WEBVTT - The Jay Weber Podcast #0011 5-12-26 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:05.120 That Jay Weber Podcast is presented by Creative Planning, helping 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:09.800 clients simplify their journey to financial wellness, one personalized plan 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.560 at a time. That j Weber Podcast is a production 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:15.360 of iHeartRadio Podcasts. 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:19.759 Good Day, Welcome to the Jay Weber Podcast. Today. I 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.080 want to talk about all sorts of things. How about 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:25.080 the fight over our national identity as we mark America's 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.280 two hundred and fiftieth anniversary this summer. Also how New 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.200 York democrats obsession with race is going to hobble their 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:34.479 efforts to redraw their district map. That's an interesting story. 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:37.320 Also why gas prices will be a bigger issue than 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:40.120 normal this fall. But first, I see that our governor 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.800 in the great state of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, has come 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:45.760 to a deal with Republican leaders to finally, finally give 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:49.360 taxpayers some of their money back. Governor Evers, Robin Voss, 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:52.479 Devin Lemiheue. They're the Republicans in charge of the Assembly 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:54.560 and the Senate there. They're all retiring at the end 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.840 of the year, and so they obviously decided that they 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.800 have a rare window here to resolve a long time fight. 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:01.920 What to do with all of the money that the 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:06.000 state government has taken out of our paychecks unnecessarily. Wisconsin, 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:10.400 thanks to Republican budgets for over a decade, has run 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.000 two to three million dollars or billion dollar surplus every year. 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:16.280 And this is money that they haven't needed to run 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.200 state government over the last decade. They've given it back 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.080 to us in different ways over the years, but there's 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:25.360 about a three billion or so dollar surplus, and I 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:28.720 think the level and they've decided now that they're going 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:30.560 to give us some of that money back. I think 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:32.800 the level of refund is pathetic given the size of 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.120 the surplus. It would be three hundred dollars back for 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:38.160 individuals and six hundred dollars for married couples. But they're 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:41.360 also agreeing to dump even more money into Wisconsin public 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:45.120 schools and special ad while ending state income taxes and 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:49.400 taxes over time. So overall, both sides get something. I 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:53.240 understand Producer Gregory John that Congressman Tom Tiffany was on 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:56.280 Benjamin the Ount Show on WISN this morning, and you 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:59.080 have a bit of an exclusive here. Tiffany was saying 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:03.160 that he would not sign this agreement if he was governor. 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:05.360 He doesn't like the agreement because he thinks we could 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:06.200 do better. Is that right? 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:06.480 Yep? 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:10.280 I would not vote for it. I think that Governor 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.120 Evers has failed the people the state of Wisconsin once again. 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:17.080 I mean, remember, he's got the ultimate authority here. The 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.440 governor in the state of Wisconsin had the most powerful 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.920 veto pen perhaps of any governor in these states. And 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.839 plus with the Evers the market line decision, which gave 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:30.399 him even more executive authority. I mean, he really has 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:35.640 unrivaled authority amongst governors across the country. And he could 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:37.720 have put in here the repeal of the four hundred 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.720 year property tax increase, and he did not. All he 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.720 wanted in there for the relief was a sugar high 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:49.400 for a year. Now. I understand why Republicans may support 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:52.680 this because they're at least getting something and being in 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:57.920 a tough position with an executive that has so much power, 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.280 some of it given to them by to the governor 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.680 by the state Supreme Court. I get it why they 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.799 would want to take a victory here. But we need 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:12.560 long term systemic tax relief here in Wisconsin, and it 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.760 starts by repealing the four hundred year property tax increase. 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:16.280 Which, by the. 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:20.079 Way, remember when Governor Evers told us to deal with it. 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:24.120 I mean that's how he views the taxpayer's money. It's 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.399 ours in Madison, and we'll give you a little bit 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:31.160 for a year. We should have long term systemic relief, 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:34.519 make no doubt about it. I want the money returned 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:39.480 to the taxpayers of the state of Wisconsin. But elect 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:43.000 me in November and you'll get far more than this. 