1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: To night. Michael Brown joins me here the former FEMA 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: director talk show host Michael Brown. 3 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 2: Brownie, no Brownie. You're doing a heck of a job 4 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 2: the Weekend with Michael Brown. 5 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: Broadcasting Life from Denver, Colorado. You've tuned into the Weekend 6 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:14,319 Speaker 1: with Michael Brown. Glad to have you with me. I 7 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,639 Speaker 1: appreciate you tuning in. Happy to have you joining the program. 8 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,639 Speaker 1: We have rules of engagement on this program. One is 9 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: if you want to tell me something you or ask 10 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: me something. Of course you can always email email me 11 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: Michael Brown at iHeartMedia dot com. But the easiest way 12 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: to do this is simply to send me a text message. 13 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: Doesn't make any difference any message app you want to use. 14 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: It's a short message service. The number is three three 15 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 1: one zero three, three three one zero three. The keyword 16 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:43,279 Speaker 1: Mike or Michael. As long as you use the word 17 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: Micharo Michael somewhere, it'll come through on that number. So 18 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: three three one zero three, then do me a favor. 19 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: I'm usually pretty active over on X That's where I'm 20 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,279 Speaker 1: probably probably the most active, and you can find out 21 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: a lot of things I think about that happens between programs. 22 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: You can find that on X and that's at Michael D. 23 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 2: Brown. So go follow me on at Michael D. Brown. 24 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: If you've been living under a rock, you don't know 25 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: that this is the On July fourth, it will be 26 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the United States 27 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: of America being born at least declaring our independence July fourth, 28 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy six. So we have all of these things 29 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: being planned. You know, Trump's rebuilding the. 30 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 2: Or not rebuilding. 31 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 1: Because the people sometimes confused about the White House. I 32 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,680 Speaker 1: was going to say he's rebuilding the east wing. That's 33 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: not correct. There was an east wing annex. It was. 34 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: It was like a I'd put it this way. If 35 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: you picture the if you think about just looking at 36 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: the White House, you're looking south, so you're looking down 37 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: on the north portico, and you see the west wing 38 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: over here to the right, and then you see the 39 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: east wing over here, which is the main structure. That's 40 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: the big part that you see in the photographs with 41 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: the Washington Monument behind it. That's the East wing. Now 42 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: attached to the east wing over here on the very 43 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: far left was an old structure. I forget how old 44 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: it was, but it's quite old, and it was I'd 45 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: been in it. It was some unused office space. It 46 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: was pretty much framed up, dry walled in. Some doors 47 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: and hallways put in and then used as necessary for 48 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: offices for the first lady, spillover offices for whatever it 49 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: might be in the executive office of the President. But 50 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 1: a lot of them were just not used. And it 51 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: was dingy and dirty and crumme and ugly. Always painted 52 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: on the outside and made it look nice, but it 53 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: probably if you were looking. 54 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 2: At the. 55 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: Wall at the end wall on what would be the 56 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: east end of the White House looking south, it would 57 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: be comparable to looking at a double wide trailer part 58 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: on the end of the White House. That's what he's 59 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: torn down, and that's where he's building this new grand ballroom. 60 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 1: And I don't know why people are so upset about it. 61 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: And I think they're upset about it because when you 62 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: hear he tore down the east wing, I don't think 63 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: people really know what that means. I know I've gotten 64 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: off track here, but it's something. It's it's just a 65 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 1: bugaboo of mine because presidents over the course, I mean, 66 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: first of all, remember the White House has been burned down. 67 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: Remember the British burned it down. We've rebuilt it. The 68 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: West Wing did not always exist. The West Wing got built, 69 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: been there's been remodeling, there's been replacing, it's been expanded, 70 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: it's been everything over the course of two hundred and 71 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: fifty years. And of course it hasn't been there two 72 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty years because it wasn't. They're on July fourth, 73 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy six, and we're not paying for this. The 74 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: taxpayers aren't paying for it. So he's building a grand ballroom. 