1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: Good morning Dragon and YouTube Michael. 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 2: I guess yeah, whatever. 3 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: It's so great hearing you guys on K zero A 4 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: A fifty. It was a good show yesterday, although I 5 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: do miss hearing you on K H zero W looking 6 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: forward to this morning show that Scott the RN goober 7 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: O six one two. 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 3: And I approved this message. 9 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 4: You know, I really I just despise them. I just 10 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 4: utterly despise them. You see, it's h k as in 11 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 4: the letter K, and it's oh is in the letter O, 12 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 4: and A is in the letter A apple, you know, 13 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 4: so it's uh keilo oscar alpha. 14 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 3: Got it. There you go, So that's what it is. 15 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 4: The zero is in the text line like three three 16 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 4: one zero three. If you didn't have missus Spinner for 17 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 4: your you know, your English teacher, then you wouldn't understand 18 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 4: the difference. Yes, open, make sure you get it right. Yeah, 19 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 4: clean out your earballs and get it right. You know, 20 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 4: probably not today but maybe tomorrow. I was listening to 21 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 4: how Roach does the intro and thank your Roach for 22 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 4: doing the intro and AJ for putting it all together. 23 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 4: But maybe I should sometimes explain to you who those 24 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 4: voices are that you hear that. Yeah, they are saying 25 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 4: my name, because those are particular people that have either 26 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,680 Speaker 4: interviewed me or talked about me that I use in 27 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 4: that intro. And I'd be curious if you can guess 28 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 4: who they all are. So if you want to text 29 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 4: me who you think they are, uh, we'll look at that, 30 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 4: and then tomorrow maybe I'll explain to you who you 31 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 4: are who they are, and then I'll I'll let you 32 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 4: in on a little because yesterday I had a had 33 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 4: a nasty text message. Well, I can't stand listening to 34 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 4: your voice, and it's the way you talk and topics 35 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 4: you do. 36 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 3: It kind of reminds me of Rush Limbaugh, and I thought, oh, okay, 37 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 3: all right, we'll take that. Takes that. Yeah, thank you, 38 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 3: thank you. 39 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 5: Speaking of some text message here Michael and Dragon, I 40 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 5: am moving and have an L shaped desk. Does Michael 41 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 5: want that for the studio? No, I want this moved 42 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 5: over there. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Which and then 43 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 5: this one, Michael, how is your birth? 44 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 3: Oh? Wait? 45 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 2: No, I did do do Michael? 46 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 5: If you stop complaining, I'm going to move over to 47 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 5: I Heart Christmas. 48 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 4: If I stopped complaining, they'll probably send somebody in to 49 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 4: have a like a welfare check a mental health check 50 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 4: to make sure that I'm okay if I actually stopped complaining. 51 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 4: So we'll, I mean, we'll keep looking well, you know 52 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 4: there will be things that we will complain about. 53 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 2: And one more here, Michael. This goes to the previous show. 54 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 5: For those who didn't know, Michael's birthday was this past 55 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,239 Speaker 5: weekend and he was having a real hard time trying 56 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 5: to go to a very fancy restaurant and didn't want 57 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 5: his friends who were going with him to pay, so 58 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 5: he was going to try and slip his card to 59 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 5: the may trotee so that they wouldn't have to pay. 60 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 5: So this tech message is in reference to that. Michael, 61 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 5: how was your birthday dinner? Were you successful at paying 62 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 5: for part of the dinner? 63 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 4: I was successful in paying for the entirety of the 64 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 4: dinner because as everyone was getting seated, I spotted whom 65 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 4: I thought was going to be our server and asked, 66 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 4: are you serving this table over here? And she said, 67 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 4: and her name was dev and she said yes, I 68 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 4: am sir. So I entered my credit card and I said, 69 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 4: now I want you to put the entire tab on 70 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:35,119 Speaker 4: this card, and you're going to get blowback from those 71 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 4: other three people because it's my birthday. And she goes, oh, 72 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 4: I know, they already told me it was your birthday. 