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Speaker 1: I've been covering politics now, going back to nineteen ninety two.

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Speaker 2: More elusive.

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Speaker 1: Things to find in American politics is a calif Moderate

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Speaker 1: and I say that part of it is the system.

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Speaker 1: Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to create a system that would then

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Speaker 1: incentivize the Center to be the governing force of California politics.

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Speaker 1: Of course, center depends on where you sit. Those from

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Speaker 1: outside of California may look at a Gavenuwommer in Nancy

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Speaker 1: Pelosi and say they're liberal. Those that live in San

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Speaker 1: Francisco would say they're centrist, So some of it is

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Speaker 1: sometimes perspective. My guest today is John Slavitt, and he

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Speaker 1: intrigues me because he's trying to do what arguably nobody

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Speaker 1: other than Arnold Schwarzenegger has been able to do, which

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Speaker 1: is essentially owned the center lane in a California gubernatorial

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Speaker 1: race and pull this off. We have seen many attempt

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Speaker 1: and he also has a background in Silicon Valley. This

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Speaker 1: is also in theory should be a strength and in

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Speaker 1: practice in the past has been a bit of a

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Speaker 1: hurdle himself. So I'm very intrigued why I invited him

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Speaker 1: on the podcast, because I think the California governor's race

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Speaker 1: is so wide open, and I think we still don't

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Speaker 1: know all the candidates that are going to be running,

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Speaker 1: filing deadline still a couple months away. But John Slavit

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Speaker 1: is a I think he described himself at one point

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Speaker 1: a lifelong Democrat now becoming a Republican, but really trying

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Speaker 1: to see if there is a center lane to straddle.

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Speaker 2: So let's have that conversation. John, Welcome to the podcast.

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Speaker 3: Thank you, Chuck. Nice to see you.

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Speaker 1: So let me start Well, first of all, let me

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Speaker 1: just start with why are you doing this? Why politics?

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Speaker 1: And when was the first time you ever thought you'd

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Speaker 1: get into politics?

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Speaker 3: Well, first time I ever thought i'd get into politics

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Speaker 3: and really seriously decided to run a few months ago.

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Speaker 3: I've been interested in politics. I've been a student of politics.

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Speaker 3: I've been a bit of a political and news junkie

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Speaker 3: for a long long time. I started my career actually

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Speaker 3: in media. I came to California at Third Right Sorry Scene,

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Speaker 3: which was sort of an early tech meeta company. Well

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Speaker 3: it was. I didn't work for see Ed, but I

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Speaker 3: worked for a company that joint ventured with them, so

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Speaker 3: you got it partially right. I worked for the founder

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Speaker 3: of the entertainment a guy named Yarroman used to be

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Speaker 3: Lee Masters. He was the former CEO of NPR before

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Speaker 3: the current CEO. So I came out to California to

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Speaker 3: work for the founders of Wired magazine nineteen ninety five,

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Speaker 3: prior to the Internet actually being a thing. So interested

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Speaker 3: in politics, interested in media for a long long time.

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Speaker 3: But I'd say that becoming a civic entrepreneur, which I've

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Speaker 3: done the last year with my own podcast really gave

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Speaker 3: me access to people in the state, Republicans, Democrats, independence activists.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I've had journalists like you on my podcast,

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Speaker 3: to Alex Michaelson that really got me underneath the issues

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Speaker 3: out in the state, traveling the state every week and

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Speaker 3: talking about what ails the state, and my passion initially

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Speaker 3: was to create a forum to have serious conversations about

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Speaker 3: problem solution in California. I'd say it was death by

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Speaker 3: a thousand cuts to decide to run, because you know,

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Speaker 3: it's it's a fraught time to actually run for something.

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Speaker 3: It's it's crazy, it's dangerous on multiple levels and difficult, and.

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Speaker 1: Its reputationally damaging to you even even no matter if

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Speaker 1: you do everything correctly.

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Speaker 2: And that's not.

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Speaker 1: Fair, but it's just the way Paul could be. It's

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Speaker 1: becomes so huge holistic.

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Speaker 3: Sure, I have my eyes wide open, but I'd say

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Speaker 3: that it was death by a thousand cuts, Chuck. There

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Speaker 3: wasn't one thing. It was many things. And in California,

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Speaker 3: I think the challenge, like many states, is civic engagement, right,

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Speaker 3: just the number of people who actually care. I think

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Speaker 3: in California right now, unfortunately, there are more people who

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Speaker 3: care about national politics, and some of those fights, you know,

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Speaker 3: the Newsom Trump fight, right, so much energy, but it

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Speaker 3: doesn't actually have anything to do with what's ailing the state.

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Speaker 3: And then people care about some of their local stuff.

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Speaker 3: But the reality is what happens at the state level

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Speaker 3: has a bigger impact on people's lives than anything else.

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Speaker 2: It's true in every state.

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Speaker 1: And I'll tell you an example of sort of that

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Speaker 1: frustration you're expressing about the lack of interest in state civics.

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Speaker 1: I was when I first started as political director at NBC.

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Speaker 1: I was and even before then, when I was at

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Speaker 1: the Hotline, I was really excited about getting to know

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Speaker 1: all the political reporters at all the NBC local affiliates

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Speaker 1: just around the country, and I thought, boy, what a

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Speaker 1: powerful I had my own thought of what this could be.

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Speaker 1: And then you come to find out there are like

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Speaker 1: there were like ten local news stations in the country

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Speaker 1: that bother to have a full time political reporter, let

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Speaker 1: alone a political producer, And in fact, I believe there

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Speaker 1: was only one in the state of California. And Kevin

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Speaker 1: Riggs I think was his name at KCRA in Sacramento

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Speaker 1: was sort of a Soccermano being the state capital, that

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Speaker 1: would make sense. But I remember, you know, you've got

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Speaker 1: you got my buddy Colin Conan Nolan down in LA

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Speaker 1: who you know, and you you brought up like Michaelson.

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Speaker 1: But it is shocking to me the and this is

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Speaker 1: look we have. Local media is now in a different

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Speaker 1: place because of the whole media disruption, But even before

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Speaker 1: sort of media disruption of legacy media in general and

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Speaker 1: linear television, there was always a lack of interest in

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Speaker 1: local in state politics in California.

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Speaker 2: It's always been nationalized.

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Speaker 1: And I didn't know if that was because of how

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Speaker 1: poorly we on the East Coast report on the West coast.

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Speaker 1: You know, I've never understood that. But how long have

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Speaker 1: you lived in California and how long have you experienced that?

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Speaker 3: Well? Actually, I was going to say, we've got the

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Speaker 3: California Post about about to launch, right New York Posts

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Speaker 3: California Post.

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Speaker 2: I mean, so an East Coast news. You know, I'm

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Speaker 2: not I'm skeptic.

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Speaker 1: Look, I'm skeptical that it's going to help teach people

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Speaker 1: about what's happening in California. I think it's just going

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Speaker 1: to be page six for California. But we'll find out, right, well.

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Speaker 3: We'll find out. I think I think that maybe it

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Speaker 3: instigates some good trouble to borrow a phrase, and we

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Speaker 3: need more good trouble in California. I've been here thirty years,

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Speaker 3: so I moved here to follow, you know, my California dream. Sure,

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Speaker 3: as I mentioned, to work for the founders of Wired magazine.

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Speaker 3: And you know, I've worked in three different sectors in California.

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Speaker 3: Uh and and had five kids along the way. And

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Speaker 3: to answer your question in terms of just California, do

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Speaker 3: people care? You know, why isn't more California state coverage

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Speaker 3: a thing? I think it's becoming more of a thing.

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Speaker 3: And I think that if I look at my own

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Speaker 3: podcast upwards, if half our audience is outside of California

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Speaker 3: and depends on the episode, so there's just a ton

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Speaker 3: of interest in California, as you know, from outside California

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Speaker 3: looking in. If we could replicate that with the passion

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Speaker 3: and interest of people inside CALIFORNI we want to get

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Speaker 3: involved to change the state will do great. But I

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Speaker 3: think it's actually happening. I think that Ashley Zavala, who

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Speaker 3: is an amazing local reporter and Sacramento is becoming iconic

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Speaker 3: for actually pressing elected officials to get to the bottom

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Speaker 3: of issues. For instance, the California State Capital. You may

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Speaker 3: be familiar with this boondoggle that's happened where there's a

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Speaker 3: renovation project going on in the state capitol. So elected

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Speaker 3: officials is going to have a better home to work in,

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Speaker 3: which is fine. It was supposed to cost a few

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Speaker 3: hundred million. Now apparently it's over a billion and two

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Speaker 3: thousand people under NDA on the projects of people are

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Speaker 3: actually can't muffle to actually talk about it. So there's

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Speaker 3: a ton to talk about. In California. We have the

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Speaker 3: most interesting opportunity and interesting people and it's a shame

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Speaker 3: there's not more coverage.

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Speaker 2: Can pet peeve of.

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Speaker 1: You brought up NDAs and Donald Trump does this in

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Speaker 1: the federal government level.

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Speaker 2: You just brought it up there.

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Speaker 1: If taxpayer dollars are involved, the NDA should be illegal.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I don't understand. I mean, I just think

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Speaker 1: it should pure and simple. If the if you are

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Speaker 1: getting compensated by federal tax any taxpayer, state or federal

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Speaker 1: right the government, you.

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Speaker 2: Shouldn't be able to hide an audit from the public

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Speaker 2: in any form.

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Speaker 3: Well, you bring up a good point. There's there's an

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Speaker 3: assemblyman named Joe Patterson who's in the California State Assembly,

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Speaker 3: who I had in my podcast a while ago, and

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Speaker 3: he actually is the number one, I guess instigator for transparency,

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Speaker 3: and he created legislation to ban the use of NDAs

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Speaker 3: with elected officials in California when they're you know, discussing

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Speaker 3: debating important issues for the state. Knewso signed it to

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Speaker 3: his credit. So there is some movement for transparency in California.