75 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: That's one of the things that he's doing. He's going 76 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: to have a UFC match. He's doing all these different celebrations, 77 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: and I think it's all appropriate. But there's one thing 78 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: that came about from the cabinet meeting. It'd been speculated 79 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: on all during the week, and that was the idea 80 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 1: of having President Trump to go pull out a dollar bill. 81 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: You have a dollar bill, Let me pull one out 82 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: of my pocket real quickly and take a look at 83 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: it so I forget which side is which. 84 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 2: On the right side. 85 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: You have the Secretary of the Treasury and on the 86 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: left side you have the Treasure of the United States. 87 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: So they wanted to put President Trump's signature on. I 88 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:00,280 Speaker 1: don't know whether they were going to put a on 89 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,160 Speaker 1: the I assume they put on the Secretary of the 90 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 1: Treasury side, because the treasure is the one that really 91 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: is the one issuing the the authorization for the currency. 92 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: Or maybe put his likeness on on a hundred dollars bill, 93 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: maybe a you know, a commemorative one hundred dollars bill. 94 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:23,840 Speaker 1: I confess that when I first heard that, I was 95 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: kind of repulsed by it. I don't like the idea 96 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: of even the current president, whether it's been my old boss, 97 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 1: George W. Bush, I think putting his signature on the 98 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:42,359 Speaker 1: currency would be inappropriate. I think putting his face on 99 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: everyday usage currency or coins would be inappropriate. I think 100 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: it's true for Obama, true for Biden. I think it's 101 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: true for Trump. So for all you yahoos that think 102 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,160 Speaker 1: that I just suck up to Trump all the time, 103 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: well here's an exception. Well what does the law say 104 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,799 Speaker 1: or doesn't say in one of the loopholes about whether 105 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 1: they can do this. Let's go through some history real quickly. 106 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty six, here's the foundational problem. We have 107 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 1: to go all the way back to eighteen sixty six 108 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: what's called the Thayer Amendment. That amendment prohibits the likeness 109 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: of any living person, including presidents, any living person, including presidents, 110 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: from appearing on either US securities or currency. That was 111 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: passed by Congress in eighteen sixty six because there was 112 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 1: this really bizarre scandal involving a Treasury official named Spencer Clark. 113 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: Now the scandal itself is almost too stupid to believe, 114 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: but it's hilarious. Congress had approved a note like a 115 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: dollar bill note featuring an image of William Clark. 116 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 2: Know who that is? 117 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, you do. You're not putting in context Lewis and 118 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 1: William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. But the 119 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 1: stupid congressman neglected to specify William Clark's first name in 120 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: the legislation, so Spencer Clark, who had the same surname, 121 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: inserted his own image instead of the image of William Clark. 122 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: Congress was pissed off, as you can imagine, so Congressman 123 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: Martin Thayer of Pennsylvania added an amendment that reads this hereafter, 124 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: no portrait or likeness of living president shall be engraved 125 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: or placed upon any of the bonds, securities, notes, or 126 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: postal currency of the United States. 127 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 2: Close quote. 128 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: But there's a loophole. Of course, there's a loophole. Right, 129 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: here's where it gets legally interesting. And here's where the 130 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: administration is parking us to get away, Clark. The law 131 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: doesn't mention coins, and that was not an oversight in 132 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: the modern sense. There was never any intent to outlaw 133 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: living people on coin. Now, no actual historic person had 134 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: appeared on a US coin, and none did until Columbus 135 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: appeared on a coin in eighteen ninety two, and no 136 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: living person until the governor of Alabama appeared in nineteen 137 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: twenty one. So in eighteen sixty six, that's when Congress 138 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: was fixing the specific problem in front of it paper currency. 