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Speaker 1: Now thank you. We have now been to two schools.

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Speaker 1: This is the third stop on the Full Verdict Live

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Speaker 1: tour in partnership with Young America's Foundation, special thanks to

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Speaker 1: the Logan family. We started out on Governor Walker's home

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Speaker 1: turf of Wisconsin. We moved on Well, we were supposed

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Speaker 1: to be out of college campus. That didn't quite work out.

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Speaker 1: They don't like us up there, but we still made

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Speaker 1: that podcast work. We then moved on Senator to your

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Speaker 1: home turf of Texas. We are now on my home turf,

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Speaker 1: this very popish place. Here, a Southern Baptist and a

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Speaker 1: Catholic and a cactus walk onto a university campus. This

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Speaker 1: is Verdict with Ted Cruz. It is really terrific to

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Speaker 1: be here, a Catholic University of America. You know, we

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Speaker 1: just came from the Land of Freedom in Texas and

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Speaker 1: I landed here, and I got to tell you, I

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Speaker 1: was I was pretty shocked because there's this mask mandate

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Speaker 1: in place. Every single person in Washington, DC needs to

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Speaker 1: wear a mask except the President of the United States.

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Speaker 1: Do I have that right? Look, only if he's out

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Speaker 1: at a restaurant powering around with rich people. That then

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Speaker 1: the mask mandate doesn't work it And to be fair,

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Speaker 1: he didn't know there was a camera. Most importantly, you

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Speaker 1: didn't know about it. Yeah, this is a very tricky virus.

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Speaker 1: You put a camera on you, my god, you need

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Speaker 1: sixteen masks. You take the camera off, no problem at all.

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Speaker 1: I have to say it is pretty audacious. Right now.

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Speaker 1: We've been talking about this vaccine mandate, the mask mandates

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Speaker 1: that is actually shutting down segments of our economy, and

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Speaker 1: amid all of this, with such hubris, with no shame

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Speaker 1: at all, the President and his wife walk into this restaurant.

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Speaker 1: The security detail is masked. Everyone else there is mask

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Speaker 1: but the rules don't apply to him. By the way,

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Speaker 1: you know that is the same restaurant are actually the

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Speaker 1: sister restaurant of If you remember a couple of years

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Speaker 1: ago when Heidi and I were going out to dinner

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Speaker 1: in DC and this group of Antifa protesters surrounded us,

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Speaker 1: yelled at us, ended up following us out of the restaurant,

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Speaker 1: exact same restaurant that Joe Biden is walking around in

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Speaker 1: without masks, you know. To Biden's credit, though, I think

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Speaker 1: we need to give him credit. He, unlike the Transportation Secretary,

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Speaker 1: has ostensively been showing up for work over the past

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Speaker 1: two months. But the Transportation Secretary, amid the worst supply

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Speaker 1: chain crisis certainly of my lifetime, he's on two months,

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Speaker 1: going on three months of paternity leave. You know, I

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Speaker 1: gotta say this story actually pisses me off. Look. Number one,

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Speaker 1: people are walking on eggshells around this story. Yeah, they're

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Speaker 1: like nervous about Oh well, it's paternity leave. You're not

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Speaker 1: supposed to say anything bad about that. You know, we're

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Speaker 1: really we're we're woke, we're sensitive, and you know he's gay,

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Speaker 1: so that I really can't hit you can't talk about

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Speaker 1: don't say it, senator, And like, Okay, our country, it

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Speaker 1: is over two hundred years old. I am pretty sure

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Speaker 1: Pete Bootage Edge is the first and only cabinet secretary

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Speaker 1: in the history of our country to take a paternity early. Yes, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's fair, you know, not just okay, stay home, be

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Speaker 1: a few days with the kid, be a week with

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Speaker 1: the kid, but two damn months. Yeah, and and counting.

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Speaker 1: And he said he won't he won't stop, he won't

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Speaker 1: come back to work even with the supply chain crisis.

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Speaker 1: I suppose the only thing you have to recommend it

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Speaker 1: is that probably if Bootage Edge were doing his job,

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Speaker 1: the crisis would be worse. I have to assume. Look,

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Speaker 1: this story actually encapsulates a lot of the things that

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Speaker 1: are infuriating. Number One, Buddha Jedge doesn't show up to

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Speaker 1: work for two months. Ye. Number two, they keep it

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Speaker 1: a secret. They don't tell anyone. There's no public announcement,

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Speaker 1: there's no he's a cabinet member. If you're a cabinet member,

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Speaker 1: you've got a responsibility to show up to work. Number Three,

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Speaker 1: it was fascinating none of the press reports on it. Ye.

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Speaker 1: Is there any reporter at the Department of Transportation who

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Speaker 1: sixty days in would say, you don't know, we haven't

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Speaker 1: seen in sixty days. That's Secretary guy. Does he still

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Speaker 1: work here? And it's okay? Look, you might say, the

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Speaker 1: Secretary of Transportation doesn't show up to work, and it's

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Speaker 1: like a tree falling in the woods. Who noticed? Who cares? Right?

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Speaker 1: But it happens to be right in the middle of

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Speaker 1: a transportation crisis that is impacting the whole country. Well, now, listen,

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Speaker 1: I'm not an economist, so I would like to hear

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Speaker 1: your thoughts as a as a lawmaker, someone who sees

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Speaker 1: this up close. I have been reliably informed that historic

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Speaker 1: inflation and an historic supply chain crisis is one a

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Speaker 1: high class problem. That's what the White House Chief of

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Speaker 1: Staff said. And two it's actually a good thing. That's

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Speaker 1: what Jensaki at the White House and Pee Boodha judge

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Speaker 1: have both said in the last two days. Look, there

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Speaker 1: is an arrogance to this, and all of these themes

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Speaker 1: are connected together. The arrogance is that this administration wants

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Speaker 1: to implement policies on working people, on the little people

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Speaker 1: that they themselves don't follow. Ye and when you look

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Speaker 1: at something like inflation. So the White House Chief of

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Speaker 1: Staff Ron Clane tweeted out that that it's it's a

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Speaker 1: high class problem inflation. You know, last I checked, buying

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Speaker 1: food is not a high class problem. Yea. The last

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Speaker 1: I checked, rent isn't a high class problem. Gas isn't

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Speaker 1: a high class problem. Diapers aren't a high class problem.

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Speaker 1: You know. It's easy to sit back and say, oh,

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Speaker 1: what difference does it make as inflations going up and

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Speaker 1: up and up. But listen, and I gotta say, we're

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Speaker 1: with mostly college students. By the way, I loved the

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Speaker 1: astros shirt. Awesome shirt, by the way. In nineteen when

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Speaker 1: the Astros played the Nationals. I went to one of

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Speaker 1: the games here in DC. Sat behind home plate was

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Speaker 1: the lone orange shirt in a sea of red. And

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Speaker 1: remember that was a weird series where the away team

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Speaker 1: won every game. So I was literally surrounded by Nationals fans.

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Speaker 1: I'm wearing Astros. It is a miracle I didn't get

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Speaker 1: my ass kicked. I'm seeing a theme here that restaurant

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Speaker 1: in DC with Antifa, and then you're the orange shirt

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Speaker 1: at the game. It had nothing to do with politics.

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Speaker 1: It was all baseball and we were winning, and so

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Speaker 1: I was pretty loud and obnoxious about it. But look

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Speaker 1: the double standard. You know, for all of y'all in college.

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Speaker 1: The last twenty years, we've lived in this sort of

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Speaker 1: weird holiday from history because inflation hasn't really exist. We've

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Speaker 1: had inflation one and two percent for about twenty years now.

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you, I remember the nineteen seventy So I

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Speaker 1: was born in seventy. I was a kid in the seventies,

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Speaker 1: and I mean, I remember when we had double digit inflation.

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Speaker 1: I remember when you had home loans, home mortgage loans

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Speaker 1: of twenty one and twenty two percent. That's massive. And

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Speaker 1: the thing about inflation, we're up at about five or

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Speaker 1: six percent now, so we're several times higher than what's

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Speaker 1: historically been true. And I'll tell you really gets hit

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Speaker 1: by that our seniors. If you're a senior year on

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Speaker 1: a fixed income and suddenly all your expenses are going up, rent, food, gas, utilities,

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Speaker 1: everything you're paying for and so the income doesn't move,

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Speaker 1: the outflow goes up. You know, there's an irony where

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Speaker 1: the White House Chief of Staff and the whole Biden

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Speaker 1: apparatus now is trying to pretend that inflation and supply

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Speaker 1: chain issues are a high class problem. Actually the opposite

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Speaker 1: is true. These issues disproportionately affect poorer people. You know,

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Speaker 1: historically speaking, wealthier people can just make they tend to

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Speaker 1: make more money even as inflation goes up. But also

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Speaker 1: basic goods gas, heating your home, food. I mean, that

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Speaker 1: will disproportionately affect people on smaller incomes. But it's the

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Speaker 1: speaking of gas. It's the it's the gas lighting that's

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Speaker 1: going on. Now. We're being told that up is down

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Speaker 1: and black is white and right is left. And meanwhile,

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Speaker 1: by the way, while we're debating paternity leave for our

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Speaker 1: transportation secretary. And let me be clear about something, because look,

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Speaker 1: you and I are both fathers. In fact, you're you're

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Speaker 1: a new father. I am, yeah, thank you. You know,

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Speaker 1: babies always get applause, and a Catholic university, you can

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Speaker 1: count on it. So you know, I remember when when

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Speaker 1: our girls were born. So our girls are thirteen and ten.

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Speaker 1: Katherine's about turn eleven, um and listen, I'm a maternity

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Speaker 1: leave is awesome. Heidi took a full maternity leave. It

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Speaker 1: was wonderful with a newborn. So our girls were born

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Speaker 1: ten and thirteen years ago. I have to admit ten

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Speaker 1: and thirteen years ago, i'd never heard a paternity leave.

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Speaker 1: Ten months ago, i'd never heard of. We didn't talk

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Speaker 1: about it. It wasn't like we made a conscious decision

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Speaker 1: not to talk about it. It was okay. She was

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Speaker 1: caring and I love my girls, but we just it

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Speaker 1: wasn't a thing, all right. So now it's a thing,

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Speaker 1: and that's fine. You know a lot of jobs that

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Speaker 1: can be fine, but but being in the cabinet is different. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: but like you have a responsibility not to disappear from

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Speaker 1: the job for two months. Yeah, and you know, what

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Speaker 1: it's not that damn hard to pick up a zoom

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Speaker 1: in the in the in the middle of in the

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Speaker 1: middle of a pandemic. You can zoom. You can be

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Speaker 1: on the job at home, and it says something that

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Speaker 1: that there's a view that this is not a problem.

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Speaker 1: We can do what we want. And it's the same

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Speaker 1: double standard that applies in a lot of contact. And meanwhile,

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Speaker 1: if you zoom out and you look at the geo

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Speaker 1: political picture, here we're sitting around debating whether cabinet secretary

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Speaker 1: should just disappear for family time for more than two months,

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Speaker 1: we're debating whether it woke. Generals in the military ought

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Speaker 1: to be sending critical race theory texts to the troops. Me. Look,

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Speaker 1: it's not like there's anything important to monitor. No, there's nothing.

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Speaker 1: It's not like the Chinese or testing hypersonics or anything. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's the thing I just read about. So our greatest

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Speaker 1: geopolitical foe is testing out weapons that are blowing us

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Speaker 1: away that we didn't know we're possible at the moment,

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Speaker 1: And meanwhile we're twiddling our thumbs. So look a hypersonic

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Speaker 1: You look at a ballistic missile that goes up in

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Speaker 1: the air, goes up into the atmosphere, comes down, and

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Speaker 1: missile defense systems to take them out. I mean, you

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Speaker 1: put a nuclear warhead on the top of an ICBM

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Speaker 1: and you can Our missile defense systems are designed to

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Speaker 1: try to take them out. A hypersonic is very dangerous

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Speaker 1: because in what China tested is something that goes up

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Speaker 1: on a rocket, but then very load of the atmosphere

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Speaker 1: goes about five times the speed of sound and is

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Speaker 1: able to orbit the Earth is able to steer. Suddenly

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Speaker 1: missile defense doesn't work that well, and they were testing

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Speaker 1: it with the ability to put a nuclear warhead on

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Speaker 1: the front end of it. It also means one of

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Speaker 1: the potentials. So our missile defense is all keyed on

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Speaker 1: missiles coming over the North Pole. Look, a lot of

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Speaker 1: it was developed with the Soviet Union, where naturally the

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Speaker 1: North Pole is the shortest distance there. With China also

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Speaker 1: the North Pole is the most natural, So you've got

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Speaker 1: in Alaska big missile defense batteries. With a problem with

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Speaker 1: a hypersonic is they can now come over the South Pole.

