1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:01,000 Speaker 1: To night. 2 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:03,680 Speaker 2: Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA director of talk. 3 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: Show host Michael Brown. 4 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 3: Brownie, no, Brownie, You're doing a heck of a job 5 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,320 Speaker 3: the Weekend with Michael Brown broadcasting Life from Denver, Colorado. 6 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 2: You've tuned into the Weekend with Michael Brown. Glad to 7 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,959 Speaker 2: have you joining the program today on your If you 8 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 2: want to send me a message, the best way to 9 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 2: do that is through the text line. That number on 10 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 2: your message app is three three one zero three, three 11 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 2: three one zero three. Use the keyword Mike or Michael. 12 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 2: On social media, give me a follow. I'd loved love 13 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 2: to have you following me. You might find it fun 14 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 2: on x, Facebook and Instagram. It's all at Michael D. 15 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: Brown. At Michael D. Brown. 16 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 2: I've been working on this concept for a while and 17 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 2: I want to kind of present it to you today 18 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 2: and it's it's kind of in a nutshell, I would say, 19 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 2: it's it's how our social spending machine, all this money 20 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 2: we're spending a lot of it fraudulently, is actually designed 21 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 2: to fail. And I think that's the actual point of 22 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 2: I was walking the dogs early this morning and came up, 23 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 2: you know, passed by some people. I knew walking their 24 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 2: dogs and every time, you know, it's just it's the 25 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 2: life of I guess being a talk show host when 26 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 2: they know that you are, Hey, what do you think 27 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 2: about X? And today it was kind of interesting because 28 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,400 Speaker 2: they were, for whatever reason, they were all upset about 29 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 2: the fraud going on in the hospice cases out in 30 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 2: Los Angeles, and we talked about that a little bit, 31 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 2: but it reminded. 32 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: Me of of it. 33 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 2: Can I give me an idea of an idea of 34 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 2: how of how to introduce this to you? So I'd say, 35 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 2: this is the setup. Imagine you hire a plumber to 36 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 2: fix a leak in your basement. So the plumber shows up, 37 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 2: you know, he catches your check and go and leaves. 38 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 2: But then you find out the leak is still there. 39 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 2: So you call the plumber back. He says, well, the 40 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 2: pipe was actually more complicated than he thought, so he's 41 00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 2: gonna need some more money, more time, might even have 42 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 2: to hire a subcontractor. So you say, okay, well go ahead, 43 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 2: because you've got to get the light here. You got 44 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 2: to get the leak fixed. But the leak gets worse. 45 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 2: He keeps blaming the pipe, then he blames the manufacturer. 46 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,399 Speaker 2: He blames anybody in the neighborhood that is telling you 47 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 2: that you need a different plumber. And then he runs 48 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 2: for city council and his platform is he wants to 49 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 2: fix all the leaks in the neighborhood. I think that 50 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 2: is how the American social services industrial complex is working today. 51 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 2: It's been more than five decades now, and we have 52 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 2: spent trillions of dollars on what homelessness, poverty, food, you know, 53 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 2: we call it food, insecurity, drugs. And after all that money, 54 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 2: after all those programs, all the press conferences, ribbon cuttings, 55 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 2: all the glossy annual reports, all of the politicians claiming that, 56 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 2: you know, this is the year we're going to fix this, 57 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 2: or they come up, you know, whether it's you know, 58 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 2: Gavin Newsom who's got a ten year programmed in homelessness, 59 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 2: or our current US senator, one of our US senators 60 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 2: senators in Colorado who used to be the mayor of Denver. 61 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 2: He had a ten year program that is now I 62 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 2: don't know, twenty or thirty years to end homelessness in Colorado. 63 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 2: And of course it's gotten worse and worse and worse, 64 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 2: so all everywhere, homelessness, poverty, food, insecurity, drug addiction, everything. 