WEBVTT - Inside the Senate All-Nighter Passing the One Big Beautiful Bill 0:00:01.160 --> 0:00:01.599 Welcome. 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:04.640 It is Verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you, 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:07.480 and we're doing a hybrid show this morning with the 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:10.559 Ben Ferguson podcast as well because I'm on family vacation 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:13.360 in Cabo. But when the Big Beautiful Bill happens, you 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:15.720 do exactly what we're doing right now, and that is 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:17.759 give you the latest, no matter where we are in 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:20.880 the world of what's happening and how we got the 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.520 deal done. Center, I have a feeling you are running 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:28.240 on a very little sleep. Did you pull the all nighter? 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:31.680 I definitely did you and I are recording this podcast 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.480 at ten thirty seven pm Texas time on Tuesday night. 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:38.519 I last slept on Sunday night. We were up at 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:41.480 nine am Monday morning. On the Senate floor, we began 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:46.520 consideration of the One Big Beautiful Bill under the reconciliation procedures. 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:50.640 When you take up reconciliation, which as you know, you 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.000 and I have talked about before, is the principal exception 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:56.800 to the Senate filibuster rule. The ordinary rule in the 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.440 Senate is you need sixty votes to pass legislation, but 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.800 budget reconciliation is a special process that you can pass 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:08.480 legislation with only fifty votes. But part of budget reconciliation 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:13.000 is you have unlimited amendments, and that whole process is 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:16.520 what's known as vot rama. We started at nine am 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.080 Monday morning. We went all day Monday, we went all 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.840 night Monday, we went all morning Tuesday, and we finished 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:27.959 the whole thing at right about noon on Tuesday. And 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.360 then I went and headed to the airport, got at 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:33.840 a one o'clock flight, flew back to Texas. I'm home 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:36.280 tonight in Texas and have yet to go to sleep. 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.360 As soon as we finish this podcast, I am going 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:40.920 to I've got a date with my bed, and I 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:43.039 intend to be unconscious, very very soon. 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:45.600 I feel bad for you, but welcome to how the 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.320 sausage is made. So I have a lot of questions. 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:50.040 I know everybody else is wanting to ask the same 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.520 thing before we get into what is in the bill 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:54.680 when this voter rama is happening. 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:56.920 You're one of the youngest guys in the Senate. 0:01:57.600 --> 0:01:59.680 Your stamina is a little bit better, I would say, 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:04.200 just ags and others. Do people sleep in their offices? 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.880 Do you guys hang out? Do you decide to have dinner? 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:08.800 Do you order pizzas. Do you guys go to the 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.560 to the basement rooms that you guys have? How tell 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.400 us how everybody feels the time. 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.920 So, yes, all of the above. And there is a 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.320 wide age variation in the Senate. I'm fifty four, I 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.560 can pull an all nighter and I'm just fine. Look, 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:28.760 Chuck Grassley is ninety. We've got a bunch of senators 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:30.360 who are in their eighties. And I will tell you, 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:33.799 particularly for the older senators doing an all nighter weighs 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.799 upon them. This was the longest voterama in history. Some 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.560 of this was Democrat delays. Some of this was just 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:45.320 the fact that that Senate Republican leadership was scrambling to 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.480 get the bill ready. One of the things to understand 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:52.240 is the timeframe of this bill moved very quickly because 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:56.280 President Trump announced he wanted this done by July fourth, 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.920 and he was leaning on Senate leadership and House leaders 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:04.160 to get it done. And so during the day we're 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:06.840 taking I think we took something like forty seven votes 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:09.880 in the twenty seven hours it took. And so there 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.239 are periods of downtime. There are periods in between a 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:16.200 vote when they're preparing the next vote, where they're revising statutes, 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:21.560 revising amendments, they're also getting determinations from the Senate Parliamentarian. 