73 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 4: I said, we'll see, so I'm just telling you this 74 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 4: is the deal. And then what happened is one of 75 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 4: the managers came by since they knew it was a 76 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 4: birthday party and wanted to make sure everything was okay. 77 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 4: But he had he laid the bill down on the 78 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 4: table and I said, no, no. 79 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 2: No, no, no no no. 80 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 4: Dev already has my credit card. This is unacceptable. Of course, 81 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 4: then Tamera and Carolol you know their Ultimately I won, 82 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 4: as I always do, as I always do. So back 83 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 4: to this, this consideration of the shutdown and what nobody 84 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 4: really wants to talk about, and that's the human dimension 85 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 4: that got revealed during the shutdown. And of course the 86 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 4: cabal wants you to have all this simply for everybody. 87 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 4: Yet when they tell you the stories, the stories don't 88 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 4: really do that. The story's actually kind of elicit the 89 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 4: opposite reaction, which shows just some sometimes how stupid the 90 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 4: cabal is. They'll give you an example. One internal revenue 91 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 4: service attorney earns a six figure salary, spent the furlough 92 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 4: investing twelve thousand dollars in a hot dog stand that 93 00:04:55,600 --> 00:05:00,839 Speaker 4: he dubbed Shysters. He sold about six the hot dogs 94 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 4: a day, grossing I'm guessing six hundred dollars, and he 95 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 4: admitted that he had not turned a profit. Now, I 96 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 4: don't think that's the behavior of somebody that's on the 97 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 4: brink of financial collapse. I think that's somebody that was 98 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 4: trying to make a point or just wanted to have fun. 99 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 4: You know, when I was in New York with my 100 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 4: granddaughter a couple of weeks ago, first thing she did, 101 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 4: ten thirty at night. We land, We get into Midtown 102 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 4: and get checked in the hotel. She wants to go 103 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 4: walk around. First thing she does she sees a hot 104 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 4: dog stand. She's never been to New York before. I would, well, grandpoo, 105 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 4: can we get it? Can we get hot dogs? Tam right, 106 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 4: we can get hot dogs? Of course, maybe that's who 107 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 4: I bought it from. 108 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:43,840 Speaker 3: I don't know. 109 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 4: Another story, there's an IT specialist that spent her furloughed 110 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 4: time self publishing cat fantasy novels. She netted less than 111 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 4: a hundred bucks. Now that's your creative pursuit. But you 112 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 4: know what it suggests to me? That federal employment insulates 113 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 4: people from market realities because in a robust economy where 114 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 4: skilled coders analysts are actually in very high demand right now, 115 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 4: you might expect rapid re entry into the private work sector. 116 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,239 Speaker 4: Into the private sector, yeah, a lot of those furloughed 117 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 4: employees choose not to pursue those opportunities, either because they 118 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 4: already had ample savings or because their government specific expertise 119 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 4: was not easily transferable. Now, both of those possibilities, I 120 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 4: think point to structural and efficiency. Either compensation so generous 121 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:47,159 Speaker 4: that it do it dolls the initiative of the individual, 122 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 4: or it's a skill that is so specialized and so 123 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 4: narrow that it lacks relevance outside the bureaucracy. And those 124 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 4: anecdotes that pattern aligned with broader data. The Government Accountability Office, 125 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 4: they they have for decades now, but Congress isn't pay 126 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 4: any attention to it. They have long identified overlapping programs, 127 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 4: redundant offices, misaligned missions, overlapping missions going all the way 128 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 4: back fourteen years, probably longer. Those recommendations, when they are followed, 129 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 4: has saved or recovered more than seven hundred billion dollars, 130 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 4: but there are still billions more there's still at least 131 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 4: another seven hundred billion dollars. You know, let's think I'm 132 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 4: not very good at math. You'll soon learn that seven 133 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 4: hundred billion. If you could replicate that for the say, 134 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 4: the next ten years, No, seven hundred that's one point 135 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 4: for trillion dollars. