WEBVTT - Senator Joe Manchin 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.520 One of the most powerful people in Washington today is 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:08.720 Senator Joe Mansion, who is the Democratic center from a 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:12.360 Republican leaning state, West Virginia. He really holds the key 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:14.560 to how legislation is going to get through the Senate. 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:16.479 I had a chance to meet with him recently and 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:19.120 talk with him at the Economic Club of Washington about 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:21.960 his views on a variety of important issues now facing 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:26.840 the Senate and the country. Senator, thank you for coming 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:31.479 anything new lately, not much. There's been reported in the 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:35.880 press that you were spending the weekend in Delaware. Um, 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:38.400 anything you can tell us about what happened A nice visit, 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.760 and I really did. I had a nice visit. Prison. 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:42.480 Buy and I've known each other for quite a while, 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.440 but you know, knowing each other in the political arena 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:47.000 and then knowing each other as a person is a 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:51.840 different different settings. So since he's been president, we've got 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.040 to know each other as who we are and who 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:57.200 hopefully he knows who I am. And I just basically 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:00.800 said to the President, nice and Mr President. My my 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.280 philosophy of politics is this. When I got involved in 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.400 I always thought government should be my partner, not my provider. 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.080 But as a result of the session who had with 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:14.080 the president, Um, you think you came away with understanding 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.480 of where the country is going on all these bills. Well, 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:19.920 and I've said this, I think all of you remember, 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.160 maybe a couple of months ago, I said, I really 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.440 thought long and hard about taking a strategic pause. My 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.679 reason for saying that was a lot of the things 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.520 that were that are in this Reconciliation bill, a lot 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:33.840 of the things that we had covered in the a 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.840 ORP American Rescue Plan at one point nine trillion. And 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:38.720 if you look at the American Rescue Plan bill that 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.160 we did, it covers a lot of the things they're 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:44.880 talking about CUP through two and into twenty three. So 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.360 I didn't see the urgency that someone is going to 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:53.360 be left without any type of cover through coming out 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:55.960 of the COVID pandemic. And the whole reason about what 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:59.720 we did in twenty twenty to the extent we did, 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.320 what we did was trying to prevent a country from 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.640 going into a health crisis or financial crisis, and we 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:09.400 did that. Now, I said, the unknown was this, we 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:11.240 didn't know what the COVID was coming back, the vary 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:12.639 ingt of the COVID, We didn't know what it was 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.160 going to do, and we're still seeing, you know, spikes 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:19.959 and valleys and spikes. We didn't know what if if 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.240 inflation is transitory or not. Now we're finding out it 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.480 might not be transitory. And then the biggest thing that 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:29.679 I had concerns about, what you don't hear people talk 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:32.480 about much, was the geopolitical fall out of how we 0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:36.520 left Afghanistan, because I know what my little cold, cold 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:39.400 town I come from, just human nature was if there 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:42.320 was a bully and you saw someone smack that bully 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:44.760 and make that bully back down, and everybody else is 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.240 ready to take their shot too. But the finish on 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:52.040 the session in Delaware, Um, he's not gonna let this 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:56.360 one go, is it? What? Um? Did you leave thinking 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.919 that we're making progress and that you said that the president, Well, 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.680 here's my bottom line and if you can deliver this, 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:05.000 I you got my vote. I don't think you negotiate. 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.359 You should know one should ever negotiate with the president, 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.880 especially or anyone else if you're if you're negotiating in 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.640 good faith. Yeah, I've always tried to put myself in 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:15.959 the other person, but I want the other person to 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:17.959 understand who I am. Too. So if they can put 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:19.920 themselves to where I am and I put my we 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.320 reverse roles and look at it. So when I left, 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.400 I think it was a very positive meeting. We know 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:27.480 there's a lot of a lot of things we can 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:32.919 do to make more a more perfect union. Um, when 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.320 you go to President's house like that, I guess you 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:37.000 can ask for anything you want to eat, and they 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:39.400 serve anything right that goes. They want to make you happy. Right, 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:40.640 So we had a good time. Let me tell you 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:42.360 the thing we had a good time was, is you 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:44.880 know how I kidded him? Uh, you know how he 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:48.520 was always