WEBVTT - Herb Morgan is running for California Controller 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.360 It's Randy Wang here on the John Phillips Show. Johnny's 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.960 back on Monday. Eight hundred two two two five two 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.600 two two is the telephone number. You can email me 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:12.079 at Johnny Don't Like show at gmail dot com or 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:16.160 Randywang Radio at gmail dot com. Subscribe to my substack 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.799 for the rundown of everything that's going on in the 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:20.880 state of California, all the stories that we don't have 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:25.239 time to get to at Randywangradio dot substack dot com. 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:29.760 Like Gavin Newsome proposing a new wildfire relief fund, even 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:32.320 though the last one he proposed none of the fire 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:36.360 victims actually got. Check that out at Randywangradio dot substack 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.640 dot com and search for the John Phillipshow wherever you 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:44.720 get your podcasts. Our next guest is running for California 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:51.960 State Controller. His website is Herbmorgan dot com. Herb Morgan. 0:00:52.080 --> 0:01:00.880 Welcome to the John Phillips Show. Herb Morgan. Hello, going 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.880 one there he is? Maybe Herb? Are you there? 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:08.039 Herb is here and it's good to be with you. 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:09.160 Were you on mute? 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:12.680 I guess. 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:16.679 All good, Herb. Let's go ahead and start off with 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.320 a little education for people that don't know what is 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.679 the job of California State Controller and how is it 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:25.560 different from the state Treasurer. 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:31.240 Two two main functions of the state Controller. I can 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:32.240 distill them down. 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:33.039 Put out the. 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:36.000 Annual financial report of the state, the audited annual financial 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:38.560 Report by March thirtieth. 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.080 She's missed the deadline. 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.000 Every single year since she's been in office. I'm speaking 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.840 of the incumbent. Job number two and probably a higher 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:52.440 priority is financial controls for the prevention of fraud. I'm 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:56.400 gonna ask you now how she's doing and how it's 0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:00.280 different from the state treasurer. The state treasurer is responsible 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:04.400 for handling the banking relationships and the cash management. It's 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:09.400 sort of an administrative role, but the Controller is the 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:13.440 one that approves the payments before the Treasurer sends them out, 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:18.160 pre audits, post audits all spending, and has plenary authority 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:22.840 to audit any agency touching our state money. That includes 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:26.520 the subsidiaries fifty eight counties, four hundred and eighty two cities, their. 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.720 Subsidies, the NGOs, the high speed rail. 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:32.280 Authorities, all of them are subject to the reporting and 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:34.480 auditing of the State Controller. 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:38.120 Well with that, herb introduce yourself to anyone that doesn't 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.399 know you. Who are you and why do you want 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:41.000 this job? 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:46.080 I feel like Admiral Stockdale in the ninety two presidential debate. 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.000 Who am I? Why am I here? 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:48.120 So? 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:49.280 I am Herb Morgan. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:53.239 I am a Californian almost lifelong. I had my first 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:57.960 first birthday here on Route sixty six in nineteen sixty seven. 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:02.560 Grew up in southern California. I spent thirty nine years 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:05.079 in finance. I don't know if you all think that's 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:08.280 a good requirement that you have a background in finance 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:11.240 to be the state controller. Your other choice is somebody 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:15.799 who was an administrative assistant to Mayor Gavin Newsom in 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.760 San Francisco. Spent thirty nine years in finance, married for 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:23.400 thirty four years, two brown kids. Finished up my career 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.000 in March sixteenth of this year, I retired as a 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:30.200 senior managing Director and chief Investment Officer for Canter Fitzgerald, 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:33.720 and I am now ready to go to phase two, 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:37.000 which is to serve the state of California, because I 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:40.840 believe it has become a criminal enterprise from top to bottom. 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.600 The source for that is our immense wealth. 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.520 They take it, they attack it and the programs with 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:50.000 compassion that we wish to fund as Californians are being 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:53.320 systematically looted by bad actors. 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.560 Well, and one of the most prominent examples of that 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:59.920 happened during COVID, where we still don't know the true number, 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:04.160 but estimate show that the state of California doled out 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:10.240 more than thirty billion dollars in fraudulent unemployment fraud. 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:15.400 What went wrong there, Well, I have to update your 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:19.159 number because we now have a self admitted number by 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:25.440 the Employment Development Department itself eed D fifty five billion. 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:28.920 And what went wrong was we shut down our economy. 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.000 That was misguided. You can thank Governor Newsom for that 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:35.520 and his executive actions. When you shut down the economy, 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.159 people lose their job. When people lose their job all 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:42.320 at once, they apply for unemployment all at once. And 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:44.760 the Employment Development Department said, what do we do? We 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.200 have limited systems. We have to make sure they're eligible. 