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, 136 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 4: that's a website that you ought to follow and you 137 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 4: ought to get to know. They estimate that reducing the 138 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 4: million workforce by just ten percent could save three hundred 139 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 4: and fifty billion dollars a decade, even when you account 140 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 4: for exceptions in revenue collecting or enforcement roles. So if 141 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 4: the workforce was trammed by a quarter, nearly a trillion 142 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 4: dollars could be saved. Now that's not an abstract figure. 143 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 4: That's a real life figure from the Government Accountability Office. 144 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 4: It re represents hospitals, unbuilt, schools, unfunded, national debt, unpaid 145 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 4: because resources are absorbed by the bureaucracy and they're not 146 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 4: directed toward outcomes. For those of you who listened to 147 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 4: me for years, I've tried to give a very simplified explanation. 148 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 4: You pay a dollar in federal income tax. That dollar 149 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 4: by the time it gets to its ultimate end result. 150 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 3: Let's say it's a dollar. 151 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 4: It's going to the Department of Education, one of my 152 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 4: favorite organizations that absolutely does nothing to improve education in 153 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 4: this country. 154 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 3: So you pay a dollar. 155 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 4: That dollar has to get collected, so you have to 156 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 4: pay the bureaucrats at the IRS to collect your dollar. 157 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 4: Once that dollar gets collected, that dollar goes into the 158 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:12,199 Speaker 4: US Treasury. Treasury bureaucrats have to account for that. Then 159 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 4: Congress and all of their staffers on the appropriations committees, 160 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 4: all of them have to appropriate appropriate that one dollar. 161 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 4: So that one dollar, by the time it gets appropriated, 162 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 4: which means it only gets authorized to be spent by 163 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 4: the Department of Education, has probably been reduced by i cents, 164 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 4: so now it's ninety five cents. Now that appropriated dollar 165 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 4: gets into the Office of Management and Budget in the 166 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 4: Office of in the Executive Office of the President. Once 167 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 4: it goes there, then they send it to the Department 168 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 4: of Education, so they eat up some of that dollar. 169 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 4: Then it gets to the bureaucracy of the Department of Education, 170 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:58,199 Speaker 4: the black hole of education, and that dollar probably gets 171 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 4: eaten up by I don't know, twenty five cents. Because 172 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 4: it's a huge bureaucracy. You have their salaries, you have 173 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 4: their overhead, you have their benefits, you have all of 174 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 4: the per diem, you have everything that costs to employ 175 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:13,079 Speaker 4: that bureaucrat in the Department of Education. 176 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 3: But you know what that bureaucrat does. That bureaucrat does 177 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:18,239 Speaker 3: not send. 178 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 4: That seventy five cents it's remaining of your dollar to 179 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 4: say the Douglas County school Board. No, it goes to 180 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,719 Speaker 4: the Colorado Department of Education, where bureaucrats. Again, because a 181 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 4: salary overhead costs eight up part of that seventy five cents, 182 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 4: that gets sent to the state of Colorado. So now 183 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 4: it gets reduced by and let's just be conservative, it 184 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 4: gets reduced by fifteen cents. So now you got sixty cents, 185 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 4: so barely not even two thirds of your dollar that 186 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 4: you paid an income taxes. By the time it gets 187 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 4: to the Colorado Department of Education has been reduced to 188 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,679 Speaker 4: sixty cents. And then it gets sent to a local 189 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 4: school board and the local school board has to administer it. 190 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 4: So by the time it gives to oh, I don't know, 191 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 4: material in the classroom salary for a teacher, whatever it 192 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 4: might be, it's now being reduced to say, fifty cents. 