden. Some of these programs that we put in place, by the way, bipartisan.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
You know, Democrats and Republicans working together on semiconductor manufacturing, the Chips and Science Act. I know Bernie Moreno wasn't here then, but he's from Ohio. His state is benefiting from a program that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris put in place, which was the Chips and Science Act. And this president, Donald Trump, said he wants to get rid of this. He wants to cancel this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
He wants to replace it with more tariffs. And how is his tariffs working out for the American people? It's raising costs. It's creating tremendous uncertainty. And he can't even get his tariff plan right. I mean, it's one thing to have a shitty tariff plan. It's another to not even be consistent with your crappy plan. And that's what we see going on here.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
And that's why I think the market is reacting to this. I think this is going to probably get worse before it gets better. The American people need to need to buckle up for a little bit of a wild ride. But let me, let me tell you this. We are a great country. We've got the best innovators in the world. We've got the best military. We got a strong workforce. We're going to get through this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
I'm hearing exactly that. I had a dozen veterans here in my office about a week and a half ago or so. These are folks that served our country in uniform. Many of them were combat veterans. Several of them were disabled. One was 100% disabled who had a government job after leaving the military because of his disability. Recently received a excellent or very good performance report.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
Three weeks later, he's fired via email from the richest guy in the world. Elon Musk fired him for poor performance. This guy was doing his job really well. I mean, at least they should be fair about it and just say, hey, I'm firing you because we don't want you anymore. They even have to lie about it and tell this guy he's a bad performer. That same story happened thousands of times.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
6,000 veterans who served this country honorably just kicked to the side of the road, their lives ruined. The next day, this guy was starting a minimum wage job in a kitchen. That's what Donald Trump and Elon Musk think about veterans.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
It's insane. I mean, and it's it's dangerous. How do we tell Putin and other dictators around the world that you can't invade your neighbor when we start threatening to send troops to take the Panama Canal or start talking about how we're going to take Greenland possibly by force or maybe, you know, this this crazy. crazy stuff about Canada. Canada is our best ally on the planet.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
You can't be talking about your friends in this way. So I think it's dangerous. It makes us weaker. He thinks it makes us look tough. He thinks he's a tough guy. As you point out, here's a guy that avoided being drafted during Vietnam because he has bone spurs when he was in his, what, 20s? And now he's in his 70s, and he's on the golf course a couple times a week. I mean, I don't get it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
I don't even think he gets it, to be honest. Here's a guy who says something one day. The next day, he's flipped 180 degrees, and then he's back. He's kind of like with the flip-flops. He's kind of like a house of pancakes here.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
Well, yeah, it's not that. That doesn't help. People don't understand that. It's hard to understand that even when you're here in the Senate for four years. What is all that stuff? What can we do? We can fight back, and we can fight back stronger.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
I get the criticism here, and we have to because they've taken a wrecking ball to the government, and now it's affecting the economy, so it's affecting people's lives. I think folks today, 50-something days into it, this are poorer. If they have a 401k, any kind of a retirement program, any kind of savings like that, they've got less money today than they did before.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
Senator Kelly, what's your response to that? I think it's probably the worst 50 days of any presidency I can think of in my life. It's been pretty much a shit show since day one, since his getting sworn in in the Capitol. I was there. I didn't expect prisoners, criminals to be released after beating up police officers. My parents were both cops. I take great offense.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
And then the cost of things are going up. This is the guy who said he was elected or running all about bringing down costs. He has done exactly the opposite of this. And these costs are going to continue to go up. And he lies to the American people about how tariffs work. All anybody has to do is look it up in the dictionary or in an encyclopedia to find out, you know, how do these things work?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
And they're paid in the United States by the person who imports it. Turned, that cost gets passed on to the consumer. Prices go up. It's pretty simple. So I think we keep, you know, fighting back. You know, Elon is doing a lot of damage to... the federal government to the economy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
Hey, and then I think it's fair to say I'm all about, you know, change in the government and reducing any kind of redundancy or if there's waste or there's fraud. We have to have a serious look at that. But this isn't the way you do it. You do this through a process of.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
you know, managing these agencies and looking for doing some analysis and then let the heads of the agencies, even the ones that I didn't vote for, let them take this on as a project. Let them do this and try to make smart decisions. This is just like random. And it's not helpful.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
Well, I'm not going to hear from people that are the diehard Donald Trump supporters very often. I do occasionally. And, you know, there are some folks that just whatever he does, they're going to be in favor of. But there are so many people. And I think there's more of these folks that are really concerned about.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
about breaking institutions about actions that this president is taking that is going to have a direct effect on them that are concerned about turning our backs on the ukrainians who are allies who we have supported their democracy against
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
a country that has been an adversary and who wants to undermine Western civilization, who would like to see us fail, who interferes in our elections, who attacks us with cyber warfare routinely.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
And by the way, just as an aside, why did the Department of Defense and we're still trying to verify exactly what happened, but decide to stop planning offensive operations against Russia, cyber operations when they attack us all the time? It happens every single day. So, you know, I think folks are you know, they're they're really concerned. And I get it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
And I'm going to be here in Washington, D.C., you know, fighting to get us back on track. It's going to take some time. We got an election in 2026. And then again, a presidential election in 2028. Elections matter. People need to show up and vote.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Sen. Mark Kelly on Trump’s ‘Worst 50 Days’
to what Donald Trump did at the beginning of the administration. And since then, it has been one bad thing after the next. The economy is now struggling, I would say, if you just look at the stock market. And I usually, Ben, I usually don't want to equate what a president does with how the markets react to this. It's generally not a good thing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
It concerns me that you're not familiar with the core concept of due process applying to all persons as written in black and white in the Constitution.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
It was due last week by law.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
And your answer is you just understand you're not going to follow the law.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
And you have no timeline?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Well, we also need a full budget request, not a single paragraph full of wild talking points that we saw with the skinny budget proposal. We're now having a budget hearing without a budget request. So, Director Patel, where is the FY2026 budget request for the FBI?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Have you reviewed it? Have you approved it?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Well, how do we as Congress do our budget and our work without that request and without the spend plan?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
That is insufficient and deeply disturbing. No response?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Placed on leave, FBI employees responsible for the investigation of January 6th. That sounds political to me.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
So if they were investigating January 6th, you believe they were violating an ethical obligation?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Well, you did place on leave an analyst responsible for investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. Is that politicization? Is that retribution?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