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Speaker 1: They can come over the potentially the technology would let

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Speaker 1: them come over the South Pole where we don't have

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Speaker 1: the missile defense on our southern border, or for that matter,

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Speaker 1: our southern border of the real Grand They could just

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Speaker 1: give it to a drug cartel and carry an That's

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Speaker 1: probably the easiest way. It's the most direct way, far

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Speaker 1: closer than the South Pole. And listen, hypersonics technologies moving forward.

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Speaker 1: We're developing them, our enemies are developing them. But I

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Speaker 1: gotta say, reading the stories, the Biden administration repeatedly said

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Speaker 1: we were shocked, we were astonished, we had no idea

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Speaker 1: they had this technology. And it reminded me of the

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Speaker 1: disaster and Afghanistan, where they said we were shocked, we

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Speaker 1: were astonished, we had the no idea. The Taliban were

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Speaker 1: bad guys. Yeah, if only someone had told us, and

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Speaker 1: maybe they should be shocked a little less. Look like

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Speaker 1: if they weren't concentrating on putting out cartoon recruiting ads. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: maybe we could be focused on our enemies who want

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Speaker 1: to kill us. Right. You know, when you look at

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Speaker 1: the current crop of leadership, whether it's in agencies, or

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Speaker 1: Joint chiefs of Staff, it's pretty depressing when you look

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Speaker 1: at the future of America. Though, when you look at

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Speaker 1: the young people, especially the ones assembled here. It gives

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Speaker 1: you a little more hope. Should should we get to

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Speaker 1: their questions? That's what I'm here for. Should we bring

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Speaker 1: out our friend Liz Wheeler to moderate an open discussion.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna be taking all of your questions, so make

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Speaker 1: sure that you line up. If you disagree with us,

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Speaker 1: all of them, not not all. If they're tough, please,

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Speaker 1: we don't want it. We don't need to hear that. Okay,

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Speaker 1: And just for the role, if you if you start

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Speaker 1: with with lnear algebra, I'm gonna make the Yale graduate

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Speaker 1: answer that one. That's great. Yeah, you know I mostly

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Speaker 1: studied lesbian dance theory, underwater basket weaving, you know, all

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Speaker 1: the top majors at Yale. So but you know what

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Speaker 1: we can do. We'll kick it to Liz. She can

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Speaker 1: answer those questions. You know. If you make that promise,

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Speaker 1: we may demand performance. Good to see you would just

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Speaker 1: see you good to see a senator. Whinney said that

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Speaker 1: a Catholic, a senator, and a cactus. We're coming to

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Speaker 1: a campus that I hope you weren't talking about me

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Speaker 1: when you say you are not the cactus. You are

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Speaker 1: the second Catholic. Actually we brought reinforcements. Should we take

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Speaker 1: some questions? Good? Yes. Do we know the rules of

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Speaker 1: the questions. We know the rules of the questions. Ask

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Speaker 1: one question, not two, not three, not two, part not three,

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Speaker 1: part one question. Make it succinct so that we can

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Speaker 1: get to as many questions as possible. If you disagree

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Speaker 1: with the senator, if you disagree with Michael, our producers

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Speaker 1: will bring you to the front of the line, because

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Speaker 1: that's why we're here. We're also going to while everyone

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Speaker 1: gets lined up, I want to talk to you for

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Speaker 1: just a second about Verdict Plus. It's a portal for

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Speaker 1: access to Senator Ted Cruise where not just tonight, but

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Speaker 1: every night, or not every night, but frequently we will

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Speaker 1: get together and do question an answer, So you can

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Speaker 1: submit questions through that portal. It's Verdict with Ted Cruise

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Speaker 1: dot Com slash plus. You probably have a little card

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Speaker 1: that was on your seat when you sat down. There's

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Speaker 1: a promo code on that car. I think the promo

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Speaker 1: code says live you will get a month free trial

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Speaker 1: to Verdict Plus if you use that promo code. So

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Speaker 1: that's Verdict with Ted Cruz dot Com slash plus and

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Speaker 1: the promo code is live, and while everyone is lining up,

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Speaker 1: we're actually going to take our first question directly from Verdict.

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Speaker 1: Plus there's some great questions that have already been already

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Speaker 1: been submitted. So this first question, Senator, is directed obviously

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Speaker 1: at you. It's from an Iraqi war veteran, and he says,

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Speaker 1: as we all know, there have been over one hundred

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Speaker 1: and sixty thousand quote unquote migrants released into the country

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Speaker 1: since March. With that being said, why are we still

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Speaker 1: not processing k one fiance visas? Why punish those who

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Speaker 1: are trying to do immigration the legal way? Yeah, look,

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Speaker 1: I think it's a very good question. You know, my

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Speaker 1: view and immigration I've always summarized in four words legal, good,

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Speaker 1: illegal bad. I think there's a right way to come

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Speaker 1: to this country. The right way is to stand in line,

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Speaker 1: to follow the rules and come here legally, and fiance

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Speaker 1: visas have been one of the long and traditional ways

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Speaker 1: of doing that. You know. One of the strange things

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Speaker 1: about how the Biden administration has handled immigration is on

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Speaker 1: the southern border. We have an open border. We've had

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Speaker 1: over one point three million people cross illegally just since

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Speaker 1: Biden has become president. But at the same time, they've

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Speaker 1: shut the border down to legal commerce. It's it's a

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Speaker 1: very strange combination where where they're not allowing So you

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Speaker 1: have Mexican citizens, for example, who routinely would come up

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Speaker 1: to Texas and they'd go shopping, they go out to dinner,

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Speaker 1: they would come there. There's a heavy traffic back and forth.

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Speaker 1: That is a legal commerce back and forth. The Biden

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Speaker 1: administration shut that all down. So it is a bizarre.

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Speaker 1: If you're coming with a cartel to break the law,

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Speaker 1: they're fine with it. If you're actually coming legally to

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Speaker 1: drive the economy, they're not. I think that's backwards and

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Speaker 1: we ought to be prioritizing doing it the right way.

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Speaker 1: But do you think, Senator, I mean to the viewer's question,

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Speaker 1: is it incompetence from the Biden administration? Were to quote

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Speaker 1: your colleague Marco Rubio from the campaign? You know, does

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Speaker 1: Biden know exactly what he's doing. Let's dispel with the

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Speaker 1: fiction that he doesn't know what he's doing. I mean,

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Speaker 1: is is this intentional? So? I think the open borders

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Speaker 1: are intentional, and it's because it's two things. One, Biden

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Speaker 1: and Harris essentially made promises to the radical left in

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Speaker 1: the Democratic Party that they would have open borders, that

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Speaker 1: they wouldn't enforce the law, and so far they haven't

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Speaker 1: been willing to renege on those those promises. But secondly,

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Speaker 1: I think more broadly, they view unlimited illegal immigration as

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Speaker 1: as future Democratic voter. Yeah. I think this is a

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Speaker 1: crass political decision, and I got to tell you it's horrific.

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Speaker 1: I've spent a lot of time at the border. The

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Speaker 1: kids who are coming in are being brought in by traffickers,

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Speaker 1: They're being abused. It is. It takes your breath the

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Speaker 1: way to see what's happening, you know, on the legal side,

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Speaker 1: I don't have a good answer for it. So why,

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Speaker 1: for example, they shut down legal commerce across the bridges.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. It doesn't make any sense, you know.

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Speaker 1: I actually I've called for them to open it up.

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Speaker 1: Democrats have called for them to open it up, but

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Speaker 1: they don't do it. I have never been able to

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Speaker 1: get a good answer as to why. It's interesting too.

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Speaker 1: I think to note that the Biden administration tried to

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Speaker 1: prevent the media from covering this. They tried to prevent

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Speaker 1: the drones that were showing footage in del Rio. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you were actually the first one. You can talk your

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Speaker 1: cell phone down there to show the American people what

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Speaker 1: was happening. Because clearly the Biden administration knows that what's

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Speaker 1: happening isn't just arbitrarily happening, that it's happening as a

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Speaker 1: direct result of their political choices. So it does beg

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Speaker 1: the question whether it's being done or for what intention

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Speaker 1: it is being done, since they know that their choices

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Speaker 1: are causing that problem. Yeah, all right, are you guys ready?

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Speaker 1: So when you step up to the mic, introduce yourself first,

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Speaker 1: and then you can address your question to the senator,

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Speaker 1: to Michael or to me. What's your name? Hi, My

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Speaker 1: name's Nick. I'm a senior history major here at CUA,

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Speaker 1: and for the record, the history department rocks here. Great.

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Speaker 1: I love to hear it. So, Senator Um, I want

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Speaker 1: to ask you about freedom. You talk a lot about freedom,

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Speaker 1: you talk a lot about liberty, but with all respect,

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Speaker 1: I haven't heard you talk a lot about throughout your career.

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Speaker 1: What is the purpose of human freedom? So I want

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Speaker 1: to ask you tonight what is the purpose of human freedom?

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Speaker 1: And is it the ultimate virtue as human beings that

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Speaker 1: we should seek or is there something more. Wow. So Nick,

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Speaker 1: let me say you have just demonstrated your first statement,

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Speaker 1: which is the history department rocks here that that is

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Speaker 1: a great and profound question, and we're starting with depth.

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Speaker 1: Look at at the end of the day, I think

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Speaker 1: every human yearns for meaning, yearns for a purpose larger

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Speaker 1: than ourselves, a purpose larger than our lives. That is

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Speaker 1: a purpose that that for billions for the time of

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Speaker 1: humanity has been filled for many with faith. As for me,

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Speaker 1: I'm a Christian and my faith is a very important

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Speaker 1: part of who I am. But I think when it

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Speaker 1: comes to freedom, there's a different role. If you're assessing

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Speaker 1: how am I going to live my life, then there

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Speaker 1: is a question of what are the governmental policies that

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Speaker 1: should be in place. And and you know, if you

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Speaker 1: look at the founding of our country, we were founded

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Speaker 1: by people fleeing religious oppression and coming to a place

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Speaker 1: where where we could live according to our faith and

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Speaker 1: worship God and live live our lives according to our faith,

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Speaker 1: according to our conscience. And from a governmental perspective, I

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Speaker 1: think government should not have its finger on the scale

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Speaker 1: one way or the other. We should protect rules that

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Speaker 1: allow everyone to go and seek whatever faith questions, whatever

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Speaker 1: faith journey. And by the way, look I'm a Christian now,

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Speaker 1: but but all of us have had a faith journey.

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Speaker 1: I was raised as a Christian. I had a period

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Speaker 1: when I was in school where I was probably fairly

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Speaker 1: described as an agnostic. I had doubts, which which a

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Speaker 1: lot of young people certainly do. Actually, Heidi had a

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Speaker 1: similar journey questioning her faith when she was in school.

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Speaker 1: I think that's a very common part of life. I

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Speaker 1: think we ought to have legal rules in place that

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Speaker 1: protect the ability of each of us to try to

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Speaker 1: answer the ultimate question, to try to answer what has

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Speaker 1: our purpose. I can tell you one thing I point

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Speaker 1: out a lot, particularly when I talk to young people,

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Speaker 1: as I say, look, think about what people will say

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Speaker 1: at your funeral, little macab But but when you're dead

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Speaker 1: and buried, what are they going to say? And nobody

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Speaker 1: is going to remember how big of a flat screen

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Speaker 1: TV you had. Nobody is going to remember if you

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Speaker 1: had a fancy car or not. I mean the material

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Speaker 1: possessions in life. Look, you need enough money to have

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Speaker 1: food and shelter and provide for your family. But the

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Speaker 1: only thing anyone ever talks about at a funeral are

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Speaker 1: the lives that you touched. Are the people whose lives

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Speaker 1: were made better because you lived? Are the people you inspired?

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Speaker 1: Are the people you helped, Are the people whose world

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Speaker 1: was bettered because of your effort. And so I think

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Speaker 1: that's a big part of having a higher purpose is

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Speaker 1: making a positive difference in your home and your family,

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Speaker 1: and your neighborhood and your community and your state in

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Speaker 1: your country. And I think each of us is on

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Speaker 1: a journey to figure that out. It's also worth remembering

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Speaker 1: aligned from Saint Paul when we're trying to make sense

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Speaker 1: of what do we really mean by freedom? Saint Paul says,

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Speaker 1: the things that I want to do I don't do,

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Speaker 1: and the things that I don't want to do I do.

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Speaker 1: Now is that is he just speaking gibberish? Is what

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Speaker 1: does that even mean? Well, what he's describing as the

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Speaker 1: difference between his appetite, his base desires, and his higher

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Speaker 1: rational will. And we all know, I mean, the clearest

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Speaker 1: example of this, I guess, would be a drug addict,

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Speaker 1: right who at the very base appetite level, wants to

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Speaker 1: shoot up a bunch of drugs, but at the higher

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Speaker 1: level he does he wants to quit. He wants to

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Speaker 1: be in control of himself and have freedom. You know

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Speaker 1: that the Founding Fathers describe this distinction as one between

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Speaker 1: liberty and licentiousness. And you know, we all used to understand,

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Speaker 1: not just conservatives, everybody in this country used to understand that.