193 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 4: That's how inefficient the federal government is. Now, if you're 194 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:19,599 Speaker 4: a critic of reform, your argument is going to be 195 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 4: that federal workers are underpaid compared to the private sector counterparts. 196 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,679 Speaker 3: Guess what the evidence says otherwise. 197 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 4: When you go to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the 198 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 4: average average here, so I'm acknowledge it's an average. The 199 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 4: average federal civilian worker earned about one hundred and fifty 200 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,959 Speaker 4: seven thousand dollars in combined wages and benefits for the 201 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 4: year twenty twenty three, the last year I could find numbers. 202 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 3: Now, how's that compared to your salary? 203 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 4: One hundred and fifty seven thousand combined wages and benefits. 204 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 4: And by the way, I can tell you, as the 205 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 4: former undersecretary, I can tell you that those benefits they're 206 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,719 Speaker 4: pretty damn good. So while the private sector average was 207 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 4: around what one hundred and fifty seven thousand for the 208 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 4: average federal civilian worker, while the private sector average is 209 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 4: ninety four thousand dollars, So we're paying a sixty seven 210 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 4: percent premium to hire a federal bureaucrat. And what drives 211 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 4: that difference? What drives that delta well, largely by benefits 212 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 4: defined pensions, paid leave, health coverage that is far more 213 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 4: generous than what you're getting. I promise you that the 214 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,080 Speaker 4: Congressional Budget Office, the CBOs that's referred to controlling for 215 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 4: education and job type still finds the federal benefits outstripped 216 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 4: private equivalents by nearly fifty percent on average. So whether 217 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 4: you take the sixty seven percent premium or the fifty 218 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,959 Speaker 4: percent premium, either way, we're still overpaying for federal bureaucrats. 219 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 4: And these advantages come with near total job security. You've 220 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 4: probably for new listeners on this program. When I first 221 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 4: went to d C back with the inauguration of George W. 222 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 4: Bush Bush forty three, my first job as General counsel 223 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 4: and what was then FEMA was at personnel issues, and 224 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 4: they came to me with some people that we needed 225 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 4: to fire. During my almost six years in DC, it 226 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 4: took me for one bureaucrat. It took me almost three 227 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 4: years to fire one bureaucrat. Thought he was doing. He 228 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 4: was clocking in every morning at eight am. He was 229 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 4: always on time, and then he would spend the entire 230 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 4: day until noon watching porn on a government computer. He'd 231 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 4: take a lunch break for an hour. He was very prompt. 232 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:50,959 Speaker 4: The he't come back at one o'clock. In between one 233 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 4: and five o'clock, he'd watch porn. And they came to 234 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:59,680 Speaker 4: me with rings of those old green print out IBM 235 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 4: sh showing all of the all of the IP addresses 236 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 4: that he had been visiting for the past like several years. 237 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 4: I mean, we're talking reams and reams of paper. Took 238 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 4: me forever to fire this guy for not doing anything. 239 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 4: Why well, when he's a member of one or two 240 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 4: unions too, I got to go through all the OPM 241 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 4: procedural processes. Then of course we get to go through litigation, 242 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 4: we go through It takes me forever to fire one individual. 243 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 4: So if you're happy doing that, if you're happy paying 244 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 4: that premium while you're slubbing off to work today or 245 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 4: while you're doing whatever you're doing, while they, on average 246 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 4: are making anywhere between fifty and sixty seven percent more 247 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 4: than you, and you're happy about that, well, then that's 248 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 4: just some kind of stupid. I mean, that really is 249 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 4: just some kind of stupid. And as I say, it 250 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 4: comes with near total job security. Do you tell many 251 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 4: or what percent of federal employees are fired in a 252 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 4: given year. What do you think the number is? Just 253 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 4: take a wild ask guest, I don't care you get 254 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 4: a number in your head. You're thinking, what twenty five percent? 