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:24.560 They're also getting scores. In order to have an amendment, 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.720 you have to get a score, which is the Joint 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:32.519 Committee on Taxation or the Congressional Budget Office will determine 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.360 how much a particular provision will cost or how much 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:38.720 it will save. Before you can vote on it in 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.960 voter rama, you have to get that score. So during 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.280 the day, yes, there are senators who are sitting back 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.400 in the cloakroom, sleeping, either on a couch or in 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.160 a chair. They're senators who go down to their hideaways. 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.040 Every senator has what's called a hideaway, which is a 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:58.200 smaller office in the US Capitol building. And most of 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:00.360 us have a couch or two couches in the high away. 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:03.720 And so senators would go and you know, get a 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:08.200 twenty minute nap there. But and you would see you 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:12.480 would see pages kind of a sleep behind the Senate floor. 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:16.080 It's going long and furious. In terms of food, the 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:19.400 food tends to be fairly lousy. It's kind of different. 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.480 People host it. They'll bring in they'll bring in pizzas, 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:26.600 they'll bring in sandwiches. One tradition that I started when 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:28.520 I first got to the Senate is anytime we do 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:32.720 an all night vodama, in the morning, I bring in 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:35.320 McDonald's breakfast and I just give it to all the 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:39.479 Republican senators. So I had seventy five egg mcmuffins and 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:42.440 sausage m mcmuffins and breakfast burritos that just showed up 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:45.400 about five point thirty in the morning. And you know, 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:47.360 you know, I got to say, there are few things 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.279 better after an all night or than than than Mickey 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.560 D's breakfast. And I'll tell you ben some advice. And 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:57.239 an old friend of mine gave me always always always 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.800 pick up the breakfast check and you get you get 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.800 some good will from you exactly right. 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:06.680 All right? So do you guys hang out kind of 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:07.520 in groups? 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.320 And I asked this because like everybody kind of has 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.440 their friends group that they hang out with, do you 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:16.200 kind of have a text thread and say, hey, we're 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:18.040 all over here, Hey, what do you want to do now? 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.920 And I asked this for another reason. There are different 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:23.440 centers that like to play different games. You, for example, 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:24.880 love to play foosball. 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:25.520 Uh. 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:28.480 There there is a foosball table somewhere in the Senate. 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:30.800 Do you guys like have games like that while you're 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:31.839 just waiting in between? 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.599 No, it's it's mostly just sitting around. Sometimes you'll be 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.719 sitting on the Senate floor at your desk. Sometimes you'll 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.000 be standing in the back of the Senate floor. In 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.640 the back of the Senate it's what's called the cloakroom. 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:48.040 The cloakroom has a couple of couches and probably twenty 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:50.880 kind of big comfy chairs. A lot of us will 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:54.640 sit back in the cloakroom, and then people will sort 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.400 of huddle at different places. But it it is a 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.279 little bit. I mean, you you hang out tipic with 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:03.440 the folks that are your closest friends. But look, it's 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:05.320 not that big a body. They're only one hundred of us, 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.080 So you end up hanging out with a lot of 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.480 your colleagues throughout the course of twenty seven hours. 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:12.239 In a weird way. 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:14.960 Is it kind of nice to see the Senate and 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:18.680 come together in that way where you can actually be 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.320 friendlier with somebody and chat with it. Does it build 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:22.400 relationships at all? 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:23.200 Long term? 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:27.200 You know? Sure? I guess I wouldn't mind doing it 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.599 without the all nighter at this point. You know, when 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.560 I was nineteen twenty twenty one, I probably pulled one 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:36.000 or two all nighters a week in college. And you know, 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.920 I'm in a stage in life where I'm not eager 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:40.200 to do all nighters anymore. 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:42.440 I like that. 