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Speaker 1: And I think recently we've kind of redefined liberty as

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Speaker 1: this idea of just doing whatever you want, you know,

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Speaker 1: no matter how base that is. And you know, the

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Speaker 1: Founding Fathers warned that this would be the end of liberty.

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Speaker 1: This is why when John Adam says that the Constitution

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Speaker 1: is built for a moral and religious people and it's

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Speaker 1: not fit to the government of any other, he's not

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Speaker 1: Bible thumping. John Adams was not a Bible thumper, and

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Speaker 1: he's not being superstitious. He's describing this this complex fact

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Speaker 1: of human freedom. And I mean, I think that's what

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Speaker 1: you're speaking to, Senator. I suspect that's what the question

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Speaker 1: is getting at. That if we if we want self government,

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Speaker 1: if we want to keep the project of the republic going,

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Speaker 1: we need to be able first to govern ourselves, and

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Speaker 1: in recent years we've had trouble doing them. And on

426
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:31,560
Speaker 1: the question of licentiousness, for what it's worth the brownies

427
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:36,320
Speaker 1: here we're provided by the state of Colorado. I think too,

428
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:38,600
Speaker 1: if I may interject here, I think to as Catholics

429
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,360
Speaker 1: and as Christians, we should recognize that freedom as protected

430
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,120
Speaker 1: by the government is a vehicle for us to make

431
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,000
Speaker 1: the right decision. It allows us, as Christians and as

432
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,560
Speaker 1: Catholics to choose virtue, to choose Christ. It almost mirrors

433
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 1: the choice that Christ gives us, you know, giving us

434
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:56,440
Speaker 1: free will. We can choose Him or we can choose

435
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 1: to reject Him. And that's why it's incumbent on us,

436
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,320
Speaker 1: as both Catholics and Christians, but also political activists, to

437
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,560
Speaker 1: defend freedom in as many aspects of life as we can,

438
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,760
Speaker 1: because it allows us to be, as Christians and Catholics

439
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,120
Speaker 1: closer to God by making those decisions. So it's also

440
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:24,439
Speaker 1: a vehicle that mirrors our faith. I think, thank you, Hi.

441
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 1: What's your name? Hi? I'm Jane Edwards. So I actually

442
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,040
Speaker 1: have a question regarding immigration. I am a history major

443
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 1: here at Catholic University, and my question for the immigration

444
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 1: is for legal immigration, because it is often on a

445
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:43,560
Speaker 1: case by case basis. Will you actively seek to fund

446
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:48,600
Speaker 1: immigration courts and lawyers? So it's a great question. The answer,

447
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:51,760
Speaker 1: at least on the court side, is yes. And I

448
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:54,880
Speaker 1: can tell you so back a couple of years ago.

449
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,159
Speaker 1: You remember when suddenly the news was dominated with the

450
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:03,320
Speaker 1: phrase kids and cages, and it was said over and

451
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:07,480
Speaker 1: over again. Look, I was very concerned then and now

452
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,320
Speaker 1: about the kids in cages, and and I actually introduced

453
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,440
Speaker 1: legislation to address it. And in particular, you had a phenomenon.

454
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:17,920
Speaker 1: So if you go back to the history of where

455
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:19,880
Speaker 1: this came from, why is it that there are kids

456
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:24,760
Speaker 1: in cages? The initial cages were built by Barack Obama.

457
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 1: And what happened if you go back to and my

458
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:32,400
Speaker 1: numbers are if you go back to I believe it's

459
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:37,720
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, the number of unaccompanied children that came to

460
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,920
Speaker 1: the US in that year was I believe six thousand.

461
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:47,159
Speaker 1: Shortly thereafter, as when Obama announced Dhaka, which was the

462
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:51,560
Speaker 1: executive amnesty for people who came illegally to the country

463
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,320
Speaker 1: as children. Now, if you announce amnesty for people who

464
00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:59,359
Speaker 1: come as kids, you create a massive incentive for people

465
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,480
Speaker 1: to come as kids kids, And the very next year,

466
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 1: the number of unaccompanied children that came illegally to this

467
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 1: country went from six thousand all the way up to

468
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,800
Speaker 1: ninety three thousand. It was a massive explosion. And so

469
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,359
Speaker 1: the first time I saw the kids in cages was

470
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,160
Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen. They were in Texas. Barack Obama was president.

471
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:21,000
Speaker 1: They were in Lackland Air Force Base, and they built

472
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:24,639
Speaker 1: them because the numbers, the massive numbers were coming in

473
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 1: as a response to the executive amnesty. And actually the

474
00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:33,200
Speaker 1: border patrol interviewed the kids and said why are you coming,

475
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 1: and the kids said, over and over again, they said,

476
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,480
Speaker 1: because we get a permiso, which is if we come,

477
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:45,119
Speaker 1: we get to stay. It's very difficult to get the

478
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 1: press to cover all of the kids that were in

479
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,400
Speaker 1: cages that and kids, by the way, that we're being

480
00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:54,639
Speaker 1: physically assaulted, sexually assaulted. The traffickers that are bringing them

481
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:59,160
Speaker 1: in are bad, bad guys. Fast forward to the Trump presidency,

482
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,160
Speaker 1: then suddenly the kids in cages that were still there.

483
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,600
Speaker 1: That became a major issue, and we saw a new phenomenon,

484
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 1: which was family units coming over. And so that was

485
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:13,760
Speaker 1: a different form of migration. And what drove that is

486
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,879
Speaker 1: something called Flores So Flores was a lawsuit that the

487
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,280
Speaker 1: Obama administration had settled, and it's a settlement that they

488
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,159
Speaker 1: entered into in the Ninth Circuit that provided a strict

489
00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:30,440
Speaker 1: time limit on how long a child could be kept

490
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:33,840
Speaker 1: in detention if they came illegally, and the Obama administration

491
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:35,760
Speaker 1: agreed to it. It was entered into as a consent

492
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,440
Speaker 1: decree by the Federal Court under Flores. What it then

493
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:43,840
Speaker 1: became the case was that if an adult came with

494
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:47,800
Speaker 1: a child, all of them would be released within the

495
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 1: time limits of Flores, and so it would force them

496
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,120
Speaker 1: all to be released. And we started to see a

497
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:59,160
Speaker 1: phenomenon that was a terrible phenomenon where adults were showing

498
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,400
Speaker 1: up with kids that were not their kids, so they

499
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,960
Speaker 1: would present as a family unit, and border patrol would

500
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,680
Speaker 1: do a DNA test and a very significant percentage of

501
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,560
Speaker 1: them were completely unrelated to the kids. And in fact,

502
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:15,920
Speaker 1: we were seeing a horrific phenomenon of children being rented

503
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:18,440
Speaker 1: out that if you were a single adult man who

504
00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:20,800
Speaker 1: wanted to come to the United States, if you brought

505
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 1: a kid, that kid was a get out of jail

506
00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 1: free card. Well, in light of all of that, I

507
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,960
Speaker 1: introduced legislation and I tried to team up with a Democrat,

508
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,560
Speaker 1: so I spent oh probably twenty hours negotiating with Diane

509
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:39,280
Speaker 1: Feinstein and trying to say, Diane, Okay, let's not have

510
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,480
Speaker 1: family separation. I agree emphatically family should stay together. That

511
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 1: if you have a mom and dad and kids, they

512
00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 1: should all stay together. No one wants to see the

513
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,760
Speaker 1: kids separated from the family. But the answer can't be

514
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 1: so release everybody, because that creates much more illegal immigration.

515
00:29:56,320 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 1: So the bill I introduced kept families together. It created safe,

516
00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:07,080
Speaker 1: secure family detention facilities where you would you would keep

517
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 1: a family all together. And then it funded if I

518
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,520
Speaker 1: remember correctly, I think it was five hundred new immigration

519
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:17,520
Speaker 1: judges to provide for expedited hearings, so that if you

520
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,200
Speaker 1: have a family presenting a claim of asylum, presenting a

521
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:25,000
Speaker 1: credible fear of persecution, that you would have the courts

522
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,520
Speaker 1: right there to adjudicate it right then get a swift answer,

523
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 1: and if they meet the legal standard, they stay, and

524
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:32,840
Speaker 1: if they don't meet the legal standard, you put them

525
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,840
Speaker 1: on a plane and send them home. And so I

526
00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:39,560
Speaker 1: filed this legislation. You can read the bill. You know.

527
00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:44,040
Speaker 1: It was interesting negotiating with Diane. When she and I

528
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:46,600
Speaker 1: would talk, we actually had quite a bit of agreement,

529
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,880
Speaker 1: and she was when we talk about what was happening

530
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,320
Speaker 1: at the border, and she was disturbed by it. You know,

531
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,480
Speaker 1: I have to say her staff, I think was far

532
00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: to the left of where she was, and actually democratic

533
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,640
Speaker 1: leadership they sent Dick Durbin to basically monitor Diane because

534
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:08,560
Speaker 1: they didn't want her to greet anything with me. We

535
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 1: ended up not being able to get bipartisan agreement. So

536
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,920
Speaker 1: I filed my bill, but no Democrats joined together. I said, look,

537
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,320
Speaker 1: we can end family separation right here, and we can

538
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:23,880
Speaker 1: also fund the immigration courts to resolve these claims. There

539
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 1: was no democratic appetite to do that. Thank you, all right.

540
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,800
Speaker 1: For those watching online, those watching the event live streaming

541
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:39,880
Speaker 1: on YouTube, make sure you subscribe to the Young America's

542
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 1: Foundation YouTube page and ring that bell. I'm talking to

543
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 1: you those who are watching online right now. Before we

544
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:47,840
Speaker 1: got to your question, I do want to take another

545
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 1: question from Verdict Plus. Is a little bit of a

546
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,480
Speaker 1: saucy question about big tech, and I'm very interested to

547
00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,640
Speaker 1: hear your answer. Actually, and this is the user name

548
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:57,560
Speaker 1: of this individual I thought was very funny too. It's

549
00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,920
Speaker 1: a real truth captus. Yes, I love the real truths

550
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:07,440
Speaker 1: um he asks, is it's a yeah, oh well, my

551
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:10,200
Speaker 1: apologies of course. Um this is what she asks. Is

552
00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,200
Speaker 1: it a coincidence that Facebook shut down the same day

553
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: that Francis Howan, that's the Facebook whistleblower that testified in

554
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,959
Speaker 1: Congress blew the whistle on them? Or am I just crazy?

555
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,600
Speaker 1: You know? I have to admit I thought the same thing,

556
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:30,040
Speaker 1: and and that day tweeted out a gift of uh

557
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,960
Speaker 1: Facebook headquarters running through the hallways going shred it all.

558
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:38,640
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know, but it was. It sure

559
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,600
Speaker 1: was an interesting quinkydink. You know, if the last few

560
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:43,840
Speaker 1: years have taught us anything, I think it's that the

561
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 1: difference between a wild, crazy conspiracy theory and the truth

562
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:50,080
Speaker 1: is about six to twelve months. You know, that would

563
00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 1: be the big distinction. So here here's my follow up question.

564
00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:55,800
Speaker 1: That was I have it on good authority. It came

565
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,520
Speaker 1: from Russia to begin with. Here's that's a joke for

566
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,760
Speaker 1: the Internet censors. That's a joke. I didn't get it

567
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,200
Speaker 1: on good authority. I got it from the Hillary Clinton campaign.

568
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,719
Speaker 1: You can't can't stand when we call him out for subscriptions.

569
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:17,160
Speaker 1: So we got to balance that out a little bit.

570
00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:20,480
Speaker 1: Let's get to your question. What's your name? Hi? My

571
00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:24,320
Speaker 1: name's Ali Trust. I'm a double major here in philosophy,

572
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:28,760
Speaker 1: pre law, and history. I have thank you. I have

573
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:33,280
Speaker 1: a question about immigration regarding the humanitarian crisis at the border. Um,

574
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:37,160
Speaker 1: what are you or what would you do regarding all

575
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,440
Speaker 1: the abuse and sexual assault going on at the border

576
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,360
Speaker 1: right now with those kids in cages. Yeah, look, it's

577
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:48,320
Speaker 1: it's what is happening now. I've been to the border

578
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,280
Speaker 1: a lot of times that I've represented Texas nine years

579
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,240
Speaker 1: in the Senate. Going down to the border something I

580
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:56,840
Speaker 1: do frequently. I've never seen it remotely this bad, and

581
00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 1: it's worth noting, you know, when you ask what can

582
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,800
Speaker 1: we do about it? Sometimes when the press asked that question,

583
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:06,160
Speaker 1: what they mean is there's no way to solve it.

584
00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,279
Speaker 1: I'm not suggesting that's what you mean by it, but

585
00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:11,440
Speaker 1: that's what the press means when they ask it. And

586
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:15,360
Speaker 1: we know that's actually not true because last year we

587
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,040
Speaker 1: had the lowest rate of illegal immigration in forty five years.