It is your job to investigate crimes.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Have you read the I assume you have read the Supreme Court decision in the case of Kilmar Brego Garcia? Yes, that. Court decision requires the administration to facilitate Kilmar Obrego Garcia's release from El Salvador. Can you describe the steps that you have taken to facilitate this release?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
And specifically, can you answer as to whether you have reached out to your counterpart in El Salvador to facilitate Mr. Obrego Garcia's release?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
You've read the Supreme Court decision. Does the Supreme Court decision not require you to facilitate the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
So are you going to launch an investigation of the reported violation of the due process of several hundred individuals?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Does the Supreme Court order require you to facilitate the return of Mr. Obrego Garcia?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
If we were back in this country, we would immediately. But the discussion ends when the Supreme Court rules. nine zero that you have to facilitate his release. And the fact that you can't even acknowledge the wording of the order, which commands you to facilitate his release. And you advertise to this committee that you are going to willfully ignore the
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
The ruling, that is incredibly chilling for the balance of powers in a democracy that relies on the executive branch to honor decisions made by the highest court of the land.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Do you believe that you have the right to detain or deport a legal permanent resident for expressing their political opinion?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Well, I acknowledge that you don't make – If someone is a legal permanent resident of the United States, I'm not talking about an H-1B or a student visa holder. I'm talking about a legal permanent resident. If you are a legal permanent resident, do you have the right to detain or deport that person simply for expressing their political opinion?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
You make that decision about who you have the right to detain or deport. So do you you are involved in that? Do you believe the United States? Do you believe the law allows?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
So a legal permanent resident is by definition here legally. Do you believe – I think this is really troubling if you can't answer this simple question. Do you believe – that the U.S. government can detain and deport a legal permanent resident for expressing a political opinion that the administration disagrees with.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
So you have no influence over whether an investigation is opened?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Do you believe that you can detain and deport a legal permanent resident for expressing a political opinion?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Okay, then say you don't have the ability to do that. Clarify that for the millions of people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
You do not believe you have the ability to do that?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
It's actually not a, it's a question also of law.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Are you or DHS doing anything to comply with the 9-0 Supreme Court order to facilitate his return to the United States? Just yes or no.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
I ask a simple question. We have a limited amount of time. I just asked you, Madam Secretary, whether or not You or the Department of Homeland Security are taking any action to facilitate the nine to nothing Supreme Court decision to facilitate his return. This is a very simple question. Are you taking any action to facilitate his return or are you not?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
So to make sure that we know you are. So because the court ordered that you facilitate his return. So you are facilitating his return.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
No, you're just spewing rhetoric.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
Let me ask you this. Do you agree with Justice Scalia in the Supreme Court opinion in Reno v. Flores that I'm quoting, it is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in deportation proceedings, end of quote.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
I'm going to reclaim my time, Madam Secretary.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
This is really, you know, I'm asking sort of simple questions of law and simple questions like, Are you complying with the nine to nothing Supreme Court decision? And you seem to think that's some kind of trick question.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
That's what the Constitution says.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Witnesses Unravel Under Cross Exam at Hearing
It does say no person. I'll encourage you to read it because it's also been affirmed by the Supreme Court repeatedly on the case of Miranda versus Arizona, held the right of all individuals, regardless of citizenship status, the Supreme Court in Reno versus Flores. I mean, but it's the plain language of the Constitution.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
AFT President Randi Weingarten on Trump Threats to Gut the Department of Education
To my friends who are upset, I would say with respect, you know, call somebody who cares. They better get used to this. It's USAID today. It's going to be Department of Education tomorrow.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
You know, my state seal is the only one that has a rebuke on it, thus be it always to tyrants because, and this has been on our flags since 1776, we have to fight against an authoritarian who wants to screw up the economy and
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
screw up relations around the world and and screw up agencies that do good work all to benefit himself and his friends and i have great confidence in the american people that we will stand up and that we will be celebrating not mourning come our 250th birthday in 2026. senator murphy your message to the 5 million subscribers we have here and the many more who listen here and abroad
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
Tim and I had different jobs at the beginning of the week on Monday and Tuesday. Tim was lining up these Republican votes against the tariffs. He did a fantastic job. I was on the floor for all 25 hours of Cory Booker's filibuster as kind of his wingman. He did it for me back when I held a filibuster on guns and And it was just a reminder to me that one person can make a difference.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
I mean, not everybody out there is the United States Senator. Not everybody has access to the Senate floor like Cory did, but he did something heroic that really moved the nation. And I think everybody can look at what he did and realize that you have the ability just through your own voice, in concert and chorus with other Americans to step up and stop this thievery. What Tim said is right.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
We beat the Affordable Care Act repeal in 2017. Wake up every day with a little bit of that anxiousness, right? With a little bit of that anger, but also with optimism about the fact that in this country, citizens are still in charge. So that's our message every single day.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
And the reason that these tariffs may not make any sense when you sort of look at the design is because maybe they're not actually economic or trade policy. Maybe it's actually political policy. So once again, just an absolute disaster for regular working people out there and maybe a big threat to our democracy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
Yeah, I'm wearing my Virginia State seal pin that says 6th Emperor Tyrannus on it. I'm wearing it for a reason. It is part of it. I'm looking at this president and, you know, we all know the fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin. We were a kid, the mysterious guy that would turn straw into gold. This president is Rumpelstiltskin. He's turning gold into straw.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
On Inauguration Day, he had the strongest economy in the world.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
low unemployment stock market strong manufacturing jobs growing infrastructure jobs going and in less than two months he's turned it through chaos and incompetence into one with flashing red lights and question marks all over it and i battled really hard this week and was able to get republicans to stand up against canadian tariffs and we're going to do the same with this
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
broader tariff that he's laid on the entire world. I agree with Chris. He likes doing it because he thinks he can do it unilaterally. But let's be clear what this is ultimately about. You know, he said the tariffs are to go after countries with trade barriers, but he put tariffs on companies that have zero trade barriers for U.S. products.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
He said it was because of trade deficits, but he put tariffs on countries where the U.S. has trade surpluses.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