supposed to be the poorest senator. He had 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:54.640 an eye for real estate, a right, so um, so 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:57.000 I told you my semester, presdi do you didn't you're 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.320 too bad for a poor senator. But let me tell 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.560 you one thing. And we talked about that and you 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:03.720 walked down. But he built the home, and I was 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:05.440 very impressed. He did a heck of a job, and 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:07.560 he designed the whole thing. We went through it. It's 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:10.080 a very nice home in a very nice setting. And 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:13.760 and he has some neighbors and one neighbor it's not 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:17.120 of his political persuasion. And if he's four inches over 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:19.440 for car parks four inches over the sometimes he hears 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.040 about it. And even when he was President States right 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.720 now more so when he's president. So when you're negotiating 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.800 with him or meeting with him, Um, you are you 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.000 kind of representing a senator of cinema or does she 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:34.719 represent herself? No? One thing you learned about being a Senate. 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:37.480 If you can take care of yourself, you're lucky. Okay, 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:40.159 So all right, so she has her own views and 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.720 you have her Okay. I respect her very much, and 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:44.960 she's a friend of mine, but you know we uh, 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:48.960 I think what we bonded. And because I was, I've 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:50.880 been adamant. I've been there long enough to vote in 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:53.960 against the nuclear bomb getting rid of the filibuster that 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.720 when at that time Senator Harry Reid did uh, and 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.960 then in seen when Mitch McConnell did it for Supreme Court. 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.200 And I've been very steadfast on that. And then to 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:06.200 find out I have another person who feels as strong 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:09.960 as I do was welcome. Okay. So as all the 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.280 attention you're getting pleasurable or actually a pain in the 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.479 something or another, I wouldn't this this position I guess 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:18.560 I wouldn't wish it on anybody. And people keep talking 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.680 about power, you never but I look at this room 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:22.560 and all the power in this room, and you all 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:24.800 been around, all of us have been long enough and 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:29.799 watching life and watching how people, uh, basically navigate life. 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.040 I've seen people with an awful lot of power that 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.400 abused it, and I said, why would they do that? 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.000 And I've seen people that sought power and destroy themselves 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.240 trying to gain it. And then I've seen people took 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:42.440 a moment of time and I'll tell all of you 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:44.120 right now, a moment of time is this. We better 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:47.320 bring our country together. We better figure out it's United 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.479 States of America, united not divided States of America. And 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:57.159 we better start working on that. But um, the like, 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.760 in other words, you are the key vote in so 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.760 many things going on in the Senate and the Center 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:05.280 sentem as well. Is that is that fun to be that? 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:07.760 There's not? There's nothing fun about it. But I always 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:10.799 said this. I kept thinking because I was a governor 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:12.880 in two thousand and nine when they were doing American 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:17.320 Rescue Plan, I mean the Affordable Care Act, and uh, 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:19.880 I kept thinking, if I had been governor if I 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:21.560 had been sentator that time to come down to a 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:23.320 swing vote like you did with a couple of the 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.240 modyrates at that time, I think you maybe I could 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:27.720 have made a little bit of a difference there. And 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.159 because I understood how it was delivered in the states 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.359 and people that were going without and people that needed it, 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:35.160 but also people that could have used it and take 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:36.680 advantage of it, and I thought there's a better way 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:38.839 to do it. Lo and behold, ten years later, I 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.679 found myself in a position and about every vote fifty 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.720 Senate who would have thought that had come down to this? 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.159 Is that your view that we should keep the current 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.719 Senate filibuster rule for the voting rights bill that you author. 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.560 The only thing I know I watched the Democrats use 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:57.160 it against Trump and a lot of things that we 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:59.120 were able to stop, things that just didn't make sense 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:04.279 to us. So how can we just two or three 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.760 two years ago, three years ago, thirty nine Democrats senators 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:12.320 led by our leader basically sign letters, please miss McConnell, 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:14.440 do not do away with the fellowbuster. Now all of 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.280 a sudden it becomes all please get rid of because 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.600 it will help us more. Makes no sense to me, 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.360 at all the voting rights bill you have authored, a 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:25.640 I amended version of the Voting Rights Act that you 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:27.440 thought would get for the Senate doesn't seem like it's 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:30.200 getting through unless you change the Fellowbuster rules. What do 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:31.800 you think is gonna happen on voting rights? Well, let 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:34.000 me just tell you. They said I didn't author, Okay, 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:36.040 I put I had input because I saw the for 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.240 the people, and I knew it was aspirational, and I 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.120 understand everything that you can imagine was in that bill. 