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.320 We will end the four hundred year of property tax increase. 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.160 We'll get control of your utility bills that have went 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:52.400 up two billion dollars under Governor Evers. I think about 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:56.640 the livestock citing our livestock inspection fee where Governor Evers 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:59.200 proposed raising it from four hundred and fifty dollars to 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:01.720 seven thousand dollars. Now they settled for a little bit less, 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:05.160 but it was a huge increase. So they're nickel and 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:07.640 diming the taxpayers at the State of Wisconsin. And then 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:09.520 they want to give them a little bit of money back. 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.520 And this is ultimately where I have the objection. To 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:16.560 give people a little bit of money back temporarily, but 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.039 it is not long term. And the taxpayers of the 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.359 state of Wisconsin should expect to have tax relief, including 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:28.280 property tax relief, that continues not just this year, but 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.479 for the foreseeable future, so life can be affordable in 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:31.920 our state. 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:35.599 Tom Tiffany makes a lot of good points there, I think, 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.960 but this also strikes me. You know, this is a 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.160 deal where both sides get a little something, and you've 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.200 got guys that are retiring trying to be a little 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:47.160 more diplomatic and work together, as the taxpayers and the 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.080 voters always claim they want to see. So as a 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:52.880 politician running for office this year, you'd be pretty stupid 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.320 to oppose this at the same time, wouldn't you. I 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.560 understand Governor Tiffany is pointing out that we can do 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:01.400 a lot better. But on the other side of the aisle, 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:05.239 the Democrats that are running to oppose him are shooting 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.680 this down because they don't want to give up the money. 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:10.880 You'd think it's smart to stand in the way of 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.039 voters and taxpayers getting some of their money back in 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.320 an election year. So far, it's nearly all the Democrat 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:19.360 candidates for governor Kelda roy Is, Francesco Hong, David Crowley, etc. 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:23.320 Who have come out against this. Tom Tiffany isn't necessarily 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:26.680 against the tax return. He's just saying I could do 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:28.640 a better bill. I wouldn't sign this bill because we 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:30.840 could do better. I don't know, Greg. It's only six 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:32.960 hundred bucks for you and Dorothy, but do you want 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:33.840 some of your money back? 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:37.719 I was teasing Ben earlier this morning about that. Sez 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:39.960 I liked about six hundred dollars, and we talked about that. 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.080 In Tom's right, it's a sugar high. You still have 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:45.920 the four hundred year property tax increase in. 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:50.520 This You're right. And the Democrats' reaction to it is 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:52.800 that we shouldn't give anyone anything back. We got to 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.880 keep it all for ourselves. Is an interesting response, and 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:59.480 it just shows you again how this era's Democrats are 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:03.719 really moving right into socialism. They're big government socialists. The 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.719 deeper analysis here is the reflexive reaction by those Democrat 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:11.120 candidates to immediately oppose anything that's good for the taxpayers 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:13.680 or has big government loosening its grip on our wallets. 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:16.120 I think is interesting. It's a great example of how 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:20.760 today's Democrats really are big government socialists. Past Dems would 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:23.000 have at least realized that this is the taxpayer's money 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:26.159 taken from them out of their paychecks. Unnecessarily, we took 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:29.159 too much. But today's Democrat leaders really do think that 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:32.200 all of your money is really their money, and people 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:35.640 like Hong and Calderoy's can't even pretend otherwise. If you're 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.520 a socialist like Hong or Roy's, why would the dumb 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:40.880 donkeys who send you a chunk of their paycheck every 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:45.200 week deserve any relief or consideration. This really is how 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.159 today's Democrat thinks. Since your money is really their money, 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:51.080 they talk openly about heaping higher and higher taxes on you, 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.520 and hell no, you don't deserve anything back. They get 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.560 to decide how your money is spent. It's infuriating, and 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.599 it's why it's harder and harder to save for your 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:02.400 own retirement nest egg and plan for your own retirement. 