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:52.880 So they decided to suspend the eligibility verification. 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:55.640 And they gave unemployment benefits to. 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:59.960 Prisoners, to gang bangers all up and down our beautiful 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:04.400 Golden state. They ran our trust fund to zero. They 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:08.719 borrowed an additional twenty billion dollars from the federal government 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:12.040 Trust Fund. Nineteen other states did the same thing. Nineteen 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:14.960 other states repaid the loan, one state and one state 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.960 only defaulted on its twenty billion dollar borrowing from the 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:22.119 federal government. That's California. We never budgeted to repay the loan. 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.680 The California the United States of America, has a way 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.160 to get that back, So they raised our federal unemployment 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:32.960 tax on every employer in the state effective January first 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.799 of this year. Every employer is paying a higher tax 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:39.880 because Gavin Newsom couldn't find a way over seven years 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:42.279 to repay a twenty billion dollar loan out of a 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.599 three hundred and twenty billion dollar budget. 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.320 Yeah, I think you're right. We're the only state that 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:50.240 hasn't paid back that money. And Gavin was asked about 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.840 this at his big May revised presser and he claimed, well, 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:56.600 I've always wanted us to do it, but the legislature 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:57.360 just won't let me. 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:03.719 Well, he that is a classic Newsom lie, because Gavin 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:06.560 Newsom could have proposed it in the budget. The budget 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:10.480 he put out posed budget in January. That's at his hand. 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.600 The May revision is at his hand. The legislature has 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.600 not weighed in yet. The legislature will have final approval, 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:18.520 and I guarantee you they will take he asked for 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.240 three hundred and fifty billion yesterday. They're going to take 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.280 him to three hundred and seventy billion, which, by the way, 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:26.200 is a doubling from the one. 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:29.000 Hundred and eighty five billion a year pre COVID. We 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:30.679 have doubled state spending. 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.760 I ask you this question, is there a product, service, 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:37.960 output metric of state government that is better having doubled 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:38.479 the budget? 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:39.599 The answer, of course is no. 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:43.120 Is there an output metric measurable of any kind of 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:46.000 state government that is equal to what it was seven 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:47.360 years ago before. 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:47.880 We double the budget? 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.480 The answer again is no, which leads you to conclude 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:54.880 that our state government is in fact a criminal operation. 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:59.160 Well, and I'd love to get into that deeper, because 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:01.640 we have heard this for quite a while. Steve Hilton's 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.120 been talking about this, that the state budget was in 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:07.840 the one hundred and ninety to two hundred billion dollar 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:10.800 range seven years ago. Now we're at three hundred and 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:15.000 fifty plus. What exactly are we spending all of that 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:18.840 money on a How did the state budget get that 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:21.520 much bigger in such a short amount of time. Where 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:22.720 is that money going? 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.200 Well, Health and Human services is a big one, and 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:30.880 all the different subsidiaries there. We have Prop ninety eight, 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.360 which ensures a forty percent of our general fund revenue 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.520 goes to education. This year's education budget is one hundred 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.520 and forty billion. When you combine the state funds with 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.560 the federal funds, we're at twenty seven thousand, seven hundred 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:47.120 and seventy six dollars per kid. Yet the metric the scorecard, 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:51.440 we are forty six in the nation in education in 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:54.520 terms of reading and mathematical comprehension at the fourth grade level. 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:57.560 We have over one. 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.720 Third of all people in californi ornie I didn't even 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.360 qualify that as legal people in California. Over one third 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:09.920 received medical benefits. We have massive CalFresh, we have massive. 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:13.960 Spending through nngos, massive capital projects. 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:18.680 Think high speed rail nine to one system that costs 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:23.680 five hundred million dollars and was abandoned. We've we got 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:27.440 the phizzcal system. This is the best one. Randy Fizcal 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:31.600 billion dollars twenty years to create a searchable database of 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.600 financial transactions for the public to view. It is a 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:38.000 complete failure. It doesn't work. Two weeks ago, I set 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:41.160 out to build a system to do what fiscal was 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:45.400 supposed to do. We got a volunteer, We spent fifty hours, 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.679 fifteen hundred dollars, and I have built what the state 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.920 could not build for one billion dollars over twenty years. 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:54.120 I launched it. 0:08:54.040 --> 0:09:00.000 This week on a new website, California Radical Transparency dot com. 