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:43.840 We're just trying to We're just trying to protect the 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.200 Voting Rights Act of nine, which got shot down in 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:51.880 the Shelby decision in we haven't even fixed that. We 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.520 haven't even fixed that because basically it went from nine 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:56.920 states to thirteen states and then they threw it out 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.280 with a Shelby decision. And I said, really, all fifty 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.320 states should be held responsible and accountable. And I couldn't 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:05.720 in my mind. When I was Secretary State, we used 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.760 to have a Secretary State Association meetings. We were always 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:11.760 competing who could get the greatest turn out. I can't. 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:15.240 And now I'm realizing that people were basically looking at 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:17.800 the vantage they would get if people don't vote or 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.320 certain people don't vote. That's beyond my comprehension. But it's 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:23.280 the reality of what we're dealing with. It's got to 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:27.960 be corrected. But I can't believe that. My my Republican friends, 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.240 uh don't see it that way. I just I still can't, 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.840 you know what. And they keep saying, well, Joe, how 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.240 many Republicans you got? How many of this? And I'm 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:38.800 working and talking to the Republican I keep looking at me, Sist, 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:40.720 what have you done? Who was the last person you 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:42.760 talked to on the Republican side? Have I need a 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:46.000 little bit of help? The debt limit. We've extended it 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.920 until December. Are you worried about the debt limit not 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.720 being passed into Sember? It is crazy for us to 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.440 use that as a as a political weapon. It is 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:57.800 absolutely insane. I think that basically the thing that we 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.560 should do is come to an agreement all the truce 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.040 and David, what I would say, is the thing that 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.600 bothers me more. I don't see our leadership working together. 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:10.720 I don't see people talking, having dinner or coffee, or 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:13.480 even having a conversation on the floor. You'll see a 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.800 few of us going back and forth and this and that. 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:19.679 If you're watching you know, if you are, you're you're, Uh, 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:21.840 you're you're more troubled than I thought. If you're just 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:25.880 watching c SPAN and seeing us going back and forth. Uh. 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:28.200 But the bottom line is is no one's working and talking. 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:30.199 So if you're not going to talk and communicate in 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:31.680 an easy way to do, get rid of the field 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:34.800 of us. That's easy. Sure, all this is easy. Would 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:36.800 you be in favor of eliminating the dead limit? Just 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:38.720 get rid of the dead liman should be fourteenth Amendment. 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:40.600 But the president has the right to make that decision. 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:42.360 We have the right to override if we think he 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:44.840 went too far. That to me is as simple as 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:47.000 it takes all the politicians out of him making a deal. 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.360 The thing that we got caught in the conundrum right now, 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:51.800 the Republican says, we'll fine, I want you to set 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:53.840 the deadlom. It's gonna be thirty one trillion, thirty two. 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:57.240 You know we're right, twenty nine trillion now, So who's 0:09:57.240 --> 0:09:58.840 gonna set the one? Set the one? The one we 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:02.120 have right now is the eighth four and that's that's 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:06.120 going to slide into December. And basically the only way 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:07.760 we can do it right now is if if the 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.680 Republicans would not agree and I don't think that, we 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.200 should change the rules by ourselves, which is called the 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:15.560 nuclear option. This should be something that's done, that's going 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:19.679 to hold and saying okay, President has that authority, we 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:23.840 have the authority to review and override. Based on your experience, 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:26.640 you would expect that sometime in December they'll figure out 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:28.679 how to extend it. Before that, I'm pushing it now. 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:30.120 We should do it now. It should not come down 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.000 to the limit again. So if we can't do it 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.120 and they don't agree on that, the Democrats have the responsibility, 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:37.679 being the majority party right now, to do it through 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.160 reconciliation among new reconciliation. You've got to set a number, 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:43.840 and that's our responsibility, and I would take that and 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:46.960 do it. What about the continuing Resolution to fund the government? 