65 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 2: Every one of those problems are measurably demonstrably worse, not better, worse, 66 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 2: And I don't think it's by accident. It is, in fact, 67 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 2: I believe the business model. So let's start with the 68 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 2: most fundamental question that we ought to ask, is the 69 00:03:55,240 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 2: money working? The answer to that is an unambiguous no. 70 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 2: And the evidence comes not from you know, a conservative 71 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 2: think tank. It comes from our own government auditors, the 72 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 2: General Accountability Office, all the state level watchdogs, who has 73 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 2: spent years trying to figure out where the money went. 74 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 2: So let's go to poverty first. The United States has 75 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:28,840 Speaker 2: spent i'll use the word stager staggering sums on means 76 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 2: tested welfare programs ever since Lyndon Johnson declared his War 77 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 2: on poverty back in nineteen sixty four. By fiscal year 78 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 2: twenty twenty four, the federal welfare budget, including SNAP, food, 79 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:48,599 Speaker 2: housing assistance, child nutrition, all the related programs totaled more 80 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 2: than it totaled exactly one point zero four eight trillion dollars, 81 00:04:54,920 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 2: so more than one trillion dollars in a single year. 82 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 2: Federal welfare spending now represents sixteen percent of all federal spending. 83 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:15,239 Speaker 2: Now here's the part where I want your blood to boil. 84 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 2: Welfare spending per person that is in poverty has gone 85 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 2: from two thousand, seven hundred and one dollars in nineteen 86 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 2: sixty nine to over twenty nine thousand dollars in twenty fourteen, 87 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 2: I'm sorry, twenty twenty four all adjusted for inflation. So 88 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 2: for a family of four, that's one hundred and sixteen thousand, 89 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 2: eight hundred and fifty six dollars in annual government expenditure, 90 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 2: and the federal poverty threshold for a family of four 91 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 2: is thirty two thousand, one hundred thirty dollars. In other words, 92 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 2: we are spending nearly four times the poverty line on 93 00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 2: each poor family, and they're still poor. If we simply 94 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 2: wrote them a check, we would eliminate poverty by the 95 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 2: federal government's own math. Instead, where does the money go. 96 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 2: It disappears into the machine. The poverty rate itself tells 97 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 2: the story, because, after briefly falling in the late nineteen 98 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 2: sixties in response to some of the early anti poverty programs, 99 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 2: it has bounced somewhere between in ten to fifteen percent 100 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 2: for probably fifty years now, stubbornly resistant to that trillions 101 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,280 Speaker 2: of dollars that we keep throwing at it. 102 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: A program that. 103 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 2: Costs a trillion dollars a year but produces the same result, 104 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 2: that's not a program at all. It's not a safety 105 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 2: in that it's a sinkhole. And nowhere is that perverse 106 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 2: incentive structure more, I think, nakedly on display than in 107 00:06:54,320 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 2: the homelessness industry. In January of twenty twenty four, two 108 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 2: hundred and seventy four, two hundred and twenty four Americans 109 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 2: were living on the streets on any single night. That's 110 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 2: the highest single night count ever recorded. Now that milestone 111 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 2: was reached after decades of ballooning federal spending. And when 112 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 2: I say federal spending, that also includes the money that 113 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 2: trickles down to the state and local governments. The federal 114 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 2: government alone now proposes more than ten billion dollars annually 115 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 2: and targeted homeless assistance, and that has more than doubled 116 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 2: since just two thousand and seven. And yet you see it, 117 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 2: I see it. There's more homeless people than ever before. 118 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 2: Now California is the perfect laboratory for that experiment. California 119 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 2: has the nation's largest homeless homeless population one hundred eighty 120 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 2: seven thousand people last count I could find and leads 121 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 2: the nation not in solutions but in expensive failures. Over 122 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 2: five years, California has now burned through twenty four billion 123 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 2: dollars on homelessness programs. They spend an estimated forty two 124 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 2: thousand dollars per homeless person per year in parts of 125 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 2: Los Angeles County. That's factoring in shelter operations, case management, 126 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 2: administrative overhead, and then the figure balloons to one hundred 127 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 2: and seventy thousand dollars per person per year. I don't know, 128 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 2: I may be wrong about this, but I would think 129 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 2: for one hundred and seventy thousand dollars a year, you 130 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 2: could house somebody in a luxury apartment in Beverly Hills 131 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 2: instead of money left over for maybe a therapist, maybe 132 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 2: even a personal shift Instead. What's happening in California. The 133 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 2: encampments just keep growing. Think about San Francisco for a moment. 134 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 2: Homelessness spending exploded from two hundred million dollars in twenty 135 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 2: sixteen to one point one billion in twenty twenty one. 136 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 2: That's more than a fivefold increase in five years, and 137 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 2: the result there's more homeless San Franciscans in twenty twenty 138 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 2: two than there was in twenty fifteen. In fact, one 139 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 2: thousand more. The City of San Francisco spent five times 140 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 2: the money and got a worse outcome. That's not mismanagement. 