255 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 4: That seems really unreasonable, doesn't it? Ten percent? One percent? 256 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 4: How about zero point two five percent of federal employees 257 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 4: are fired in any given year. 258 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 3: In fact, in most agencies, a. 259 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 4: Worker is statistically more likely to die of natural causes 260 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 4: than he is to be dismissed for bad performance. In 261 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 4: the private sector, you could never sustain a private sector 262 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 4: enterprise that way. And what happens nobody ever goes to 263 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 4: the next level of thought on these issues. That creates insulation. 264 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 4: And when you're insulated from accountability, that breeds inertia. The 265 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 4: quit rate. What do you what do you think quit 266 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 4: rate is in the federal government? 267 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 3: It's rough. 268 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 4: It's roughly one fourth out of the private sector, and 269 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 4: once inside, they often never leave. In fact, when when 270 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 4: I became the undersecretary, there are people who they're called geeks, 271 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 4: double income, no kids. They live in Northern Virginia. They 272 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 4: vote predominantly Democrat, and they stay there for their entire lives. 273 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 4: And why wouldn't you the likely getting terminated is very remote. 274 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 4: You progress your way through the GSA schedule in terms 275 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 4: of your pay, you eventually make the senior executive service. 276 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 4: So now you're you have even further He had even 277 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 4: better protections, and so now you just say until you retire. 278 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 4: It breeds absolutely breeds inertia because they very rarely leave. 279 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 6: Michael, how do other countries handle situations like our shutdown? 280 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 6: Or are we the only ones that have this wonder 281 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 6: of stupidity? Just curious? 282 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 4: It's funny, you, it's funny you need that top back 283 00:16:58,040 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 4: because as Cad was giving that news and I was, 284 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 4: you know, normally here, he's kind of interesting dragon over there, 285 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:07,360 Speaker 4: you know, over there on the dark side. We never 286 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:08,399 Speaker 4: really listened to the news. 287 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 3: Correct. 288 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 4: We'd have to have people point out to us some 289 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 4: dumbassy that had been said during the news. Yeah, so 290 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:16,439 Speaker 4: we'd have to go back and listen to it. Then 291 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 4: we make fun of it. Well, I actually found myself 292 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 4: because Chad's sitting there, actually found myself listening. 293 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 3: To Chad and I thought, oh, I hadn't thought about that. 294 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 3: This only goes through like. 295 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:31,120 Speaker 4: Sometime in January, so we'll take up when we find 296 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:31,920 Speaker 4: out it closes. 297 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 3: Down. 298 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 4: We'll just take all of these shows and rerun them 299 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:38,119 Speaker 4: as best of so, you know, I'll just go on 300 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 4: vacation for a while because it'll be the same old 301 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 4: crap over again, exactly, just the same old crap over again, 302 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:44,640 Speaker 4: just a different day. That's all. That's all it's going 303 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 4: to be. And then the other thing I got to 304 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 4: thinking about as I listened to that live news was 305 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 4: Jonathan giving the traffic report. We need to train as 306 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 4: we got to train the audience, we need to train 307 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 4: them too. Since Colorado has surpassed California in dumbassory, they 308 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,400 Speaker 4: have to learn that it is not the Valley Highway anymore. 309 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 4: It is the twenty five. It is not to seventy, 310 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 4: it's the two seventy. It's not I seventy, it's not 311 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,159 Speaker 4: the mouse trap. We need a name, nick, a new 312 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 4: name for the mouse trap, and it's the seventy. So 313 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 4: how long do you think we can give them to 314 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 4: switch that the pothole the pothole, Yeah, the pothole, just 315 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 4: the pothole. That will be the new name for the 316 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:38,919 Speaker 4: interchange the pothole. Then let me just encourage you before 317 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 4: I start throwing a fit. If you want me to 318 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,679 Speaker 4: read your text message on air, because there are a 319 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 4: couple of good text messages, but you just much of 320 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 4: the wrong number. 