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Speaker 3: But it's not retroactive. It's not like it's un sealing

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Speaker 3: every NDA sign.

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Speaker 1: Oh look, I get that, and I understand. Look, you've

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Speaker 1: been in business. You know that you can't have every

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Speaker 1: meeting in public in the sometimes you need to have.

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Speaker 2: Space to make a decision. But eventually there.

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Speaker 1: Should be available to the public, right, Like I think

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Speaker 1: you can agree, Okay, you know within a year, it

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Speaker 1: should be public within you know, a reasonable period of time.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I understand the need for some discretion, not secrecy, discretion,

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Speaker 1: but like I assume common sense that actually create better

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Speaker 1: legislation on that.

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Speaker 3: I'll say one other thing on this, and then I'm

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Speaker 3: sure you're going to go lots of places that you

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Speaker 3: want to go in this conversation. But I've said a

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Speaker 3: few times now since I announced for governor that I

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Speaker 3: would do the major negotiations with third parties with lights

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Speaker 3: on and cameras rolling. I think that there should be

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Speaker 3: much more transparency on the major discussions that the governor

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Speaker 3: and team have with counterparties. One of the biggest examples

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Speaker 3: is with the very powerful unions in California that exert

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Speaker 3: such huge influence. You know, public sector unions in California.

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Speaker 3: They raise about a billion dollars in dues and they're

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Speaker 3: donating three hundred million dollars in California annually to buy, sell,

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Speaker 3: and trade politicians. And mostly what they've done is cow

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Speaker 3: Democrats who are so afraid to oppose them, you know,

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Speaker 3: in legislation. And so I would actually have these counterparties

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Speaker 3: across the table, put my priorities on the table and

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Speaker 3: show it.

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Speaker 1: Let me let's talk about your political evolution, because you

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Speaker 1: talk about yourself as a lifelong Democrat. You say you've

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Speaker 1: never voted for Donald Trump. Now you want his endorsement.

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Speaker 1: What has he done now that has convinced you? Do

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Speaker 1: you think it was a mistake that you didn't vote

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Speaker 1: for him the first three times.

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Speaker 3: Well, let me say this, you're correct and what you

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Speaker 3: said so far. You know, Republicans in California have been

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Speaker 3: very cute about the Trump endorsement. I think Steve Hilton

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Speaker 3: and Chad Bianco, the other two serious Republicans in the

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Speaker 3: race who we can talk about, they've said different things

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Speaker 3: about endorsed by Trump. I think Chad Bianca said, well,

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Speaker 3: I accept it in private, so that's all just weird cuteness. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: President of the United States wants to endorse the Republican running.

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Speaker 3: You accept the endorsement, But I think it's unlikely Trump

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Speaker 3: endorses me because I'm the only Republican who's going to

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Speaker 3: call balls and strikes about where I agree and disagree.

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Speaker 3: And we can get into that. But if Trump endorsed me,

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Speaker 3: it would be because he endorses where I agree and

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Speaker 3: where I have very independent minded ideas that may be

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Speaker 3: at odds with his ideas.

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Speaker 1: You know, I had Steve Klubeck on here about nine

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Speaker 1: months ago before he dropped that, and while while your

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Speaker 1: personalities might be different, he was sort of preaching the

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Speaker 1: same thing.

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Speaker 2: Well, and he had his own way. Yeah, he had

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Speaker 2: his own way.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you know, and I get this with Trump, right,

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Speaker 1: there's always parts of Trump You're like, you know, he

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Speaker 1: doesn't know how to build something, but he was correct

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Speaker 1: to knock something down, right, Like I've always thought that,

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Speaker 1: you know, Trump, the disruptor is the necessity, but he

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Speaker 1: may himself not have any good answers on what to

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Speaker 1: put in after you've done the disruption, right, And I

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Speaker 1: think that's always been I think that's the struggle that

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Speaker 1: change agents, whether they're on the left or the right,

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Speaker 1: who want to take some of Trump right, but but

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Speaker 1: not be associated with all of Trump. That is that

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Speaker 1: sort of where your head is.

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Speaker 3: At, Well take some of Trump, Listen. I think we

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Speaker 3: have to focus on policy. So I mean, for instance, uh,

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Speaker 3: you know, there are there are many areas on policy

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Speaker 3: where I agree, but I think I have a much better.

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Speaker 2: Uh like what is tell me what he's doing and style?

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Speaker 3: Well, listen, I'm gonna I'm going to use a California

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Speaker 3: frame here, Chuck, because I'm running in California. Should I'm

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Speaker 3: not gonna. I'm not gonna, you know, go global and

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Speaker 3: judge every single and going on.

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Speaker 1: By the way, I don't think the governor of California

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Speaker 1: needs to have a position on NATO right now.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, listen, there are lots

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Speaker 3: of policies that will positively impact California that people may

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Speaker 3: not know about. So, for instance, under Trump, HUD actually

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Speaker 3: came out with a radical new policy on homelessness and

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Speaker 3: funding for homelessness. This is a national policy, but will

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Speaker 3: dramatically impact California in a positive way. I think since

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Speaker 3: they announced it, they've kind of pulled it back and

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Speaker 3: are tweaking it, but just on homelessness. As you know,

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Speaker 3: as everyone knows, we lead the nation to homelessness. Twenty

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Speaker 3: five percent of the nation's homeless, one hundred and ninety

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Speaker 3: thousand of our brothers and sisters basically living and dying

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Speaker 3: on the street. It's a total moral tragedy. And what

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Speaker 3: HUD said under Trump is that they're going to totally

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Speaker 3: flip the script on the way that funding for homelessness

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Speaker 3: is granted to states. To date, the way it's been done,

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Speaker 3: and this is a part of democratic ideology. In many

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Speaker 3: states and also in California, funding for homeless blessness has

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Speaker 3: been targeted at what's called permanent housing. Permanent housing is

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Speaker 3: generally a affordable housing unit in an apartment building. The

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Speaker 3: problem is in California that takes ten years to build

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Speaker 3: and cost a million dollars. We can get into why

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Speaker 3: it's insane. The Trump administration flipped that and said, listen,

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Speaker 3: instead of eighty percent of the money going to long

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Speaker 3: term permanent housing, eighty percent of the money should go

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Speaker 3: to temporary housing. And I want to give credit to

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Speaker 3: Mayor Matt Mahon, who's a Democrat moderate in San Jose,

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Speaker 3: who I really like because he's actually working with Dignity Moves,

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Speaker 3: the founder of which is an advisor to me. Dignity

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Speaker 3: Moves is the number one organization in California deploying the

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Speaker 3: tiny home communities. And you've probably seen these in various states,

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Speaker 3: and other states have done this really well, particularly Texas

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Speaker 3: in Houston and Austin. But essentially, you get a crane

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Speaker 3: and you drop in a small unit that locks from

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Speaker 3: the inside, and you do one hundred and one hundred and

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Speaker 3: fifty these on a site. Usually the land is donated

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Speaker 3: by a wealthy landowner who can get a tax right

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Speaker 3: off for leasing that land to the city for a

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Speaker 3: dollar a year, can write off the taxes, and then

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Speaker 3: you bring in the services that are needed in that

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Speaker 3: site at mental health, services, security, et cetera, and you

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Speaker 3: triage people who actually can live in a tiny home

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Speaker 3: versus need the mental health system, which unfortunately is more

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Speaker 3: than half of our homeless in California. And the reason

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Speaker 3: that that is opposed by what I would call the

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Speaker 3: homeless industrial complex in California is the set of incentives

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Speaker 3: for the structures and then nonprofits in California to serve

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Speaker 3: that population are very much oriented to building long term

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Speaker 3: permanent housing. But what we need is to get people

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Speaker 3: off the street tomorrow, chuck. Because in California, day one,

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Speaker 3: a homeless person seventeen percent or mentally ill. By day thirty,

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Speaker 3: thirty five percent or mentally ill because they have to

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Speaker 3: get on a drug to stay awake, to not get

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Speaker 3: raped or robbed or beaten or stolen from. So that's

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Speaker 3: an example where Trump has it completely right. He just

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Speaker 3: came out with another policy on real estate that I

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Speaker 3: really agree with what's kind of progressive, which is to

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Speaker 3: ban the huge funds from buying up all the single

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Speaker 3: family homes. That's another example. You know, there are many

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Speaker 3: others I think that I think that being generally pro

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Speaker 3: business is a good thing. And in California. California has

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Speaker 3: an inferiority complex about being pro business.

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Speaker 1: slash chuck. So let me ask you about that, because

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Speaker 1: I vacillate about California myself, and I sort of I

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Speaker 1: would align myself with the times. It feels overly bureaucratic

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Speaker 1: at times, and at the end of the day though

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Speaker 1: it's still the best. It seems to be a great

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Speaker 1: place to build a business, still seems a great place

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Speaker 1: to find a workforce. So you've been a very successful entrepreneur.

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Speaker 1: Do you think you could have been as successful in

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Speaker 1: another state was there was California. You've you've had all

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Speaker 1: your success in California. You know the state must be

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Speaker 1: doing something right. What are they doing right that you

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Speaker 1: think has helped you succeed?

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Speaker 3: That's a great question. Well, I did do it in California,

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Speaker 3: so I can't speak to whether I could have done

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Speaker 3: it anywhere else. I mean, I've done it in California.

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Speaker 3: I have California to thank for lots of things, including

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Speaker 3: my kids and you know, my professional life. So I'm

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Speaker 3: hugely grateful to California, and despite all of our problems,

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Speaker 3: I wouldn't live anywhere else. You know. I think anyone

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Speaker 3: who says, though that they've not considered moving out of

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Speaker 3: the state is lying, because even I have, everyone has.