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:48.800 You think that will go to the last minute as well, 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:50.400 For everything goes to last minute, and it is a 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:52.560 shame because no one's talking up until the last minute 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.000 and becomes a crisis. We were okay, we can still 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:58.360 manage through a crisis. It's a shame that you have 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:00.840 to run the greatest country on Earth crisis. Well, the 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:04.080 Senate Democrats and the center of Publicans that they socialize 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:06.079 or talk to each other very much, or just it's 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:08.240 not considered appropriate to be talking to people from the 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.240 opposite party very much. In the Senate. Well, it's a 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:12.560 shame that that that you see some of that going on, 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:16.520 that people just don't talk to people that much. And 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:18.800 I make a point to have dinner with him or 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:21.400 meet him somewhere or just you know, I always do 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:23.440 that and try to and I think that's the way, 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:26.240 and I think there should be there should be something 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:28.880 to where at least the leaders have to have lunch 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.400 one day a week. I would think that would be good. 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:33.480 But you know what we do. We have caucus lunches. 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.200 All the Democrats go over here, all Republicans go over there. 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.040 And once a year we had Johnny Isingson would have 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:41.000 all the people from Georgia come up and do a 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.640 big pork thing, barbecue thing, and we'd all get together. 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:47.240 But even then it didn't last much longer than now. 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:49.600 So you have a Republican colleague in the Senate from 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.600 West Virginia, Senator of Capital, a very good friend of mine. 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.959 So how do you we get on good? One night 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:57.760 we were I had to go back home. We were 0:11:57.840 --> 0:11:59.760 voting late and we missed the plane when you had 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:02.160 one light at night going back. So I said, hey, Shelley, 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:04.280 I said, I'm driving. She said okay, so you wanna 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:05.920 ride with me? She thought about it for a minute 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.720 or two. She says, okay, count me in. So about 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.280 ten o'clock we take off for West Virginia. And I 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:13.280 drive a little bit fast, and some night at night 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:15.240 I drive a little bit faster because I know within 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:20.079 the speeding by myself. Well, I won't say that. So 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:21.920 we were driving and we were going through back. Then 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:25.280 we got picked up for speeding. Oh he did. But 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:26.920 when that, when you get picked up, I mean, they 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:28.680 know who you are, So what do they do? State 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.360 policeman comes to the Doorney Rosa. Oh my god, he says, 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:34.280 he says, governor. He said, no, sender. He was one 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:35.880 of the troopers that I had when I was governor. 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.000 So I thought I was in pretty good shape. So 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.400 you uh, I guess she didn't get a ticket. Then 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.360 then when the funny part was this, he looked at 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:45.000 me and said, oh my god, is both of you. 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:50.840 Are you worried that the Senate and the House could 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.840 flip to the Republicans in the mid term, because that 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.720 often happens in these first year Well, we didn't have 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:58.839 much of a buffer from going in, Okay, David Is 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:00.320 It wasn't like we had a little bit of a 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.559 bench strength here. I know. So are you worried about this? Sure? 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.040 I mean you're worried if I'm a chairman right now 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.040 of a committee which I enjoy very much. I've been 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.000 ranking before on the committee which is a minority part 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.040 which Lisa Murkowski was one of my dearest friends and 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:16.960 a great partner, and we worked back and forth. But yeah, 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:18.880 you're it's much better off when you can control the 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.720 agenda versus you have to follow but there's nothing you 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.320 can do about it and tell anything about it, and 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:26.319 you can have good sound policy. I've always said this, 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.440 the best politics is good government, and today that's not 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:32.960 we're practicing today. It's not about right now. And I 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:36.000 said the Republicans are missing a golden opportunity not to 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:39.560 jump on the infrastructure bill and be overwhelmingly bipartisan and 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:43.040 taking credit. I've seen people take credit of good legislation 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:46.840 to voted against it. I can't believe that happens in Washington. 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:50.360 I can't. So is this making you more popular in 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:52.719 West Virginia or less popular? And all this attention or 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.400 it depends on what corner town you go to, so 0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:59.600 um and you go back. I go back all the time. Yeah, 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:02.640 you know, I love my state. And I'm born and 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:06.160 raised in a little coal mining town Farmington four or people. 