588
00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,400
Speaker 1: So what we were doing a year ago was working.

589
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:24,879
Speaker 1: What were we doing a year ago? Well, the best

590
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:27,200
Speaker 1: way to understand how we got into this crisis now

591
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:32,200
Speaker 1: is the first week Joe Biden was in office, he

592
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,640
Speaker 1: made three decisions on immigration that had massive consequences. First

593
00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:39,239
Speaker 1: thing he did is he immediately halted construction of the wall.

594
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:41,680
Speaker 1: And so if you go down to the wall there

595
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,080
Speaker 1: portions of it they're built that are big, beautiful wall,

596
00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:50,239
Speaker 1: as someone might say. And then on January twentieth, they

597
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,720
Speaker 1: literally dropped their tools. You see rebar that's just rusting

598
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:57,319
Speaker 1: that down on the ground. You see bulldozers that are

599
00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:00,720
Speaker 1: just parked, and they we are paying contract actors millions

600
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 1: of dollars not to build the wall. That was step

601
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:08,960
Speaker 1: number one. Step number two is the Biden administration reinstated

602
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:13,040
Speaker 1: catching release. Catching release was the policy where you apprehend someone,

603
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 1: you give him a court date sometime in the future,

604
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:17,520
Speaker 1: you let them go, say hey, please show up at court.

605
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:21,000
Speaker 1: The vast majority of them are never seen again. Catching

606
00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:23,680
Speaker 1: release doesn't work. If you want a secure border, you

607
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:27,520
Speaker 1: can't have catching release. The third decision, and this was

608
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:32,320
Speaker 1: probably the most significant, was that Joe Biden ended the

609
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,960
Speaker 1: Remain in Mexico policy. Now Remain in Mexico was an

610
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,520
Speaker 1: agreement that President Trump negotiated with the government of Mexico

611
00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 1: and Mexico agreed that people crossing illegally into the United

612
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:50,440
Speaker 1: into Mexico, typically from Central or South America, would remain

613
00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 1: in Mexico where the US asylum case was cases were proceeding.

614
00:35:55,960 --> 00:36:00,279
Speaker 1: Remain in Mexico proved to be an incredible success and

615
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 1: it's what produced I mentioned a moment ago. We had

616
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:07,200
Speaker 1: the lowest rate of illegal immigration last year in forty

617
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:11,080
Speaker 1: five years because of remain in Mexico, our government working

618
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:15,000
Speaker 1: cooperatively with the government of Mexico. On day one Biden

619
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:19,720
Speaker 1: tour that into pieces and we have today the highest

620
00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,920
Speaker 1: rate of illegal immigration in twenty one years. And let

621
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:29,120
Speaker 1: me take a minute to talk about So what is happening?

622
00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:31,840
Speaker 1: You know? A few weeks ago, I was down in

623
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,480
Speaker 1: South Texas, did a bunch of roundtables and sat down

624
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:38,240
Speaker 1: with law enforcement and sheriffs and ranch owners and farmers

625
00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:43,120
Speaker 1: and local elected officials. So the ranchers, I remember there

626
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:46,279
Speaker 1: were two different ranchers, both women, who described almost the

627
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:50,680
Speaker 1: exact same thing. They said, they don't allow their teenage

628
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:54,240
Speaker 1: kids to go out on their property without an armed firearm,

629
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,440
Speaker 1: that they're just so many traffickers crossing their property on

630
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:01,160
Speaker 1: a daily basis, that it's not safe for their kids

631
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:03,359
Speaker 1: to be out there and they were mad, they were

632
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:08,719
Speaker 1: ticked off. You know, how is my country not allowing

633
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,920
Speaker 1: these criminal cartels just to ignore the law with impunity.

634
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:19,719
Speaker 1: We also heard from law enforcement who describes so many

635
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:22,840
Speaker 1: of the illegal immigrants who come across, they're wearing a

636
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:28,560
Speaker 1: colored wristband and the color corresponds. So to cross the border,

637
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:31,480
Speaker 1: you have to pay the cartels. You can't if you're

638
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:33,600
Speaker 1: in Mexico. You want to cross in the US. If

639
00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:35,400
Speaker 1: you try to swim on your own, they'll kill you.

640
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:40,880
Speaker 1: The cartels have a total monopoly, and you pay them

641
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:45,040
Speaker 1: anywhere between three and eight thousand dollars. And what happens

642
00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,600
Speaker 1: when people come across is typically they get put in

643
00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:51,200
Speaker 1: stash houses just north of the river. The stash houses

644
00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:55,279
Speaker 1: are really violent, dangerous places. There are a lot of

645
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:57,520
Speaker 1: physical assaults there. There are a lot of rapes that

646
00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:01,480
Speaker 1: happen in these stash houses, and often they will extort

647
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,960
Speaker 1: thousands more once you're there. And so the color coded

648
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,880
Speaker 1: wristbands correspond to how many thousands of dollars you paid

649
00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:13,399
Speaker 1: and how many you owe. Now what happens next. Many

650
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:16,719
Speaker 1: of these folks then go turn themselves in to the

651
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:20,760
Speaker 1: border patrol, and the Biden administration sends them to cities

652
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,799
Speaker 1: throughout the country. So you may think, you know, maybe

653
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:26,839
Speaker 1: you're from New York or LA or Chicago, or maybe

654
00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:29,440
Speaker 1: you're from DC. You may think, well, gosh, I'm not

655
00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:33,120
Speaker 1: on the border, this is not a problem that impacts me. Well,

656
00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:36,239
Speaker 1: there are hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants that the

657
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:39,600
Speaker 1: Biden administration is sending to every city across the country.

658
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,400
Speaker 1: And you get, for example, teenage boys that arrive here

659
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:47,320
Speaker 1: in DC who owe the cartels several thousands of dollars,

660
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,520
Speaker 1: and so they're working for the cartels and they have

661
00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:52,960
Speaker 1: to pay it off. Remember the cartels they know who

662
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:56,480
Speaker 1: their families are. And so if you're a teenage boy

663
00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:59,399
Speaker 1: and you owe four thousand dollars, if you don't pay

664
00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:03,200
Speaker 1: that all, they will kill your mother, they'll kill your sister.

665
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:07,560
Speaker 1: And so you now have all of these, many of

666
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:12,600
Speaker 1: them are teenagers working for the drug cartels in every

667
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:17,200
Speaker 1: city across the country. You also tragically have, particularly with

668
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:21,359
Speaker 1: teenage girls, many of them are put into forced prostitution

669
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:27,719
Speaker 1: and it is horrific. So the prostitution houses that the

670
00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:32,319
Speaker 1: cartels have set up are like an old plantation. They

671
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,239
Speaker 1: keep a ledger of every expense. So they charge you

672
00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:38,160
Speaker 1: for your room, they charge you for your board, they

673
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:42,279
Speaker 1: charge you for utilities, they charge you for every different fact.

674
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:47,080
Speaker 1: I was told the cost for the scissors to cut

675
00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:51,960
Speaker 1: the ankle monitor bracelet off your ankle was thirty dollars.

676
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,319
Speaker 1: They charge you thirty dollars to cut the bracelet off.

677
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,120
Speaker 1: And so if you can imagine a fifteen year old

678
00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:04,640
Speaker 1: girl from Hondura, Sir Nicaragua, Guatemala, who came north because

679
00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:06,520
Speaker 1: she wanted to come to the Promised Land. She wanted

680
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:11,040
Speaker 1: to live free. She was inspired by America and a

681
00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:17,600
Speaker 1: few months later she is living in Hell enforced prostitution

682
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:24,160
Speaker 1: in an establishment run by the drug cartels. This is

683
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:27,600
Speaker 1: horrific and it's one of the things that frustrates me

684
00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:31,200
Speaker 1: politically when we talk about it, is that the defenders

685
00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:36,080
Speaker 1: of this policy say they're being humane and compassionate. There's

686
00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:40,239
Speaker 1: nothing humane about what is happening to these people. I

687
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:42,640
Speaker 1: think the answer to fix it is reversed the three

688
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:46,120
Speaker 1: decisions Joe Biden made, which is returned to building the

689
00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:49,919
Speaker 1: border wall, end catch and release, and reinstate the remain

690
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:53,160
Speaker 1: in Mexico policy. And we know that worked because it

691
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:57,080
Speaker 1: worked last year dramatically well. But right now, at least

692
00:40:57,160 --> 00:40:58,960
Speaker 1: Joe Biden Kamala Harris don't want to do it. There

693
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:00,839
Speaker 1: was an incredible statific stick. It came out a few

694
00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:03,520
Speaker 1: years ago. It was actually reported in the Huffington Post,

695
00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:06,760
Speaker 1: left wing outlet. It was relying on data from Fusion

696
00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:10,000
Speaker 1: and Amnesty International that sixty to eighty percent of women

697
00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:12,759
Speaker 1: and girls who crossed the border illegally are raped or

698
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:16,720
Speaker 1: otherwise sexually assaulted on the journey. Senator, to your point,

699
00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:20,759
Speaker 1: there are politicians in this country, and I'm not going

700
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:24,520
Speaker 1: to both sides it. It's politicians on the left, overwhelmingly

701
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:27,360
Speaker 1: on the left, who are incentivising people to do this

702
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,719
Speaker 1: and incentivizing this perilous, violent journey because they think they

703
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:33,400
Speaker 1: can score some votes out of it, in some cases

704
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:35,839
Speaker 1: cheap labor, but mostly it's votes. And if you are

705
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:38,359
Speaker 1: doing that, if you are opposing a border wall, if

706
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,920
Speaker 1: you are opposing border enforcement, if you are doing all

707
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:42,640
Speaker 1: the things that the left is doing in this country,

708
00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:45,120
Speaker 1: as far as I'm concerned, you've got blood on your hands.

709
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:47,120
Speaker 1: And it's not going to be solved as a both

710
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:50,120
Speaker 1: sides question. It's the left needs to grow a conscience

711
00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:52,360
Speaker 1: and look at the numbers and look at the reality

712
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,640
Speaker 1: of what's happening and cut it out. Yeah, and Michael,

713
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,960
Speaker 1: I think too. It's especially pertinent being at Catholic University

714
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:03,359
Speaker 1: that sometimes the leadership in the church misunderstands the church

715
00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:08,200
Speaker 1: doctrine on compassion, on humanitarianism, and teaches instead social justice.

716
00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:10,720
Speaker 1: Because we know Biblically we're taught to welcome the traveler,

717
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:14,400
Speaker 1: welcome the stranger, and that the church. Sometimes the leadership

718
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:17,160
Speaker 1: of the church teaches that this is equal to an

719
00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:20,359
Speaker 1: open borders policy. Speak to why this is not correct, Well,

720
00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:23,000
Speaker 1: you have a right to a country. You know, there's

721
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:26,440
Speaker 1: nothing in Catholic doctrine saying that you don't have a

722
00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:29,440
Speaker 1: right to have your own country, or that patriotism is wrong,

723
00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,040
Speaker 1: or that enforcing the law is wrong. Actually, the civil

724
00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:35,400
Speaker 1: authority is instituted with the authority of God, and the

725
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:38,200
Speaker 1: Saint Paul writes about this. You see this throughout the Bible.

726
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:41,160
Speaker 1: And the love of country is an extension of the

727
00:42:41,239 --> 00:42:43,960
Speaker 1: love of one's own family. It's perfectly natural and it's

728
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:47,000
Speaker 1: perfectly right. So we want to be very kind and

729
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:48,800
Speaker 1: very welcoming, and we do all of these things. We

730
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:50,359
Speaker 1: do it in private charity, and we do it at

731
00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:53,360
Speaker 1: the national level too. But this does not mean tearing

732
00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:57,439
Speaker 1: down borders. That actually can have a very negative consequence because,

733
00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:59,800
Speaker 1: by the way, if you erase the borders of this country,

734
00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:03,480
Speaker 1: you're erasing the national identity itself. And then where is

735
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:05,920
Speaker 1: it exactly that the people are fleeing to. It's an

736
00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:08,960
Speaker 1: incoherent action. Well, and Liz, I think you raise a

737
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:11,120
Speaker 1: good question, and I'd say a couple of things on

738
00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:16,200
Speaker 1: that point. Number one, I will say that charities and churches,

739
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:19,480
Speaker 1: but in particular Catholic charities in South Texas does an

740
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:23,640
Speaker 1: incredible job caring for these children, caring for these women

741
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,719
Speaker 1: who are abused. That there is in the Rio Grand

742
00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:30,480
Speaker 1: Valley sister Norma who leads that effort, and I know her.