um it's going to cause massive pain to consumers so why do it he's doing it so that he can have six trillion dollars that's what he's assessing over 10 years of tariff revenue that he can use to pay for a tax cut for himself and his friends chris has been really focused on all these cuts to medicaid and other programs that everyday americans care about so you take all those cuts
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
And then you take all this tariff revenue. Essentially, it's a national sales tax on American consumers. You put it in a bucket and then you use it to give tax breaks to the wealthy. That's the only thing that really explains any, quote, economic theory behind this. It's a pay for for a giveaway to the richest.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
Yeah, listen, it's extraordinary. I mean, these crowds that are showing up for kind of anything, right? Tens of thousands for Bernie Sanders. But, you know, you throw a protest against the Tesla dealership in my state and you're going to get a thousand people. You know, folks want to be plugged into action right now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
So I do think it's incumbent upon those of us who are leaders at the national level to be out across the country, holding town halls, holding rallies, giving people actions that they can take to try to stop this thievery and corruption. But I also think that we need to meet the moment by meeting Trump's volume level.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
There's a little bit of a theory that some have in the Democratic Party that we should sort of sit back and just wait for these guys to disintegrate and collapse. Well, they may collapse politically, but when they flood the zone, we need to flood the zone.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
What are you seeing? Yeah, I mean, listen, these guys are the keystone cops. You saw it last week with Signalgate. You're seeing it now with tariffs. These guys don't know how to run a country. They don't know how to run an economy. This is going to be an absolute disaster for consumers. Prices are going to go down. sky high, the jobs are not going to show up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
So what a lot of us are doing is just dramatically upping the content we put out there so that every time Trump says something, we can explain to you why it's happening and how it fits into this broader storyline that Tim was laying out, which is that They're trying to turn the government over to their billionaire friends, to their Mar-a-Lago friends.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
Everything is about empowering these oligarchs. And they're willing to destroy the democracy because what they're doing is super unpopular. So they have to try to crush dissent in order to get away with it. So I just think we have to be running a national political movement. We need to give people options for action. We need to be really loud.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
We need to triple the content that we're putting out there. That's the best way right now that we can meet the moment try to spur on the kind of national epic scale mobilization that we're going to need to save the country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
I'm hearing the same thing as Chris. We had our first recess week in March since we came in in January, and I did 26 events in seven days around Virginia. And I just heard a boatload of concerns and anxieties. And what I tell people is, look, there's a five-level strategy we have. It's courts, Congress, states, elections, and activism.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
And in each one of these, we have to have a coordinated set of plans. The one that I'm most responsible for, obviously, with Chris is in Congress, what can we do? And we We're in minority in both houses. So what I did is I asked my staff after the dust settled in November, OK, we're in the minority in both houses and Trump's got the White House.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
What are things in minority you can do where they can't block you, that you get a free pass to go right to the floor and get a vote? They can't bottle it up in committee. They can't. kill you. You go right to the floor. And I found about four mechanisms in Senate procedure where you can take the fight right to the floor. Even just one senator can take it right to the floor.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
So twice in the last month, I've used this. I challenged President Trump's bogus energy emergency that he declared, even though we're producing more energy than at any time in the history of the United States, he used that emergency to justify end runs to all these environmental laws for oil, gas, and coal. I took that to the floor. I got a vote. It unified all Dems.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
The Republicans all stood with Trump because they're too afraid to say, hey, there's no energy emergency. But when I did the same thing this week, I used the same unusual procedural tool to force a vote on the Canadian tariffs. I got four Republicans. This is the first break where any Republicans have been willing to stand up against Trump. And obviously, Chris and I are in minority.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
The fact of the matter is, yeah, there's a world in which tariffs can help restart American jobs, but you have to pair the tariffs with domestic industrial policy incentives for companies to locate here. They're not doing that. So the only people that are going to feel pain are consumers. But I've got a little different theory of the case on this. And then, obviously, I'd love to hear Tim on it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
So we got to look for ways that we'll get some Republicans to come our way. The outside game that puts pressure on them, the economic indicators that are showing that Trump's screwing up the economy, that increases the pressure for them to join us as we're challenging Trump.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
And so I'm trying to perfect these tools that will force them again and again and again to have to declare whether they're on their constituent side or whether they're on Trump's side.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
Well, the bottom line is that every year, the majority party gets the chance to pass something in the spending and tax arena with a majority vote. It's called reconciliation, but who cares what it's called? They get one chance to do that every year. And so this is what Republicans have been trying to do for the last couple of months is pass their spending and tax package. And it's pretty simple.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
It's a massive tax increase, about a trillion dollars for the richest 1%. And it's paid for by throwing a whole bunch of people, millions of people off their health insurance, about a trillion dollars of cuts to Medicaid. Medicaid is the program that insures 24 percent of American families. Nobody really knows it as Medicaid because it's called something different in every state.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
In Connecticut, it's Husky Care. In Wisconsin, it's Badger Care. But one quarter of families are on Medicaid. So that's the spending and tax package, massive transfer of wealth from middle class to families, to the wealthy. But the reason that it looks confusing is that like everything else, these guys are just bad at governing. So there's two steps.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
They have to pass sort of the framework and then they have to pass the final bill with all the details. They can't get the framework passed. The House passed one version, the Senate passed one version, but it didn't match. And so this week they're trying to pass a new version that matches. They're the keystone cops in the White House, but it's the same thing in Congress as well.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
So it looks even more convoluted and confusing because like when they couldn't figure out how to elect a speaker in the House of Representatives and they had to try six or seven times, they're doing the same thing in the House and the Senate. But the bottom line is that they are trying to do the same thing. They just can't get agreement on the details.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
What they're doing is massive tax cut for the wealthy. Their tax package gives about 850 times the benefit to the very wealthy as to the very poor and paid for by cuts that are going to affect regular Americans. They are trying to vote this week on another version of the framework.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
but we'll see if they ever get to the final version because what they're doing is super unpopular and people out in America are rising up in protest like they did in 2017 when they tried to pass a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, which covers 20 million people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
But this is also a political tool for Trump. You see what he's doing with these universities, with these law firms, penalizing them and making them come to him to pledge loyalty. I think it's likely the same thing could happen with the tariffs.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
They couldn't do it because it was so unpopular and our hope is that we can drag this out for as long as possible so that we can rise up public opposition like we did to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act so they actually never get this thing across the finish line. That's our goal.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
I'll just weigh in what Chris said because he really laid it out well. The debate this weekend is still about the framework and the instructions, not the actual budget. But once that's set, they'll bring the actual budget back and then we will have a battle royale.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