321 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 2: So yes, I'm confessing you still had the old window open. 322 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 4: Well, I came in and it's and it's open because 323 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 4: the guy before me, whatever. 324 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 2: His name is, left it open. The dirty leg guy. 325 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, the dirty leg guy. The guy doesn't shower his legs. 326 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,919 Speaker 4: But I just remember, don't understand. So if if you 327 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 4: want me to read some of your text messages, you've 328 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:15,480 Speaker 4: got to transform over to three three one zero three 329 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 4: keyword Michael, Michael, all right, Mike or Michael yes, or 330 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 4: Michael and Michael or Michael and Mike. 331 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 3: Or. 332 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:30,959 Speaker 2: That doesn't roll off the tongue so much, or just dumbs? 333 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,680 Speaker 4: What if we should get them to change that's trying 334 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 4: to get him to change. 335 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 3: It to that. 336 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 4: We're just stupid, dumb, stupid, just a change it stupid, 337 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 4: they stupid. I'll reach out to Tracy's. We can't get 338 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 4: that changed. Let's go back to this imbalance for a moment. 339 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 4: Now you may think I'm being a jerk. 340 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 3: That wouldn't be new. 341 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 4: But you think I'm being a jerk, well, guess what 342 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 4: I think that most of the American public census this imbalance, 343 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,679 Speaker 4: and you intuitively know it, but you don't want to 344 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:08,159 Speaker 4: admit it. Polls consistently show that majorities described the federal 345 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:12,640 Speaker 4: government as wasteful and inefficient, which gives me some hope 346 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 4: of the American public is not as stupid sometimes I 347 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:19,160 Speaker 4: think they are this shutdown. Far from dispelling that perception, 348 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 4: I think actually you reinforce that perception when you think 349 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:26,719 Speaker 4: about all those departments and agencies just sitting idle, and 350 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:30,919 Speaker 4: there was no catastrophic consequence. The world didn't come to 351 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 4: an end. McDonald's continued to serve me in my diet, 352 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:38,680 Speaker 4: coke in the morning when I drove through. My internet 353 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 4: at home continued to work. The televisions in the studio 354 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,200 Speaker 4: are still working. They're even working at home, my car ran. 355 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 4: Everything seems to be going just as it's supposed to. 356 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:58,440 Speaker 4: In the private sector, competition will ensure that if you're inefficient, 357 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 4: you're going to get in the marketplace. When you're in 358 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 4: the government, inefficiency is often rewarded by well, you get 359 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 4: a bigger budget, you can hire more people, you get 360 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 4: new layers of management, and every layer brings costs to 361 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 4: get compounded just like compound interests. 362 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 3: It just adds to the ads, to the ads to 363 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 3: the ads. 364 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 4: I witnessed that myself when we did that stupid creation 365 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 4: of the Department of Homeland Security. It was unbelievable the 366 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 4: amount of bureaucracy they got piled on top of me. 367 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 4: And I was the freaking Undersecretary of Homeland Security in 368 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 4: a department of at that time only one hundred and 369 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 4: eighty thousand. Look at the numbers now, so I'm one 370 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 4: of four. You get the secretary of the deputy secretary 371 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:51,000 Speaker 4: and a couple of undersecretaries, and yet they still managed 372 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,399 Speaker 4: to pile on bureaucracy on top of bureaucracy. Now, I 373 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 4: want to make clear now I'm not trying to diminish 374 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 4: the dedication of truly essential personnel vater agents, air traffic controllers, 375 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 4: law enforcement officers, active duty military. They continue, as I said, 376 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 4: to serve without pay, and they are the backbone of 377 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 4: national competence, truly competent. But the problem is when I 378 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 4: make that comparison, that contrast underscores what the problem is, 379 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 4: because the workers most vital to this country's functioning are 380 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 4: often paid less and treated worse than those whose jobs 381 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:33,080 Speaker 4: can be suspended indefinitely without pay. So we now have 382 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:39,919 Speaker 4: a system that rewards administrative proliferation and we strain the 383 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 4: essential jobs. That's stupid, it's really stupid. The goal, then, 384 00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 4: is not cruelty toward public servants, is we need to 385 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:56,159 Speaker 4: be clear in our thinking about public purpose. So we 386 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 4: ought to be thinking about right sizing the government. And 387 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:04,399 Speaker 4: that means a resources with necessity, not with political ideology. 