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:46.920 All right, How close were we to this bill being 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.560 in jeopardy? I asked that because there was a headline 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.599 that came out and then it started kind of being 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:57.520 run around nine o'clock yesterday evening, eight o'clock Central. It 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.680 set up to six GP centers hold out on the 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:03.000 big beautiful bill, and there was word that the president 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:05.400 was working the phones. Was that a bunch to do 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:09.400 about nothing? Or was it really whipping votes happening in 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:09.920 the evening? 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:15.280 Absolutely throughout the whole process, this was incredibly close. It 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.920 was nip and tuck. I'll tell you. Tuesday morning, you know, 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:20.680 we thought maybe we're going to get out there five 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:22.880 or six in the morning. So I originally had an 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:25.520 eight to twenty flight. Well, eight twenty came and went. 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.040 Then I had an eleven am flight, and eleven am 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.800 came and went. I ended up getting on a one 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:35.559 pm flight, and so that and that was true for 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:40.000 everyone You had senators who for Fourth of July, one 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.240 of my colleagues was going to Hawaii, his wife and 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:44.400 kids were already there. You had people flying all over 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:47.400 the place for Fourth of July, but nobody could leave. 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.720 So they're canceling their plans because we were supposed to 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:53.120 be out this weekend. And this dragged on longer. And 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:55.920 part of the reason it dragged on longer is it 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:57.920 wasn't clear where the votes are. And so let me 0:07:57.960 --> 0:07:59.960 talk about some of the elements of what's in this bill. 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.600 Probably the single most important thing that is in this 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:08.360 bill is we extend the twenty seventeen Trump tax cuts. 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:11.400 That's a big deal. When we passed those tax cuts, 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:15.360 we passed them under reconciliation, but they only lasted They 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:18.360 were only scheduled to last ten years, and so if 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.720 we did nothing on December thirty first of this year, 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:25.440 the tax cuts would expire, which meant on January first, 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:30.360 there would be an automatic four trillion dollar tax increase. 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.520 Your taxes would go up, My taxes would go up, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.880 the taxes of working Americans across this country would go up. 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:39.680 That would have been devastating to the country, and so 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.600 we had to pass this bill to extend the Trump 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:48.960 tax cuts. Beyond that, we made historic investments in securing 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:51.680 the border. We put one hundred and fifty billion dollars 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:55.240 into securing the border, into building the wall, hiring border 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:59.760 patrol agents, hiring ice agents, building detention facilities and detention. 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:03.440 This is an investment. There's never been an investment like 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.560 this at this order of magnitude. One of the great 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:09.040 mandates out of this election was secure the border, and 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:13.599 this bill provides the funding to enable President Trump to 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:17.920 continue doing so. That is absolutely historic. On top of that, 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:22.320 we also had a massive investment into rebuilding our military, 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.040 an additional one hundred and fifty billion dollars into our 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:30.000 military to bring it into the twenty first century, and 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:34.000 in particular to invest in things like hypersonic weaponry, to 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.480 invest in more subs, to invest in more ships, to 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:41.880 invest in the Golden Dome, which President Trump rightly is advocating, 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:45.199 missile defense for the homeland to keep us safe. That 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:49.560 investment is in there as well. Incredibly important. Another component 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.480 of that is investing in the Coastcard twenty four billion 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.640 dollars in investments in the coast Guard. That means, among 0:09:55.679 --> 0:10:00.000 other things, building new polar ice breakers. Right now, China 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:04.440 is kicking our tails in the Arctic, and and this 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:06.920 is going to bring ship building back to this country 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.679 and give us the ability to build ships here at 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:14.240 home and have icebreakers so that we can defend our 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:19.160 national security. All of those investments are enormously important. 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:20.760 You know, Centater One that I think one of the 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.920 most important things about this bill, and one of the 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:27.439 things that you advocated for and I've advocated for, and 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:32.320 it's something the present very clearly ran on, was making 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:36.439 the Trump tax cuts permanent. This was a massive tax 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:38.480 cut for the American people. Now, I know the media 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.560 doesn't want to talk about that. I know they want 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:43.240 to say that none of this is going to have 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:46.520 a major impact on our economy, but it is in 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:51.160 a ginormous way, especially for lower and middle class Americans. 