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:04.560 You can search two hundred million state transactions that I 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:08.760 was able to scrape of various public databases, compile in 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.120 one place for the citizens to view the state spending. 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.080 This is the prototype for what I'll do when I'm 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:17.679 elected state Controller and I take office in January. 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:21.000 I just pulled up the website. Look at that. I'll 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.560 be digging through that during the commercial breaks. California Radical 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.559 Transparency dot Com. You know that leads to a whole 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:32.000 other question. You know, we are the technology capital of 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:36.360 the world. Silicon Valley is here. But when it comes 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.800 to anything when you're talking about improving technology in the 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:44.320 state of California, whether it's something as simple as building 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:47.559 a website, building a database like you mentioned, updating nine 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.120 to one one. How is it that we are never 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:54.640 relying on the tech world that is here, and instead 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.679 we're doing the traditional bidding process to whoever's the most 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:02.280 politically connected, whether they have any idea what they're doing 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:05.520 or not. It sure seems that the big tech companies 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:09.560 that are based here could help us modernize our government 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:10.520 pretty quickly. 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:15.560 Well, they could, and many things could be outsourced. I 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:19.000 mean a couple of examples. Right now, we're operating on 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:23.520 a payroll system that we built ourselves from the nineteen seventies. 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:27.360 Now the state controller is responsible for state payroll. The 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:28.640 first thing I'm going to do when I get in 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:30.959 office is I'm going to call the three leading payroll 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:34.240 companies in America and say, this is what I spend 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:37.320 processing payroll on a self built system and maintaining and 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:39.920 servicing a system. If you can do it for half 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:41.960 that cost, guess what, you're going to get a contract 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:43.800 from the State of California. You're going to be very 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:45.680 happy because we're very big, and your stock price is 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:46.679 probably going to go up. 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:48.040 That's an easy solution. 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:53.120 But they don't do that. It's this cultural ineptitude. It's 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:56.440 not my job. I don't want to deliver results. And 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:00.280 another great example is this diaper program the governor, and 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:00.679 he's so. 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:01.520 Brazen about it. 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.520 I don't know if he's just unintelligent, which he claims 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:08.560 he's une intelligent, he admits that publicly, or if he's 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.079 just such a brazen criminal. He says, we're going to 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:14.880 spend twenty million dollars and we're going to purchase forty 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:17.920 million disposable diapers. Well, you don't have to be a 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:21.640 genius to calculate that at fifty cents. Go over to 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.679 Target and you can buy both diapers for your newborn 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:28.319 baby at sixteen cents a diaper. But he's going to 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:33.080 buy them through an NGO, a nonprofit run by a 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.160 friend of his wife's is also on her nonprofit board. 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:38.520 And I'm sure that they have to price. 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:42.120 In that NGOs nonprofit CEO salary. 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:45.079 And what in the heck business does the state of. 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:51.000 California have buying diapers to begin with, let alone paying 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:52.120 triple to the market price. 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.600 Yeah, that was a wild one. Nobody expected Gavin Newsom 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.160 to come out in a diaper press conference last week, 0:11:58.200 --> 0:11:59.920 but he did. But it is true with so many 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.560 different things, the contracts that we're dolling out for all 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:08.400 kinds of services. We are paying way more than the 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:11.120 market rate for so many different things. I mean, we 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.800 have so many instances of that. When it comes to 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.280 you know, like the City of Los Angeles buying a 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.360 building and turning it over to a nonprofit for housing 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:23.720 where they're profiting like crazy. It sure seems that we 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.640 need to help a lot more oversight on every single 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:30.359 contract and there should be no conflicts of interest whatsoever. 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.160 You are exactly correct. 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.840 And the beautiful thing about the state Controller's office, this office, 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:39.600 you know, let's see your listeners are probably I had 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:41.800 no idea any of this existed in our state. I 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:44.160 had no idea we had a constitucial office's job it 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:48.360 is to prevent fraud. But the controller is plenary authority 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:52.040 to mandate the method of financial reporting not only by 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:54.839 state agencies, but by all fifty eight counties, four hundred 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:59.280 and eighty two cities, all of their subsidiaries, school districts, nonprofits, 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.920 high speed and the method of financial reporting hasn't been 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:07.040 really updated or modernized since eighteen seventy nine constitution was written. 