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Speaker 3: But you know, I want to make my life here

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Speaker 3: and help turn the state around. So I'm staying to

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Speaker 3: your point. I made an analogy the other day that

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Speaker 3: that sunshine is to California like old spices to many

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Speaker 3: men's under arms. It's basically just it's covered up all

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Speaker 3: the bad.

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Speaker 1: I think if deltorizes everything else is what you're saying.

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Speaker 3: You know, if we had. If we had the year

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Speaker 3: round weather of Seattle in Portland, we would have lost

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Speaker 3: half our people. So so yes, people love living here.

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Speaker 3: We have an amazing climate, we have I think the

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Speaker 3: most talented people, industry, geography, to we have all of it.

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Speaker 2: It's a great university system.

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Speaker 1: A great use I mean for both the system right

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Speaker 1: for by the way, I think sometimes the UC system

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Speaker 1: is a bit overrated. I say this versus the cal State.

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Speaker 1: You know that aspect. I mean that is affordable first gen.

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's an impressive state university system as well well.

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Speaker 3: And we have we have Pat Brown to thank for

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Speaker 3: a lot of these things, you know, Jerry's dad, who

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Speaker 3: was I think, by all accounts a great, great governor,

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Speaker 3: and I would give that praise. But here's the problem. Shock.

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Speaker 3: I think when you work in the tech sector or

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Speaker 3: certain aspects of the real estate sector, like I did,

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Speaker 3: you have great advantages because because you're not in tech,

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Speaker 3: for an instance, we don't suffer in tech from a

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Speaker 3: lot of the regulations that impact other real world because you're.

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Speaker 1: Still I mean, you're still a youthful industry. In that

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Speaker 1: there was a lot of exemptions given to the tech

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Speaker 1: industry by the state legislature right for years in order

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Speaker 1: to help the tech inducess.

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Speaker 3: Yes, quite unfettered, and mostly for good reasons. And if

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Speaker 3: you've got people in capital, you know you can you

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Speaker 3: know you can thrive. Having said that, there are many

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Speaker 3: tech companies that are moving out of California for different reasons.

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Speaker 3: But here's the thing. California is a tale of two worlds.

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Speaker 3: If you have money and you work in certain industries,

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Speaker 3: you're doing great. But if you are working poor, working class,

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Speaker 3: middle class, the people we need to focus on you

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Speaker 3: are hurting in California. And if you look.

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Speaker 1: You're describing, you just describe the economy for the entire country.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this is the current. This is why everybody,

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Speaker 1: this is why the polling shows that people hate this

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Speaker 1: economy because it does feel as if the halves are

434
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,320
Speaker 1: surviving and in some cases thriving, but they have not

435
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,240
Speaker 1: to have like there's no rung on the ladder to

436
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:17,760
Speaker 1: even grab right now.

437
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,880
Speaker 3: Well, it's very tough. And again speaking for California, if

438
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,360
Speaker 3: you look at all the metrics that matter, I mean,

439
00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:28,639
Speaker 3: despite the fact that we've got sunshine, Hollywood beaches and

440
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,479
Speaker 3: you can you know, you can go skiing, you know,

441
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 3: in the morning one day and being on the beach

442
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,600
Speaker 3: in the afternoon on the same day. In California, again,

443
00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,240
Speaker 3: if you're in the seventy three percent of people in

444
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,320
Speaker 3: the middle working class that think the state's going in

445
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,639
Speaker 3: the wrong direction, which is what our polling shows and

446
00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,959
Speaker 3: is just sort of common sense, the reason is, and

447
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,320
Speaker 3: it's in the headlines every day because California is in

448
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,320
Speaker 3: the bottom of every metric that matters, despite the fact

449
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,679
Speaker 3: that we're the world's fourth largest economy. So if I

450
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 3: hear another person in California who's elected say that we're

451
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 3: the fourth largest economy, my head's going to explode. Because

452
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:09,640
Speaker 3: education outcomes number one in poverty, number one in homelessness,

453
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 3: number one in energy costs, number one in housing costs.

454
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,240
Speaker 3: There are reasons why, chuck, which we can get into.

455
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 3: So it's really a tale of two world worlds in California.

456
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:24,920
Speaker 1: So let's let's talk about that. What you're an advocate

457
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:25,760
Speaker 1: of the flat tax.

458
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,680
Speaker 3: How do not, actually, I've not actually advocated for a

459
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:31,200
Speaker 3: flat tax?

460
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,879
Speaker 1: You haven't, Okay, how would you describe your advocation of

461
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,320
Speaker 1: a It sounds like a flatter tax is what you're

462
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:36,800
Speaker 1: looking for.

463
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,200
Speaker 3: Well, I've not Actually, I've not actually spoken about tax

464
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:46,359
Speaker 3: policy overtly yet. But my view is that if you

465
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,880
Speaker 3: look at California, you know, we've got the highest marginal

466
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,879
Speaker 3: rate in the country at thirteen point three percent. And the

467
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 3: reality is that in California, half of our people work

468
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 3: for small to medium sized companies. The national average a

469
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 3: little bit bigger, California a little little smaller because we

470
00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:05,360
Speaker 3: have such what such huge companies operating out of California

471
00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,160
Speaker 3: as well, it sort of reduces the average. But half

472
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,160
Speaker 3: of our people work in small businesses, and small businesses

473
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:17,080
Speaker 3: of the engine of that you know, middle class upward mobility, uh,

474
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 3: and small businesses that are over taxed and overregulated can't

475
00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:25,199
Speaker 3: can't grow. That's the story of California right now. So

476
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:31,000
Speaker 3: I think that we need a tax holiday for small

477
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,120
Speaker 3: businesses for several years. Well I'm not going to put

478
00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:39,040
Speaker 3: out the specifics now we're thinking about it, but I

479
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,520
Speaker 3: think I think if you are a small business under

480
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:45,640
Speaker 3: one hundred people, again, for which employ fifty percent of

481
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 3: California residents, I think we should dramatically reduce your taxes

482
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,440
Speaker 3: over the next few years to get things moving again.

483
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,240
Speaker 2: Where do you find Look, I'm.

484
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:03,719
Speaker 1: You know, the the Gray Davis's governorship sort of imploded

485
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:08,800
Speaker 1: in part because of this massive deficit at the time

486
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,119
Speaker 1: that had happened, and you know, obviously Enrun was a

487
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,720
Speaker 1: part of it as well, but there was this budget

488
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 1: deficit that seemed impossible to fix in some ways. That

489
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,119
Speaker 1: was Arnold Schwarzenegger's entire goal was to try to figure

490
00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:24,600
Speaker 1: out how to fix this. And then Jerry Brown sort of,

491
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 1: you know, became sort of more of a centrist compared

492
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,240
Speaker 1: to the rest of his party, and that happened. Where

493
00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 1: do you find the revenue that is going to be

494
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,280
Speaker 1: lost because being the fourth largest state, that's a huge

495
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:38,760
Speaker 1: budget and it is not easy to balance.

496
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, listen, here are the facts. When Newsom was

497
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 3: elected seven years ago, the budget for the state of

498
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:53,320
Speaker 3: California annually, annually lose two hundred billion dollars. Today, at

499
00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:57,040
Speaker 3: sixty percent higher, it's three hundred and twenty two billion dollars.

500
00:27:57,520 --> 00:27:59,440
Speaker 1: That all co Is that all since COVID How much

501
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,240
Speaker 1: of that through sort of COVID North.

502
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,600
Speaker 3: It's been it's been a it's been a steady increase

503
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:11,120
Speaker 3: year after year. Chuck, it's not it's not been sort

504
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 3: of a one year massive pickup. So we've grown sixty

505
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:20,479
Speaker 3: percent in our state budget since since twenty nineteen, and

506
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,960
Speaker 3: we're worse off for it. So, you know, I think

507
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,359
Speaker 3: that the story of California is that more money doesn't

508
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,920
Speaker 3: mean less problems. It's actually been more money, more problems.

509
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 3: That that's a line from a great, great song too.

510
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,440
Speaker 3: So so where do we find Where do we find

511
00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:42,440
Speaker 3: the money? Listen, there are so many projects, chuck, and

512
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,680
Speaker 3: I'll throw out a few that are bad ideas that

513
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:50,360
Speaker 3: we should stop doing. And there are a whole set

514
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,520
Speaker 3: of taxes that as governor I would also put the

515
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,760
Speaker 3: kebaj on. So here are a couple of the bad ideas.

516
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:01,120
Speaker 3: The train to Nowhere, the pejorative for the high speed

517
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:05,800
Speaker 3: rail project that was really kicked off, you know, sort

518
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:11,440
Speaker 3: of Newsome has has really promoted. We've spent sixteen billion dollars,

519
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 3: We've not laid any track. The project is now budget

520
00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 3: one hundred and thirty five billion dollars started it I

521
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 3: think thirty forty billion dollars and is a complete boondoggle.

522
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,440
Speaker 3: I mean, by the time that project would come to fruition,

523
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,240
Speaker 3: we'll have flying taxis. Let me ask you that should

524
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:28,680
Speaker 3: there should it be one example.

525
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,200
Speaker 2: I agree that that boom, that thing has just been.

526
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:33,880
Speaker 3: There are many other there's been.

527
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 1: In a perfect world, Is there high speed rail from

528
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:39,640
Speaker 1: laed to San Francisco.

529
00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,360
Speaker 3: In a perfect world? In a perfect world, Chuck, I'm

530
00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:45,720
Speaker 3: not sure I can speak to a perfect world. All right?

531
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 1: How about in your version of California after two terms,

532
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,520
Speaker 1: would you like to create the conditions that would allow

533
00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 1: for it to happen? Or is it just something that

534
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,160
Speaker 1: government can't afford to do these days?