743
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:34,120
Speaker 1: She is there constantly, She works tirelessly, and you know,

744
00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:40,279
Speaker 1: these children who are going through unspeakable horrors. It's not

745
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:44,960
Speaker 1: the kid's fault. And we should certainly show these children

746
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:48,680
Speaker 1: and these people love and compassion. But the real love

747
00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:52,160
Speaker 1: and compassion would be not to create a legal system

748
00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:58,200
Speaker 1: that incentivizes hundreds of thousands or millions of people to

749
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:03,279
Speaker 1: be brutalized by these cartoons. And you know, it is

750
00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:10,360
Speaker 1: absolutely true that that that the Catholic Church and the

751
00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:13,759
Speaker 1: Bible teach to welcome the traveler. But often what has

752
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:17,520
Speaker 1: missed there is no country on the face of the

753
00:44:17,719 --> 00:44:22,600
Speaker 1: planet that welcomes more immigrants than the United States of America.

754
00:44:22,719 --> 00:44:26,400
Speaker 1: We are the most generous and welcoming country in the

755
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:29,560
Speaker 1: history of the world. And in fact, the countries that

756
00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:34,520
Speaker 1: that lecture us on how dare you secure your borders,

757
00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:38,880
Speaker 1: they don't let people in. I mean, it's utter and

758
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:43,200
Speaker 1: complete hypocrisy. We're a country built by Look, my dad

759
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,400
Speaker 1: came as an immigrant from Cuba. I love that. We

760
00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:50,080
Speaker 1: are a melting pot and and we are built by

761
00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:54,840
Speaker 1: people seeking freedom. We should keep that. But but simply

762
00:44:55,040 --> 00:45:00,279
Speaker 1: having a lawless system where innocent people are abused, used

763
00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:05,439
Speaker 1: by vicious criminal cartels. That's not compassionate. That is being

764
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:09,600
Speaker 1: willfully blind to the horrific crimes that are being carried

765
00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:13,920
Speaker 1: out as a result of failed government policies. Yep, I

766
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:17,120
Speaker 1: think that's I think that's correct, and it's it's the

767
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:20,520
Speaker 1: right thing to do to note which side of the

768
00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:22,680
Speaker 1: aisle those policies are being carried out. Thank you for

769
00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:25,600
Speaker 1: your question. All right, Well, we're teeing up at the

770
00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:28,440
Speaker 1: next very good. While we're teeing up the next question.

771
00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:30,520
Speaker 1: That card that I mentioned before that's on your seat

772
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:32,680
Speaker 1: that has that promo code, make sure to visit verdict

773
00:45:32,760 --> 00:45:35,839
Speaker 1: with Ted Cruise dot com slash shop. You can see

774
00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:39,120
Speaker 1: this hat that's sitting very comfortably back here on the cactus.

775
00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:42,919
Speaker 1: We have some pretty cool cactus merch that's now for sale.

776
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:44,919
Speaker 1: You can get ten percent off that merch by using

777
00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:46,920
Speaker 1: that promo code live if you get a Verdict with

778
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:49,080
Speaker 1: Ted Cruise dot com it slash So. I gotta say

779
00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:51,800
Speaker 1: that's very churesque of the cactus wearing a hat with

780
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:53,880
Speaker 1: a cactus on it. It just sort of just folding

781
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:56,080
Speaker 1: in upon itself. And I don't know if I was

782
00:45:56,080 --> 00:45:58,640
Speaker 1: supposed to mention tonight that the cactus beat both of

783
00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:02,080
Speaker 1: your faces onto the surprised. I'm not surprised. We have

784
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:04,359
Speaker 1: a face for podcast, but the cactus is the real

785
00:46:04,400 --> 00:46:06,839
Speaker 1: star of the show. Yeah, that's exactly right. All right,

786
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:09,400
Speaker 1: are you ready with your question? Introduce yourself clear body.

787
00:46:09,719 --> 00:46:12,040
Speaker 1: I'm Sam, I'm a working professional, but Senator Cruz, I

788
00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:15,320
Speaker 1: was actually one of your interns back in college in Houston.

789
00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:18,000
Speaker 1: I see Grant over there, So hey, Grant, I don't

790
00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:21,480
Speaker 1: know if he remembers me, but hey, and you know,

791
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:24,000
Speaker 1: Michael and Liz obviously were both your All of us

792
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:25,279
Speaker 1: are part of the mystical body of Christ. So I

793
00:46:25,280 --> 00:46:26,719
Speaker 1: feel like I already know you guys are ready here.

794
00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:33,680
Speaker 1: That's where I knew you from. Okay, So my question

795
00:46:34,719 --> 00:46:37,920
Speaker 1: is to both Michael and Senator Cruz and Liz as well,

796
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:41,440
Speaker 1: if you'd like surrounding the definition of liberty. Liberty is

797
00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:43,040
Speaker 1: a word that's kind of used as a buzzword on

798
00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:44,800
Speaker 1: the right, but it is also used by many on

799
00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:47,960
Speaker 1: the right to justify and perhaps even passively allowed the

800
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:51,920
Speaker 1: cultivation of very vicious acts. So I was wondering if

801
00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:54,160
Speaker 1: Michael and Senator Cruz, if you could both give your

802
00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:57,680
Speaker 1: own definition of the word liberty and maybe comparing contrast,

803
00:46:57,680 --> 00:46:59,800
Speaker 1: because something tells me you might not perfectly agree on

804
00:46:59,880 --> 00:47:04,040
Speaker 1: the definition. Sure, I'll borrow my definition of liberty from

805
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:07,439
Speaker 1: Lord Acton. Winston Churchill famously said that if you don't

806
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:10,080
Speaker 1: have a good education, you should just quote really smart people.

807
00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:15,640
Speaker 1: So i'll quote quote Michael knows all the time. So

808
00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:18,680
Speaker 1: Lord Acton points out that liberty is not the ability

809
00:47:18,760 --> 00:47:20,960
Speaker 1: to do whatever you want to do, but rather the

810
00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:23,520
Speaker 1: right to do what you ought to do. And we

811
00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:25,719
Speaker 1: touched on this a little bit earlier when we talked

812
00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:28,080
Speaker 1: about how liberty and licentiousness are not the same thing,

813
00:47:28,360 --> 00:47:32,000
Speaker 1: about how the rational will exists to mediate between the appetite,

814
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:34,560
Speaker 1: the base passion, and the divine will, and it's what

815
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:38,160
Speaker 1: separates us from from the beasts. So I guess the

816
00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:40,160
Speaker 1: example I would use to bring all of that down

817
00:47:40,239 --> 00:47:44,840
Speaker 1: to earth is education. The point of education is to

818
00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:48,320
Speaker 1: make us free, right, That's why we call it liberal education.

819
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,359
Speaker 1: We call it the liberal arts. So the whole point

820
00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:52,080
Speaker 1: of it is to make us free. And when you

821
00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:55,680
Speaker 1: are free, you are not being coerced, right. That's I

822
00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:58,040
Speaker 1: think that's probably the basic thing we would all say

823
00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:03,680
Speaker 1: about freedom. But the iron here, or the complication, is

824
00:48:03,760 --> 00:48:06,560
Speaker 1: that in order to attain this freedom, you need to

825
00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:10,880
Speaker 1: be coerced by your teachers, by the exams, by the grades.

826
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:15,520
Speaker 1: I mean, you're coerced for twelve years, thirteen year, oh, fifteen,

827
00:48:15,560 --> 00:48:17,399
Speaker 1: depends on how much schooling you're going to go through.

828
00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:19,759
Speaker 1: By the time that this administration is over. With free

829
00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:21,680
Speaker 1: college in PreK, it's going to be thirty five years.

830
00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:24,600
Speaker 1: So it's a lot of coercion, but it does serve

831
00:48:24,640 --> 00:48:28,399
Speaker 1: a purpose. You do actually have to train your will,

832
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:33,880
Speaker 1: and this is a difficult process. And when people are

833
00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:36,359
Speaker 1: in college sometimes they make some mistakes. They let their

834
00:48:36,400 --> 00:48:39,000
Speaker 1: appetites run away with them. It's not so good. The

835
00:48:39,080 --> 00:48:41,080
Speaker 1: George W. Bush famously said, when I was young and

836
00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:43,239
Speaker 1: ear responsible. I was young and ear responsible. But the

837
00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:45,840
Speaker 1: idea is, you want to mature and grow up. And

838
00:48:46,200 --> 00:48:49,720
Speaker 1: so I think we have this mistaken conception of liberty

839
00:48:49,800 --> 00:48:52,360
Speaker 1: that really comes from Freud. We have this kind of

840
00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:56,359
Speaker 1: steam engine idea of liberty, which is that I've got

841
00:48:56,400 --> 00:48:59,040
Speaker 1: all of these appetites and desires, and if I don't

842
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:01,640
Speaker 1: engage in even the base ones, even the one the

843
00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:03,520
Speaker 1: naughty ones that I'm not supposed to do, if I

844
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:05,839
Speaker 1: don't let off a little steam every once in a while,

845
00:49:06,040 --> 00:49:08,719
Speaker 1: then I'm just going to explode. This is different from

846
00:49:08,840 --> 00:49:12,920
Speaker 1: say Aristotle's understanding of behavior of vice and virtue, and

847
00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:15,759
Speaker 1: the Catholic understanding and my own understanding, which is that

848
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:20,759
Speaker 1: when you practice the virtues, which are habits, they get

849
00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:23,040
Speaker 1: a little bit easier. This is a fallen world. We're

850
00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:25,719
Speaker 1: all sinful. It's we're going to stumble. We're probably not

851
00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:27,680
Speaker 1: going to act perfectly in this world. In fact, I

852
00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:30,040
Speaker 1: know that we're not, but it is going to become

853
00:49:30,160 --> 00:49:32,839
Speaker 1: easier the more you practice these virtues. And the same

854
00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:34,640
Speaker 1: is true of the vices. And I say this with

855
00:49:34,719 --> 00:49:37,840
Speaker 1: a great deal of experience. When you practice the vices,

856
00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:39,959
Speaker 1: it's kind of hard to do it the first couple

857
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:41,759
Speaker 1: of times, and then it's easier and easier, and then

858
00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:44,160
Speaker 1: it's harder to stop. And this I think it would

859
00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:48,360
Speaker 1: be the description of addiction. And so any coherent understanding

860
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:51,680
Speaker 1: of liberty I think has to take into account virtue.

861
00:49:51,680 --> 00:49:53,759
Speaker 1: It certainly did for the founding fathers, it has for

862
00:49:54,080 --> 00:49:57,919
Speaker 1: statesmen for all time. You mentioned the mystical body of Christ.

863
00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:01,360
Speaker 1: Christ says in the Gospels the man who sins is

864
00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:04,160
Speaker 1: a slave to sin, and we just know that to

865
00:50:04,239 --> 00:50:06,520
Speaker 1: be true in our own lives. Anyone who's ever sinned

866
00:50:06,600 --> 00:50:08,879
Speaker 1: knows that that is the case. And so I think

867
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:10,759
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I think sometimes and just in

868
00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:15,800
Speaker 1: recent decades, we've taken a more shallow view of liberty,

869
00:50:15,840 --> 00:50:18,520
Speaker 1: and liberty is not a shallow thing. And to quote

870
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:21,000
Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan, it's not passed in the bloodstream either, Okay,

871
00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:24,040
Speaker 1: it's one generation away from being lost, which is why

872
00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:27,239
Speaker 1: it's so important to educate people in freedom. That's what

873
00:50:27,680 --> 00:50:29,960
Speaker 1: YAF is trying to do. That's part of the purpose

874
00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:33,359
Speaker 1: of this podcast. And while the left, I think wants

875
00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:36,279
Speaker 1: to really suppress our freedom by appealing to all of

876
00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:38,880
Speaker 1: our vices. Senator Cruz and I talked about this on

877
00:50:39,239 --> 00:50:41,239
Speaker 1: the Prager Yu book show. We talked about Brave New

878
00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:44,799
Speaker 1: World and the conquering of a people by cultivating vice.

879
00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:47,720
Speaker 1: I think we need to recognize that to have true freedom,

880
00:50:48,120 --> 00:50:51,200
Speaker 1: we have to have some idea of what's good. So

881
00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:56,000
Speaker 1: that was an amazingly erudite and well thought out answer.

882
00:50:57,480 --> 00:50:59,799
Speaker 1: You know, I will say that the number one Michael

883
00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:03,920
Speaker 1: talked about practicing vices, um And I will note that

884
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:06,080
Speaker 1: after the last verdict we did at Texas a at

885
00:51:06,239 --> 00:51:08,080
Speaker 1: M that you and the entire team came back to

886
00:51:08,160 --> 00:51:11,479
Speaker 1: my house in Houston and we practiced vices until about

887
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:14,520
Speaker 1: three in the morning. We had some very expensive scotch

888
00:51:14,560 --> 00:51:18,880
Speaker 1: and some very cigars. Um And and I'll say, you know,

889
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:21,960
Speaker 1: your practice makes perfect. This is the thing I keep

890
00:51:22,040 --> 00:51:24,960
Speaker 1: working on it. Um. You know. But but Senator, to

891
00:51:25,040 --> 00:51:27,600
Speaker 1: be fair, the body is a temple, and the temple

892
00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:36,920
Speaker 1: needs incense, Okay, so I'm gonna defend that. So one

893
00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:39,279
Speaker 1: of the things I find interesting in your question is

894
00:51:39,400 --> 00:51:42,040
Speaker 1: you said you guys may disagree on this, And I

895
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:44,560
Speaker 1: think that was insightful because I listened to what Michael

896
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:47,200
Speaker 1: said and I thought it was quite learned, and yet

897
00:51:47,239 --> 00:51:50,960
Speaker 1: I didn't really agree with it. Um. And and you know,

898
00:51:51,040 --> 00:51:52,960
Speaker 1: I would say there's a distinction. It may be the

899
00:51:53,040 --> 00:51:57,400
Speaker 1: Catholic Protestant distinction. Um. I would say I have a

900
00:51:57,480 --> 00:52:01,160
Speaker 1: more libertarian bent, perhaps than Michael. I would say most people.