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.360 So this is where I say, have you heard about 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.400 Creative Planning? They're one of the nation's largest independent wealth 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:12.480 management firms, offering fully integrated financial and retirement planning, investment management, 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:16.800 estate planning, tax strategies, business services, and international wealth management, 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.160 all in house and coordinated through your wealth manager. Their 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.840 fiduciary wealth managers are here. To help you navigate every 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:25.920 piece of your financial life. Visit creative Planning dot com 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.520 to schedule your introductory meeting. That's Creative Planning dot com 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:32.640 your team always. Thanks for by Creative Planning and SEC 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:36.160 Registered Investment advisor. The speaker's statements are not an endorsement 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:38.400 of the firm. We are moving into the summer of 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:40.880 twenty twenty six and moving closer and closer to the 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.440 official two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:46.880 this nation. President Trump and Congress are promising all sorts 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:50.000 of special and wonderful celebrations related to it. And I love, 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:52.760 I really love and appreciate the fact that Donald Trump 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.440 happens to be our president right now because he's put 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.680 an importance on cleaning up, renovating, and doing long term 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:02.160 deferred maintenance on our new national monuments and institutions and 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.960 Washington d C in general. Sincerely, if Kamala Harris or 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:09.040 any other Democrat or Republican leader was sitting in the 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.120 White House right now, do you think we'd have seen 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.480 an effort to get Washington d C all spruced up 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.640 for the two hundred and fiftieth underway. I convertually guarantee 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:19.400 you we wouldn't, and we wouldn't because sadly, no one 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:21.440 else would have thought of it. I don't think anyone 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.239 else alive or in politics today really thinks this way. 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.200 It had to be Trump. Only Trump would drive through 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.840 DC and say, my god, we need to fix these fountains. 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:32.960 It's an embarrassment that they sit in decay. My god. 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:35.440 How can this be the road leading to the White House. 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:39.360 It's all rutted and crumbling. We must replace this, my god. 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:41.600 How can the reflecting pool in the National Mall not 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:44.040 be holding water some days and covered over with LGA 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.440 other days. We thank god President Trump is restoring some 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.520 pride and dignity to our important public spaces. I can 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.280 guarantee you Kamala wouldn't be doing it, neither Barack nor 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:55.720 old Dementia Joe drove around in the decay and decided 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:58.080 we should really do something about this. We are president, 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.559 after all. It had to be Trump. But at a 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.560 deeper level, having at last four or five administrations simply 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.760 allow our national monuments to decay along with our national pride, 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.640 it should be disturbing to all of us. The physical 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:13.280 decay seems to mirror a general decay when it comes 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:17.199 to American pride and greatness. It just disturbs me. We're 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:19.720 such a divided and very different country now than we 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.720 were back in nineteen seventy six when the country celebrated 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:24.640 its bi centennial. A lot of us were around to 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.320 see that and the display of greatness and independence that 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.079 was celebrated back then too. Yeah, I was a kid, 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.839 but I can firmly say, based on both personal experiences 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.360 at the time and the history I've read about it since, 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:39.079 the bi centennial celebration in nineteen seventy six was genuinely 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:42.120 a moment of great national pride and a coming together 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:47.239 of both parties as everyone, regardless of political affiliation, race, ethnicity, 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:51.040 everyone celebrated the greatness of this country, celebrated the promises 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:54.800 of the constitution, proudly waived the American flag, not because 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:57.640 we were a perfect country, but because we had gotten 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.440 closer to achieving that than any other country or society 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:03.680 and human history. That is the promise of the nation 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.720 after all. Right. In the most important founding document, the 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.080 founders make it clear this is an effort to form 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:12.480 a more perfect union, a more fair and perfect society, etc. 