But it is important for everybody to know when the Republicans had the majority in Trump in the White House in 2017, they used their one shot. Chris says you can do this once a year. They used their one shot to get rid of Obamacare and make cuts to Medicaid. And we beat them. We got Republican votes, just like we got on our Canadian tariff thing earlier this week.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
So our goal is to shine a spotlight on how bad this will be and use the intense activism of people around the country leaning on their legislature so that when they come up with the actual budget bill in a few months, based on this instruction we're working on this weekend, our goal is we're going to beat them again like we beat them in 2017. And that's what this is all about.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
Yeah, that's right. Another one of these arcane Senate rules is that anytime you are trying to pass either the framework for this once a year majority vote budget or the final package, Democrats or Republicans, basically any senator has the unlimited right of amendment. So you can offer as many amendments as you want. Nobody can shut down the amendment process.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
that each big company or each big industry is gonna have to come to Trump, get some tariff relief in exchange for political loyalty, in exchange for a commitment to buy Trump crypto coin or a commitment to make sure their workers and employees don't speak up against Trump. I think he's trying to destroy democracy
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
And so tonight we will likely go well into the night offering lots and lots of amendments. And I'll give you an example. Republicans will likely defeat all of them, but it gives us an opportunity to show what this is all about.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
One of the things we'll likely do tonight that we did last time they tried to pass the framework is just put them on record as to how much they care about tax cuts for the super wealthy. So we might put an amendment on the floor that says, the framework can't allow for any tax cuts for people who make more than $500 million a year. And they'll vote that down.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
And then we'll put one up that says, well, you can't have any tax cuts for people that make more than a billion dollars a year. And then we'll try 5 billion, right? We'll just put them on the record to show how badly They care about tax cuts for the wealthy, but they can't even vote against massive tax cuts for people that are making a billion dollars or more a year.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
They probably will defeat these amendments, but it just puts them in a box and it further refines the message for us, which is that all they care about is the economy for billionaires. They do not care about, and we've seen this with the tariffs, with their tax package, with their custom Medicaid. They do not care about the economy for regular Americans.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Senators Murphy and Kaine Respond to Trump Crash
I tell you what motivates me every day. 2026 is 250 years of American democracy. And I am damn committed that we will celebrate it, not mourn it or not have a coronation. We're going to have a celebration, not a coronation or a requiem. And so this budget battle is part of a larger battle.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Has Meltdown as Trump Wrecks Budget
But the tax bill, will we get it before Memorial Day?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Has Meltdown as Trump Wrecks Budget
No, no, there's no way, because again, unfortunately, President Trump chose the one big, beautiful bill. What he should have done is the multiple step process. I suggested three steps. Get the border funding. Second step, just extend current tax law. So we take an automatic.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Has Meltdown as Trump Wrecks Budget
Will we get it before the end of the year? Quickly.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Has Meltdown as Trump Wrecks Budget
Not if we don't come down with a reasonable pre-pandemic level spending. There's enough of us in the Senate that will not agree to that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Has Meltdown as Trump Wrecks Budget
Oh boy, that's bad news. Senator, thank you for that. Appreciate it. Have a good weekend. Appreciate you coming on. You too.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Loses It After Trump Oval Office Meltdown
Yeah, the America Last crowd has always got something to say. But I think today was telling. I think people should pay attention to the people who are defending Zelensky versus the people who are defending America. So it's a kind of a defining day. I think a fault line that had existed for a while is now out in the open. And it's very, as you said, it's very educational. It's very instructive.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Loses It After Trump Oval Office Meltdown
But the truth of the matter is, we're Americans. That's our president. And no foreign leader comes into the Oval Office and disrespects us that way, especially when we're trying to help.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Loses It After Trump Oval Office Meltdown
And they were very clear today. I just think and I also have golfed with President Trump from time to time today for Zelensky. This was a gimme. This was a one foot putt that he just blew past the hole with his arrogance and his smugness. It totally backfired.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Loses It After Trump Oval Office Meltdown
The biggest losers here are the Ukrainian people because you have an American president, the only person on the planet, Laura, who can bring peace. And he couldn't bring himself just to say thank you today. to say thank you and just listen as opposed to popping off. And then he got escorted out of the Oval Office and out of the White House. So this thing's really in jeopardy now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Loses It After Trump Oval Office Meltdown
But I'm glad the American people have a president and a vice president who are willing to stand up for them.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
was just offended that the president of Ukraine stood up for his country. I don't know, but we are going to be living with the consequences of this for a very long time.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
I told President Trump, I said, there's two ways to look at this. Your interaction with Zelensky was maybe the best television I've ever seen, but it's deeper than that. The world is now watching how Trump behaves and acts when he's pressed. I thought he stood up for America, that we're a good people. We want to help you, but we're going to be respected.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
So I think Moscow is probably more afraid of Trump than ever. Hope the Chinese are, and I hope the Iranians are. As to Zelensky and Ukraine, to the Ukrainian people, America wants to help you. The way the meeting went today, you made it almost impossible to help you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
I can't imagine a better meeting from the point of view of Vladimir Putin. He has to be just overjoyed with this, watching the President of the United States betray Ukraine, watching the President of the United States call Ukraine the aggressor, make out Zelensky to be a dictator. Literally, they must be celebrating in the Kremlin. This has been such a dramatic transformation of American policy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
So I don't know what meeting my colleague was watching, but it could not have been the same meeting that the rest of America and the world were watching. This is a dream come true for the Kremlin, but for our allies, and I think you can see the reaction of our allies, world leaders in Europe and elsewhere, all coming to the defense of Ukraine.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
They witnessed the same meeting and they're all expressing support for Ukraine. And why? Because they witnessed the president of the United States betray Ukraine. So I don't think there's any question about what the mood is in Moscow. It's just jubilant. But everywhere else, it's a cataclysm.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
And frankly, if the President of the United States won't defend our values, won't defend democracy, won't stand by our allies, then we damn well need to do it in Congress. And I hope that what we heard from one of my colleagues is very much an outlier, because if it isn't, I don't know what happened to the party of Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan must be rolling over at his grave right now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
I was horrified and sickened by it. I think about what other generations of Americans have done going off to war in World War II, fighting for our freedom, fighting for democracy, fighting for our values. To see them so utterly betrayed in this meeting, it is just really incomprehensible to have the President of the United States and the Vice President of the United States
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
I went to the Munich Security Conference, which was only a week or 10 days ago, and it was a bipartisan delegation. We sat down and met with Zelensky. During those meetings, I expressed my strong support for Ukraine. I took issue with what Secretary Hegseth had then said about, well, Ukraine won't be a member of NATO and they're not going to be able to retain the territory that Russia has invaded.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