535
00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:00,840
Speaker 3: I think I think that twenty twenty seven January firefighting.

536
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,960
Speaker 3: I mean twenty twenty seven January, it's a full court

537
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,480
Speaker 3: press to just stabilize California. Stabilize the budget, stop the bleeding,

538
00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:16,080
Speaker 3: a series of executive orders, and work with the legislature

539
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:22,240
Speaker 3: to work off of a affordability emergency and enact policies

540
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:26,600
Speaker 3: to actually bring down costs on energy, on gas, on housing,

541
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 3: a whole range of things that we can talk about.

542
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,520
Speaker 3: I think for twenty forty seven, I think California needs

543
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 3: a strategic plan to actually lead in a bunch of areas,

544
00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:40,040
Speaker 3: including energy, infrastructure, including a plan for water because we're

545
00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:46,840
Speaker 3: hopefully grow as a population, including growth for technology, and

546
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 3: doing all the things to restore the dream for the

547
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,440
Speaker 3: next generation of kids who are basically moving out of California.

548
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,640
Speaker 3: The high speed rail project is not in the top

549
00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:57,160
Speaker 3: few for me.

550
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,160
Speaker 1: I got you, how are there enough of these projects

551
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 1: that you think you can save a significant you know

552
00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:07,880
Speaker 1: a lot of times these projects. I've done this a

553
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:11,160
Speaker 1: long time and I'm not trying to pick on you. You

554
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:12,640
Speaker 1: can have some high profile projects, but they actually don't

555
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,760
Speaker 1: add up to it isn't enough money to do some

556
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:17,240
Speaker 1: of the cuts that you're going to want to do.

557
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,040
Speaker 1: Do you think there's enough money there in project cuts

558
00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:20,720
Speaker 1: to pull this off?

559
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,840
Speaker 3: Well, I think I think there's enough if you look

560
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 3: at several areas and it's not. It's not just one.

561
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,560
Speaker 3: I mean, if you look at the number one line

562
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:36,440
Speaker 3: item in the California budget, not surprisingly is healthcare. Okay,

563
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:41,400
Speaker 3: so it's about one hundred and sixty billion dollars. I mean,

564
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,400
Speaker 3: it's larger than the annual budget of the City of

565
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,040
Speaker 3: New York. Okay, the next line item.

566
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 1: Remember, General Motors is a healthcare company that makes cars. Right,

567
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,640
Speaker 1: this is health The cost of health care is a

568
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:57,280
Speaker 1: is a problem on every level of government or business.

569
00:31:57,360 --> 00:31:58,480
Speaker 2: It's the largest right.

570
00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:00,600
Speaker 3: Just like our federal government is a is a healthcare

571
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,160
Speaker 3: organization with an army. So California is not that different.

572
00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 3: One hundred and sixty billion on healthcare. It's estimated by

573
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:11,080
Speaker 3: the federal government. And this is not just you know,

574
00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:16,160
Speaker 3: this is well before Trump that Medicare fraud is at

575
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:20,240
Speaker 3: least ten to fifteen percent. Okay, So we suffer from

576
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,240
Speaker 3: that in California as well. So out of that one

577
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,120
Speaker 3: hundred and sixty billion, thirty billion of which comes from

578
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,240
Speaker 3: the California State General Fund, one hundred and thirty billion

579
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:30,680
Speaker 3: of which comes from the Feds. There's a huge amount

580
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,800
Speaker 3: of fraud which we should get to the bottom of.

581
00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:34,040
Speaker 1: Now.

582
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:36,760
Speaker 3: I know that this is a common talking point, but

583
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:38,719
Speaker 3: it's a it's a real issa fraud an abuse.

584
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,240
Speaker 1: My friend, I've heard waste, fraud and abuse as a phrase.

585
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 1: I'm sure phrase going back to New Cambridge.

586
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:46,440
Speaker 3: Of course, of course, and it's a real.

587
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:49,560
Speaker 1: Bill Clinton in fairness they would say right of and

588
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:50,800
Speaker 1: advocated it, of.

589
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,520
Speaker 3: Course, And it's real. And with AI, with all of

590
00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:57,640
Speaker 3: the huge some of the risk of AI, we have

591
00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,120
Speaker 3: a real opportunity to sick the right models on our

592
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,960
Speaker 3: state budget and really get to the bottom of what's

593
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,280
Speaker 3: going on. And actually I'm going to be putting out

594
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,920
Speaker 3: some policy and some suggestions on exactly how we do that.

595
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:13,480
Speaker 3: So I think healthcare is a big area. We've mentioned

596
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,440
Speaker 3: the trained and nowhere. The train to nowhere right now

597
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:22,720
Speaker 3: is about one hundred and twenty billion over the next

598
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:26,959
Speaker 3: fifteen years. Because we've spent We've spent sixteen it's going

599
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 3: to cost over one hundred and thirty It's a huge

600
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,760
Speaker 3: amount of money. It's ten to fifteen billion a year.

601
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:37,800
Speaker 3: The next area is climate taxes chuck, So it's called

602
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,720
Speaker 3: cap and invest Now in California, cap and trade is

603
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 3: what it used to be called. Most citizens don't understand

604
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,400
Speaker 3: what it means. It's been about thirty three billion in

605
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:51,440
Speaker 3: taxes on California residents over the last number of years.

606
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 3: And so the way it works is, if you produced

607
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 3: energy in California, you get taxed. So if you emit right,

608
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 3: carbon emissions get taxed in California uniquely. So if you

609
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:09,480
Speaker 3: produce electricity, you refine petroleum, for gas, you name it.

610
00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 3: Those taxes end up getting passed along to the consumer.

611
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:18,640
Speaker 3: So the energy producers have to have to mark up

612
00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:22,160
Speaker 3: their prices to the California customer, they don't eat it.

613
00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:25,920
Speaker 3: They mark it up just like it's like a tariff.

614
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 3: And so in California, our average gas if you're at

615
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,279
Speaker 3: ninety one unleaded, if you drive a gas powered car,

616
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:38,400
Speaker 3: you're paying five dollars. If you're lucky, maybe five to

617
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:41,319
Speaker 3: fifty six dollars in a ritzy town. If you're in

618
00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 3: eighty nine unleaded, you're paying four four fifty. Right, my

619
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:53,520
Speaker 3: mom in Boston pays to eighty nine and north of Boston,

620
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,720
Speaker 3: and so that dollar and a half extra is pure tax.

621
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,160
Speaker 3: And we also have a custom fuel mix, two seasons

622
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:03,480
Speaker 3: of a custom fuel mix that our refiners have to refine,

623
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:05,799
Speaker 3: which is state impost. Northern State does this check. None

624
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:08,000
Speaker 3: of the other forty nine states have a custom fuel mix.

625
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,719
Speaker 3: So all of these things, they're taxes and they get

626
00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:15,759
Speaker 3: imposed on our citizens and we can and those there

627
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 3: are many examples. We've also, Chuck, we've added fifty thousand

628
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:22,600
Speaker 3: full time workers in California over the News administration. So

629
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:24,840
Speaker 3: we started at about two hundred and ten thousand. Now

630
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,560
Speaker 3: we're about two hundred and sixty thousand full time workers

631
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:31,920
Speaker 3: in California, not including contractors. We're spending huge amounts of

632
00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,839
Speaker 3: money on people in the keyboard economy when we have

633
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,320
Speaker 3: technology that can help do the work. I'm not saying

634
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,960
Speaker 3: I would mass fire people, okay, but when people come

635
00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 3: to the point where they're going to leave the workforce

636
00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:50,239
Speaker 3: or not performing, we shouldn't backfill that role. We should

637
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:56,880
Speaker 3: actually start reducing the size of the state government. It's insane.

638
00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:01,520
Speaker 1: Let's talk about your political identity. Why aren't you running

639
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:05,200
Speaker 1: as an independent? You've not really made a case to

640
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,040
Speaker 1: me that you're a Republican. And I don't mean that

641
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:10,040
Speaker 1: as a pejorative or anything, but sort of where today's

642
00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:13,640
Speaker 1: Republican look for good or for bad. Both parties to

643
00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:17,439
Speaker 1: me are defined more by their bases to a large

644
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,520
Speaker 1: majority of people than they are by their differences.

645
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:21,879
Speaker 2: Right, I grew up in a world.

646
00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:24,680
Speaker 1: I think one of our problems is that there's no

647
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:28,319
Speaker 1: we don't have ideological diversity within the two parties like

648
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:30,080
Speaker 1: we did when you and I were growing up. There

649
00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,800
Speaker 1: were conservative Democrats, liberal Democrats, there were liberal Republicans and

650
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:40,440
Speaker 1: conservative Republicans. You know, let me ask the social questions,

651
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:44,000
Speaker 1: because ultimately that has been the distinguishing characteristic of the

652
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:47,640
Speaker 1: California Republican over the years, sort of a low tax,

653
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,720
Speaker 1: you know, fiscal conservative, but social liberal.

654
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:51,640
Speaker 2: Is that how you would.

655
00:36:51,400 --> 00:37:00,520
Speaker 3: Describe yourself, I'd say that I'm a radical moderate marriage

656
00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:04,120
Speaker 3: I'm quoting. I'm quoting Dan Schneur when I said.

657
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,120
Speaker 2: I love that. I know Dan a little bit.

658
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,400
Speaker 1: I was once kind of uh, somebody called me a

659
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,959
Speaker 1: radical centrist and I said thank you, and they didn't

660
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:16,399
Speaker 1: mean it as a as a compliment. But where are

661
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:19,200
Speaker 1: you on the on the sort of those you know,

662
00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:24,200
Speaker 1: those those sure, those those key social issues that you know,

663
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:28,319
Speaker 1: for some people become non starters, right guns, abortion, same

664
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 1: sex marriage.