139 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: They weren't making a comprehensive constitutional statement about coins. Now, 140 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: let's fast forward to two thousand and five. The Presidential 141 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: One Dollar Coin Act of two thousand and five that 142 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: authorized the issuance of one dollar coins honoring each president, 143 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:49,679 Speaker 1: and it explicitly restricts each coin series to deceased presidents 144 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,439 Speaker 1: and goes on to stipulate a two year waiting period 145 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: after a president's death before they can be featured on 146 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: the presidential one dollar coin. Oh but wait a minute, 147 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: there's something even else, the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act 148 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty. Here's the cell phone. It'll be next. 149 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:22,439 Speaker 1: Don't go away. Hey, welcome back to the Weekend with 150 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:24,719 Speaker 1: Michael Brown. Got have you with me? Appreciate you tuning in. 151 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:27,559 Speaker 1: If you like what we do on the weekend. I'm 152 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,320 Speaker 1: gonna keep pushing this because I've seen the numbers and 153 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: I know that we're getting a lot of listeners that 154 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 1: listen during the weekday, and I really do appreciate that. 155 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: If you like what we do on the weekend, it's 156 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: real easy to listen to me during the weekday on 157 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: your iHeart app or on your computer. However you listen, 158 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: you're going to search for a station with the call 159 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: letters KOA KOA. It's located on the dial at eight 160 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: fifty am or ninety four to one FM. Eight fifty 161 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: am ninety four one FM KOA. You hit that as 162 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: a preset, or if you're listening on your computer, you 163 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: can put in KOA NewsRadio dot com and you can 164 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: listen to me live Monday through Friday, nine to noon 165 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 1: Mountain time, and the show is generally the same. It's 166 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,479 Speaker 1: a little bit different. It's a little more loosey goosey sometimes. 167 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: But if you like what we do here, I think 168 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: you'd like the weekday program too, So check that and 169 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: stream me live during the week. Also, we're talking about 170 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: putting President Trump's face signature on coins or currency, and 171 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: not to bury the lead, I'm just opposed to it. 172 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 2: I just don't. 173 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: I don't like the idea at all. And I'll tell 174 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: you why when we get through all of the legalities. 175 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 2: In the history. 176 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: So I told you about the Thayer Amendment from eighteen 177 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: sixty six. That's the foundational prohibition that says no. But 178 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,359 Speaker 1: then there was a loophole, and one of the loopholes 179 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:02,560 Speaker 1: was coins. And then in two thousand and five they 180 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,559 Speaker 1: implemented the Presidential One Dollar Coin Act that authorized the 181 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: issues of these one dollar coins honoring the presidents, but 182 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,839 Speaker 1: there had to be a two year waiting period after 183 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: the president's death before they could be featured on those coins. 184 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: Then we get to twenty twenty, and this is really 185 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: hysterically a self owned for President Trump because here's the 186 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: truly delicious irony. A federal law signed by President Trump 187 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:39,679 Speaker 1: in January of twenty twenty one, literally a week before 188 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: his ternament office ended the first time. That law allows 189 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: the United States Treasury to mint one dollar coins quote 190 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: with designs emblematic of the United States semiquin Centennial during 191 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: the years of the anniversary, meaning the two hundred and 192 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,960 Speaker 1: fiftythem version. But that same wall, under a heading on 193 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:10,960 Speaker 1: standards for circulating collectible coins, says this no head and shoulders, 194 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, and 195 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: no portrait of a living person may be included in 196 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: the design on the reverse of any coin. Under subsections X, Y, 197 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: and Z. Subsection Y covers the two hundred and fiftieth 198 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 1: anniversary coins specifically. So President Trump signed the law that 199 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:38,320 Speaker 1: arguably prohibits the very coin bearing his face. Let that 200 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: sink in. 201 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 2: For a moment. 202 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: So how would they get around this if they really 203 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: do push? How would they get around them? Because the 204 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:52,679 Speaker 1: administration is splitting the coin question into two separate tracks. 205 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: All right, stick with me, because this is how much 206 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: of a dance we're doing trying to get Trump's photo 207 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: on a coin. Here's track one, the one dollar circulating coin. 208 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: I think that probably faces the most serious legal obstacle 209 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 1: because the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of twenty twenty. 