141 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:24,559 Speaker 2: I think that's the system working exactly as design. So 142 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 2: two in twenty twenty five, a group called the Capital 143 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 2: Research Center did an investigation. They examined seven hundred and 144 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 2: fifty nine nonprofit organizations that had filed the meekest briefs 145 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 2: in the Supreme Court case Grants passed versus Johnson, arguing arguing, 146 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 2: by the way, the city should not be allowed to 147 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 2: enforce anti camping laws. So those seven hundred and fifty 148 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 2: nine profits not nonprofits, how much do you think they 149 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 2: reported collecting? Well, hang tight and I'll tell you. I'll 150 00:09:54,920 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 2: be right back. Welcome back to the Weekend with Michael Brown. 151 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 2: Don't figure on your podcast app, search for and subscribe 152 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 2: to the Situation with Michael Brown. The Situation with Michael Brown. 153 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 2: Find that on your podcast app app, hit that subscribe button, 154 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,959 Speaker 2: leave a five star review, and then that will automatically 155 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 2: download all five days of the weekday program plus the 156 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:26,679 Speaker 2: weekend program. So we're talking about the poverty industrial complex 157 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 2: because my theory, my contention is we've set up a 158 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 2: system that is feeding itself, not solving problems, not eliminating poverty, 159 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 2: but keeping NGOs and nonprofits and other organizations alive with 160 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 2: the lifeblood of taxpayer money they don't want to solve. 161 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:53,319 Speaker 2: It would be like, well, wait a minute, if we 162 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 2: solve poverty, if we solve homelessness, we can't pay ourselves 163 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 2: any salaries, We can't make any money. We can't give 164 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,360 Speaker 2: out contracts to our favored people, who then use some 165 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 2: of the money from those contracts to then, you know, 166 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 2: support the candidates they get elected to give us the money. 167 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 2: It's a horrible, horrible system, and frankly, I'm fed up 168 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,439 Speaker 2: with it. So let's go back to the Capital Research Center. 169 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 2: As I said, they examined seven hundred and fifty nine 170 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 2: nonprofit organizations because they had filed a meekas briefs Friend 171 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 2: of the Court briefs in a Supreme in a Supreme 172 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:32,319 Speaker 2: Court case called Grants Pass versus Johnson. They were arguing, 173 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 2: by the way that city should not be allowed to 174 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 2: enforce these anti camping laws. Those seven hundred and fifty 175 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 2: nine nonprofits reported nine point one billion dollars in total revenue. 176 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 2: At least two point nine billion are about a third 177 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:55,319 Speaker 2: came directly from taxpayer funded government grants. So they took 178 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 2: your tax dollars, use those dollars to lobby against enforcement 179 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 2: of the very law that might actually reduce homelessness. And 180 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 2: then what they came back for more grants, and the 181 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 2: problem got worse, so they came back for even more money. 182 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:16,599 Speaker 2: The mechanics of how the money gets absorbed shouldn't be mysterious. 183 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 2: For example, one major Los Angeles area nonprofit, People Assisting 184 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 2: the Homeless their acronym's Path, had total revenues of forty 185 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 2: seven point seven million dollars in a single reporting year, 186 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 2: and paid out of the forty seven point seven million 187 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 2: in revenues, they paid out twenty five million dollars, or 188 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 2: fifty two percent of that in employee's salaries. Before a 189 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 2: single tent was struck where a single person housed executives 190 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 2: at health focused mngos that are backed by your taxpayer 191 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 2: dollars routinely earned seven figure compensation. The president of the 192 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 2: Research Triangle Institute earned over one point four million dollars 193 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four, the president of Path that La 194 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 2: group I told you about the counterpart earned seven hundred 195 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,319 Speaker 2: three thousand, four hundred five dollars. Now, those are nonprofits 196 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 2: organized a sensibly not for profit, but somehow generating quite 197 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 2: comfortable profits for the people that are running the nonprofit. 198 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 2: It's interesting. It's interesting to think about where the money goes, 199 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 2: and you think about, for example, Secretary of State Marco 200 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 2: Rubio and announcing a new foreign aid model designed to 201 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 2: cut out the NGO industrial complex. He described the old 202 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:48,680 Speaker 2: system this way. I think it's pretty surgical. 203 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:50,319 Speaker 3: Quote. 