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.640 The what we're going to do day one is we're 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:13.360 going to build a large public database. Then I'm going 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.720 to require every recipient of state money to adhere to 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:20.920 my method of reporting, which is a secure electronic connection 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.520 between their bank accounts at the High Speed Rail or 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:27.880 the Fullerton School District or whatever it is, and my database. 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.240 So every time they write a check, or swipe a 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:34.079 credit card or send a wire, an electronic record will 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:38.560 be transmitted to this open source public database, which mirrors 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:43.560 what I've already built for fifteen hundred dollars on California 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.960 Radical Transparency dot Com. We will then build a transparency 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:51.640 war room think NASA Mission Control meets Wall Street training desk. 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:55.960 We will monitor this twenty four to seven. We will 0:13:55.960 --> 0:14:00.800 flag suspicious patterns for human investigation, and this will stop. 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:02.240 So it's one thing we got to go out and 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:04.280 prosecute the fraud and get the bad guys, but we 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:08.439 also want to stop it going forward. California Radical Transparency 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.720 dot Com lays out the plan to do that. 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:13.720 We can do it quickly, we can do it. 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:17.480 Inexpensively, and like any good business person, I'm thinking, how 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.360 do I produce more output for my constituents the state 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:25.440 of California at an actually lower cost but culturally in 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:28.160 California government, you tell them, hey, I want you to 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:29.520 do something, they said, well, we're gonna have to have 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:34.360 a scoping meeting, a marketing meeting, a DEI meeting, a 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.040 meet and confer with the union meeting, and seven years 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:38.440 later they can't agree on anything. 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:39.760 That's the problem. 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:44.760 The website is Herbmrgan dot com for his campaign and 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.000 if you want to check out his new website, the 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:53.000 California Radical Transparency Financial Review, just go to California Radical 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:57.160 Transparency dot com to learn more about Herb Morgan. Herb 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:00.760 Morgan running for California State Controller. Thank you so much 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:01.960 for joining us. 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:04.880 Thank you for the invitation. I'll be back anytime you'll 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:05.160 have me. 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:08.560 I know a lot of people want to talk about this. 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:15.120 If you are an avid radio listener, which every single 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:19.240 person is, then you have definitely heard of a certain 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:24.720 commercial that was just marked as illegal in the state 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:34.320 of California. For more here CBSLA ah, And apparently that's 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:35.440 not why it's illegal. 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.240 Chances are you've heard this jingle, but you may not 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:42.360 hear it anymore. 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:43.560 Go back to Mike Rogers. 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:46.320 Mike a judge has ruled cars for kids can't keep 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:47.000 using their ads. 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:52.160 Yeah, yeah, not in California. We've got the judges ruling 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:54.640 right here. And it all stems from what they're doing 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.480 with the money after you donate a car to them. 0:15:57.520 --> 0:15:59.840 Now, this all stems from all the Cars Are for Kids. 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:01.680 This all stands from a case where a man in 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:03.920 Orange County donated a two thousand and one Volvo to 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.360 the organization. He got two hundred and fifty bucks for it, 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:08.520 and he said, according to the judge, he thought that 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:11.880 money was going to go to underprivileged kids here in California. 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:16.120 He says, he thought that because of the AD's. 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:16.680 Creak easy you'll get a vacation. 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:22.400 Oh do we have to play the ad? I skipped ahead. 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:24.800 Yeah, because kids are our future is what the text 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:26.960 on the bottom of the ad says. But he was 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.360 shocked to find out that the money doesn't go to 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.640 kids in California at all, instead goes to Cars for 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.840 Kids Sister Foundation Ourrah, which is a Jewish organization based 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.640 in New Jersey that actually benefits teenagers. Now, this case 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.040 went to court in Orange County. The judge ruled that 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.920 ultimately Cars for Kids is using misleading practices and advertising 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:48.800 here in the state of California, which. 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.360 Yeah, the kids in those ads are like six years old, 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:52.920 violates state law. 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:54.480 I want to show you some of the testimony that 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:56.520 was given in court, and this was in the judge's ruling. 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.720 The COO testified that the organization's primary purpose is not 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:05.240 to help economically disadvantaged children. The COEO in court went 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.320 on to say programs include matchmaking for young adults and 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:11.960 gap year trips to Israel for seventeen and eighteen year olds. 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:14.440 That's where that's a little different than Cars for Kids. 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:16.399 That's where the majority of the funding is going. 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.520 And then also it's going for birthright trips. 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:23.000 And then also admitted that Cars for Kids operates no 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:27.879 functional programs in California except for a backpack giveaway that 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.840 they admitted it is also for marketing. 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.000 Purposes and branding purposes. 