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:55.640 How catistraphic would it have been if this bill did 0:10:55.880 --> 0:11:00.120 not get passed When it comes to just basic tax policy, 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:02.880 in these skyrocking taxes, without this. 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:06.320 Bill, well, look, a four trillion dollar tax increase would 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:10.120 have been enormously detrimental to the economy. Many of those 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:14.000 taxes were on small businesses, their business to tax deductions 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:18.439 for things like investing in new factories, investing in new equipment, 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:23.880 and those deductions produced jobs, They raise wages, they incentivized 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:27.319 deploying capital, and so if those taxes were to go up, 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:30.640 you would end up seeing jobs go away. In twenty seventeen, 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:34.120 when we passed the Trump tax cuts, we saw enormous 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:38.360 economic prosperity. We saw the lowest unemployment in fifty years, 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.840 and the lowest Black unemployment ever recorded, the lowest Hispanic 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:46.080 unemployment ever recorded. And so if we did nothing, we 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:50.120 would reverse those gains by having a massive tax increase. Now, 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:53.400 ben the Democrats talking point, which every one of them 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:57.040 said throughout this process, and which the media repeated, is 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.640 this is tax cuts for billionaires. Now, I'm going to 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.880 give you a hyper technical legal term for what that 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:08.120 line is. That would be called a lie. What this 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:13.920 did is maintained current tax rates. So the lie that 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.280 it's tax cuts for billionaires is the Democrats say, well, 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:19.600 if we do nothing, there's going to be a massive 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:23.240 tax cut on everyone, a tax increase on everyone. And 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.880 since this kept the tax rates exactly the same as 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.480 they are today, the Democrats and media lie and say 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:35.000 that's a massive tax cuts for billionaires. Everyone is paying 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:38.880 the same rates. But as you rightly noted, where we 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:42.880 provided additional tax relief was not at the top end 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:46.520 of the income scale, but it was middle class and working. 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.960 It was President Trump's blue collar agenda. So what are 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.560 some of the new tax cuts that are in this provision? 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:56.160 Number one, no tax on tips. That's my legislation. I 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:59.880 wrote that legislation that is in this bill. That's going 0:12:59.920 --> 0:13:04.480 to benefit waiters and waitresses and bartenders and barbers and 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:10.720 hair stylists and taxicab drivers and everyone who's working and 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:15.280 getting compensated on tipped income. That is real and meaningful relief. 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.320 Also included in this is no tax on overtime, and 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.720 also included in this as tax relief for seniors getting 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.920 solid security. All of those those are not going to 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:30.600 millionaires and billionaires. They're going to working Americans. And in fact, 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:34.360 the Joint Committee on Taxation put out an analysis of 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:40.160 the distributional impacts of these tax cuts. They found that 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:44.839 people making less than fifteen thousand dollars a year would 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:48.120 get a sixteen point four percent cut in taxes, and 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:52.640 they're paying very little. People making between fifteen thousand and 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:56.000 thirty thousand a year would get a twenty seven point 0:13:56.040 --> 0:14:00.360 one percent cut, people making between thirty thousand and forty 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.120 thousand a year would get a nine point five percent cut, 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:06.679 and people making forty thousand to fifty thousand a year 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.160 would get a seven point two percent cut. So those 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:14.760 are our real and meaningful tax relief. And by the way, 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:19.640 those numbers compared to the impact for people at the 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.480 top end, those making over a million, was three percent. 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.920 And mind you, that's not a cut for them. That's 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:30.520 just saying that they don't have their taxes skyrocket automatically. 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:34.440 They stay at exactly the same level they are today. 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:38.600 Those that is real, meaningful middle class tax relief. 