665
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:33,600
Speaker 3: Okay, let's see same sex marriage. People should marry who

666
00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:36,319
Speaker 3: they love. I mean, I think that's uh. I think

667
00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:37,200
Speaker 3: we're way beyond that.

668
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:37,640
Speaker 2: I hope.

669
00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:41,680
Speaker 3: And actually, in my experience, Chuck, the Republicans that I meet,

670
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,279
Speaker 3: and I actually went to my first two state conventions

671
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:47,440
Speaker 3: March in September. I had never gone to a convention

672
00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:50,359
Speaker 3: of any party, and the people I met were very

673
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:55,640
Speaker 3: accepting of of people gay, straight, It doesn't matter. Listen

674
00:37:55,680 --> 00:38:01,160
Speaker 3: on the subject of abortion, you know, deeply personal and

675
00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:04,920
Speaker 3: moral issue. I have very strong, personally held beliefs, but

676
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:08,759
Speaker 3: we have settled law in California which which I would

677
00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:12,839
Speaker 3: strongly support. Women have reproductive freedom in California. I would

678
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:16,799
Speaker 3: support that because it's the law. Uh. And I have

679
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,279
Speaker 3: many friends in the pro life community who have very

680
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:22,040
Speaker 3: strong convictions. What the governor in California can do on

681
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,280
Speaker 3: that subject is focus on where we can all agree,

682
00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:29,080
Speaker 3: which is which I think is parental notification if a child,

683
00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 3: you know, under each child is pregnant, counseling and support

684
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:40,319
Speaker 3: for healthy outcomes, safe pregnancy, adoption, if if if a

685
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:43,240
Speaker 3: kid is you know can be led down that path.

686
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,760
Speaker 3: But I support women's rights under the law. In terms

687
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:54,279
Speaker 3: of guns, I'm a gun owner. I sport shoot. I

688
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:59,759
Speaker 3: support Second Amendment rights. I think that California has these

689
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:03,360
Speaker 3: Rickst gun laws on the books and they are enforced.

690
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:06,040
Speaker 3: I know that as a gun owner going through the

691
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,440
Speaker 3: process of owning and training, and you thik.

692
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:10,160
Speaker 1: Their good laws. Would you get rid of any of them?

693
00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:12,680
Speaker 1: Are you comfortable with what's on the books?

694
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 3: Uh? I think that's an area where the majority of

695
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,760
Speaker 3: Californians support the laws that are on the books.

696
00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:23,799
Speaker 2: You worded that very much like the politician John Well.

697
00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:25,480
Speaker 3: I think it's I think it's I have I have

698
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,680
Speaker 3: personal beliefs, but as an elected official, you've got it.

699
00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:31,720
Speaker 3: You've got you you sorry, right hand, you take another.

700
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:32,759
Speaker 3: I appreciate that.

701
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:36,239
Speaker 1: I always remind people were in a representative democracy, right

702
00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:39,239
Speaker 1: that ultimately that was the design that our founders had,

703
00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:42,600
Speaker 1: which is you know, and there's a fine line, and

704
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,719
Speaker 1: let me ask you, you know, can you is there

705
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:48,520
Speaker 1: an issue where you would go against the majority in

706
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:49,040
Speaker 1: your state?

707
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 3: And is any issue? Yeah, an issue where I'd go

708
00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:57,920
Speaker 3: against the majority of my state. Well, listen, I'll give

709
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:02,200
Speaker 3: you one. It's very present and just happened Prop fifty.

710
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:06,640
Speaker 3: So participating, Yeah, Prop fifty past overwhelming. I was sixty

711
00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:10,960
Speaker 3: five percent. So when Prop fifty was bubbling, I came

712
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,640
Speaker 3: out very strongly against it on my podcast as a

713
00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:16,680
Speaker 3: no on fifty, meaning against the Jerry manderin just permit me,

714
00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:20,239
Speaker 3: I'll speak for one minute on this. We actually did

715
00:40:20,239 --> 00:40:24,279
Speaker 3: a documentary called the Big Rig, and we put that

716
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:27,080
Speaker 3: out on State of Gold and I interviewed, I sat

717
00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,560
Speaker 3: down with twenty different leaders across the state, experts and

718
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:33,680
Speaker 3: redistricting and politicians, you name it. And it was a

719
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:39,000
Speaker 3: classic example of what to me was a power grab

720
00:40:39,239 --> 00:40:43,480
Speaker 3: in the name of fighting Trump, and I opposed what

721
00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:46,960
Speaker 3: happened in Texas. You know, some Republicans say, oh, well,

722
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 3: Texas is different to me de facto, when the majority

723
00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:56,880
Speaker 3: party bludgeons the minority party to death, it's bad Texas

724
00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:02,640
Speaker 3: started then California. By the way, the Democrats that were

725
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 3: pro Prop fifty raised one hundred and twenty million dollars,

726
00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,759
Speaker 3: spent a little bit more than the majority of it,

727
00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:11,080
Speaker 3: but have that money in the coffers to do what

728
00:41:11,120 --> 00:41:13,600
Speaker 3: they want to do for the next campaign. And we

729
00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:17,759
Speaker 3: spawned all kinds of bad behavior across the country. Thankfully,

730
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:22,520
Speaker 3: there are some Republican legislators, legislatures and leaders resisting doing

731
00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:25,680
Speaker 3: that as well. I think it's bad for democracy. And

732
00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:29,280
Speaker 3: so that's an example where I came out and made

733
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,200
Speaker 3: my case, which is counter to what most people in

734
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:36,560
Speaker 3: California think. But how will democrats feel when Republicans take

735
00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:38,680
Speaker 3: control of the state, which will happen at some point

736
00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:43,960
Speaker 3: in California, hopefully soon. How will Republicans treat Democrats in California?

737
00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:45,920
Speaker 3: And I think we should be a shining beacon of

738
00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:50,440
Speaker 3: a constitutional, functioning democracy in California, not a hack job.

739
00:41:53,239 --> 00:41:56,880
Speaker 1: Having good life insurance is incredibly important. I know from

740
00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:00,000
Speaker 1: personal experience. I was sixteen when my father passed away.

741
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:02,440
Speaker 1: We didn't have any money. He didn't leave us in

742
00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:06,840
Speaker 1: the best shape. My mother single mother, now widow, myself

743
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:08,719
Speaker 1: sixteen trying to figure out how am I going to

744
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:11,879
Speaker 1: pay for college and lo and behold. My dad had

745
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Speaker 1: one life insurance policy that we found wasn't a lot,

746
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:18,200
Speaker 1: but it was important at the time, and it's why

747
00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:21,560
Speaker 1: I was able to go to college. Little did he

748
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:25,440
Speaker 1: know how important that would be in that moment. Well,

749
00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:27,600
Speaker 1: guess what. That's why I am here to tell you

750
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751
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753
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754
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755
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Speaker 1: process and it's one hundred percent online. There's no medical

756
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757
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Speaker 1: You can get a quote in as little as ten minutes,

758
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Speaker 1: and you can get same day coverage without ever leaving

759
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Speaker 1: your home. You can get up to three million dollars

760
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Speaker 1: in coverage, and some policies start as low as two

761
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Speaker 1: dollars a day that would be billed monthly. As of

762
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Speaker 1: March twenty twenty five, Business Insider named Ethos the number

763
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Speaker 1: one no medical exam instant life insurance provider. So protect

764
00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:15,919
Speaker 1: your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get your free

765
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Speaker 1: quoted ethos dot com slash chuck. So again, that's Ethos

766
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:24,920
Speaker 1: dot com slash chuck. Application times may vary, and the

767
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768
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Speaker 1: insurance is something you should really think about, especially if

769
00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:36,640
Speaker 1: you've got a growing family. I was one of those

770
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:40,520
Speaker 1: I didn't understand. I understood the political decision.

771
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:42,000
Speaker 2: That California Democrats.

772
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:45,239
Speaker 1: Made, Okay, I understood the political argument. The problem I

773
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:48,520
Speaker 1: had is, I, if you believe voters are being disenfranchised

774
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:51,799
Speaker 1: in Texas, why is the answer to disenfranchised voters in

775
00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:52,480
Speaker 1: another state?

776
00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:52,759
Speaker 3: Right?

777
00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:55,279
Speaker 2: The principle of it sort of bothered me.

778
00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:59,200
Speaker 1: And I understand that everything you know, unfortunately too much

779
00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:01,640
Speaker 1: of politics as a zero sum game to people. Right,

780
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:04,480
Speaker 1: you know, so and so wins, then we lose, we lose,

781
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:07,120
Speaker 1: we win, then they lose, and it's like, you know,

782
00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:10,799
Speaker 1: the law of unattended consequences always bite you always bite

783
00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:11,520
Speaker 1: you in the you know where.

784
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:13,439
Speaker 3: But let me ask you a question. Because you ask

785
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:15,560
Speaker 3: me why I'm not independent, I want to answer the

786
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,880
Speaker 3: question directly because it's a really good question. There actually

787
00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:22,239
Speaker 3: is an independent running named Ethan Penner, who's a good,

788
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:26,799
Speaker 3: smart guy and got some interesting ideas. Just there's no

789
00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:30,000
Speaker 3: independent party, Chuck, there's no independent.

790
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:32,960
Speaker 1: Party, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Look, the beauty of the top two.

791
00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:35,680
Speaker 1: Let me answer, though, was to make it so you

792
00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:37,120
Speaker 1: didn't have to join a party.

793
00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:39,919
Speaker 3: Well, well, okay, but that's not the reality. I think.