388 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:07,119 Speaker 4: It means you got to distinguish between what must be 389 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 4: done by government and what to be better handled by 390 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:16,920 Speaker 4: the markets, by communities, or by automation. Take TSA one 391 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 4: of my favorite favorite government bureaucracies. They keep me so 392 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:26,359 Speaker 4: safe when I travel on by air it's freaking unbelievable. 393 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 4: You don't understand scar sarcasm. Yet you're gonna have to 394 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 4: learn to understand sarcasm to get through this program. You 395 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 4: knew who was handling security prior to nine to eleven. 396 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 4: That's right, the airlines. And you can't fault the airlines 397 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,120 Speaker 4: for nine to eleven because we had no idea, oh 398 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 4: they're going to do that. Well, some people did, but 399 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 4: we failed to communicate that with each other. So there's 400 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 4: there's that problem. But that's a government problem. 401 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 3: Who has the. 402 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:59,959 Speaker 4: Greatest vested interest in making certain that planes aren't eye 403 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 4: or used as weapons the airlines. They don't want to 404 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 4: lose billions of dollars in equipment. They don't want to 405 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,120 Speaker 4: pay out billions of dollars in wrongful death lawsuits. They 406 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 4: don't want to do that. So put them in charge 407 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 4: of airport security and you'll find it'll be more efficient, 408 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 4: more effective. You'll get through quicker, it'll be easier, they'll 409 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 4: use the most modern technology, and it won't be intrusive, 410 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,480 Speaker 4: and you won't get a protology examination every time you 411 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 4: go through. Mark my words, Michael. 412 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 7: Just because you have changed stations and moved over to 413 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 7: KOA and have garnered a few new. 414 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 3: Listeners from the KOA. 415 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 7: Listeners does not give them cart blanche to get on 416 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 7: the airwaves and quite frankly, bring this show down to 417 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 7: the dumps Why. 418 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 3: Do you think they brought you in. Stay off the. 419 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 2: Air I'm just as confused as you are. 420 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 5: As I said all the time across the hall, I 421 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:11,200 Speaker 5: don't leave them, I just play them. I'm not sure 422 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,920 Speaker 5: if he's complaining about us being the dumpster and we 423 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 5: need to stay off of the air, or whether or 424 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,639 Speaker 5: not he's complaining about that the new goobers are getting 425 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,400 Speaker 5: on the air with these talkbacks and the text messages 426 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 5: prior to. 427 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,399 Speaker 2: Him getting on the air with God, I. 428 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 4: Don't know, but he goes to prove my tell you 429 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 4: my theorem anymore. It's my it's a law of physics. 430 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,119 Speaker 4: You can't please everybody all the time. True, and if 431 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 4: you try, you're gonna fail. 432 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:41,360 Speaker 2: So you can piss everybody off. 433 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,719 Speaker 3: But you can piss everybody else. Yeah, you can't do that. 434 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 5: And a further reminder that text message to the text 435 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 5: message line is three three one zero three. Text Mike 436 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,160 Speaker 5: or Michael or Mike or Michael first so it gets 437 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 5: over to us. And of course leave talkbacks. When you're 438 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 5: listening live to KOA on the iHeart app, hit that 439 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:01,159 Speaker 5: little red microphone button in the top corner and you 440 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,399 Speaker 5: can you have thirty seconds to leave us whatever you 441 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 5: want like that, or. 442 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 3: Who knows, maybe maybe where the nonsense and we don't 443 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 3: get it. 444 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 2: I'm sure it may sometimes. 