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:15.280 And right through the nineteen seventies, I'd say, actually, right 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.200 up until about nineteen ninety, we had people on both 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.400 sides of the isle, both leaders and voters on both 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.000 the Democrat and Republican side of the isle, who really 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:26.520 loved and appreciated the greatness of this country and the 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.240 promises of this country, and they only really argued over 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.480 the best ways in which to achieve that more fair 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.920 or perfect union. Then came the modern left, and now 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:38.040 we find ourselves a country battling over a national identity. 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:40.400 And trust me, if Donald Trump wouldn't have won in 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.920 twenty twenty four, we'd be seeing a very different version 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.000 of America two hundred and fifty years later. If Kamala 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:48.400 Harris would have won, many of us would have marked 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:52.040 America's two hundred and fiftieth year and been wondering, is 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:55.160 this as long as America lasted? Because we'd have a 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:58.079 nitwit in the White House who liked Abigail Spanberger or 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:01.200 Kathy Hokl or Chuck Schumer wouldn't have been strong enough 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:03.960 to push back on the socialism. Kamala would have been 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:06.920 giving into every last one of their radical activist ideas. 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.000 And there'd be no doubt that this country was on 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:11.760 a path to socialism as it marked two hundred and 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.680 fifty years of existence. There is no doubt in my 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:17.079 mind that had Kamala won, we in the pundit class 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:19.720 would have spent the entire summer and fall this year 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:23.400 mulling over those questions. The Roman Empire lasted nearly fifteen 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:27.160 hundred years, the Egyptian Empire lasted nearly three thousand. The 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:30.520 American Republic only lasted about two hundred and fifty years. Really, 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:34.120 we started down the clear path towards socialism in twenty 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.360 twenty four, and so market the most important promises of 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:39.520 the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights were 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:41.199 taken away from us in less than two hundred and 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:43.720 fifty years. That's all the longer we would sustain it. 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:47.920 And I'm simplifying and amplifying to some extent here. A 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.200 Kamala Harris regime wouldn't have meant instant socialism, but the 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:54.320 destruction of another four years of having the bullying America 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.120 haters of the Obama and Biden eras in charge would 0:11:57.160 --> 0:11:59.680 have very likely meant this a significant amount of destruction 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.160 that the public couldn't have bounced back from as it is. 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:06.400 The socialist made gains. You've got Zorn Mamdani, an open 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.559 socialist in charge of New York City and all sorts 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:13.920 of council seats and mayorships at the local level in 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:18.360 the Blue States, turning socialist. Back in nineteen seventy six, 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:20.400 when we were all wearing our red, white and blue 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.720 and celebrating this wonderful thing we were gifted from our founders, 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:26.520 no one would have imagined the sort of divided and 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:29.400 angry and disparate country that we've become in the decades. 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.920 Since this really is a nation battling over a national 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:35.760 identity right now. And what's making everything more difficult is 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:38.000 that nearly half of the people in this country no 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.160 longer seem to believe in God, family, and education, or 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:44.240 that they make for a stronger society. I found this 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:47.400 blurb not long ago and set it aside. I'd credit 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.240 the author if I still had his or her name, 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.079 but I couldn't agree with it more. The most grievous 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.880 cultural wound has been the loss of a shared moral order. 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:57.320 We told multiple generations to come up with their own 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:01.599 individual values. It has left us morally inarticulate and uninformed. 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:04.280 It created a naked public square where there was no 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:07.920 broad agreement about what was true, beautiful, and good. Without 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:11.319 shared standards of right and wrong, it's impossible to settle disputes, 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:15.320 it's impossible to maintain social cohesion and trust. Every healthy 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:19.240 society rests on some shared conception of the sacred, sacred heroes, 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:23.920 sacred text, sacred ideals. And when that goes away, anxiety, atomization, 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:26.920 and a slow descent toward barbarism are the natural results. 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.679 And if that doesn't describe America and the Western world today, 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:33.280 I don't know what does. Where a nation founded on 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:38.600 individual freedom, equality and self determination, specific principles and moral values, 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.120 and now only half of the country seems to believe 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:44.600 in those things. The very lessons of the founding documents 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:48.160 have been lost on today's younger generations and leaders. It's 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:52.080 clear that Alexandria Ocassio Cortez has no idea zero, how 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:55.080 or why our nation was founded. You've probably heard the 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:57.559 clip in which she claims America's founders were trying to 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.120 get away from the controlling billionaires of their day. 