210 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,959 Speaker 1: Where'd you ever hear, you think, listening on radio about 211 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:23,839 Speaker 1: the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of twenty twenty, Well, 212 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: you're going to hear it right here. That law says 213 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:32,200 Speaker 1: that the Treasury may meant for issuance during the one 214 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:37,079 Speaker 1: year period beginning January one, twenty twenty six. This past 215 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: January one dollar coins with designs emblematic of the United 216 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: States Semiquine Centennial. The explicit prohibition on living persons in 217 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,559 Speaker 1: that same act, that's a real problem for this one 218 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: dollar commemorative coin. So that's the first track. But there's 219 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: a second track, and that's called the twenty four Carrick 220 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: Gold Commiberative coin. Megan Sullivan, the acting chief of the 221 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 1: Office of Design Management at the US Mint. She says 222 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: that the Secretary of the Treasury has the authority to 223 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:18,319 Speaker 1: authorize the minting an issuance of new twenty four Carrick 224 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: gold coins. Now Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary, He says 225 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: he can use that to get around the prohibition. This 226 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: gold coin would be issued under the Treasury Secretary's separate, 227 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 1: broader statutory authority over bullion and proof coins. That's a 228 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: different legal category entirely where the portrait prohibition language, as 229 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: best I can tell, doesn't appear. So if you wanted 230 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: to put like currently you can buy a ninety nine 231 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: point ninety n solid gold US Eagle gold coin. I 232 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: own some of those. They're actually values well above five 233 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: thousand dollars. A couple of weeks ago it dropped down 234 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: to about forty five hundred dollars. Now they could do those, 235 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,440 Speaker 1: or they could do a twenty four car gold commemorative coin. 236 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: Then on March nineteenth, just what nine days ago, the 237 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: Commission of Fine Arts approved a design for a gold 238 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: coin commemorating the two hundred and fiftieth birthday showing Trump 239 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: leaning over his desk. Now that commission, that commission consists 240 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: entirely of Trump appointees. They're called the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. 241 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: It's the nonpartisan body did not approve either design. US 242 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:50,160 Speaker 1: Treasurer Brandon Beach, the current Treasurer of the United States, 243 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: confirmed that the Secretary of Treasury Scot Percent has sole 244 00:15:55,040 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: discretion on final design selection. Now you think that's the 245 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: end of the story with Paul Harvey, say no, Now 246 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: you need to hear the rest of the story, because 247 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: I think by hook or crook, legitimate or illegitimate, legal 248 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 1: or illegal, appropriate or inappropriate, approved, regulatory or non regulatory, 249 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,360 Speaker 1: by policy or non policy, or by fiat, I don't know, 250 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: but I would just bet you one of. 251 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 2: My solid gold Eagle coins. 252 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: That Trump will somehow manage to get his caricature, his face, 253 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: his portrait, some design of President Trump on some sort 254 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: of two hundred and fiftieth birthday coinage. I think the currency, 255 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: I don't think that will happen, And the signature on 256 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: the currency, I don't think that will happen. But let's 257 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: go through the exceptions, because there are a handful of 258 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: history exceptions. You knew this was coming, right, I just 259 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,639 Speaker 1: think it's hilarious that one this is going to become 260 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: you mark my words, this will become a huge political 261 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: issue because well today they're having no kings marches, right, 262 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: And when you think of people that are on coins 263 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,880 Speaker 1: or that are on currency, they're usually. 264 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 2: What dead guys, Yeah, dead guys. 265 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 1: Or if you think of the British pound, oh that's 266 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: got the monarchy on it. So we're talking about this 267 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 1: on no king's day. And that's what they'll claim is that, 268 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: oh my gosh, we're turning into a monarchy. He's an authoritarian, 269 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,120 Speaker 1: he's a fascist, he's a Marxist, he's a communist, he's 270 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: a king, he's a dictator. Let's go through the exceptions. 271 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: That's coming up next. Don't go away. 272 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:02,879 Speaker 2: To night. Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA 273 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 2: director of talk show host Michael Brown. 274 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:07,000 Speaker 1: Brownie, no, Brownie, You're doing a heck of a job 275 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: the Weekend with Michael Brown. Welcome back to the Weekend 276 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: with Michael Brown. Glad to have you ba with me. 277 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: I appreciate you tuning in. Go follow me on X 278 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:16,159 Speaker 1: It's at Michael D. 279 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 2: Brown. 