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.040 You know, you go back to the campaign and that 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:43.800 legislation that you just mentioned, the no tax on tips, 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:45.880 and Donald Trump talked about how he wrote it down 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.440 in a napkin after I think it was, if I 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.680 remember correctly, outing in Nevada, yep. And they was just saying, 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:53.800 this is a great idea I'm gonna write down. Yeah, 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:55.360 he was in Vegas, and there's so many people in 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.080 Vegas that work on tips. I can't tell you how 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:01.040 many different people have talked to me about this that 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:04.680 work in an industry that heavily revolves around tips. Uber 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:06.920 and lyft drivers are a great example of that. I've 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:08.400 had a lot of them talk to me about it. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:10.080 When they find out what you do, They're like, oh, man, 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.880 this would change my life because it would it would 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.800 allow me to keep so much more of my own 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:20.080 money while you're trying to make it. If you've food delivery, 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.560 you do it. I do it right, Uber Eats, whatever 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:26.080 it may be. That's another example of where this can 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:30.800 have a huge impact on someone giving them an instant 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:34.320 pay raise, especially when you need it. Look, I taught 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:37.120 tennis for years and tips are a large part of 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.920 your salary. You knew that, but like you want to 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.320 talk about giving Americans an instant pay raise, especially when 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:47.520 you're starting out or you're living more paycheck to paycheck. 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:53.840 This could have a catastrophic positive impact on our overall economy, 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.640 especially for people in these jobs. I don't think people 0:15:56.720 --> 0:15:58.600 understand what a big differences can make. 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.600 Yeah, it's gonna make a big difference to a lot 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:05.160 of people who need the relief. And I've had the 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:09.040 same experience where people really see that. As President Trump 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:12.800 and a Republican Congress delivering on our promises. You know, 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:14.760 there are other elements in this bill. I got to 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:17.280 tell you I'm particularly gratified because I had a lot 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.320 of big victories that are included in this bill. So 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:23.440 I mentioned no tax on tips. That's my legislation that's 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:27.720 in there. We've talked before about spectrum wireless. Now, no, no, 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:32.160 what does that mean? Every electronic device you have, your 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:37.560 cell phone, Wi Fi, your laptops, streaming, satellite, everything operates 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:43.720 over electromagnetic spectrum, and different bandwidths are assigned to different 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:48.320 forms of communication. Of the most valuable spectrum, the midband spectrum, 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:53.120 the federal government controls sixty percent of it. I wrote 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.080 into this bill a mandate that the federal government must 0:16:56.120 --> 0:17:00.680 auction off to the private sector eight hundred megahertz of spectrum. 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:02.120 Now what does that mean. That's going to do a 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:05.440 couple of things. Number One, that's going to generate about 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:09.359 one hundred billion dollars to the federal government. That's real 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.720 money that goes to the taxpayers that can pay down 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:14.520 our debt, pay down the lower the deficit. Those are 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.520 real dollars that come into the federal government. But I'll 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:19.639 tell you, Ben, that's not the biggest advantage. The biggest 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:23.720 advantage is it is going to unleash billions of dollars 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.439 of new investment and create hundreds of thousands of jobs 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:30.760 because this is about winning the race for six G 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.920 and beating China. And I got to tell you three 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:37.399 months ago, nobody in Washington thought we would get spectrum 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:40.360 auction in this bill. I wrote it. It's in there, 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:44.280 and that is going to have a massive job creation impact. 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:45.280 That's in this bill. 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:47.280 You talk about. No one thought it was going to 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:49.359 be in there. There was a lot of people lobbying 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:51.400 trying to keep that out, and you stuck to your 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:52.200 guns on this one. 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.040 That's part of the I think the success story of 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:54.520 this bill. 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:57.760 It is. And I will tell you Ben, the two 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:01.520 provisions that personally I care the most about that are 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:04.920 in this bill that I think will be transformational our 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.440 school choice and the Trump accounts. Both of those were 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:11.720 my legislation that I wrote. And I told this story 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:14.119 of the podcast. A little over a month ago. Senate 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.479 Republicans we all went on a retreat and we were 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:20.040 talking about the Reconciliation Bill and what we're going to do. 