445 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:13,919 Speaker 3: We don't even get it alone get it? 446 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,520 Speaker 4: So And I've already been called the sea word by 447 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 4: somebody on the text line too. 448 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 3: Wow, yeah, I have I. 449 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 4: Do We think I've used the name Donald Trump today 450 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 4: and apparently I'm a Trump sea word. So yeah, huh, 451 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 4: that's that's pretty impressive day too. And I'm already I'm 452 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,840 Speaker 4: already a Trump seaword. Wow, pretty good, all right. In 453 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 4: the final analysis, I know we've tried it before, but 454 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 4: less government could actually mean better government. The private sector, 455 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 4: they've known for years that lean operations always outperform a 456 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,640 Speaker 4: voted operation. Well, that same logic applies to the public sector. 457 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 4: When you have the department or an agency that grows 458 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 4: for the sake of just growing. That means that you 459 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,239 Speaker 4: and ize taxpayers pay twice. We pay once in the 460 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,520 Speaker 4: taxes that we pay, and then we pay in the 461 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 4: lost agility or the loss productivity, or the actual loss 462 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,760 Speaker 4: of even meeting what your mission is in the in 463 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:13,720 Speaker 4: that department or agency. So the longest shutdown in the 464 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 4: history of this country is revealed the size of the 465 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 4: opportunity that is actually before us. Now, we've flirted with 466 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:27,080 Speaker 4: this concept when Elon Musk and Doge tried to tried 467 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 4: to streamalize the federal government. That work was met by 468 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 4: a buzzsaw from Republicans and Democrats alike. Yet the shutdown 469 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 4: has once again proven that we can do more with less. 470 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 4: But that's going to require Republicans to step up. Now, 471 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 4: this debate is not new. Every administration always talks about 472 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,160 Speaker 4: how I'm going to, you know, make government more efficient. 473 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:58,520 Speaker 3: I'm sick of hearing it. 474 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 4: I want to see the actual civil service reform. And 475 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 4: I know, don't get me wrong, I've been in the 476 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 4: belly of the beast. You have not, so I know 477 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 4: the hurdles it's gonna take to overcome that idea of well, 478 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 4: it's just pure political inertia that keeps it from happening. 479 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:23,160 Speaker 4: That political inertia is by designed created by public sector 480 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 4: employee unions. Is designed by the personnel policies that protect 481 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:32,120 Speaker 4: anybody from being demoted or terminated. It's designed, those hurdles 482 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 4: are designed by an outsized salary formula. It's designed because 483 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 4: of the outsized benefits that they get. We ran on 484 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 4: half power. We ran on half power throughout this shutdown, 485 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,840 Speaker 4: and the country didn't crash. That fact alone out a 486 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 4: guide reform far more than any sort of sentimental defense 487 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 4: of the status quo. It's got to change, and Republicans 488 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 4: and Democrats alike are both responsible for getting us to 489 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 4: where we are today. So if we're going to accomplish anything, 490 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 4: it's going to require some sort of fire in the 491 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 4: belly of taxpayers to finally revolt and say, you know, 492 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 4: enough is enough. We're just we just can't do it anymore. 493 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 4: And that means that individually, every single one of us 494 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 4: is going to have to start calling out all the 495 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 4: lies in the bull craft that Democrats feed us, all 496 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,479 Speaker 4: the lies in the bull craft that Republicans feed us, 497 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 4: and we're going to have to say stop it, to 498 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:40,479 Speaker 4: stop it, let's see some real reform introduced. And then 499 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 4: if you get into a shouting match when you shut 500 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 4: down the government over that, at least we're shutting it 501 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 4: down over something that matters. And I'd ask you right 502 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 4: now to think about and tell me what was this 503 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 4: last shutdown about? 504 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:53,960 Speaker 3: Anyway? Do you know