and said that, no, Ukraine and NATO should decide who's in NATO. Nobody gets a veto. The Kremlin certainly doesn't get a veto. And what's more, we shouldn't be undercutting Ukraine in terms of its territory, even before negotiation begins. And those remarks I made were not an outlier. I think they were very much consistent on a bipartisan basis with what other senators in the room also felt
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
Now, whether they'll speak out, some have spoken out before today, whether they'll speak out after today when they cannot avoid a direct confrontation with the president remains to be seen. But if not now, when, if not after such a fundamental betrayal,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
then indeed their support for Ukraine, for our international standing has simply vanished, disappeared along with Donald Trump's arrival on the scene.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
It is crazy stuff, and it's a continuation of what we heard from President Trump yesterday when he was talking about how we can rely on Putin, and Putin seems to be a man of his word. This is the guy who puts polonium in your tea and kills you. This is a guy who has murdered journalists and thrown, not personally, but had top Russian military and other leaders killed.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
who disagree with him or aren't sufficiently pro-Putin thrown out of windows or has their plane crashed. As we saw with Prigozhin, this is the guy that we're going to certainly trust him. And he's taking issue with Zelensky for his criticism of Putin. We used to have presidents of the United States until this one who would share that criticism of the Kremlin dictator.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
But look, this is Donald Trump. being petulant Donald Trump. This is Donald Trump caring about nothing of American values. It's just about his ego or trying to make a buck or aggrandize himself. If he truly believed in the peace negotiations, would he be willing to walk away from them with such a huff? You know, it's all about Donald Trump.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
siding with the Kremlin dictator, regurgitating his talking points, a country that brutally invaded its neighbor, that has massacred tens of thousands of people, that has kidnapped children, that is torturing POWs. That's the guy they're defending, and they're abusing the president of Ukraine, Zelensky, who was forced to defend himself, defend his country, and all in the service of what, exactly?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
And today, Donald Trump wasn't pleased with a leader who stood up for himself and stood up for his country and wasn't going to be a lickspittle. But you can see the reaction around the world. And it has not isolated Zelensky. It has isolated Donald Trump and sadly Zelensky. the United States of America along with him.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
Well, to the people of America, I want to just say this is not who we are. This is not who we are. We don't bully an ally. We don't take the side of a dictator. We don't ignore the long and important role that we have played in defending democracy. That is not who we are. We're just not what we saw displayed by the President of the United States today. And
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
I think we all have a role to play right now in the defense, not just of Ukraine, but of what the country stands for, of our values. I would say to our allies around the world, what they witnessed too might be Donald Trump, but it is not America. And we'll have to get through this period. We'll have to struggle through this period. We'll have to be more reliant.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
When I say we, the freedom loving people of the world are going to have to be more reliant on other leaders in the world because we cannot rely on this president. And it's a terrible way to feel about a president of the United States, but the shameful display we had today is so antithetical to everything that our country has stood for, and I hope it is never repeated.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Adam Schiff Responds to Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
The mineral rights, is that what this is about? That President Trump is upset he didn't get the mineral rights to Ukraine? Are we that transactional? Does nothing matter to us but some kind of protection racket? Or I don't know what, but whether this was a deliberate sabotage, an orchestrated sabotage, or whether a small, petty, weak President Donald Trump
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Republicans Blow Up on Live TV over Trump Crash
Do you believe the information on that group chain was classified?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Republicans Blow Up on Live TV over Trump Crash
Jeffrey, what do you make of those explanations?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Republicans Blow Up on Live TV over Trump Crash
I feel like in some ways in the economy, this is kind of like a kitchen remodel or a bathroom model. There's a bit of a mess at the beginning, but everybody has a long-term look of where we're headed. It's going to be noisy for a little while, but we all know where we're headed trying to reduce the prices for Americans and increase jobs.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Republicans Blow Up on Live TV over Trump Crash
We are less than three months into the administration at this point. So I think we've got a ways to go to be able to determine anything related to that. This is the first.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Republicans Blow Up on Live TV over Trump Crash
Part of America, the going against Denmark, who is a NATO member who rules Greenland currently, this whole approach that Trump has of treating our allies, when we turn Canada into a enemy, our allies are As you not allies and suddenly wanting to buddy up with Putin in Russia or with Xi and China. Think about it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Republicans Blow Up on Live TV over Trump Crash
America two weeks ago, three weeks ago, voted with Russia, North Korea, I think it was Belarus. against everyone else who is a democracy, because we wouldn't acknowledge that Putin started the war in Ukraine. This is a crazy foreign policy, and America is stronger when we have allies. America alone is weaker if we don't have that intelligence sharing, if we don't have these mutual defense pacts.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Yikes! Republicans Blow Up on Live TV over Trump Crash
Do you believe that directors Ratcliffe and Gabbard were truthful when they testified before your committee?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Fox News Implodes on Air as Guests Backfire
Well, absolutely. And Elon Musk will also admit that mistakes have been made along the way. They are very excited about the opportunity to come in and reshape the federal government, one that will be more efficient.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
Mr. Hegshead, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job. We must acknowledge the concerning public reports against you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
A variety of sources, including your own writings, implicate you with disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist and sexist remarks about men and women in uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other troubling issues. I reviewed many of these allegations and find them extremely alarming.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
Indeed, the totality of your own writings and alleged conduct would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
You say you've had personal issues in your past, yet when asked about those very issues, you blame an anonymous smear campaign, even when many of these claims are not anonymous. Which is it? Have you overcome personal issues or are you the target of a smear campaign? It can't be both.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
It's clear to me that you're not being honest with us or the American people because you know the truth would disqualify you from getting the job. And just as concerning as each of these specific disqualifying accusations are, what concerns me just as much is the idea of having a Secretary of Defense who is not transparent. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
You've written publicly that DEI policy is a distraction and have military personnel walking on edge shelves. Do you believe that emails like that that are essentially threatening both a serving officer and a spouse and claiming that they'll lose their pension will have a distraction and detract from the lethality?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
All of your public comments don't talk about meritocracy. They talk about liberal, democratic efforts that are destroying the military, that those people are our enemies. That's not meritocracy. That's a political...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
And your goal, as I see emerging, is to politicize the military in favor of your particular positions, which you've outlined extensively, which would be the worst blow to the professionalism of the United States military.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
The oversight task is enormous. And then let me say this, too. I know what was happening here. You know, you just have to read Pete Hegseth's typed in text about F-18s launching accompanied by MQ-9s. Weather good. You know, CENTCOM says go. This is Pete Hegseth playing soldier. Right. It's just the testosterone upwelling he gets when he gets to type MQ-9s en route is his life right now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Leaks Cripple Trump as Paranoia Spreads