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:21.960 And I stood up and I said to my colleagues, 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.280 I said, listen, there are a lot of big and 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:26.520 important things that we're doing in this bill, that we 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:28.240 need to do in this bill, and I think that's good. 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:31.760 And I think that's great. We auto at least pause 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:36.680 and ask about legacy. Ask about what lasting difference we're 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:40.439 going to make. Ask about in ten, twenty thirty years, 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:45.120 what are people going to remember that is in this bill? 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:47.800 And I made the case to my colleagues for two 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:49.880 different provisions, neither one of which were in the bill 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:54.040 at the time. Number one school choice and number two 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:59.879 Trump accounts. Let's start with Trump accounts. Under this bill, 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:03.520 the federal government will create a private investment account for 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:07.240 every child in America, and it will seed that account 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.000 with one thousand dollars for every newborn child in America. 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.400 That money, then, parents and friends and family can invest 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:19.480 every year in a tax advantage vehicle. That money is 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:21.560 invested in the S and P. Five hundred to broad 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:25.920 based equity. There are two massive advantages of this. Number one, 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:29.400 every child in America is going to experience the incredible 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:32.960 benefits of compound growth. What does that mean? Little girl 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:37.040 is born, next year she's born, she has this private 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.880 investment account open for her. It's seeded with one thousand dollars, 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:46.000 and her parents or family or parents employers contribute five 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:51.119 thousand a year every year. If you assume the historical 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:53.320 rate of growth of the S and P five hundred, 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:57.280 which is seven percent, by the time that little girl 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:00.560 turns eighteen, she will have one hun one hundred and 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:05.119 seventy thousand dollars in that account. And if she continues 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:07.960 contributing five thousand a year, by the time she turns 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:13.000 thirty five, she will have seven hundred thousand dollars in 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:16.400 that account. That is massive. These are four oh one 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:19.239 k's for kids, And think about how four oh one 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:22.080 k's changed how we retire, how we say for retirement. 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.320 This now gives the power of compound growth to every kid. 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:29.600 But number two, this also will create a new generation 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:33.600 of capitalist. Every child will be an owner, an owner 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.439 of the largest employers in this country. That is a 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:38.919 big deal. If you're tired of seeing all these kids 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:42.040 that hate capitalism, that think socialism is a good idea, 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.520 that think Mondami up in New York is boy, that 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:49.360 sounds great. Let's elect a communists well. Having a new 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.439 generation of capitalists who are owners and have skin in 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:56.040 the game. I think in ten twenty thirty years, we're 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.200 going to look back and say that change this country 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:03.000 for the best. Are those Trump accounts. I wrote the legislation. 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:04.800 It's in the bill, and it was a fight to 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:06.159 get them in the bill, but we kept them in 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:07.240 the bill. 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:10.600 You know, you talk about financial literacy is how I 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:13.760 was described it by a school teacher recently that said, 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.240 I listened to you and the Senator show, and when 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:20.680 you guys are talking about these savings accounts at birth 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:23.920 and what this could do. They said, it also will 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:28.280 allow us to then have curriculum. Yes, it will be 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.399 for financial literacy, because we'll have something we can actually 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:33.680 look at kids and say, this is what you have. 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:36.800 We can show you your report, we can show you 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:39.639 the power of comtown interest, we can show you what 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:42.280 the tax savings look like. We can show you how 0:21:42.320 --> 0:21:45.720 to plan for your future. And then things like credit 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:48.840 card debt and how to balance a checkbook and how 0:21:48.880 --> 0:21:51.320 to save and why you don't want to take out 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:55.920 high interest loans become a reality and understandable to these 0:21:56.000 --> 0:21:59.600