280 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: So I'm curious we're talking. We're talking about this move 281 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: that's a foot to put Trump's portrait picture drawing design 282 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 1: something or a signature on currency, or the portrait picture 283 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:38,320 Speaker 1: designed something on a coin, whether it's actual usage coinage 284 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: or usage currency that we use in every day transactions, 285 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 1: or it's a commemorative coin which would still be legitimate 286 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: US currency US coinage, but not typically the thing that 287 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: you would take and pay extra for like you would 288 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: buy a you know, a one dollar commemorative coin and 289 00:18:57,680 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 1: it costs, you know, twenty five dollars or one hundred 290 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: dollars or whatever it is. You're not going to go 291 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: out there and use that at face value for a dollar, 292 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: and nobody's gonna, you know, sell you a pack of 293 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: cigarettes and give you change because I don't know, maybe 294 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 1: a pack of segrettes. It costs twenty five dollars. But 295 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: I'd be curious, because I haven't told you yet why 296 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: I object to this, but I'd like to hear whether, 297 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 1: without having finished the segment on this, whether or not 298 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 1: you would like to see Trump's image on either a 299 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: commemorative collin or actual coinage R currency that we use, 300 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,640 Speaker 1: or his signature text me three three one zero three 301 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: three three one zero three. Just kind of a quick, 302 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: you know, poll, not technically a poll. I'm just kind 303 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: of curious if you have strong feelings one way or 304 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: the other, and while you've got those feelings, so do that. 305 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: So we've walked through we've gone from eighteen sixty six 306 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:03,200 Speaker 1: all the way through March of this year, March nineteenth, 307 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: just what last week ago, nine days ago, that's when 308 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,879 Speaker 1: the Commission of Fine Arts approved a design for a 309 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: gold coin commemorating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary birthday, 310 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: showing Trump leaning over his desk. 311 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 2: I've seen it. 312 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: It's just he's leaning over the rose, the resolute desk 313 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 1: in the Oval Office. You know, his arms are kind 314 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: of spread and he's kind of leaning and you know, 315 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: staring into the camera or into the drawing. The Citizens 316 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: Coinage Advisory Committee, the nonpartisan body, didn't approve the design, 317 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:40,439 Speaker 1: but one that is consisting entirely of Trump appointees. The 318 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: Commission of Fine Arts did approve it, and the Treasurer 319 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: of the United States, which is separate from the Secretary 320 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: of the Treasury, says that Scott Descent has the sole 321 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: discretion on the final design selection, and of course I 322 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:57,160 Speaker 1: wanted to walk through some exceptions. In nineteen twenty six, 323 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 1: to celebrate the country's from one hundred and fifty birthday, 324 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: a half dollar was minted featuring President Calvin Coolidge. They 325 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:11,160 Speaker 1: made him the first living president to appear on a coin. 326 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety five, Eunice Kennedy Shriver appeared on a 327 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:22,400 Speaker 1: commemorative silver dollar honoring the Special Olympics. Those are all 328 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,879 Speaker 1: examples of commemorative coins they're not intended to be broadly 329 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: used as money. The Coolidge coin, which is the closest 330 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: historical parallel I can find, is pretty instructing because most 331 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: of the one million coin struck. Guess what happened. They 332 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 1: were eventually returned to the US Mint and they were melted. 333 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,640 Speaker 1: So now, if you can find a surviving specimen, that's 334 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: quite interesting for vintage coin collectors, But the public public 335 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: didn't embrace it at all. Most of the coins got 336 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: sent back to the Mint. So there's a deeper There's 337 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: a deeper principle here that I'm raising, and I think 338 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: this is the argument that might resonate with you. Anybody 339 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: with an understanding of history or numismatics. The collection of 340 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: coins knows that the Declaration of our Independence was our 341 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 1: founder's statement for cutting the ties between the colonies and 342 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:33,439 Speaker 1: King George. And for two hundred and fifty years since 343 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: that great document the Declaration of Independence was signed, with 344 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 1: just a