901
00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:05,439
Speaker 1: I think at Tilla the Hume has a more libertarian look.

902
00:52:05,480 --> 00:52:08,759
Speaker 1: When you ask what liberty is, Liberty is the right

903
00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:11,640
Speaker 1: to make your own choices in your own life, to think,

904
00:52:11,760 --> 00:52:17,359
Speaker 1: to speak, to the right too. As as John Locke

905
00:52:17,440 --> 00:52:24,840
Speaker 1: put it, life, liberty, and property the liberty. One of

906
00:52:24,880 --> 00:52:27,759
Speaker 1: the famous formulations of liberty is my right to swing

907
00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:30,000
Speaker 1: swing my fist ends at the tip of your lip.

908
00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:32,839
Speaker 1: Knows you have a right to do whatever you wish

909
00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:36,000
Speaker 1: with your life. You don't have a right to impinge

910
00:52:36,120 --> 00:52:37,960
Speaker 1: on the liberties of others. You don't have a right

911
00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:40,640
Speaker 1: to impinge on the rights of others. There's some in

912
00:52:40,760 --> 00:52:46,000
Speaker 1: the philosophical world or legal world that a positive distinction

913
00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:50,000
Speaker 1: between negative liberties and positive liberties. Negative liberties are essentially

914
00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:55,320
Speaker 1: lead me alone, don't silence my speech, don't prevent me

915
00:52:55,440 --> 00:52:58,560
Speaker 1: from practicing my faith, don't take away my right to

916
00:52:58,640 --> 00:53:02,120
Speaker 1: keep in bare arms. Those are negati of liberties positive liberties,

917
00:53:02,120 --> 00:53:04,600
Speaker 1: and they're typically folks on the left that are advocating this.

918
00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:11,000
Speaker 1: Are a liberty to have healthcare, a liberty to have housing,

919
00:53:11,080 --> 00:53:15,520
Speaker 1: a liberty to have and there it's an entitlement that

920
00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:19,520
Speaker 1: is framed as a liberty. In my view, liberty as

921
00:53:19,520 --> 00:53:21,719
Speaker 1: the former and not the latter. Liberty is the right

922
00:53:21,800 --> 00:53:26,320
Speaker 1: to be left alone. Now what Michael said about the

923
00:53:26,520 --> 00:53:30,600
Speaker 1: right to do as you ought. Look, I yes, I

924
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:33,879
Speaker 1: think you ought do as you ought. That's what ought means,

925
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:39,960
Speaker 1: the power of tautology. But I also think you have

926
00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:42,200
Speaker 1: every right not to do as you ought. And so

927
00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:48,520
Speaker 1: if you want to exercise your free will to be

928
00:53:49,040 --> 00:53:55,759
Speaker 1: a sloth or a drunkard, or to fritter away your life,

929
00:53:55,880 --> 00:53:58,959
Speaker 1: you have a right to do that. Now, I would

930
00:53:58,960 --> 00:54:02,840
Speaker 1: hope you wouldn't. I would encourage you not to, but

931
00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:07,800
Speaker 1: it is within the realm, the realm of choice for

932
00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:11,040
Speaker 1: you to make it so in the legal world, and

933
00:54:11,640 --> 00:54:14,600
Speaker 1: I'll shift to law. There's a big debate in constitutional

934
00:54:14,719 --> 00:54:19,200
Speaker 1: law that is sometimes viewed as a debate between Scalia

935
00:54:19,239 --> 00:54:24,080
Speaker 1: and Thomas, and it is whether the law protects whether

936
00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:29,080
Speaker 1: the Constitution protects natural rights. And my view is that

937
00:54:29,200 --> 00:54:33,279
Speaker 1: the Constitution limits the power of government. And they're a

938
00:54:33,360 --> 00:54:38,759
Speaker 1: host of things. So, for example, school choice is an

939
00:54:38,800 --> 00:54:42,520
Speaker 1: issue I am deeply passionate about. I've spent twenty five

940
00:54:42,600 --> 00:54:46,040
Speaker 1: years of my life fighting for school choice. As much

941
00:54:46,080 --> 00:54:47,840
Speaker 1: as I believe in school choice, I don't think you

942
00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:51,560
Speaker 1: should have judges mandating school choice, even though it would

943
00:54:51,600 --> 00:54:56,040
Speaker 1: help kids enormously, because I don't think we should be

944
00:54:56,200 --> 00:55:00,520
Speaker 1: reading into the Constitution a mandate for our own personal

945
00:55:00,640 --> 00:55:04,080
Speaker 1: policy choices. So when it comes to what liberty is,

946
00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:09,480
Speaker 1: I would say I have a more capacious framing of it,

947
00:55:10,920 --> 00:55:15,520
Speaker 1: and I would leave in terms of urging the virtuous

948
00:55:15,640 --> 00:55:19,840
Speaker 1: life as a very Aristotilian call on your part. I

949
00:55:19,960 --> 00:55:25,000
Speaker 1: think that's a great That is a great calling for

950
00:55:25,239 --> 00:55:30,360
Speaker 1: pastors and priests and motivational speakers and anyone seeking to teachers,

951
00:55:30,440 --> 00:55:34,120
Speaker 1: anyone seeking to help people find their calling in life.

952
00:55:34,560 --> 00:55:39,920
Speaker 1: But at the same time, we shouldn't force it. And

953
00:55:40,080 --> 00:55:43,160
Speaker 1: by the way, a natural area. This is playing out

954
00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:47,520
Speaker 1: as vaccine mandates, where you have government trying to force

955
00:55:47,600 --> 00:55:51,360
Speaker 1: people to make a healthcare decision. I've been vaccinated. I

956
00:55:52,040 --> 00:55:54,880
Speaker 1: believe in vaccines. I encourage people to get the vaccine.

957
00:55:55,080 --> 00:55:57,400
Speaker 1: I also believe you have individual liberty and the right

958
00:55:57,520 --> 00:55:59,560
Speaker 1: not to get the vaccine if you choose not to,

959
00:56:00,040 --> 00:56:03,080
Speaker 1: and you're an adult and make your own choices. And

960
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:07,880
Speaker 1: I will say in response to that, I did tweet

961
00:56:07,920 --> 00:56:13,080
Speaker 1: out the hashtag your body, your choice, and left lost

962
00:56:13,160 --> 00:56:16,480
Speaker 1: their mind and they just say they're no, you're not

963
00:56:16,640 --> 00:56:18,640
Speaker 1: allowed to say that. I'm like, why are you telling

964
00:56:18,719 --> 00:56:20,839
Speaker 1: people they got to stick a damn shot in their arm.

965
00:56:22,920 --> 00:56:25,120
Speaker 1: I think liberty should have a lot of flexibility and

966
00:56:25,520 --> 00:56:28,000
Speaker 1: a lot of room in it, including the liberty to

967
00:56:28,040 --> 00:56:31,680
Speaker 1: make stupid decisions, because, to be honest, we learn more

968
00:56:31,719 --> 00:56:33,480
Speaker 1: by mistakes anyway, and you have the right to do

969
00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:36,160
Speaker 1: dumb things too, right, And I think it matters to

970
00:56:36,280 --> 00:56:38,399
Speaker 1: what liberty is in relation to. So if you're talking

971
00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:40,760
Speaker 1: about liberty in a community, or liberty and a culture,

972
00:56:41,280 --> 00:56:44,600
Speaker 1: or liberty in your you know, church group, that's different.

973
00:56:44,800 --> 00:56:46,600
Speaker 1: You know, the cultural stigma that might be on certain

974
00:56:46,640 --> 00:56:49,880
Speaker 1: actions versus whether it's legal. And we know, you know,

975
00:56:50,120 --> 00:56:52,880
Speaker 1: many politicians are abusive. We know people in power like

976
00:56:53,040 --> 00:56:55,520
Speaker 1: to exercise that power, and so we have to we

977
00:56:55,640 --> 00:56:57,719
Speaker 1: have to, I think take the more libertarian view on

978
00:56:57,800 --> 00:57:00,439
Speaker 1: liberty to allow us to make the choice to be holy,

979
00:57:00,560 --> 00:57:04,719
Speaker 1: because that's what liberty should be for conservatives and Christian conservatives,

980
00:57:04,880 --> 00:57:07,880
Speaker 1: is the ability for us to choose that virtue that

981
00:57:07,960 --> 00:57:10,560
Speaker 1: you're talking about, because it's like, it's like personal charity

982
00:57:10,680 --> 00:57:13,480
Speaker 1: versus welfare. Right. You know, if you are forced by

983
00:57:13,520 --> 00:57:16,440
Speaker 1: the government to give money, it's it does nothing for you.

984
00:57:16,880 --> 00:57:18,320
Speaker 1: You're not giving up your own free will, You're not

985
00:57:18,360 --> 00:57:20,680
Speaker 1: giving up your heart versus when you know you're giving

986
00:57:21,800 --> 00:57:23,520
Speaker 1: by your own choice, that is an act of charity

987
00:57:23,560 --> 00:57:25,920
Speaker 1: that benefits both you as the giver and the recipient

988
00:57:26,240 --> 00:57:28,600
Speaker 1: of that. So I lean more libertarian on liberty too,

989
00:57:28,680 --> 00:57:31,600
Speaker 1: to make sure that your right to live your life,

990
00:57:31,680 --> 00:57:34,040
Speaker 1: or as the Founders say, life liberty, the pursuit of happiness,

991
00:57:34,120 --> 00:57:36,720
Speaker 1: which obviously means property, which means the extension of person,

992
00:57:36,800 --> 00:57:39,360
Speaker 1: the fruits of your labor, is protected because that allows

993
00:57:39,440 --> 00:57:42,320
Speaker 1: us the right to make the right choices. Well, you know,

994
00:57:42,680 --> 00:57:46,400
Speaker 1: while I may disagree with that particular libertarian view. I

995
00:57:46,600 --> 00:57:50,080
Speaker 1: will point out to the senator's point on our staying

996
00:57:50,120 --> 00:57:53,280
Speaker 1: out late and smoking cigars and you know, having with

997
00:57:53,400 --> 00:57:55,560
Speaker 1: scotch and things like that, we burn the evidence and

998
00:57:55,720 --> 00:57:58,360
Speaker 1: burn and burning the evidence. I will say, I have

999
00:57:58,560 --> 00:58:02,560
Speaker 1: always relied on the compatientiousness of libertarians when I myself,

1000
00:58:02,640 --> 00:58:05,520
Speaker 1: I am indulging in this behavior. And in my defense,

1001
00:58:05,600 --> 00:58:08,840
Speaker 1: I went home and fed my baby, did virtuous thing. Yes,

1002
00:58:09,160 --> 00:58:15,920
Speaker 1: thank you for your question. I appreciate it. All right,

1003
00:58:16,000 --> 00:58:17,760
Speaker 1: this is going to be the final question. But for

1004
00:58:17,880 --> 00:58:20,120
Speaker 1: everybody who I appreciate getting in line. If you didn't

1005
00:58:20,120 --> 00:58:22,200
Speaker 1: get a chance to ask your question, you can go

1006
00:58:22,280 --> 00:58:24,840
Speaker 1: to Verdict with Ted Cruise dot com slash plus and

1007
00:58:24,920 --> 00:58:27,240
Speaker 1: you can submit your questions there. And like I said,

1008
00:58:27,240 --> 00:58:29,480
Speaker 1: Senator Cruise and I will be taking questions on a

1009
00:58:29,520 --> 00:58:33,280
Speaker 1: fairly regular basis from those who are part of that community.

1010
00:58:33,400 --> 00:58:35,880
Speaker 1: So Hi, what's your name? Hi there, my name is Peter.