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:06.040 The American Revolution was against the billionaires of their time, 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:12.680 and we were declaring independence from such an extreme marriage 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.120 of wealth and power and the state. 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:17.360 That is some of the dumbest crap I've ever heard 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.640 in an elected official utter. And I'm not kidding. All 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.200 sorts of people hopped on social media and blasted her 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:24.480 for naked ignorance, and I was one of them. Yeah, 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:27.760 I pointed out what actually motivated the Founders was they 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:31.640 wanted to break away from an intrusive, abusive, highly taxing 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:34.200 government of the sort that AOC and her party members 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.920 want to force onto us. Talk about irony. The Founders 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.800 wanted to break away from a bullying monarch that, by 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:44.440 modern standards, was laughably meek. If you want to compare 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:47.680 King George and his reign to Marxism and the socialist 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:51.240 and communist desires to control absolutely every aspect of our lives, 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.680 there's no comparison. Give me England in the seventeen seventies 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.640 over modern socialism or communism any day. And if AOC 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:03.720 repris sence a young, spoiled, arrogant, ignorant class of Americans, 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:06.880 and she does, then yeah, this country is battling over 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.760 its national identity. IPSOS just conducted a poll and found 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.600 only thirty nine percent of millennials and gen zers agree 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:15.560 that being an American is an important part of how 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.440 I think about myself, compared to sixty five percent of 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:21.640 baby boomers. In a twenty twenty three Gallop pole, only 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.960 eighteen percent of Americans aged eighteen to thirty four said 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.360 they were extremely proud to be an American. That compared 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.920 to fifty percent of adults over fifty five. Asked by 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:33.760 Democracy Fund if the Founders would be better described as 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:37.440 villains or heroes, forty percent of gen Zers picked villains. 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.560 Only ten percent of boomers did I guess those are 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.680 the old crackpot hippies. But in a Ugov pole, nearly 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:46.600 one third of young voters agreed that quote democracy is 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:50.040 no longer a viable system and Americans should explore alternative 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:53.040 forms of government. Only five percent of those over the 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.360 age of sixty five did you can say these are 0:15:55.560 --> 0:16:00.320 just misguided youth? But who misguided them? This is reflective 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.840 of a country whose educational system was taken over by 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:06.360 left wing America haters decades ago and is now indoctrinated 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:09.280 at least two generations of young people into hating or 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:12.320 at least putting no value on the founding ideals of 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.120 this country or anything that is seen as American. And 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.200 they do this even though the country has never been greater, 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.440 or more prosperous, or more fair. This is a nation 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.480 of grievance mongers and complainers, even though the country has 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.440 by and large greatly lived up to the promises the 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.680 founders made sure. There are social inequities, and there always 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.160 have been. But trust me, despite what the leftists and 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:36.840 America haters tell you, the social inequities here in America 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:39.880 aren't even close to those that you'd find virtually anywhere 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.600 else on the globe. There are one hundred and ninety 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:44.800 countries on this planet, and in the vast majority of 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:48.520 them you'll find a rich dictating class, a poor underclass, 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.440 and very little in between. Even better, you'll also find 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:53.960 that the promises of this nation are as possible and 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.600 there as happening as regularly as ever. Two hundred and 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:59.720 fifty years later. The left and their accomplished media members 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:01.760 don't want you to know this or hear this, but 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.199 the vast majority of Americans are still moving up and 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:07.120 through the social classes, and just a generation or two 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:10.439 in this country every day, every year every decade. We 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.240 still see people moving from poverty into the lower middle 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:17.080 class or firm middle class. We still see people moving 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.280 