few controversial exceptions, not one nation on this 345 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: planet has issued coins with the image of a democratically 346 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 1: elected leader during the time of their service. Let me 347 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: repeat that, for two hundred and fifty years since we 348 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:03,720 Speaker 1: declared our Indians not one nation on Earth that I 349 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:05,919 Speaker 1: could find. If you can find an exception, I'd like 350 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: to see a photo. Not one nation has issued coins 351 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: with the image of a democratically elected leader during the 352 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: time of their service on those coins. I'm not talking 353 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: about a commemorative coin, not one like Coolidge, where it 354 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:24,359 Speaker 1: was meant to be not just used in everyday transactions, 355 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: but a collector's item. And even then nobody really wanted 356 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 1: to collect it. They got sent back, they got melted 357 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: down and used to make new coins somebody else. I've 358 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: never seen in person one of the Coolidge coins. Just 359 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:45,880 Speaker 1: as a history buff, I'd love to have one of those. 360 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:51,440 Speaker 1: I have no idea what the value is. Only those 361 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: nations that I could find that are ruled by kings 362 00:23:56,359 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: or dictators, by monarchies or dictator display the image of 363 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 1: their sitting ruler on the coins of the realm. That's 364 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:10,160 Speaker 1: according to Donald Scarinci, who's a member of the Citizen's 365 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: Coinage Advisory Committee. Do you know when George Washington's face 366 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:19,160 Speaker 1: first appeared on a coin. I don't have any coins 367 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: in my bucket. I hate karing coins. When do you 368 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: think he's on the quarter right? George Washington in the quarter. 369 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: George Washington, the father of the country, the first president 370 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: of the United States of America. His face did not 371 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: appear on a coin until nineteen thirty two, more than 372 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: a century after his death. The nation's first president himself 373 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 1: was strongly opposed to that kind of personal aggrandizement. He 374 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:55,880 Speaker 1: expressly said, I, George Washington will not have my portrait 375 00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:04,920 Speaker 1: on United States coins. We are done with. So if 376 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: you're out there participating in a in a no King's protest, 377 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: maybe that's kind of what I'm doing today because I 378 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 1: really don't want I don't want to break that lineage. 379 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: I don't want to break that tradition, and I don't 380 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: want Trump to be the exception because you know what 381 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: it will do. It will feel as in fact you 382 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 1: were number eight seven to two to two. 383 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:29,520 Speaker 2: Rights, Mike. 384 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: I don't care one way or the other about Trump 385 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:38,399 Speaker 1: and currency however, anything, Yeah, it's already moved on me. 386 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 1: Well you guys are they're flying in now? Where that 387 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: one go? 388 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 2: H Mike. 389 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: I don't care one way or the other about Trump 390 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:51,840 Speaker 1: and currency. However, anything that drives it left crazy is 391 00:25:51,960 --> 00:26:00,640 Speaker 1: worth it, I agree, But not this, not this, because 392 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 1: those will one go into collections. They will eventually maybe 393 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: be used in circulation. I don't know whether they'll be 394 00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: or people will just collect them. But I don't want 395 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: to break that lineage. I don't want to break that 396 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:23,120 Speaker 1: historical precedent. If George Washington had the understanding that we 397 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: had just separated by kings, and if you understand that 398 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 1: no nation on this planet has issued coins with the 399 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:36,719 Speaker 1: image of a democratically elected president or a leader, a 400 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: prime minister or whatever on their current coinage, you would 401 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: understand how historically significant that is. Because the only go 402 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: back to the British pound. How quickly did the British 403 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: meant have to start reproducing pounds, start reproducing their coins 404 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:03,680 Speaker 1: with King Charles. Yes, now you can still find I'm 405 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: sure you can fight still, I British bound with Queen 406 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: Elizabeth on them because she was around for what a 407 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: thousand years? So yeah, in my stash of foreign currency 408 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: that I keep, of course, I've got Queen a little. 409 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:16,199 Speaker 1: I don't have any King Charles go. I haven't been 410 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 1: to London since he ascended. 411 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 2: To the throne. 412 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,680 Speaker 1: I don't want us to do that. I don't want 413 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 1: to go down that same path. It just seems wrong. 