1011
00:58:36,520 --> 00:58:39,880
Speaker 1: I actually work here in the DMV area. I have

1012
00:58:40,040 --> 00:58:46,240
Speaker 1: a question for you, Senator, for mister owls um, why

1013
00:58:46,760 --> 00:58:55,560
Speaker 1: does it not like you work better to work across

1014
00:58:55,600 --> 00:58:58,840
Speaker 1: the aisles with people that have a platonic idea of

1015
00:58:58,880 --> 00:59:00,920
Speaker 1: the way that the world works versus us as a

1016
00:59:01,280 --> 00:59:04,800
Speaker 1: as an Aristotilian view we have. We both have the

1017
00:59:04,920 --> 00:59:08,880
Speaker 1: theme idea of you diamond Ea, but it doesn't seem

1018
00:59:08,960 --> 00:59:13,480
Speaker 1: like you work well across the aisle enough to do

1019
00:59:13,720 --> 00:59:19,480
Speaker 1: meaningful changes. So Peter that that again is a very

1020
00:59:19,560 --> 00:59:23,520
Speaker 1: learned question, and I will say Catholic University is coming

1021
00:59:23,600 --> 00:59:31,640
Speaker 1: through powerfully strong look In many ways, the failure of

1022
00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:35,800
Speaker 1: both parties to work across the aisle is a symptom

1023
00:59:35,880 --> 00:59:38,560
Speaker 1: of a broader phenomenon that's playing out in our society

1024
00:59:38,600 --> 00:59:41,760
Speaker 1: and culture, which is that we're getting more and more

1025
00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:48,720
Speaker 1: polarized and tribalized and atomized. And I think social media

1026
00:59:49,280 --> 00:59:53,240
Speaker 1: contributes to that powerfully. You know, it used to be

1027
00:59:54,320 --> 00:59:58,840
Speaker 1: that we had homogenizing institutions in our lives, that we

1028
00:59:59,000 --> 01:00:01,760
Speaker 1: might be a Republican, we might be a Democrat, and

1029
01:00:02,040 --> 01:00:05,919
Speaker 1: yet we went to work with someone of the opposite party,

1030
01:00:05,960 --> 01:00:08,000
Speaker 1: we went to church with someone of the opposite party.

1031
01:00:08,040 --> 01:00:12,040
Speaker 1: Our kids played together on the playground, and it's hard

1032
01:00:12,960 --> 01:00:17,760
Speaker 1: to believe someone's the devil if you're sharing a burger

1033
01:00:17,800 --> 01:00:26,320
Speaker 1: at a backyard barbecue. Today we're so separated that the

1034
01:00:26,480 --> 01:00:29,480
Speaker 1: right listens to right wing news. The left listens to

1035
01:00:29,600 --> 01:00:33,480
Speaker 1: left wing news on social media. If someone disagrees with you,

1036
01:00:33,640 --> 01:00:36,720
Speaker 1: just unfriend them. They disappear, and we end up in

1037
01:00:36,880 --> 01:00:42,440
Speaker 1: these feedback loops where we only hear views we agree with,

1038
01:00:42,600 --> 01:00:49,120
Speaker 1: and we think that's the only thing. We began this.

1039
01:00:49,360 --> 01:00:52,600
Speaker 1: This podcast got a couple of questions and immigration. If

1040
01:00:52,680 --> 01:00:56,440
Speaker 1: you watch Fox News or Newsmax or o An, you

1041
01:00:56,560 --> 01:01:00,280
Speaker 1: know about the immigration crisis. If you watch and it

1042
01:01:00,320 --> 01:01:04,720
Speaker 1: doesn't exist, it's simply there is no immigration crisis. That

1043
01:01:05,320 --> 01:01:08,160
Speaker 1: is a really harmful dynamic. How does it play out

1044
01:01:08,800 --> 01:01:12,040
Speaker 1: on Capitol Hill? I'll say in the Senate at least,

1045
01:01:12,160 --> 01:01:16,560
Speaker 1: here here's an encouraging thing. By and large, the senators

1046
01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:23,360
Speaker 1: get along pretty well. There's very little direct personal incivility

1047
01:01:23,440 --> 01:01:25,040
Speaker 1: one to the other, which is good. There's more of

1048
01:01:25,120 --> 01:01:27,680
Speaker 1: that in the House. The House is a more bare

1049
01:01:27,720 --> 01:01:30,680
Speaker 1: knuckle place, and people can be nastier to each other.

1050
01:01:31,120 --> 01:01:34,920
Speaker 1: There's very little of it in the Senate. There are

1051
01:01:34,920 --> 01:01:37,720
Speaker 1: a number of Democrats I get along with very well.

1052
01:01:39,200 --> 01:01:42,080
Speaker 1: You know, Corey Booker and I are friends. Kirston Gillibrand

1053
01:01:42,160 --> 01:01:48,160
Speaker 1: and I are friends. Actually three different Democratic candidates for president,

1054
01:01:48,720 --> 01:01:54,800
Speaker 1: Corey Kirston and Amy Klobuchar all campaigned and used as

1055
01:01:54,840 --> 01:01:57,920
Speaker 1: a laugh line in the Democratic primary. Heck, I can

1056
01:01:58,000 --> 01:02:01,800
Speaker 1: even work with Ted Krits. But it was just kind

1057
01:02:01,840 --> 01:02:10,400
Speaker 1: of like, Okay, apparently I'm unifying Democrats somehow obliquely, there

1058
01:02:10,520 --> 01:02:15,000
Speaker 1: are and there is some bipartisan cooperation. So let's take,

1059
01:02:15,080 --> 01:02:18,600
Speaker 1: for example, Kirsten Jellabrand. Kirston and I have worked on

1060
01:02:18,680 --> 01:02:22,280
Speaker 1: a number of matters together. We started working together my

1061
01:02:22,400 --> 01:02:24,320
Speaker 1: first year in the Senate where we're both on Senate

1062
01:02:24,440 --> 01:02:28,560
Speaker 1: Armed Services Committee, and she's been really heroic in leading

1063
01:02:28,640 --> 01:02:32,560
Speaker 1: the fight to change how the military handles rape and

1064
01:02:32,640 --> 01:02:37,280
Speaker 1: sexual assault. And there's been a long persistent problem in

1065
01:02:37,320 --> 01:02:40,840
Speaker 1: the military of far too many instances of sexual assault

1066
01:02:40,880 --> 01:02:44,480
Speaker 1: and victims of assault being afraid to come forward and report.

1067
01:02:44,600 --> 01:02:48,440
Speaker 1: And what Kirston had been advocating was moving the decision

1068
01:02:48,560 --> 01:02:52,000
Speaker 1: and the prosecution of sexual assault out of the direct

1069
01:02:52,120 --> 01:02:55,520
Speaker 1: chain of command rather than the commanding officer making that decision,

1070
01:02:56,200 --> 01:03:00,840
Speaker 1: moving the decision to a professional, career military prosecutor. And

1071
01:03:00,920 --> 01:03:05,160
Speaker 1: then that's a change other countries, our allies, the United

1072
01:03:05,240 --> 01:03:08,520
Speaker 1: Kingdom has done that. Israel has done that, and it's

1073
01:03:08,520 --> 01:03:13,480
Speaker 1: seen significant improvements in terms of preventing us AL. Kirsten

1074
01:03:13,600 --> 01:03:17,000
Speaker 1: made those arguments, actually went into we were having a

1075
01:03:17,160 --> 01:03:19,920
Speaker 1: hearing in a markup. I went in with an open mind.

1076
01:03:20,000 --> 01:03:23,320
Speaker 1: I listened to the arguments she made, thought that were persuasive,

1077
01:03:23,400 --> 01:03:25,640
Speaker 1: and I teamed up with her. And so for eight

1078
01:03:25,760 --> 01:03:29,080
Speaker 1: years we've been working side by side. She's been leading

1079
01:03:29,080 --> 01:03:31,600
Speaker 1: the Democratic efforts, I've been leading the Republican efforts. I

1080
01:03:31,640 --> 01:03:35,040
Speaker 1: think we're likely to finally win that victory this year.

1081
01:03:35,080 --> 01:03:39,360
Speaker 1: I think we're right on the cusp of victory. That

1082
01:03:39,600 --> 01:03:42,919
Speaker 1: was an example where we were able gradually to build

1083
01:03:43,000 --> 01:03:54,120
Speaker 1: bipartisan support. The problem more broadly, because the electorate is polarized.

1084
01:03:57,360 --> 01:04:01,880
Speaker 1: Let's take right now the Bernie Sanders budget. We're getting

1085
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:04,000
Speaker 1: ready to vote on the Bernie Sanders budget. It's a

1086
01:04:04,040 --> 01:04:09,360
Speaker 1: five point five trillion dollar budget. It is massive in size,

1087
01:04:09,440 --> 01:04:14,440
Speaker 1: it has trillions of dollars in tax increases, and the

1088
01:04:14,560 --> 01:04:18,400
Speaker 1: congressional Democrats have decided they want to use route power

1089
01:04:18,840 --> 01:04:22,080
Speaker 1: to ram it through. So there are no Democrats talking

1090
01:04:22,120 --> 01:04:25,040
Speaker 1: to Republicans about this. They don't intend to get a

1091
01:04:25,120 --> 01:04:27,120
Speaker 1: single Republican vote in the House. They don't intend to

1092
01:04:27,160 --> 01:04:30,280
Speaker 1: get a single Republican vote in the Senate. Right now,

1093
01:04:30,440 --> 01:04:32,880
Speaker 1: they're trying to pound the living daylights out of Joe

1094
01:04:32,920 --> 01:04:36,760
Speaker 1: Mansion and Kirsten Cinema, the two loan Democratic holdouts in

1095
01:04:36,800 --> 01:04:42,680
Speaker 1: the Senate, to get them to submit. They're talking to

1096
01:04:42,840 --> 01:04:50,080
Speaker 1: an echo chamber that is amplifying the extremes, and to

1097
01:04:50,200 --> 01:04:55,640
Speaker 1: be honest, the right as too. That ends up producing

1098
01:04:55,920 --> 01:04:59,840
Speaker 1: far less cooperation and common ground. I think we can

1099
01:05:00,040 --> 01:05:03,800
Speaker 1: move beyond this. I'll tell you I am in terms

1100
01:05:03,880 --> 01:05:07,960
Speaker 1: of the polarization and fighting we've had, I am short

1101
01:05:08,160 --> 01:05:12,440
Speaker 1: term pessimistic and I'm long term optimistic. Short term, I

1102
01:05:12,600 --> 01:05:16,080
Speaker 1: think that the Democratic leadership in Congress in this administration

1103
01:05:16,880 --> 01:05:19,960
Speaker 1: are really radical right now. That I think, and in

1104
01:05:20,080 --> 01:05:23,600
Speaker 1: many ways that's an outgrowth of the Trump presidency. Is

1105
01:05:23,680 --> 01:05:28,480
Speaker 1: the left hated Trump so much that it radicalized them

1106
01:05:28,680 --> 01:05:33,560
Speaker 1: and that's being reflected in policy after policy after policy.

1107
01:05:34,480 --> 01:05:37,080
Speaker 1: I don't see a whole lot of common ground right now.

1108
01:05:37,120 --> 01:05:39,480
Speaker 1: As they're trying to ram through the Bernie Sanders budget,

1109
01:05:39,960 --> 01:05:41,920
Speaker 1: you're not going to get Republicans going along with that.

1110
01:05:43,200 --> 01:05:48,080
Speaker 1: I do think, however, going forward, there is the potential

1111
01:05:48,240 --> 01:05:55,040
Speaker 1: for common ground, particularly if we don't demonize or vilify

1112
01:05:55,160 --> 01:05:59,000
Speaker 1: each other. So this is a nasty business. I mean

1113
01:05:59,120 --> 01:06:01,360
Speaker 1: you get in alt you get, I mean they go

1114
01:06:01,440 --> 01:06:04,000
Speaker 1: after your family, to go after your kids. It is.

1115
01:06:04,200 --> 01:06:06,760
Speaker 1: It is brutal. And by the way, like I'm on Twitter,

1116
01:06:07,240 --> 01:06:09,640
Speaker 1: I read just about every nasty thing people say on

1117
01:06:09,720 --> 01:06:11,000
Speaker 1: me about Twitter, and there are a lot of them.

1118
01:06:11,040 --> 01:06:14,000
Speaker 1: I mean, you get and the funny ones I enjoy,

1119
01:06:14,120 --> 01:06:15,800
Speaker 1: Like if someone just says f you, it's like, oh,

1120
01:06:15,920 --> 01:06:19,720
Speaker 1: that's that's very clever. You know, let's go brandon um.

1121
01:06:31,720 --> 01:06:35,520
Speaker 1: But I try, and I hope others try not to

1122
01:06:35,760 --> 01:06:39,560
Speaker 1: engage in nasty personal slanders. I mean, even as we

1123
01:06:39,720 --> 01:06:44,320
Speaker 1: discussed things here, I'll disagree on policy, I'll explain why

1124
01:06:44,640 --> 01:06:48,320
Speaker 1: a policy decision I think is a bad idea, and look,

1125
01:06:48,360 --> 01:06:50,200
Speaker 1: I will tell a joke. So, I mean, it doesn't

1126
01:06:50,200 --> 01:06:52,320
Speaker 1: the fact that you don't you know, you don't have

1127
01:06:52,520 --> 01:06:56,440
Speaker 1: to talk like you got a ruler inserted somewhere. I mean,

1128
01:06:56,480 --> 01:06:59,880
Speaker 1: you're gonna have some fun. But but if you're criticizing,

1129
01:07:00,040 --> 01:07:02,520
Speaker 1: I think it's better to have a light touch and

1130
01:07:02,600 --> 01:07:06,440
Speaker 1: a smile rather than you know, the typical political attack

1131
01:07:06,520 --> 01:07:10,520
Speaker 1: at is this you know, super deep voice. My opponent

1132
01:07:11,120 --> 01:07:17,960
Speaker 1: hates kitten ten crew. Gosh, what do I sounds scary?