from the lower middle class to the upper middle class, 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:22.000 people moving from middle class to rich, etc. It is 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:25.439 still the untold greatness of America occurring every day, and 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.159 it drives the America haters so crazy they need to 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:30.640 lie about it and try to indoctrinate our children into 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:34.800 a different, false reality. Bernie and AOC and virtually all 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:39.040 of today's Democrat officeholders and pundits genuinely believe that America 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:41.639 has a shrinking middle class because the so called super 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:43.760 rich have sucked up all of the money in the 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.160 resources from the middle class, and so we have more 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:50.040 Americans in poverty than ever. Everything about that is false everything. 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:53.119 First of all, we simply don't have true poverty in 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.439 America anymore. And if you doubt that, just do some 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:59.320 traveling and look around. We don't have acres and acres 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.719 of wooden shacks built on muddy hillsides with starving children 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:05.760 hanging around every door. We don't have one room cabins 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:08.800 in the woods with no running water and six dirty children, 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.800 barefoot and nearly naked, hanging out on the porch looking 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:15.920 at the world through dead eyes. America's so called poor 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:20.400 have on average twelve hundred square feet of living space, food, clothing, heat, 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.560 and power. Some of that they paid for themselves, a 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.760 lot of it's been provided by us, the taxpayers. But 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:30.240 no one is poor or starving in America anymore. We're 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.159 the only country that has a terrible obesity problem among 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:37.280 our poor. Sincerely, in America, the larger obesity problem is 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.440 among those on the lowest rungs, not the highest. In short, 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:42.320 it isn't our so called rich who are fat, it's 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:45.439 our poor people. Only in America would leaders say our 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:49.800 fattest class of people are starving or food insecure. Earlier 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.400 this year, a study at the American Enterprise Institute got 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.320 some attention, and it did because it showed that, yes, 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:58.280 America's middle class has been shrinking, but only because more 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.199 so called middle class Americans are moving up into the 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:04.600 higher classes, not because we have more poor people or 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.840 because we have a hollowed out middle class. And this 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:09.919 is the truth, not the crappier average lefty teacher or 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:14.440 morons like AOC are telling you. These researchers divided households 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:18.000 into five categories poor or near poor, lower middle class, 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:21.560 core middle class, upper middle class, and rich. Technically, the 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:23.640 middle class has been getting smaller, they say, but that's 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.479 only because more families have ascended the income ladder. 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:27.160 Quote. 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:29.879 We find that the core middle class has shrunk, but 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:32.199 so too as the share of Americans with income too 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.960 low to reach the middle class. The authors say the 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:37.560 shrinking core middle class is due to a booming upper 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:40.400 middle class. They say, in nineteen seventy nine, the upper 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:43.160 middle class was ten percent of all families. Now it's 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:47.320 thirty one percent. One third of the country is upper 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:50.880 middle class. That's impressive, they say. Over the same period, 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:54.800 between nineteen seventy nine and twenty twenty four, quote, family 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:58.760 incomes rose significantly across the entire income distribution, pushing more 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:03.640 families into higher income categories. Other studies show similar patterns. Quote. Yes, 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:05.760 the rich have gotten richer over the decades, but so 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:09.320 have the non rich. Everybody is doing better, and yet 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:12.679 the relentless lying by Democrats like Joe Biden and Bernie 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.679 Sanders have most Americans convinced that we have a hollowed 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:18.200 out middle class. And it's a terrible thing. It means 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:21.720 more people in poverty, etc. It doesn't and that isn't 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:24.240 what has happened. The Democrats have been lying to you 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:27.320 for decades, and now that flat out socialists are leading 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:30.399 their party, the perpetual misinformation machine is only going to 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:33.439 get worse. Is it any wonder that more and more 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:36.040 Americans are leaving the negativity and dysfunction of the Blue 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:38.800 states and moving into the Red states. We've been talking 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:41.200 about this on the podcast, and Kim Strassel of The 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:43.320