414 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 1: So you can support everything Donald Trump has done, and 415 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:36,680 Speaker 1: you can still say that the two hundred fiftieth anniversary 416 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: of our founding is precisely the wrong moment to abandon 417 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:47,120 Speaker 1: the Republican tradition that Washington himself insisted upon, because this 418 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 1: isn't about Trump, It's really not. It's about what this 419 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: country is. And what America is is not a kingdom. 420 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: We're not a monarchy. And it will just feed into 421 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,199 Speaker 1: those on the left who are out there protesting today 422 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:05,560 Speaker 1: about no King's Day. 423 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 2: Oh it's no King's Day. Yeah, we don't have a 424 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,120 Speaker 2: king nowhere. 425 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:17,119 Speaker 1: We don't have anybody pretending to be a king. But 426 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: you put his face on a coin or on currency, 427 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 1: and now when you look at the global picture, hmm. 428 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,800 Speaker 1: We've just fed into their argument, and I think it 429 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: breaks a horrible, horrible no us phrasing it wrong. It 430 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 1: would horribly break a tradition established by George Washington that 431 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: said we just fought. Remember Washington fought, almost lost the 432 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: war for independence, and at the end of his presidency 433 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:58,720 Speaker 1: said I will not have my portrait on the currency. 434 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 1: He was right there, and he's right now. I'll be 435 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: right back. Welcome back the weekend with Michael Brown. Glad 436 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: to have you with me. I appreciate you tuning in, 437 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 1: so we're gonna switch gears for a moment. I you know, 438 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: I asked you to follow me on x at Michael D. 439 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: Brown because it's it's an amazing social media platform. I've 440 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 1: gotten to the point where unless in even people that 441 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: I know personally, sometimes they'll post something where I have 442 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,640 Speaker 1: to really go check it because it just seems to 443 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:43,480 Speaker 1: be either so outlandish or so incredible that I think 444 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 1: they may have been, you know, sucked up into some conspiracy. 445 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:52,040 Speaker 1: It doesn't really exist. I read this yesterday and it 446 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 1: caught my eye. It says, if you have been paying attention, 447 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 1: over three thousand farms, ranches, food processing facilities, and agricultural 448 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: facilities have been destroyed the last five years, some by 449 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: plane crashes, others by unexplained It seems that we have 450 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,479 Speaker 1: been living under an attack on our food security for 451 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,800 Speaker 1: some time that topic. Is that true? 452 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 2: Is that? 453 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 1: If it is true, is that number anywhere correct? And 454 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: if so, can we explain why is that number extraordinary? 455 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: Fairly standard? Is there any evidence of an organized or 456 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 1: sustained attack on our food security? 457 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 2: Well? 458 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 1: As I dug into it and really tried to find 459 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: out the truth. The claim that more than three thousand 460 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: agricultural and food processing facilities that have been destroyed as 461 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: part of a deliberate attack on the food security this 462 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: country is a falsehood, and it's a social media conspiracy 463 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 1: that has been widely debunked since it first started gaining 464 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,920 Speaker 1: traction in Are you ready for this in twenty twenty two, 465 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 1: So for four years, because then I did a search 466 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: on x for every post or formerly tweets about this conspiracy, 467 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:23,000 Speaker 1: and sure enough, there were many prior to twenty twenty 468 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,840 Speaker 1: two goes all the way back into COVID. But then 469 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two the numbers just exploded. The narrative 470 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: falsely asserts that a string of fires and accidents at farms, 471 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:39,680 Speaker 1: food processing plants, it's all part of this organized plot 472 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: to create food shortages. But every fact checker that I 473 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 1: could find, every independent like not just you know, the 474 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: Associated Press or PolitiFact or Reuters, but independent fact checkers, 475 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 1: and then going to original sources like the National Fire 476 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,440 Speaker 1: Protection Association, and how many fires have we had in 477 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: these kinds of places? The claim that three thousand facilities 478 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: have been destroyed over the last five years. It's not extraordinary, 479 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:19,640 Speaker 1: but it's actually an underestimation of standard industrial accidents. Here 480 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,080 Speaker 1: that we are home to more than thirty six thousand 481 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: food and beverage processing plants and over two million farms. 