794
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:42,960
Speaker 3: I think that people organize around parties still in America,

795
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:45,680
Speaker 3: and they organize around two parties. And I think it's

796
00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:49,320
Speaker 3: a long way off before we have an independent party

797
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:51,480
Speaker 3: in California or in the nation. And there's a lot

798
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:53,160
Speaker 3: of things that need to happen right to set the

799
00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:54,640
Speaker 3: stage for that. We have a lot of things to

800
00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:57,319
Speaker 3: sort out, Chuck, don't we and our body politic before

801
00:44:57,320 --> 00:45:00,600
Speaker 3: that can happen. But for me, I'm an old school Republican.

802
00:45:00,680 --> 00:45:04,520
Speaker 3: I describe myself more as a Reagan Republican, which is

803
00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:07,759
Speaker 3: looking at government very skeptically and what is the role

804
00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:10,759
Speaker 3: of government, What can government really be good at? Is

805
00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:16,320
Speaker 3: an orientation around freedom and property rights. It's a respect

806
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:20,320
Speaker 3: for business being a prime engine of opportunity creation in society.

807
00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:23,480
Speaker 3: It's those kinds of things. And I think if you

808
00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:27,520
Speaker 3: look in California at where the better ideas are for

809
00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:31,560
Speaker 3: turning the state around, it's more on the Republican side

810
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:34,080
Speaker 3: than the Democrat side. And again, I'm not in this

811
00:45:34,120 --> 00:45:38,359
Speaker 3: to bash Democrats. Most of my family or Democrats, they've

812
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:41,520
Speaker 3: all come out saying, John, how could you? How could

813
00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:44,319
Speaker 3: you be a Republican? Trump? Trump? Trump? And what I

814
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:48,360
Speaker 3: tell them is put Trump aside. California's problems are not

815
00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:51,840
Speaker 3: because of Trump. This is an own goal in California.

816
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:55,040
Speaker 3: So I'm a Republican really based on policy and philosophy.

817
00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:57,920
Speaker 2: Let's talk about though, the result of Prop fifty.

818
00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:00,160
Speaker 1: I actually didn't think it was going to be the

819
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:02,600
Speaker 1: blowout at first, right, and then you saw I said,

820
00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:04,560
Speaker 1: oh boy, this turned into a Trump referendum.

821
00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:06,960
Speaker 2: Right. And the minute it turned into a Trump referendum,

822
00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:08,120
Speaker 2: it was over. Sure.

823
00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:13,320
Speaker 1: I'm just look, I'm just being honest with you. Campaign

824
00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:16,680
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six in a blue state. You know, I

825
00:46:16,719 --> 00:46:20,640
Speaker 1: don't see the path for any I say this. I

826
00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:23,640
Speaker 1: don't know how a Republican wins statewide in this political

827
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:25,640
Speaker 1: environment with Donald Trump and the White House.

828
00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:26,640
Speaker 2: Why am I wrong?

829
00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:31,000
Speaker 3: Well, we'll see. I understand that skepticism. I think it's

830
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:33,879
Speaker 3: it's warranted, to be honest, and the truth is that

831
00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:37,280
Speaker 3: the Republican Party in California historically, in the recent history,

832
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:40,840
Speaker 3: has not done itself the favors, you know, running on

833
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:45,320
Speaker 3: certain cultural issues versus running on policy, running.

834
00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:46,680
Speaker 2: By the identity crisis.

835
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:50,200
Speaker 1: Right like, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the most successful Republican governor

836
00:46:50,640 --> 00:46:54,120
Speaker 1: arguably since Ronald Reagan. And good luck finding a Republican

837
00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:56,280
Speaker 1: that wants to emulate Arnold Schwarzenegger these days.

838
00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:58,640
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, because people have gone to their corners. And

839
00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:01,360
Speaker 3: to be honest, though I love Arnold, I mean I

840
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:04,440
Speaker 3: love him as a guy, but there are certain policies

841
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:07,200
Speaker 3: that have led us in the wrong direction. I mentioned

842
00:47:07,239 --> 00:47:10,640
Speaker 3: the climate regime is his policy, right, Well, he's the

843
00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:12,840
Speaker 3: one who you know. I think he figured out early

844
00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:15,160
Speaker 3: on he wanted to be known as a climate governor.

845
00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:18,440
Speaker 3: And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. We

846
00:47:18,480 --> 00:47:20,880
Speaker 3: have the best environmental laws on the books of any state.

847
00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:23,680
Speaker 3: We should enforce them. The environmental movement started here in

848
00:47:23,719 --> 00:47:25,840
Speaker 3: the seventies. That was a good thing. The problem is

849
00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:30,440
Speaker 3: it was perverted and hijacked in law to facto to

850
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:32,560
Speaker 3: block a lot of good things, a lot of growth

851
00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:36,960
Speaker 3: and housing and energy production that we need while we

852
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:39,120
Speaker 3: figure out how to protect the environment. So I think

853
00:47:39,120 --> 00:47:42,600
Speaker 3: it kind of got perverted unintentionally. But you ask, how

854
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:49,240
Speaker 3: do you win? You know, they're credible polls chuck from

855
00:47:49,360 --> 00:47:52,120
Speaker 3: from mid to late last year that showed that half

856
00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:53,880
Speaker 3: of the state would vote for the right kind of

857
00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:55,200
Speaker 3: Republican I.

858
00:47:55,200 --> 00:47:58,440
Speaker 1: Believe, and people always it's that I can always get

859
00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:01,239
Speaker 1: you that poll result. Some people want to always want

860
00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:03,759
Speaker 1: to come across as reasonable, but you know they do

861
00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:06,440
Speaker 1: end up voting the same way that they vote seventy

862
00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:07,279
Speaker 1: five percent of the time.

863
00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:12,680
Speaker 3: Well, we'll see. I think. I think in California it's

864
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:15,640
Speaker 3: darkest before the dawn. I think that if you my

865
00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:18,200
Speaker 3: grammar research, we had lots of pulling the grammar research

866
00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:23,279
Speaker 3: is so much frustration, so much disaffection. Yeah, and I

867
00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:25,399
Speaker 3: think the way this is going to game out on

868
00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:28,239
Speaker 3: the left or on the Democratic side, I really think

869
00:48:28,280 --> 00:48:32,919
Speaker 3: the energy is more further left. I think it's more

870
00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:36,480
Speaker 3: in the Katie Porter wing than than others, right, and

871
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:37,799
Speaker 3: there're different characters.

872
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:39,440
Speaker 2: And I don't know where you go. I mean, it's

873
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:40,319
Speaker 2: funny you bring that up.

874
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:42,600
Speaker 1: If Rick Caruso gets in this race, and I think

875
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:44,520
Speaker 1: a lot of people assume w'k Cruso is getting in

876
00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:48,400
Speaker 1: this race. He's the former Republican now running as a Democrat.

877
00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:53,319
Speaker 3: Yeah, well so he's a very successful guy. Love his

878
00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:58,399
Speaker 3: real estate projects as a consumer. But Chuck, that game

879
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:02,800
Speaker 3: has been played in California before we had we had,

880
00:49:02,920 --> 00:49:06,680
Speaker 3: you know, someone named Whitman, we had someone named Huffington.

881
00:49:07,239 --> 00:49:10,759
Speaker 3: We've had billionaires. That's not me. I mean, I get

882
00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:12,799
Speaker 3: up early in the morning and I change diapers, and

883
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:15,239
Speaker 3: I do dishes and I drive kids to school. And yes,

884
00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:18,400
Speaker 3: I've been successful, but I live in a nice neighborhood

885
00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:22,240
Speaker 3: in a fairly regular house. And I'm not that guy.

886
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:26,840
Speaker 3: I'm I'm in the world. Okay. I don't think a

887
00:49:26,960 --> 00:49:31,320
Speaker 3: billionaire buys his or her way into the election in California.

888
00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:34,640
Speaker 3: I don't think that's the California style, the California.

889
00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:36,319
Speaker 2: Way it worked, asked ALCHECKI.

890
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:41,640
Speaker 3: And there's Alcheckie. Yeah, there there's Alcheckie, who was actually

891
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:43,840
Speaker 3: a friend of my dad's funny enough way back in

892
00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:44,160
Speaker 3: the day.

893
00:49:44,680 --> 00:49:44,879
Speaker 2: Yeah.

894
00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:47,400
Speaker 3: But here's the thing I think that I think to

895
00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:49,560
Speaker 3: your point, if you look at the Emerson polls, which

896
00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:53,879
Speaker 3: are most often quoted and cited in California, last one

897
00:49:53,880 --> 00:49:56,640
Speaker 3: showed thirty one percent undecided, the one before that forty

898
00:49:56,680 --> 00:50:00,759
Speaker 3: four percent undecided, it's wide open. It's complete wide open,

899
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:03,759
Speaker 3: and I think people want something different. A lot of

900
00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:08,880
Speaker 3: the Democrats are how did I put this politely, been

901
00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:10,320
Speaker 3: in politics a long time.

902
00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:12,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, careers, yeah, no, no, no, no.

903
00:50:12,239 --> 00:50:15,960
Speaker 3: And the two Republicans who are running. I like them

904
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:18,520
Speaker 3: both as men. I like Steve and I like Chad.

905
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:20,399
Speaker 3: I've had them on my podcast, spen all the time

906
00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:22,239
Speaker 3: with them. They're good men. I don't think either has

907
00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:24,080
Speaker 3: the right background to turn the state around.

908
00:50:25,480 --> 00:50:32,160
Speaker 1: Let's I want to close with Silicon Valley, and it

909
00:50:32,520 --> 00:50:34,520
Speaker 1: goes to what I think is going to be a

910
00:50:34,560 --> 00:50:37,640
Speaker 1: struggle for you if you win, which is, on one hand,

911
00:50:37,680 --> 00:50:39,480
Speaker 1: I think you want to make it easier to do

912
00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:43,239
Speaker 1: business in California. On the other hand, I think there's

913
00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:48,080
Speaker 1: a lot of people who think the tech companies have

914
00:50:48,200 --> 00:50:54,080
Speaker 1: too much free ring right, and that actually, you know,

915
00:50:54,160 --> 00:50:56,520
Speaker 1: while generally there might be too much red tape for

916
00:50:56,560 --> 00:50:58,960
Speaker 1: the average person starting a small to mid size business.