204 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 2: We would go to a country and say we are 205 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 2: going to help you with healthcare needs, and then we 206 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 2: would drive over to northern Virginia somewhere we would find 207 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 2: a non government organization, we would give them all the money, 208 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 2: and then only a percentage of the overall money ever 209 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 2: actually reached the patients. Now, he was talking about four 210 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 2: and a but he could have been talking about any 211 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,680 Speaker 2: American city. And the most damning evidence that this system 212 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 2: is designed to perpetuate rather than solve the problem is 213 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 2: when you dig into it, there's a near total absence 214 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:34,080 Speaker 2: of accountability. There was a landmark California State audit. It 215 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 2: was the first large scale accounting of the state's homelessness spending. 216 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:43,359 Speaker 2: Found that nine state agencies were administering more than thirty programs, 217 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 2: every single one aimed at reducing homelessness, and the auditors 218 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 2: evaluated five of those programs and found that most quote 219 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 2: did such a poor job tracking their outcomes that it's 220 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 2: virtually impossible to tell if they'd been successful. For programs 221 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 2: spending billions of dollars, it's impossible to tell, according to 222 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 2: the auditors, whether they had any good outcome or not. 223 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 2: Let's go to San Jose. They renewed an eight million, 224 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 2: eight million dollar contract with a homelessness nonprofit based on 225 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 2: wildly inflated data data of the nonprofits that itself provided, 226 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 2: but San Jose, the city, never verified the data. San 227 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 2: Diego failed to track its funds completely. San Francisco paid 228 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 2: twenty five million dollars to charities that were delinquent or 229 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 2: suspended at the time of payment, and then another sixty 230 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 2: five million dollars to nonprofits that were later declared actually 231 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 2: ineligible for government funding. One of those organizations was run 232 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 2: by Gwendolen Westbrook. Oh, Gwendolyn, seems you have previously pleaded 233 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 2: guilty to stealing from the portis San Francisco, Yet they 234 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 2: hired her anyway, and guess what she did. Yes, past 235 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 2: performance in this case is indicative of future performance. 236 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: She stole again. Let's go up to Seattle. 237 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 2: A three million dollar homelessness contract was awarded to an 238 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 2: organization whose subcontractors built hundreds of thousands of dollars for 239 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 2: minimal work, in whose project lead was paid three hundred 240 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 2: dollars an hour while publicly claiming to everybody, Oh, I'm 241 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 2: just a volunteer. Then another Seattle homeless nonprofit employed an 242 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 2: unlicensed account accountant to handle millions of dollars in government funds. 243 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 2: So the general count The Government Accountability Office, reviewing federal 244 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 2: formula grants for homelessness found that funding allocations didn't even 245 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 2: account for actual homelessness rates. So states with relatively low 246 00:16:54,440 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 2: homelessness received disproportionately high per capitive funding. Connecticut and Louisiana, 247 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 2: among the lowest homelessness states, just happen to be among 248 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 2: the highest per capital recipients of federal homelessness grants. I 249 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 2: don't think any of that is coincidence. When you don't 250 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 2: have to prove that your program works in order to 251 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:22,200 Speaker 2: get your next check. Well, then you're never going to 252 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 2: build a system into your organization that shows that your 253 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 2: program is actually working. What you do instead is you 254 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 2: build a program that is designed to be renewed, so 255 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 2: you make sure you are able to manipulate the data 256 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 2: to show that well, oh yeah, we're our program's working, 257 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 2: even though the data shows that the problem is getting worse, 258 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 2: and so you need more money. Where is the accountability? 259 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 2: Where now there's a feedback loop. Let me explain why 260 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 2: that perpetuates this problem. I'll be right back. 261 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 3: To night. 262 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,680 Speaker 2: Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA director of talk. 263 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:08,520 Speaker 1: Show host Michael Brown. 264 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 3: Brownie, no, Brownie, You're doing a heck of a job 265 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:12,919 Speaker 3: the Weekend with Michael Brown. 266 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Weekend with Michael Brown. God to 267 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 2: have you with me. I appreciate you tuning in. Be 268 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:19,640 Speaker 2: sure and follow me on social media, whether it's ex 269 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 2: Facebook or Instagram, they're all at Michael D. 270 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: Brown. 271 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,119 Speaker 2: Search and find those and give me a follow. So 272 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 2: I think there's a feedback loop that's perpetuating all of 273 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 2: this money power, and there's a permanent problem. And here's 274 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 2: where the arrangement becomes something more than I think just incompetence. 