1133
01:07:18,200 --> 01:07:24,840
Speaker 1: So across the aisle though with them on meaningful changes

1134
01:07:24,920 --> 01:07:27,520
Speaker 1: to bring this back to a republic from the democracy

1135
01:07:27,680 --> 01:07:33,360
Speaker 1: than it is, say using the can you hold the

1136
01:07:33,400 --> 01:07:40,640
Speaker 1: microphone ups saying phasing out the phasing out the positive

1137
01:07:40,680 --> 01:07:47,600
Speaker 1: human rights that the federal government does, to increase, say

1138
01:07:47,680 --> 01:07:50,520
Speaker 1: like a UBI, phasing out the rest of the positive

1139
01:07:50,600 --> 01:07:54,560
Speaker 1: human rights that the federal government does. Doing that, and

1140
01:07:54,720 --> 01:07:59,080
Speaker 1: to restructure the to restructure the IRS to be to

1141
01:07:59,240 --> 01:08:02,280
Speaker 1: do ah attacks on the velocity of money. And that's it.

1142
01:08:04,000 --> 01:08:07,080
Speaker 1: So I think those are creative ideas. I think those

1143
01:08:07,200 --> 01:08:10,280
Speaker 1: are when it comes to the IRS. I've long advocated

1144
01:08:10,520 --> 01:08:22,880
Speaker 1: abolishing the IRS and simply having a simple flat tax.

1145
01:08:23,000 --> 01:08:25,240
Speaker 1: And by the way, to understand the dangers of it,

1146
01:08:25,360 --> 01:08:27,920
Speaker 1: we didn't get into it. But one of the elements

1147
01:08:27,960 --> 01:08:33,240
Speaker 1: of the Bernie Sanders budget right now is requiring your

1148
01:08:33,360 --> 01:08:37,720
Speaker 1: bank to the report to the IRS every single transaction

1149
01:08:37,880 --> 01:08:41,200
Speaker 1: you make of six hundred dollars or more. And you

1150
01:08:41,280 --> 01:08:44,320
Speaker 1: want to talk about big brother monitoring that that is

1151
01:08:44,360 --> 01:08:48,920
Speaker 1: a terrifying thing. And I'll say, you know, the press

1152
01:08:49,000 --> 01:08:51,880
Speaker 1: will characterize that is, oh, that's just monitoring big money

1153
01:08:52,000 --> 01:08:55,400
Speaker 1: rich people. Look, we're the room of college kids. Every

1154
01:08:55,439 --> 01:08:57,599
Speaker 1: one of you that has an apartment. If you're in DC,

1155
01:08:57,840 --> 01:09:00,719
Speaker 1: you're paying more than six hundred bucks and rent unless

1156
01:09:00,720 --> 01:09:07,600
Speaker 1: you got forty two roommates. That I am very skeptical

1157
01:09:07,680 --> 01:09:09,680
Speaker 1: of government power, and I think the more you can

1158
01:09:09,760 --> 01:09:14,759
Speaker 1: protect liberty against government power, against government spying, against government control,

1159
01:09:14,840 --> 01:09:19,880
Speaker 1: the better. Those are ideas that get a lot of resonance.

1160
01:09:19,920 --> 01:09:21,920
Speaker 1: I think when you talk to people, and it's frankly,

1161
01:09:22,360 --> 01:09:25,240
Speaker 1: it's one of the purposes of this podcast is that

1162
01:09:25,439 --> 01:09:32,519
Speaker 1: we try to engage in substance on issues. You know,

1163
01:09:32,560 --> 01:09:35,360
Speaker 1: as Michael knows, my wife Heidie listens to the podcast

1164
01:09:35,439 --> 01:09:38,519
Speaker 1: and if if she thinks we get too dogmatic, if

1165
01:09:38,560 --> 01:09:42,759
Speaker 1: we're suddenly like pounding the table and repeating Republican talking points,

1166
01:09:43,439 --> 01:09:47,200
Speaker 1: she'll call Michael or me and say that sucked. You know,

1167
01:09:47,640 --> 01:09:50,120
Speaker 1: it's never compliments when the number comes up, I don't

1168
01:09:50,120 --> 01:09:53,840
Speaker 1: think it's not true. Sometimes she'll say, Michael was really good,

1169
01:09:54,200 --> 01:09:59,280
Speaker 1: not much. But you know, frankly, I appreciate the honesty

1170
01:09:59,400 --> 01:10:01,559
Speaker 1: because you do want to make sure that you're engaging

1171
01:10:01,600 --> 01:10:04,599
Speaker 1: with real issues. You're not just straw manning the other side.

1172
01:10:04,880 --> 01:10:08,240
Speaker 1: You're not. Increasingly it's we're not even speaking the same language.

1173
01:10:08,360 --> 01:10:10,320
Speaker 1: Very we can't even agree on the definition of man

1174
01:10:10,439 --> 01:10:12,479
Speaker 1: and woman these days, so it can be difficult to

1175
01:10:12,560 --> 01:10:15,360
Speaker 1: communicate with the other side, and you want to be

1176
01:10:15,439 --> 01:10:18,120
Speaker 1: engaging with the best arguments that they have. But there

1177
01:10:18,280 --> 01:10:21,000
Speaker 1: is another side to it, which comes from Ronald Reagan.

1178
01:10:21,280 --> 01:10:25,000
Speaker 1: He was famously asked his strategy on the Soviet Union

1179
01:10:25,040 --> 01:10:27,360
Speaker 1: and the Cold War, and they were waiting for some

1180
01:10:27,520 --> 01:10:29,840
Speaker 1: three hour lecture on the Cold War, and he said,

1181
01:10:29,920 --> 01:10:33,360
Speaker 1: my strategy is simple, we win and they lose. Is

1182
01:10:33,439 --> 01:10:36,880
Speaker 1: there is there some element here of is? And let

1183
01:10:36,960 --> 01:10:39,600
Speaker 1: me suggest, I mean, look, you you invoke Reagan, and

1184
01:10:39,680 --> 01:10:46,280
Speaker 1: Reagan has been my political hero my whole life. You look, well,

1185
01:10:46,320 --> 01:10:49,680
Speaker 1: you're going back a little further than I am. You

1186
01:10:49,840 --> 01:10:52,800
Speaker 1: look at Reagan, and let's take Reagan came in in

1187
01:10:53,360 --> 01:10:57,240
Speaker 1: nineteen elected eighty, came in in eighty one. You know,

1188
01:10:57,600 --> 01:11:00,880
Speaker 1: in Washington, there's a little bit of a folklore which

1189
01:11:01,040 --> 01:11:03,720
Speaker 1: is that Reagan and Tip O'Neill, it was the Democratic

1190
01:11:03,800 --> 01:11:07,320
Speaker 1: Speaker of the House. They were good old Irish pauls,

1191
01:11:07,439 --> 01:11:09,600
Speaker 1: and they'd sit around and they'd have a drink and

1192
01:11:09,680 --> 01:11:11,720
Speaker 1: they'd yuck it up, and they were friends and they

1193
01:11:11,800 --> 01:11:17,800
Speaker 1: reached common ground. And that's usually told in contradistinction to

1194
01:11:17,960 --> 01:11:24,000
Speaker 1: the horrible crass s obs we have today. That was

1195
01:11:24,240 --> 01:11:28,479
Speaker 1: always a bit of a rose colored glasses telling. You know,

1196
01:11:28,640 --> 01:11:31,400
Speaker 1: go back and read what Tip O'Neill said about Ronald Reagan.

1197
01:11:31,920 --> 01:11:35,080
Speaker 1: I mean he unloaded on him bare knuckles. And so

1198
01:11:35,240 --> 01:11:38,639
Speaker 1: let's take, for example, the Reagan tax cuts. So Reagan

1199
01:11:38,760 --> 01:11:41,880
Speaker 1: passed major tax cuts in eighty one eighty six, he

1200
01:11:42,000 --> 01:11:45,559
Speaker 1: came back with major tax simplification. Both of them were

1201
01:11:45,640 --> 01:11:50,280
Speaker 1: overwhelmingly bipartisan. How did they get get done. The way

1202
01:11:50,360 --> 01:11:53,600
Speaker 1: they got done is Reagan made the case to the

1203
01:11:53,640 --> 01:11:57,519
Speaker 1: American people, and he directly went to the American people

1204
01:11:57,560 --> 01:11:59,840
Speaker 1: and said, if we cut taxes, we need to get

1205
01:12:00,000 --> 01:12:03,120
Speaker 1: the economy moving. Under Jimmy Carter, it was stagnant. If

1206
01:12:03,160 --> 01:12:07,240
Speaker 1: we cut taxes on families and small businesses and job creators,

1207
01:12:07,600 --> 01:12:10,400
Speaker 1: we're going to get jobs back. At the economy movie.

1208
01:12:10,439 --> 01:12:15,200
Speaker 1: And what happened was he persuaded millions of Americans who

1209
01:12:15,320 --> 01:12:19,120
Speaker 1: proceeded to pick up the phone and call their congressmen,

1210
01:12:19,200 --> 01:12:23,280
Speaker 1: call their congresswomen, and a bunch of Democratic House members

1211
01:12:24,000 --> 01:12:28,920
Speaker 1: Bolton crossed over and and and voted for the tax

1212
01:12:29,000 --> 01:12:33,040
Speaker 1: cuts because it was overwhelmingly popular with the people, And

1213
01:12:33,600 --> 01:12:38,360
Speaker 1: I think the most powerful tool in all of politics

1214
01:12:38,520 --> 01:12:41,719
Speaker 1: is the bully pulpit of the presidency is the ability.

1215
01:12:41,880 --> 01:12:45,240
Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan would go on TV and he wasn't mean

1216
01:12:45,280 --> 01:12:48,800
Speaker 1: about it, and in fact, maybe this is a good

1217
01:12:48,840 --> 01:12:51,760
Speaker 1: thing because we've got a little bit long, but but

1218
01:12:52,160 --> 01:12:54,240
Speaker 1: a good story to wrap up one of my favorite

1219
01:12:54,280 --> 01:12:59,040
Speaker 1: Reagan stories. He was doing a press conference, so a

1220
01:12:59,080 --> 01:13:03,439
Speaker 1: bunch of reporters there, and one of the reporters was

1221
01:13:03,520 --> 01:13:06,679
Speaker 1: Sam Donaldson, and Sam Donaldson was the kind of tough

1222
01:13:06,840 --> 01:13:11,120
Speaker 1: ABC reporters, you know what, kind of mean and Donaldson goes,

1223
01:13:11,200 --> 01:13:16,240
Speaker 1: mister President, mister President, you have blamed the problems in

1224
01:13:16,360 --> 01:13:20,200
Speaker 1: this country on everybody else. You blame them on Tip O'Neil,

1225
01:13:20,240 --> 01:13:23,040
Speaker 1: you blame them on Democrats in Congress, you blame them

1226
01:13:23,080 --> 01:13:27,479
Speaker 1: on everybody else. But you're president of the United States.

1227
01:13:28,200 --> 01:13:32,519
Speaker 1: Don't you bear any of the responsibility for the problems

1228
01:13:32,600 --> 01:13:36,439
Speaker 1: we have in this country? And Reagan smiled and they

1229
01:13:36,560 --> 01:13:45,439
Speaker 1: leaned forward, or the twinkle in his eye, and he said, well, Sam, yes, yes,

1230
01:13:45,600 --> 01:13:53,040
Speaker 1: I do. I bear considerable responsibility because for many years

1231
01:13:54,000 --> 01:14:01,040
Speaker 1: I was a Democrat. Ladies and gentlemen, on that note,

1232
01:14:01,200 --> 01:14:03,519
Speaker 1: I want to thank our friend Liz Wheeler, host of

1233
01:14:03,600 --> 01:14:05,840
Speaker 1: the Liz Wheelers Show. You can bring her to your

1234
01:14:05,920 --> 01:14:09,400
Speaker 1: campus with Young America's Foundation head on over to YF

1235
01:14:09,479 --> 01:14:12,160
Speaker 1: dot org. Thank you, Liz, I want to thank Senator Cruz,

1236
01:14:12,240 --> 01:14:14,120
Speaker 1: and I mostly want to thank all of you. Thank

1237
01:14:14,160 --> 01:14:16,840
Speaker 1: you for being here. This is Verdict Vitech Cruiz