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.080 I want to show you the response from Cars for Kids. 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:35.680 Cars for Kids says, we believe the decision is deeply flawed, 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.960 ignores the facts, and misapplies the law. It's well known 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.200 that we are a Jewish organization, and our website makes 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.000 it abundantly clear. Take a look and judge for yourself. 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:45.639 Then they gave us the link to their website. Their 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:47.720 statement goes on to say, we believe this case was 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.040 nothing more than a lawyer driven attempt to siphon off 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:51.920 charitable funds for their own gain. 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:53.360 We expect to win on. 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:56.199 Appeal because the law and the facts are clearly on 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:58.119 our side. I want to point something out about their 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:00.840 first part of the statement that the judged directly addresses. 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:01.040 Here. 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.080 You saw in their statement look for yourself go to 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:06.360 Carsfrokids dot org. But the judge says, people that hear 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:07.800 this ad on the radio or. 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.080 TV, and they've heard it a jillion times. 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.760 Shouldn't have to go to the website to understand exactly 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:14.840 where the funds are going. 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:17.840 The judge says, the ads do not, especially when the 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:19.600 whole thing is they want you to call them. 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:21.960 The judge says, the ads do not make it clear 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.960 that this is an organization benefiting Jewish children in New Jersey, 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:26.800 and in fact, none of the funds are a very 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.680 small amount of the funds are actually benefiting kids here 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:31.880 in California. Now, as you heard from Cars for Kids, 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:34.480 they plan to appeal, but this is a long standing issue. 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:36.280 In fact, this issue has already been taken up in 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:38.399 other states as well, and judges in other states. 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:42.240 How many other states have had lawsuits against this organization. 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:44.240 Have ruled in similar manners. So we'll see how they 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:47.080 do on appeal. But for now, for kids commercials that 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.240 we've all known for decades, the longer allowed to be 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:50.080 played in California. 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:54.560 Very eye opening for sure, right, so your ears are 0:18:54.560 --> 0:19:00.000 going to be very happy. That's the moral of that story. 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.520 The phone number to join us is eight hundred two 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:06.400 two two five two two two one eight hundred two 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.560 two two five two two two. You can email us. 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:12.080 We try to read and respond to as many emails 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:14.960 as we can at Johnny Don't Like Show at gmail 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:18.399 dot com. I also have my personal email address, Randy 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:22.160 Wang Radio at gmail dot com. Search for the John 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:24.680 Phillips Show wherever you get your podcast. And by the way, 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.440 I'm just gonna tell you right now, if you downloaded 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.760 the twelve o'clock hour of today's show and it sounded 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:33.359 like the two o'clock hour of yesterday's show, I fixed it. 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.720 So download it again and make sure to check out 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.439 my five o'clock show. It's called The News Blitz with 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:42.520 Randy Wang. You can search for the KABC News Blitz 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:44.520 wherever you get your podcasts, or if you want to 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.560 listen live, we're on live at five after Frank Motech 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:51.720 on seven ninety KABC in Southern California. But if you're 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:54.359 in the Bay or listening online already, just stream it 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:59.760 at KABC dot com. And I gotta keep pitching this 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:04.320 because I'm so proud of it. I about four months 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:08.000 ago decided to redo the way that I do show 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:11.600 prep for this show and my other show as well, 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:15.240 and that was to organize it in a way where 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:19.640 I have every single day's show prep memorialized. I put 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:23.639 it on my blog, the California Report, which is the 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:25.840 name that I said I would call this thing till 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:27.639 I came up with a better name, and I haven't 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:29.679 come up with a better game yet. So it's the 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:33.040 California Report, and it is my rundown. I have I 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:36.720 think sixteen stories today of all the things that are 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:38.760 going on in the state of California. We don't have 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:41.120 time to get to all of them. I really wish 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:43.399 we did, and we're working on ways to give you 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:46.160 even more of the content that we already did prep for, 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:49.480 so stay tuned for that. But like, for instance, I 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:55.879 put together sixteen different cuts. Today we've gotten to one, two, three, four, 0:20:57.080 --> 0:20:59.159 So there's a lot of stuff on there that we 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:01.639 haven't had a chance to get to. I'll get to 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.200 a little bit of it at the five o'clock hour. 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:07.600 That is when I do my daily recap, my rundown. 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:09.600 Even though I don't have time to play you every 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.000 single story, I'm gonna give you a little recap of 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:15.480 every single thing that's going on. So check that out 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:21.359 at randywangradio dot substack dot com. Here is an issue 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:24.760