275 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:42,920 Speaker 2: The nonprofit sector doesn't operate in a political vacuum. These 276 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 2: organizations get government grants, they pay executive salaries, they award 277 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 2: subcontracts to entities that are affiliated with that nonprofit, and then, 278 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:58,959 Speaker 2: with amazing consistency, they turn around and they use the 279 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,800 Speaker 2: taxpayer money that they've gotten to invest in the political 280 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 2: ecosystem that keeps the grants flowing. 281 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: It's a money. 282 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 2: Laundering scheme and it's perpetual. Be Giving an example Los Angeles, 283 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 2: developers that get that get non competing contracts to build 284 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,240 Speaker 2: homeless housing. They make political contributions to the very officials 285 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 2: that award those contracts, ballot measures that expand homeless funding 286 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 2: and the organizations administering that funding. Those ballot measures were 287 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 2: actually championed by advocacy groups whose leadership stood to benefit financially. 288 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:45,160 Speaker 2: So then Los Angeles passes measures H and HHH that 289 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,119 Speaker 2: required tax increases to fund homeless services. The people who 290 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:56,360 Speaker 2: opposed accountability measures called them socialistic. The people who supported them, well, 291 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 2: they had six figure salaries on the line. The American 292 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 2: of Fairs Journal did a detailed analysis in twenty twenty four. 293 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,440 Speaker 2: They describe the mechanism very plainly. Here's what they said, 294 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 2: and I quote. NGOs and nonprofits are awarded lucrative contracts 295 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 2: resulting in public expenditures in the millions and billions of dollars, 296 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 2: and then they work to support and elect the officials 297 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 2: who will keep the gravy train rolling. And the poor 298 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 2: beleagued taxpayers not only pay the freight for all this 299 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 2: large ess, they also have to live with the problems 300 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 2: that are not only never solved, but are actually exacerbated. 301 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 2: That's the old instructions on the shampoo wash rents. 302 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: Repeat. 303 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:50,119 Speaker 2: Go back to the Capital Research Center. They found that 304 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 2: a lot of these nonprofits now function as ideological and 305 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 2: political actors. So they're opposing enforcement of things like anti 306 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:04,760 Speaker 2: camping ordin, they lobby against accountability requirements, and they frame 307 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,400 Speaker 2: any demand for any measurable outcome, well, now you're being 308 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 2: cruel or you're being racist. For example, the Southern Poverty 309 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:17,920 Speaker 2: Law Center, which boasts an endowment exceeding seven hundred million dollars, 310 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 2: was the second largest organization to file and then meekest 311 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 2: brief in the Grants Pass versus Johnson case. You know 312 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:32,439 Speaker 2: where they were trying to allow to prohibate camping, so 313 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:37,720 Speaker 2: they used their vast taxpayer subsidized resources to argue that 314 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,399 Speaker 2: cities should not be allowed to clear encampments. When the 315 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 2: Supreme Court unanimously disagreed, the homeless and dust Field Complex 316 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 2: did not rethink their approach. 317 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:48,640 Speaker 1: They will. 318 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 2: They went looking for the next legal theory and the 319 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:52,880 Speaker 2: next funding cycle. 320 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 1: They weren't going to give up. They're not going to 321 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: quit now. 322 00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:59,439 Speaker 2: Before I go even further, because I think there's a 323 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 2: design law on this which I want you to describe. 324 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:03,639 Speaker 2: But before I go to that, let's just pause for 325 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 2: a moment. Are you asking yourself yet? Where's the oversight? 326 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,919 Speaker 2: Where are the people that you know? Let's go back 327 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 2: to the very beginning of the Program to Save Act. 328 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 2: There they are spending all of this time debating and 329 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,919 Speaker 2: not voting on something that eighty to ninety percent of 330 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 2: Americans say, oh yeah, we agree with that. You ought 331 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:30,959 Speaker 2: to have to be you ought to be able to 332 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 2: prove that you are a US citizen and then show 333 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:38,439 Speaker 2: that valid government issued photo ID to actually cast a ballot. 334 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:43,720 Speaker 2: They're spending all of this time not doing that and 335 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 2: yet talking about it all the time on television. What 336 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 2: are they doing about this? 337 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:51,680 Speaker 1: Nothing? Nothing at all. 338 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 2: Now, I'm not going to say that none of them are, 339 00:22:55,880 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 2: but honestly, maybe some that are, name me, some that 340 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 2: are really trying to break this cycle. Because as I said, 341 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 2: there truly is a feedback loop. It's money power creates 342 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:17,679 Speaker 2: a permanent problem. Where could you stop that problem? You 343 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 2: could stop it in the United States Congress. But what 344 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:21,680 Speaker 2: are they doing? 