You know, he's a guy who is, you know, not even closely qualified to the position he has. And so when he gets to get on a signal chat with his buddies and say, we're a ghost and calm says all in F-18s, it just makes him feel really, really good. Sadly, of course, it puts our people at risk.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
But to me, you know what? That isn't really the issue. The issue is that Stephen Miller brings that up on a Friday just to throw it out there. You heard the reaction of John Barrasso. This is not what they're talking about in Congress. Why is he doing that? So you ask me about it on a Sunday show.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
I'm telling you right now, he's doing it because they don't want to focus on what's really in front of them and that they have created havoc in our economy, economy that was improving. And now we have people out there scared to death that they're not going to be able to to get their Social Security because people aren't working there to answer their calls.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
They're not going to be able to get their Medicaid and be able to have their mom in assisted living. And, yeah, their small businesses are folding. That's what's happening right now, and they don't want to deal with it. So they keep throwing out these things just so we all talk about them for four days.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
And I am frankly tired of it because, no, they're not going to reverse habeas corpus in the Congress. That's not going to happen.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
Well, the president, I think, is very effective at using the bully pulpit. And he is using it, I think, to show strength and leadership of America. A week ago, you would have never foreseen the discussions going on in Switzerland this week between our trade representative, our secretary of treasury, and China. We wouldn't have foreseen the deal with Great Britain.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
We wouldn't have seen the call for the ceasefire and Putin agreeing to have peace talks. The president is very effective. using the bully pulpit.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
Well, I travel around Wyoming. People in Wyoming are very happy with the president and what he's doing to help our economy. Tariffs are just one tool as part of our comprehensive economic plan. We're trying to get that passed in the very near future in Congress, focused on both the safety and the prosperity of the American people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
We are focused on lowering prices, raising wages, and bringing jobs back to America. And that's our focus right now in Congress.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
Well, first, I don't necessarily credit that reporting. But second, Steve Witkoff is a very skilled and capable negotiator. He has the president's total trust, and he's 100% loyal to the president. He's doing what the president has asked to try to get Vladimir Putin to the table with Vladimir Zelensky to get to a ceasefire.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Lose It on Live TV over Trump Destroying GOP
So I have confidence that that's what he's doing on the Ukraine dispute, just like I have confidence in what he's doing right now in Oman negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
Supporting terrorist groups. And if you look at what UNRWA has done, it's been so counter to our national interest. It's unbelievable that we would fund it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
You have to look at what the Trump administration is doing right now. They are simply trying to dismantle the government. So yes, look, if we have to take steps to be able to hold them accountable, use the leverage that we have to force it, I cannot support efforts that will continue this lawlessness that we're seeing when it comes to this administration's actions.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
And for us to be able to support government funding in that way, only for them to turn it around to dismantle the government, that is not something that should be allowed.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
This is on them. This is about whether or not they can get the votes. They are the majority. And if they cannot govern, then that's for the American people to see. But I worked in government. I worked through multiple government shutdowns. I would be the last person to want to get to that stage.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
But we are at a point where we are basically on the cusp of a constitutional crisis, seeing this administration taking steps that are so clearly illegal. And until we see a change in that behavior, we should not allow and condone that, nor should we assist in that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
Appropriator, I've asked them to be very clear about, for example, their role funding Hamas in Gaza. They would not comply. They will not tell us what they do. Now that we start to find out some of the programs that AID has been funding, if you think about it, sex change operations in Guatemala, LGBTQ programs in Serbia.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
But you sit on... That is not true, Margaret. I couldn't get the Secretary of State. I asked him three times to tell me that we were not funding Hamas through AID. He couldn't do it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Leaders Nuke Congress on Live TV... Dems Strike Back
Certainly. The funds that have gone to UNRWA. You saw the UNRWA members who were also Hamas members going on an attack on...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
Well, to the people of America, I want to just say this is not who we are. This is not who we are. We don't bully an ally. We don't take the side of a dictator. We don't ignore the long and important issues. role that we have played in defending democracy, that is not who we are. We're just not what we saw displayed by the President of the United States today.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
And I think we all have a role to play right now in the defense, not just of Ukraine, but of what the country stands for, of our values. I would say to our allies around the world, what they witness to might be Donald Trump, but it is not America. And we'll have to get through this period. We'll have to struggle through this period. We'll have to be more reliant.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
When I say we, the freedom-loving people of the world are going to have to be more reliant on other leaders in the world because we cannot rely on this president. And it's a terrible way to feel about a president of the United States, but the shameful display we had today is so antithetical to everything that our country has stood for, and I hope it is never repeated.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
So it is absolutely shameful what is happening right now. The White House has become an arm of the Kremlin. Every single day, you hear from the National Security Advisor, from the President of the United States, from his entire national security team, Kremlin talking points. For the last week, the White House has been pretending as if Ukraine started this war.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
That's essentially saying that Poland invaded Germany at the beginning of World War II. There are still facts in this world. And the fact is this. Vladimir Putin is a brutal dictator. Russia started this war. And the entire pretext for that meeting yesterday was an attempt to rewrite history in order to sign a deal with Putin that hands Putin Ukraine. That is disastrous for U.S. national security.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
That means that China will be on the march. Putin may not stop. America may be at war with a nuclear power. And for what? For what? It appears as if America is trying to align itself with dictators, that Donald Trump wants us to have our closest relationships with despots all around the world, because that makes it easier for him
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
to transition America into a kleptocratic oligarchy where Elon Musk and Donald Trump rule and steal from the American people. If we were allied with democracies, that would be harder.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
But if the United States' closest partner is Russia, then it makes it a lot easier for Donald Trump, Elon, and their billionaire pals to steal from the American people, to steal our data, to steal our Medicare, to steal our Medicaid in order to enrich themselves.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
Nope, it was a mistake. It was a mistake. I think a lot of us thought that Marco Rubio was going to stand up to Donald Trump on an issue like this, that when Donald Trump decided to align America with dictatorships, again, in order to make it easier for him,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
to steal from the American people, to turn America into an illiberal democracy in which, just like Russia, the oligarchs, the economically powerful people in America rule and the rest of us just feed the powerful. I thought when Donald Trump
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Democratic Leaders Destroy Trump in Red Districts
decided to do that, when Donald Trump would come to him and say, help me move America closer to Russia and to Russian values, Marco Rubio would stand up to him. Marco Rubio has not, and that's been a great disappointment to many of his former colleagues in the Senate.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
Well, Ben, let me let me start off by saying I have zero sympathy. Zero. I mean, Mike Johnson, a speaker of the House, he can work to raise the salary of members of Congress. These things are totally unconnected. When you're in this job, you get enormous access to information. I sit on the Armed Services and the Intelligence Committee.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