482 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: And data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System, which 483 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,120 Speaker 1: was part of what we do in that I used 484 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 1: to do in FEMA, indicates that between twenty fifteen and 485 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, there was an annual average of five three 486 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: hundred eight fires across all manufacturing and processing facilities, and 487 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: then within the AG sector specifically, there was an average 488 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: of nine hundred and sixty one fires at AG facilities 489 00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: and eleven hundred incidents at grain or livestock storage site 490 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:05,000 Speaker 1: every year over a five year period. Those sectors naturally 491 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:08,960 Speaker 1: experience well over ten thousand fires, making a figure of 492 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 1: three thousand actually statistically insignificant. So then I went to 493 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:20,719 Speaker 1: the National Fire Protection Association. They explain that these environments 494 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 1: are actually prone to fires because the food excel, the 495 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 1: food itself, the grain itself acts as fuel. The combination 496 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:31,760 Speaker 1: of combustible materials like cooking oils, grain dust, heavy machinery, 497 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: high pressure systems, and of course the high heat that 498 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: naturally all that increases fire risks. In twenty twenty alone, 499 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: there were more than almost five four hundred ninety thousand 500 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:47,680 Speaker 1: structure fires across the entire country. That means that fires 501 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:53,720 Speaker 1: in food manufacturing represents a very small, actually a very 502 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: normal fraction of total domestic fires. But I was curious 503 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: about to mention a plane crashes in this post. That 504 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 1: comes from two highly publicized accidents, both of which occurred 505 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 1: in April of twenty twenty two. One involved a small 506 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:15,919 Speaker 1: plane with a pilot in training, crashing into parked trucks 507 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: in an isolated area of a General Mills cereal plant 508 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:24,440 Speaker 1: in Georgia. So we're going to extrapolate from that that 509 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 1: there's some sort of vast conspiracy to destroy the food 510 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,280 Speaker 1: security in this country. Oh my gosh, people are nuts. 511 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: Then there was another incident, again a small plane crashing 512 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 1: at an Idaho potato processing plant. So you have two incidents, 513 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:46,440 Speaker 1: both involve small aircraft operating near local airports, both investigated 514 00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 1: as tragic aviation accidents, not intentional kamikaze attacks. The General 515 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,239 Speaker 1: Mills plant was not even physically damaged and did not 516 00:34:55,360 --> 00:35:00,320 Speaker 1: experience any operational disruptions. As a result of that crash. 517 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:05,160 Speaker 1: So I could find no evidence of any organized or 518 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 1: sustained attack on our domestic food supply. Then I went 519 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:12,360 Speaker 1: to the American association the Meat process There's the National 520 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:16,279 Speaker 1: Chicken Council. They say that occasionally fires are just a 521 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: normal part of the manufacturing industry and are generally contained 522 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:23,399 Speaker 1: very quickly. Supply chain experts say that the US food 523 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:28,319 Speaker 1: system is a vast, decentralized network of processors and distributors. 524 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,480 Speaker 1: So the loss or temporary closure of a few plants 525 00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:36,120 Speaker 1: because of isolated accidents that can't you cannot disrupt the 526 00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:40,520 Speaker 1: national food supply that way, Supply chain strains observed in 527 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:45,920 Speaker 1: recent years, that's what they're driven by. Macroeconomic factors like 528 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:49,360 Speaker 1: wealth of war in Ukraine, the bread basket of the world, 529 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:55,840 Speaker 1: or farm labor shortages, not localized industrial accident. The point 530 00:35:55,880 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 1: of the entire segment is that you read things like this, 531 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,000 Speaker 1: And of course I haven't checked the day to see 532 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:10,320 Speaker 1: how many reposts that particular one got. But Johnny Whiskey 533 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:15,719 Speaker 1: down in Texas is out there spreading a conspiracy theory 534 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,319 Speaker 1: that our food processing and our food security is under 535 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: an intentional attack, when just a little bit, a little 536 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 1: bit of research would say no. And actually, even if 537 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:33,280 Speaker 1: that number is true, when you consider the vast number 538 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 1: of processing and manufacturing plants in the entire country, it's 539 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:38,560 Speaker 1: a fraction, a mere fraction. 540 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:39,920 Speaker 2: The point. 541 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:45,800 Speaker 1: Don't believe every conspiracy theory you hear, but you already 542 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:48,400 Speaker 1: knew that. Hang tight, it's the weekend with Michael Brown. 543 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:49,319 Speaker 1: I'll be right back