345 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: Not a damn thing. 346 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 2: So that gets us to what I believe is a 347 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 2: design flaw. It's not really a flaw. The essential insight 348 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,200 Speaker 2: that conventional political commentary always manages to miss is this, 349 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:43,919 Speaker 2: these programs do not fail despite their structure. They fail 350 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 2: because of it. The funding model for an NGO administer 351 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:54,119 Speaker 2: social services program creates a direct and perverse incentive to 352 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,719 Speaker 2: do what to perpetuate the problem that they're trying to solve. 353 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 2: So in most cases, an organization's grant is tied not 354 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,880 Speaker 2: to outcomes, not to how many people actually get out 355 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 2: of homelessness or achieve sobriety or escape poverty. But it's 356 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:18,879 Speaker 2: always the number of people being served. What does that mean? Well, 357 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:24,240 Speaker 2: more homeless people means more clients. More clients means more funding. 358 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 2: More funding means more salaries, more contracts, more subcontracts, more 359 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 2: political contributions, more politicians who will champion the next round 360 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 2: of funding. Meanwhile, the homeless and the poor, the addicted, 361 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 2: they're not customers of this system. They're the raw material. 362 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 2: They're the raw material in an industrial complex. What do 363 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 2: you need to keep that cycle going? Well, you need 364 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 2: homeless people, you need addicted people, you need poor people, 365 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 2: and so as long as you keep creating more of them, 366 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 2: you keep that cycle going. And what and and remember 367 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,879 Speaker 2: in that circle, the cycle that I'm talking about, where's 368 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 2: the money coming from? Out of your pocket? Who's taking 369 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,280 Speaker 2: it out of your pocket? And I know the IRS 370 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 2: takes it out of your pocket, But who tells the 371 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 2: Irs to take it out of your pocket? Congress does. 372 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 2: And then Congress not only tells them to take it 373 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,119 Speaker 2: out of your pocket, then they tell the Office of 374 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 2: Management Budget, the executive branch, where to send that money. 375 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:30,680 Speaker 2: So then somebody like Trump comes along and acts Doge 376 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 2: and says, let's go find out where all this fraud's 377 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,400 Speaker 2: going on, and let's try to clean it up. They 378 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:39,919 Speaker 2: drive Elon Muskin Douge out of town. The deep state 379 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 2: has as much to benefit as the nonprofits that are 380 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 2: getting the money from the federal government or the state agencies. 381 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:51,879 Speaker 2: They get it from the federal government, that goes to 382 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 2: the state agencies, that goes to the local agencies. We've 383 00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:00,399 Speaker 2: got to break this cycle. And it starts with somebody 384 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 2: at the top saying, oh, look, let's look down here 385 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 2: at what's going on, and let's break this. Why won't 386 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 2: that happen? Now we'll get to I want to finish 387 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 2: the cycle in a minute and get to a verdict 388 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 2: in a minute. But before we do, just ask yourself, 389 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:26,159 Speaker 2: why won't that happen? One word, maybe two words, uncaring 390 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:31,199 Speaker 2: and racist. If you want to break the cycle and 391 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:34,719 Speaker 2: you want to eliminate the funding, and say, if you 392 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 2: want to take care of homelessness or poverty, or drug 393 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 2: addiction or anything else, then go find the private sector 394 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 2: money somewhere. 395 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:44,720 Speaker 1: No no, no, no, no, no, no, you're. 396 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 2: A racist, you're an uncaring sob because you want to 397 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:53,640 Speaker 2: cut off the federal funding. And thus those that run 398 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 2: for Congress or the Senate, they won't do anything, they 399 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:04,480 Speaker 2: won't do anything at all. They're worthless. So I don't 400 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 2: think this is a cynical theory. I think it's a 401 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 2: description of an incentive structure, and incentive structures that produces 402 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 2: predictable behavior. So when your next contract depends on the 403 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:20,960 Speaker 2: problem still existing, you don't solve the problem. You manage 404 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:25,440 Speaker 2: the problem. You document the problem. You absolutely document the problem. 405 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,680 Speaker 2: You want to make sure that that problem continues to exist. 