There are people on the Ag Committee that know what's going on with crops and cattle and could use that information to trade futures. I do believe there is somebody that sits on the Senate Ag Committee. I'm not going to name names here, but does actually trade future contracts. for agricultural products. So with this access to information,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
I imagine there is a temptation by members of Congress to use this information to gain, to just build their wealth. And that is not right. That's not information that the general public has. I get the issue that Mike Johnson has with the salaries of members of Congress. He is the speaker of the fricking House of Representatives. And he could do something about that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
And I think there should be something done. Folks that have been here for a long time because of inflation, you know, their buying power has been reduced. I'm sympathetic to that argument. So Ossoff and I, Senator Ossoff and I reintroduced our legislation to basically compel the rest of Congress to do what the two of us do.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
And that's putting your assets into a blind trust where you don't have the ability to use any of the information you have to make money because of your job. We're supposed to be public servants here. And Senator Ossoff and I take this very seriously. You can also diversify. And, you know, so there's another option there, too.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
But we want this to be the rule for all 535 members of Congress in the Senate. As far as I know, it's just the two of us. that have taken these steps in the House. I'm not sure how many people. But this needs to happen. And there is bipartisan support for this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
And I think the second part is really the point, I think. It's the enriching the billionaires. It's making sure that they don't have to pay more taxes if we got if if Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts went away. And these are the guys that are supposed to be, you know, the fiscal conservatives.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
They're going to add trillions of dollars of debt, you know, to the well, to the deficit and to the ultimately to the national debt in order to give money. put more money in the pockets of rich people. The cruelty part comes in where they're trying to make it not look so bad. Instead of adding six trillion, it'll be only four trillion. So they can feel a little bit better about it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
But to do that, they're going to kick people off their health care. and kids aren't going to get meals. I mean, that's the cruel part, is hungry kids are going to continue to go hungry so rich people can pay less in taxes. And I'll say this, Ben, you know, I had some teachers in here today with some kids from schools in Arizona. And
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
These teachers pay a higher percentage of their income in federal taxes than many, many billionaires and millionaires. I mean, Warren Buffett is a guy who pointed this out all the time. The secretary paid a higher percentage of taxes than he did. And I think that is that that's true. And it's a problem. And we got to fix it. They're doing the opposite thing here.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
They're making this situation worse.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
No, and a lot of envy, I think, among these billionaires. I mean, we have a whole different class of billionaires now. It used to be if you were worth a billion or two or three, you were incredibly wealthy. Now we have folks that are worth 50, 60, 100, $150 billion and more. I mean, Elon Musk is somewhere north of that. I don't keep track of how rich the guy is.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
Or Zuckerberg or others are just so incredibly wealthy that I think there's a lot of envy from the poorer billionaires. The reality of the situation is that the wealth has moved from, you know, predominantly the people around the middle income in our country used to own an enormous amount of wealth collectively.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
And a lot of that wealth has been transferred to the people in the top point one percent. It's not sustainable. It means the buying power of people in the middle has gone down dramatically. These are folks that are having to deal with rising costs. Billionaires don't have to deal with the price of groceries going up or housing. It doesn't matter to them. This trend is unsustainable.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
Billionaires can pay more in taxes. They can do it right now. And then we don't have to kick kids off of their health care. And we can continue to give them, you know, free lunch in school when they can't afford to bring lunch money. So that's what we're talking about here. It's taking money away.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
I mean, physically taking money from the people that can least afford it and putting it in the pockets of the wealthiest Americans. And that's just not right.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
You're right, Ben. The big problem is China is going to step into this vacuum, a place where we were the most ethical. We were the leaders of the free world. We helped other countries when they were in need. It didn't cost us a tremendous amount of money. We fed starving kids on the other side of the planet just because they were starving.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
And and the programs that we I was in South Africa last year and President Bush's PEPFAR program has saved more lives than probably any federal government program the United States government has ever supported was George Bush's program. And it provided medication and it kept babies from being born HIV positive. That program's ended because of Elon Musk and Donald Trump right now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
And kids are starving around the world because they don't think we should support these programs. And that gives a wide opening for the Chinese. On the question of the airplane, yeah, I mean, I saw the Ramaphosa press conference in the Oval Office, and I thought it – I mean, it's wrong to put this guy on the spot in the way.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
And I don't know if the president put him on the spot or he just brought it up. But yeah, he can't bribe the president with a $400 million airplane. Only Qatar or the UAE or Saudi Arabia or maybe some other countries can do that. You got to call it what it is. It is a gift to a president outside of our laws. We have ethics laws that do not allow this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
And these countries are going to expect something from it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Mark Kelly on Introducing Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading
All right. Thank you. Thank you, Ben.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
He said he felt very sad about being in a prison because he had not committed any crimes. When I asked him what was the one thing he would ask for in addition to his freedom, he said he wanted to talk to his wife, Jennifer. I told him I would work very hard to make that happen. I told him that in addition to his family, that all of you who are here today were fighting to bring him home.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
They didn't know for sure where they were going. They landed in El Salvador and he was taken to Seacott Prison. He was placed in a cell with, if I recall correctly, and don't hold me to it, of about 25 other prisoners at Seacott. He said he was not afraid of the other prisoners in his immediate cell.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
but that he was traumatized by being at Seacott and fearful of many of the prisoners in other cell blocks who called out to him and taunted him in various ways.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
He told me that he was taken to Baltimore first. I assume that was the Baltimore detention center. He asked to make a phone call from there to let people know what had happened to him. But he was denied that opportunity. He said he was later taken with some others from Baltimore to a detention center in Texas.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
And some point thereafter, I don't know whether it was a period of hours or days, he was handcuffed, shackled, and put on a plane along with some others where they couldn't see out of the windows. There was no way to see where they were going in the plane.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
When I told him that his wife and family sent their love, and were fighting for Kilmar to return home every day. He said that he was worried about all of you. That was his response. How are you dealing with this horrible ordeal and nightmare for the family? He said that thinking of you, members of his family, is what gave him the strength to persevere, to keep going day to day.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
even under these awful circumstances. He spoke several times about your five-year-old son who has autism. Five-year-old son who was in the car in Maryland when Kilmar was pulled over by US government agents and handcuffed.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
My principal mission was to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. I told his wife, Jennifer, and his family that I would do everything in my power to make that happen. And last night at about 6.40 p.m. El Salvador time, 8.45 p.m. here on the East Coast, I called Jennifer to tell her that I had met with Kilmar.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