917
00:51:00,080 --> 00:51:02,680
Speaker 1: I could argue there's not enough red tape and the

918
00:51:02,920 --> 00:51:06,120
Speaker 1: enough guardrails with Silicon Valley given look at what social

919
00:51:06,120 --> 00:51:09,920
Speaker 1: media did to society and now there's very few guardrails

920
00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:15,200
Speaker 1: on AI. I struggle with this because I want to

921
00:51:15,239 --> 00:51:19,160
Speaker 1: see advancement and I also see, well, you can't trust

922
00:51:19,200 --> 00:51:21,960
Speaker 1: them without some sort of minder there. Where are you

923
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:25,000
Speaker 1: on do you think Silicon Valley has been regulated enough?

924
00:51:27,120 --> 00:51:31,879
Speaker 3: Well? I think that California.

925
00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:32,799
Speaker 2: Gave away my bias there on that one.

926
00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:35,439
Speaker 1: I did, and it's part of it is to sort

927
00:51:35,480 --> 00:51:37,479
Speaker 1: of spark a conversation for what it's worth.

928
00:51:37,480 --> 00:51:38,960
Speaker 2: But it is.

929
00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:41,319
Speaker 1: And I think I'm not alone here, right there's people

930
00:51:41,400 --> 00:51:44,080
Speaker 1: that think there's too much regulation and big tech has

931
00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:44,760
Speaker 1: too much power.

932
00:51:45,760 --> 00:51:49,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, big tech is also a huge driver for innovation, employment,

933
00:51:50,120 --> 00:51:53,680
Speaker 3: wealth building, and God help us, and we need to

934
00:51:53,760 --> 00:51:56,480
Speaker 3: keep that in California. There's a lot of movement outside

935
00:51:56,520 --> 00:52:00,000
Speaker 3: of California. You can listen, you can run a tech

936
00:52:00,080 --> 00:52:02,480
Speaker 3: company from anywhere in the world. You can run it

937
00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:05,440
Speaker 3: from the mountains, you can run it from the beach,

938
00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:08,440
Speaker 3: you can run it from anywhere. So California needs to

939
00:52:08,480 --> 00:52:13,680
Speaker 3: remain the most welcoming and the most positive place for

940
00:52:13,800 --> 00:52:16,280
Speaker 3: tech companies of all sizes to want to do business.

941
00:52:16,520 --> 00:52:19,480
Speaker 3: If you look at the AI business, Chuck, one of

942
00:52:19,480 --> 00:52:22,360
Speaker 3: the singular reasons that Dan Lurie has been able to

943
00:52:23,080 --> 00:52:25,960
Speaker 3: tell a comeback story in San Francisco is because of AI,

944
00:52:26,719 --> 00:52:29,000
Speaker 3: because of the employment, because of the leases that have

945
00:52:29,040 --> 00:52:32,719
Speaker 3: been signed in downtown to bring human beings back into

946
00:52:32,719 --> 00:52:35,439
Speaker 3: the city to actually be a part of the tech base.

947
00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:39,040
Speaker 3: So God bless AI and God blessed the tech industry.

948
00:52:39,080 --> 00:52:43,279
Speaker 3: California has passed AI legislation. California has been one of

949
00:52:43,320 --> 00:52:47,200
Speaker 3: the states to pioneer passing legislation that provides some guardrails

950
00:52:47,239 --> 00:52:49,800
Speaker 3: to AI that the rest of the nation is actually modeling.

951
00:52:50,120 --> 00:52:53,040
Speaker 3: Of course, Trump now is threatening to have federal legislation

952
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:56,120
Speaker 3: that stomps down all of this regulation. We've got to

953
00:52:56,120 --> 00:53:00,120
Speaker 3: find a happy medium. I do think they're legitimate concerns

954
00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:04,160
Speaker 3: on on you know, for human beings and for kids

955
00:53:04,600 --> 00:53:08,719
Speaker 3: about technology and AI. But here's where I generally rest, Chuck,

956
00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:11,920
Speaker 3: and I'll use the analogy of the big gulp in Bloomberg.

957
00:53:12,080 --> 00:53:14,319
Speaker 3: You remember the Yeah, you remember that.

958
00:53:15,239 --> 00:53:18,160
Speaker 1: I allow that it's the Trump Health secretary that seems

959
00:53:18,160 --> 00:53:20,040
Speaker 1: to be anti big Gulp these days.

960
00:53:20,040 --> 00:53:22,520
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sort of like left his right right.

961
00:53:22,760 --> 00:53:24,680
Speaker 3: And I love that part. I love that part of

962
00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:28,919
Speaker 3: rfk's agenda. I love getting rid of the red dye

963
00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:31,760
Speaker 3: number eight, and I love copying more of what Europe

964
00:53:31,840 --> 00:53:33,480
Speaker 3: does in a good way when it comes to our

965
00:53:33,800 --> 00:53:38,560
Speaker 3: supply chain for food. I also believe in science, okay,

966
00:53:38,600 --> 00:53:42,520
Speaker 3: and and and and and you know, in the right vaccine.

967
00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:45,920
Speaker 3: So so I think there's a balance, Chuck. But I

968
00:53:45,960 --> 00:53:49,239
Speaker 3: am I am an anti nanny state guy. I do

969
00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:54,080
Speaker 3: not believe that the government should be telling the private

970
00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:57,440
Speaker 3: sector and individual people how to do what they do

971
00:53:57,560 --> 00:54:00,000
Speaker 3: in general. But yes, some basic guardrails.

972
00:54:01,680 --> 00:54:02,279
Speaker 2: So let me.

973
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:04,720
Speaker 1: I'm just let me throwing out there banning social media

974
00:54:04,719 --> 00:54:05,799
Speaker 1: for under sixteen year olds.

975
00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:06,960
Speaker 2: Would you sign that legislation?

976
00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:12,240
Speaker 3: Well, listen, Australia did it. I think it's a joke

977
00:54:12,440 --> 00:54:16,400
Speaker 3: because there are so many workarounds to get around that.

978
00:54:16,440 --> 00:54:18,640
Speaker 3: Life So I think, to facto it's a joke. You

979
00:54:19,160 --> 00:54:21,840
Speaker 3: can waive that kind of law round say you're doing something.

980
00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:24,359
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, Chuck, it comes down

981
00:54:24,360 --> 00:54:28,320
Speaker 3: to are parents involved in their kids' lives? So, for instance,

982
00:54:29,600 --> 00:54:34,239
Speaker 3: my kids didn't have phones until they were thirteen, and

983
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:36,000
Speaker 3: the reason they got it is because they were taking

984
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:39,720
Speaker 3: the train to school and needed a way to communicate. Okay,

985
00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:42,520
Speaker 3: they but all their friends had phones starting at god

986
00:54:42,560 --> 00:54:45,799
Speaker 3: knows what it. So I think parents need to get

987
00:54:45,800 --> 00:54:49,600
Speaker 3: involved with their kids and parent them, and that's really

988
00:54:49,880 --> 00:54:52,640
Speaker 3: where we should we should focus, as opposed to the

989
00:54:52,680 --> 00:54:55,920
Speaker 3: government telling parents or children when to have technology.

990
00:54:56,320 --> 00:54:58,239
Speaker 1: Well, I hear you there, but we did put a

991
00:54:58,239 --> 00:55:02,200
Speaker 1: age limit on smoking, and if we've decided this is bad,

992
00:55:02,719 --> 00:55:06,840
Speaker 1: we think this is bad for mental health of young brains,

993
00:55:07,400 --> 00:55:11,839
Speaker 1: and so it is. Is there any movement for you

994
00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:12,160
Speaker 1: on that?

995
00:55:12,239 --> 00:55:16,960
Speaker 3: Again, here's the thing these A pack of cigarettes, okay,

996
00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:20,880
Speaker 3: is readily accessible for any kid who can get someone

997
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:23,440
Speaker 3: to sneak it and buy it. And whatever number of bucks,

998
00:55:23,480 --> 00:55:25,359
Speaker 3: I don't buy cigarettes. I'm not sure what they cost

999
00:55:25,360 --> 00:55:29,160
Speaker 3: per pack these days. A piece of technology that we're

1000
00:55:29,160 --> 00:55:31,960
Speaker 3: talking about, an Apple watch or a phone, is a

1001
00:55:32,040 --> 00:55:35,440
Speaker 3: considered purchase for the vast majority of people in California.

1002
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:38,319
Speaker 3: So it's not like kids are running around at a

1003
00:55:38,360 --> 00:55:41,319
Speaker 3: young age buying these technologies and putting them in their

1004
00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:43,200
Speaker 3: palm or on their wrists. So I really think it

1005
00:55:43,239 --> 00:55:46,240
Speaker 3: comes down to parents being smart and involved.

1006
00:55:46,560 --> 00:55:48,080
Speaker 2: Would you ban them in public schools?

1007
00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:54,600
Speaker 3: Well, I think I don't believe in universal bands like this.

1008
00:55:54,800 --> 00:55:56,920
Speaker 3: I think it's a good idea, though. What certain school

1009
00:55:56,960 --> 00:55:59,840
Speaker 3: districts have started to do is say that you cannot

1010
00:55:59,880 --> 00:56:03,720
Speaker 3: have have your phone, uh, you know, in your hand

1011
00:56:04,719 --> 00:56:05,759
Speaker 3: or you know.

1012
00:56:05,920 --> 00:56:08,360
Speaker 1: In my kids' school had pouches at the beginning of

1013
00:56:08,400 --> 00:56:10,720
Speaker 1: the class and you put your phone in your pouch

1014
00:56:10,760 --> 00:56:13,560
Speaker 1: and you weren't until you know, and then you sat

1015
00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:14,160
Speaker 1: down right.