406 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,679 Speaker 2: You'll hold a conference about it. You'll hold you know, 407 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 2: a seminar about it, you'll publish reports, you'll have really 408 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,840 Speaker 2: impressive graphs about it. Everything you do and you do 409 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:45,879 Speaker 2: everything except what fix the problem. You're never going to 410 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:50,360 Speaker 2: do that because if you fix the problem, your raw 411 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:56,359 Speaker 2: material disappears. Wouldn't that be a good thing to actually 412 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 2: lift people out of poverty, to actually list people, lift 413 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,479 Speaker 2: people out of homelessness, to actually help them cure their 414 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,640 Speaker 2: drug addiction. Before I get to, let me just tease 415 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:11,720 Speaker 2: the verdict. Then we'll we'll take a break. The verdict, 416 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,400 Speaker 2: I would say, is this that's never going to happen 417 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,600 Speaker 2: because they use the politicians use that money to get 418 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 2: elected and they're scared of being called racist or uncaring. 419 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 2: And nobody wants to turn over to the private sector 420 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 2: because if you're a private donor, not being forced by 421 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 2: the IRS. If you're a private donor that's going to 422 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 2: give ten dollars one hundred dollars, ten thousand dollars to 423 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 2: an organization that says it's going to solve homelessness or 424 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,720 Speaker 2: fixed addiction, what are you going to do? You're going 425 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 2: to want to see results. Hey, for my ten thousand 426 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 2: dollars or for my one hundred dollars or for my 427 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,560 Speaker 2: ten dollars, tell me what that accomplished. What did you 428 00:28:59,600 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 2: spend it? 429 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 3: Though? 430 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 2: Because you will demand accountability. But once the IRS takes 431 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 2: it out of your back pocket in taxes and it 432 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 2: goes into that big giant machine in DC, goes into 433 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:15,719 Speaker 2: the sinkhole in DC, nobody cares. So what's the verdict 434 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 2: that's next? Don't go away. Welcome back to the Weekend 435 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 2: with Michael Brown. I appreciate you tuning in. I know 436 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 2: that you have other things you can do on the weekend. 437 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 1: And whether you. 438 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 2: Listen live, your affiliate delays it plays it later in 439 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,080 Speaker 2: the day or tomorrow, or you listening on the podcast, 440 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 2: however you listened to the program, I appreciate it. So 441 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 2: let you know your local affiliate or somebody know spread 442 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 2: the word and help us keep growing the program. I 443 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 2: don't think the evidence is in dispute. The federal government 444 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:58,960 Speaker 2: spends a trillion dollars annually on poverty programs, and still 445 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 2: poverty persists. We spend billions on homelessness, and homelessness has 446 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 2: reached record levels. I gave California music there. I could 447 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:15,520 Speaker 2: have picked any state, but I like to pick on California. 448 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 2: California spent twenty four billion dollars on homelessness in five 449 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 2: years and has more homeless people than it started with. 450 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 2: San Francisco multiplied its homelessness budget five fold, and the 451 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 2: problem still got worse. Government audits, even when they do audit, 452 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 2: can't determine if programs are working because the programs themselves 453 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,080 Speaker 2: don't track outcomes. Now, stop and think about that before 454 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 2: I go any further. If the government Accountability office or 455 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 2: an inspector general, or even any outside organization is doing 456 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 2: an audit and says you're not tracking, you're not even 457 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 2: tracking outcomes. If we just wanted to do a little 458 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 2: step by step, inch by inch approach, how about you 459 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:10,800 Speaker 2: just show the efficacy of your program. How about you 460 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 2: just show that for the bazillion dollars we gave you 461 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 2: you reduced homelessness by X. Now, I know they can 462 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 2: still affudge the numbers, but at least the thread of 463 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 2: an audit, the threat of some accountability, the threat of 464 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,480 Speaker 2: some senator or congressman looking over your shoulder, might cause 465 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:31,840 Speaker 2: you to say to your board of directors, say, we 466 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 2: ought to have some sort of accountability here. When government 467 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 2: audits can't determine if the programs are working because they're 468 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,200 Speaker 2: not tracking the outcomes, isn't that a red flag? And 469 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,560 Speaker 2: then contracts can get renewed regardless of performance. In all 470 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 2: these nonprofits earning billions and government grants use those funds 471 00:31:53,840 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 2: to lobby against enforcement and accountability. And when they use 472 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:05,600 Speaker 2: the funds to lobby against enforcement accountability, let's take it 473 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:11,320 Speaker 2: one more step, they also use those same monies to 474 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 2: make political contributions or they'll give you know, here's the 475 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:17,760 Speaker 2: other dirty way it works. I really want you to 476 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:21,120 Speaker 2: understand this. So let's say it's a five O, one 477 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 2: C three. Well, they really can't engage technically in political activities. 