And I told her what he said to me, which was first and foremost, that he missed her and his family. And as he said that, you could see it here. Go down his sheet.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
And... It's also important that people understand this case is not just about one man. It's about protecting the constitutional rights of everybody who resides in the United States of America. If you deny the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights and due process for everyone else in America.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
An administrative error that has resulted in him being abducted? off the streets of Maryland and put into prison in El Salvador that has deprived him of his personal freedom and liberty. But rather than fix this grievous error that they agreed had been made in court, what did the Trump administration do? They upbraided and fired, fired the lawyer who told the truth to the court.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
That's what they did. They didn't fix the error, they fired the lawyer who told the truth.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
This is a quote from her opinion. Defendants, and in this case, this is the Trump administration she's referring to, have offered no evidence, have offered no evidence linking Abrego Garcia to MS-13 or any terrorist activity. And vague allegations of gang association alone do not supersede the express protections offered under the INA, unquote.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
She emphasized this point, and I'm quoting, no evidence before the court connects Abrego Garcia to MS-13 or any other criminal organization, unquote. In other words, put up in court or shut up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
They haven't told him anything about why he was sent.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
They didn't tell him anything about that. In fact, I asked the vice president exactly that question. Why is he here? Is he violating any laws in El Salvador? Do you have any proof that he's committed a crime? No. Why is he here? Because the Trump administration is paying us.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
The setting he was in. I should also just say, you know, I mentioned the fake Margarita scandal. They actually wanted to have the meeting by the side of the pool in the hotel. Just, right. I mean, this is a guy who's been in Secot. This is a guy who's been detained. They want to create this appearance that life was just lovely for Kilmar, which of course is a big fat lie.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
About what I would call Margaritagate. I don't know if you guys have been following this, but President Bukele after I met with Kilmar, did this tweet, showing us at a table with these two glasses. So here's what happened. When I first sat down with Kilmar, we just had glasses of water on the table. I think maybe some coffee.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
And as we were talking, one of the government people came over and deposited two other glasses on the table with ice. And I don't know if it was salt or sugar around the top, but they look like margaritas. And if you look at the one they put in front of Kilmar, it actually had a little less liquid than the one in front of me to try to make it look, I assume, like he drank out of it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
Let me just be very clear. Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us. And if you want to play a little Sherlock Holmes, I'll tell you how you can know that. So if you look at the video or the picture I sent out from the beginning of our meeting, you'll see there are no glasses on the table. So you'll see in later videos, there are on the table.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
But they made a little mistake, for some people are very careful, right? If you sip out of one of those glasses, some of whatever it was, salt or sugar, would disappear. You would see a gap. There's no gap. Nobody drank any margaritas or sugar water or whatever it is. But this is a lesson into the lengths that President Bukele will do to deceive people about what's going on.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
And it also shows the lengths that the Trump administration and the president will go to, because when he was asked about a reporter about this, he just went along for the ride. So the White House and the president have been lying about this case from the beginning. They've been trying to change the subject from the beginning. As I said, and the courts have said,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
from the Supreme Court to the Fourth Circuit to the District Court. What this is about is adhering to the Constitution, to the right of due process. And that's why we say bring Kilmar home so he can be afforded his rights under the Constitution. That's what this is about.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
Well, my response is that my heart goes out to the family of Rachel Warren. As I said at the time, my heart breaks for what happened to them. That should not happen to any family in America. And I am very glad that a court of law convicted her killer. and is going to punish her killer in a court of law.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
The reason we have courts of law are to punish the guilty, but also to make sure that those who have not committed crimes are not found guilty and arbitrarily detained. In other words, everybody has due process. So the effort by the Trump administration to try to conflate these two issues goes to the heart of what I was just talking about, their effort to change the subject.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Senator Holds Stunning Press Brief on Abrego Garcia Meeting
But again, to the Morin family, we have three children. I cannot imagine losing a child in the heartbreak that caused, and it should not happen. And my heart breaks for everybody in Maryland or America who has lost a loved one to violence, regardless of the perpetrator.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Wow! Trump Gets Humiliated as GOP Votes Against Budget
I think it's a great point that you make, Secretary, because work is empowering.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Wow! Trump Gets Humiliated as GOP Votes Against Budget
Senator, what do you need to see in this bill to be on board?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Wow! Trump Gets Humiliated as GOP Votes Against Budget
The problem is, is it's asking conservatives like myself to raise the debt ceiling $5 trillion. That's historic. No one's ever raised the debt ceiling that much. It will be a record for Congress to raise the debt $5 trillion, but also it indicates that this year, the deficit will be over two trillion, but it means they're anticipating close to three trillion for the next year.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Wow! Trump Gets Humiliated as GOP Votes Against Budget
It's really a slap in the face that those of us who are excited about Elon Musk and Doge and all the cuts, where are the cuts? If the cuts are real, why are we gonna borrow five trillion? So what I proposed was this, I put forward a proposal and we voted on it to raise the debt ceiling for three months. Why?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Wow! Trump Gets Humiliated as GOP Votes Against Budget
Because I think we should vote on the debt ceiling every three or four months to see if they're doing their job. If they promise us cuts in spending, not just the administration, I'm talking about congressional leaders as well. If the promises are real, I'll vote to raise it every three months.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Wow! Trump Gets Humiliated as GOP Votes Against Budget
There should be new qualifications to receive the welfare benefits. You write, able-bodied adults receiving benefits must work, participate in job training or volunteer in their communities at least 20 hours a week. So tell us about that. Is that a way to significantly cut back? How can the administration enforce those policies to reshape the welfare system?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 5/16/25
One thing that might be helpful is you've previously said you've vaccinated your children. Just because I think this is a helpful answer and this isn't a gotcha, I promise. If you had a child today, would you vaccinate that child for measles?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 5/16/25
Right. No, I got that. And I'm not asking you to give them advice.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 5/16/25
But that's kind of your jurisdiction because CDC does give advice. Right. I'm not trying to do it as a gotcha.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/14/25
Play the clip. And Trump's tariffs making America great again. It's a great strategy. If somebody's finally doing something out of the White House, President Trump, that is, that says you have to take an action in another country.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/14/25
We all love a good stock market, but the reality is that stock market imbalance didn't necessarily benefit the smaller mid-sized companies and average shareholders across the country. It didn't necessarily benefit Main Street that much. So I think we are going to see a correction there. But the reality is the stock market is not the economy. The economy is not the stock market.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/14/25
It's not uncommon for uncertainty to cause disruptions in that as they digest a new environmental, a new economic landscape that the president.