1016
00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:16,640
Speaker 3: It's like it's like it's what government officials do befo

1017
00:56:16,640 --> 00:56:17,800
Speaker 3: they go into a secure site.

1018
00:56:17,840 --> 00:56:18,960
Speaker 2: So Skiff exactly.

1019
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:21,440
Speaker 3: I think these kinds of ideas are good. I think

1020
00:56:21,520 --> 00:56:25,520
Speaker 3: they they should be locally determined. I don't believe in

1021
00:56:25,560 --> 00:56:30,800
Speaker 3: the State of California imposing things like that on school

1022
00:56:30,880 --> 00:56:32,920
Speaker 3: districts or kids or parents.

1023
00:56:33,680 --> 00:56:35,200
Speaker 1: Let me get you out of here on this. There's

1024
00:56:35,239 --> 00:56:38,960
Speaker 1: a wealth tax coming on the ballot. Huh, there certainly is.

1025
00:56:39,239 --> 00:56:42,759
Speaker 1: I imagine it. I know where you stand on this.

1026
00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:49,160
Speaker 1: It's probably going to be popular. So how do you

1027
00:56:49,239 --> 00:56:51,080
Speaker 1: convince somebody who says, yeah, but you know what, you

1028
00:56:51,080 --> 00:56:52,160
Speaker 1: don't pay enough taxes.

1029
00:56:52,239 --> 00:56:54,120
Speaker 2: You guys have all the loopholes you have this or that.

1030
00:56:54,719 --> 00:56:57,400
Speaker 1: It's it's tough being a defender of the quote wealthy

1031
00:56:57,440 --> 00:57:00,560
Speaker 1: on this right, we know the pitchforks have been sharpened,

1032
00:57:01,040 --> 00:57:03,080
Speaker 1: and the pitchforks are in both parties you and have.

1033
00:57:03,239 --> 00:57:05,279
Speaker 1: I mean, this is not a just on.

1034
00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:05,799
Speaker 2: The left thing.

1035
00:57:05,960 --> 00:57:09,360
Speaker 1: These this is this is the most interesting divide in

1036
00:57:09,400 --> 00:57:11,840
Speaker 1: America I think is this is this a bit of

1037
00:57:11,840 --> 00:57:15,600
Speaker 1: the on the socioeconomic front. Make the case to a

1038
00:57:15,640 --> 00:57:18,320
Speaker 1: working class person that the wealth tax is a bad idea.

1039
00:57:18,720 --> 00:57:23,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm against all new taxes, and in California, including

1040
00:57:23,440 --> 00:57:27,520
Speaker 3: this this this billionaire tax in California, which I know

1041
00:57:27,600 --> 00:57:30,400
Speaker 3: this happens in other states, huck. There is a hidden

1042
00:57:30,480 --> 00:57:35,480
Speaker 3: system of what are called special funds. So a county

1043
00:57:35,720 --> 00:57:39,320
Speaker 3: or the state will say, hey, we have a huge need,

1044
00:57:39,760 --> 00:57:44,200
Speaker 3: for example, a big beautiful bill cut healthcare spending. We

1045
00:57:44,240 --> 00:57:47,480
Speaker 3: want to initiate a new tax, a sales tax. It's

1046
00:57:47,520 --> 00:57:50,040
Speaker 3: a tenth of a percent. You're not going to notice it.

1047
00:57:50,040 --> 00:57:53,880
Speaker 3: It's going to it's gonna accrue the county five hundred

1048
00:57:53,960 --> 00:57:56,440
Speaker 3: million dollars over the next four years, and we're going

1049
00:57:56,480 --> 00:57:59,160
Speaker 3: to use that money to pay for healthcare. What happens

1050
00:57:59,680 --> 00:58:03,520
Speaker 3: that money is raised and it is shifted into the

1051
00:58:03,640 --> 00:58:05,800
Speaker 3: general fund of the county or the state to be

1052
00:58:05,840 --> 00:58:09,720
Speaker 3: spent on anything. Chuck, this is the bait and switch

1053
00:58:09,760 --> 00:58:13,400
Speaker 3: that happens with taxpayers, and we're already over taxed. This

1054
00:58:13,640 --> 00:58:18,440
Speaker 3: is like a slippery slope. It's lots of other ideas

1055
00:58:18,440 --> 00:58:21,400
Speaker 3: of taking more money from taxpayers giving it to government

1056
00:58:21,440 --> 00:58:24,920
Speaker 3: to spend on dumb shit or stuff that doesn't work.

1057
00:58:26,200 --> 00:58:27,200
Speaker 3: That's my argument.

1058
00:58:29,520 --> 00:58:31,080
Speaker 1: If you get elected, you know you're going to be

1059
00:58:31,080 --> 00:58:35,280
Speaker 1: dealing with a democratic legislature, perhaps a super majority. But

1060
00:58:35,320 --> 00:58:37,360
Speaker 1: then again, if you get elected, I probably mean so,

1061
00:58:37,480 --> 00:58:40,800
Speaker 1: it wouldn't a super majority. I think this is assuming

1062
00:58:40,840 --> 00:58:45,600
Speaker 1: you make it into the top two. It's tough to

1063
00:58:45,600 --> 00:58:46,840
Speaker 1: be bipartisan these days.

1064
00:58:46,840 --> 00:58:47,520
Speaker 2: How would you do it?

1065
00:58:48,400 --> 00:58:52,160
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I'll give a quick anecdote from Willie Brown,

1066
00:58:52,280 --> 00:58:55,720
Speaker 3: who I sat down with from my podcast last July.

1067
00:58:55,920 --> 00:58:57,880
Speaker 3: This is prior to commute.

1068
00:58:58,760 --> 00:59:00,760
Speaker 1: Nobody more fun to talk to. I think he's all

1069
00:59:00,800 --> 00:59:04,720
Speaker 1: the five. I think he's one of the five most

1070
00:59:04,800 --> 00:59:08,200
Speaker 1: accomplished politicians in the twentieth century.

1071
00:59:08,400 --> 00:59:09,040
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe right.

1072
00:59:09,120 --> 00:59:11,280
Speaker 1: The fact that he stayed Speaker of the House with

1073
00:59:11,400 --> 00:59:14,720
Speaker 1: the party change tell me another leader that could pull

1074
00:59:14,720 --> 00:59:15,040
Speaker 1: that off.

1075
00:59:15,160 --> 00:59:17,120
Speaker 3: Well. Actually, he told the story that when he was

1076
00:59:17,160 --> 00:59:21,160
Speaker 3: elected speaker, more Republicans voted him in than Democrats, which

1077
00:59:21,160 --> 00:59:23,720
Speaker 3: you may know because you're such a student of politics.

1078
00:59:23,720 --> 00:59:25,600
Speaker 1: Such a great story. A movie should be made about it.

1079
00:59:25,600 --> 00:59:26,800
Speaker 1: But anyways, it's a great story.

1080
00:59:26,840 --> 00:59:29,520
Speaker 3: And there are plenty of areas of disagreement I might

1081
00:59:29,560 --> 00:59:34,840
Speaker 3: have with Willie Brown down in policies in California. But

1082
00:59:35,040 --> 00:59:41,200
Speaker 3: I asked him, what's the biggest lesson you learned when

1083
00:59:41,240 --> 00:59:44,960
Speaker 3: you were a mayor or the speaker? And he tugged

1084
00:59:44,960 --> 00:59:48,400
Speaker 3: his ear and he said, I listened, and he said,

1085
00:59:48,920 --> 00:59:51,320
Speaker 3: I was just as likely to have dinner into Larry,

1086
00:59:51,360 --> 00:59:53,640
Speaker 3: which is, you know, farm country here in California. As

1087
00:59:53,640 --> 00:59:56,560
Speaker 3: I was San Francisco, I spent time with people. I

1088
00:59:56,640 --> 00:59:59,320
Speaker 3: formed relationships with people, and I cut deals with people.

1089
01:00:00,040 --> 01:00:04,040
Speaker 3: And to quote Jerry Brown, who I have plenty of

1090
01:00:04,120 --> 01:00:06,200
Speaker 3: policy disagreements with, he said, you know, if you want

1091
01:00:06,240 --> 01:00:08,400
Speaker 3: to make a canu goo straight, sometimes you paddle on

1092
01:00:08,440 --> 01:00:10,640
Speaker 3: the left and sometimes you paddle on the right. Okay,

1093
01:00:10,640 --> 01:00:13,640
Speaker 3: I'm quoting two Democrats. What I would say is that

1094
01:00:14,560 --> 01:00:17,520
Speaker 3: you got to be practical, you got to cut deals,

1095
01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:21,480
Speaker 3: but sometimes you stand on principle. Sometimes you use executive order,

1096
01:00:21,560 --> 01:00:24,440
Speaker 3: sometimes you use the bully pulpit, sometimes you negotiate. But

1097
01:00:24,480 --> 01:00:26,760
Speaker 3: we've got to do it together, Chuck. There's only one way.

1098
01:00:27,640 --> 01:00:29,080
Speaker 1: Well, I think we're all trying to figure out if

1099
01:00:29,120 --> 01:00:34,680
Speaker 1: pragmatism isn't it is allowed anymore in our politics, to

1100
01:00:34,720 --> 01:00:37,440
Speaker 1: say that it gets punished by the political basis, that's

1101
01:00:37,480 --> 01:00:37,840
Speaker 1: for sure.

1102
01:00:38,040 --> 01:00:39,280
Speaker 2: Hey, John, it's good to get to know you.

1103
01:00:39,320 --> 01:00:40,760
Speaker 3: I appreciate Thank you very much, Chuck,