478 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,640 Speaker 2: But what they can do is they can award a 479 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:34,520 Speaker 2: contract to provide something. You know, a vendor that's providing 480 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 2: internet services or janitorial services. I mean, it could be 481 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:44,640 Speaker 2: that mundane, but they provide that to a friendly vendor 482 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 2: who then knows to make a political contribution to the 483 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 2: candidate or to the person in office of that nonprofits choice, 484 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,360 Speaker 2: and they know where it comes from. They know precisely 485 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 2: where that money comes from. You got a ten thousand 486 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 2: dollar contribution from x y Z janitorial services. You're going 487 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 2: to have somebody on your staff track where that money came. Oh, 488 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 2: they provide janitorial services to x y Z homeless nonprofit organization, 489 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,840 Speaker 2: and you don't want them to come after you for 490 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 2: being you know, racist or you don't care about homeless people. 491 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:26,360 Speaker 2: That's how it works inside the Beltway. And then the 492 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:31,120 Speaker 2: executives that are running those organizations earn those seven figure 493 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:35,160 Speaker 2: salaries while they're frontline workers qualify for the very services 494 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 2: that they're providing. Think about that. Oh, you are working 495 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 2: for a anti poverty organization and you're yet you're being 496 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:55,080 Speaker 2: paid poverty level wages. Wow, it's such a scam. This 497 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:58,200 Speaker 2: is not a failure of compassion. Americans are the most 498 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:04,160 Speaker 2: compassionate people in the world. The American taxpayer has shown 499 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:09,279 Speaker 2: extraordinary compassion funding these programs year after year after year. 500 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 2: And good faith. It's a design failure, and the design 501 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 2: is not accidental. It's the logical product of a system 502 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:22,400 Speaker 2: in which the incentive is to sustain the problem. The 503 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 2: accountability is non existent, and the political feedback loop rewards 504 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:32,919 Speaker 2: spending over results. At some point, I don't know how, 505 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:36,719 Speaker 2: but at some point enough people have to get and 506 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:46,320 Speaker 2: understand this machine, this industry. If you understand how Apple works, 507 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,080 Speaker 2: if you understand how Coca Cola works, if you understand 508 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:53,920 Speaker 2: how your local grocery store works, then you can understand 509 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:57,960 Speaker 2: how this works. If you understand how your local tire shop, 510 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 2: your local auto dealer, if you understand how you know 511 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,879 Speaker 2: you have a neighbor that's the sole proprietor they got 512 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 2: a small business, they employ five, six, maybe ten people. 513 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,640 Speaker 2: You understand how their business works, how they manufacture, whatever 514 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:14,120 Speaker 2: they manufacture, whatever service they provide. If you can understand that, 515 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:18,000 Speaker 2: you can understand this. And if you can understand this, 516 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 2: you can start raising caine about it. You can start 517 00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:26,440 Speaker 2: going to those yahoo's inside the Beltway, or it's your 518 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,560 Speaker 2: state legislature, or it's your city council, and say where's 519 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,320 Speaker 2: the accountability? Show me the results, and if you can't 520 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,439 Speaker 2: show me the results. Explain to me why you can't 521 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,719 Speaker 2: show me the results, and show me how you're going 522 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:41,080 Speaker 2: to put a system in place to show me the results. 523 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,680 Speaker 2: And again, I know everybody's busy, everybody's got their own concerns, 524 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:50,640 Speaker 2: everybody has their own problems. But we can't let this 525 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,320 Speaker 2: keep going because if we let this keep going, well, 526 00:35:55,000 --> 00:36:01,720 Speaker 2: the Republic is doo. Eisenhower warned it very plainly about 527 00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:06,280 Speaker 2: the military industrial complex, that unholy alliance, the government spending, 528 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:11,280 Speaker 2: institutional inertia, the political self interest that makes problems permanent 529 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 2: because permanence becomes profitable. What has grown up around homelessness, poverty, 530 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 2: addiction in this country is the domestic, equivalent and interlocking 531 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:33,319 Speaker 2: network of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, political donors, developers, ideological advoctates, 532 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:40,480 Speaker 2: all who have transformed human suffering into a sustainable revenue stream. Yes, 533 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:47,040 Speaker 2: who's being absolutely non compassionate The people that support this 534 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,799 Speaker 2: The losers, as always, are two groups who have no 535 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,839 Speaker 2: seat at the table, the taxpayers who fund it and 536 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,040 Speaker 2: the poor souls at the bottom whose misery is their 537 00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:03,560 Speaker 2: raw material start demand outcomes. Everybody, have a great weekend. 538 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:09,000 Speaker 2: I'll see you next weekend. 539 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:11,400 Speaker 3: Mm hm,