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.600 And uh, I just I just saw people that worked 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:11.160 all the time and kind of shared what they had 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.199 and took care of each other, and took care of 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:15.079 those who couldn't take care of themselves if they were 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:18.280 mentally or physically handicapped, the town always picked them up. 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.200 I mean, I saw all the good in what we 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:23.760 are small town America and what the United States is, 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:25.840 and I thought, well, and be the old countries that way. 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:28.880 West Virginia used to be a solidly democratic state when 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.440 John Kenny ran from president was a very democratic state. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:36.480 It's democratic state till right, so now it's Republican state. 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:39.440 What's changed West Virginia or the country. I couldn't believe, 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:41.840 you know. I was very blessed with having good support 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:46.880 from Republicans Democrats, independence. You know, I never got the extremes. 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:49.000 I never got the far right or far left. And 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.680 I can understand that, but we never ran our country 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:53.840 or our states, or our politics from the far right 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:56.120 or far left was always And I told people, I 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:58.040 gave a speech one day, the first time we come 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:01.640 back off the COVID to Bethany call Age Uh their graduation, 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:04.720 a little beautiful or college up in northern northern West Virginia. 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.560 And I walked on the stage. I didn't they gave 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:10.080 me a speech, and I have good, good people here 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.320 at work with me, and I had just nothing. Where 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:14.240 do I say? You've been closer it in for one 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:18.080 year and I had nothing on paper or nothing in 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:19.560 my mind that I was going to say. As I 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:22.440 walked to the podium, I'm thinking, man, I'm blank. I 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:24.480 don't want to go to say. And I walked up 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:26.960 there and I just apologized. I said, I want to apologize. 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:30.640 I am sorry. I am sorry. I've been radicalized. And 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:32.240 they looked at me and I don't know how that 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.840 came out that way. So I've been radicalized. I said, 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.960 your grandparents have been radicalized, your parents have been Our 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:41.520 generation was radicalized because we don't understand what's going on. 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:45.240 You understand I never had I never had computers, I 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:47.360 never had cell phones, didn't have any of those growing up. 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:49.720 So I got my news pretty much down the middle 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:52.640 of CBS, ABC, NBC. I'm never free. At one time 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.120 when John Kennedy was running for president in West Virginia 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:58.600 was a swing state, and my parents were all excited. 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:00.560 And I didn't know why they were all excited about politics, 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.240 but the young the young person running and he was 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:06.720 a Catholic, and we're a Catholic family, and it was 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.680 there's not many Catholics in West Virginia, so they were 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.080 all excited. So I got excited. So we're watching television 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:14.360 one night and had to be Walter Cronkite. He said, 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.920 it's been said that if John Kennedy becomes president of 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:19.960 pope were running the country. I looked at my mom 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.480 and says, boy, he don't know that. He don't know that. 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:27.960 The Catholics we know. That's all. That's all I could 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:29.760 come up with, because I can figure I never seen 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.440 by tell Catholic or Protestant or jew anything. They're gonna 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:35.320 make their own minds up. You're the only statewide office 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.320 holder in Western here's a Democrat, right, Oh, yes, it's 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.000 very lonely. Have you ever thought my life would be 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.440 easier for you if you shifted to being a Republican? 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:48.360 And somebody has said recently that, um, you know people 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.360 have approached you about doing that every day? Wouldn't like 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:52.960 be easier for you to do that? It will be 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.200 much easier, my goodness? Is that the purpose of being 0:16:56.240 --> 0:17:00.600 involved in public services? No, I've never I've never thought 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.840 from this I'm what I'm telling you now is who 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:05.920 I am. Do you think by having a D or 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.280 an I or an R is gonna change who I am? 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.080 I don't think the RS be any more happier with 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.640 me than d's are, right now, Okay, I mean that's 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:15.840 about as bland as I can put it. So I 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:18.959 don't know where in the hell I belong. So, um, 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:22.120 it's being governor more fun than being Oh my god, yes, 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:27.680 being governor. And I got involved in politics. I was 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:29.520 upset because I saw a guy come in one time 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:31.320 talk to my father. I was thirty five years old 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.880 with three kids. I had no intention get involved politics, 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:35.800 not at all. And the guy came in. He started 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.600 talking about favors. This was a local politician, he says 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:41.360 when he left. I said, Dad, he made it look 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.400 like that he was doing you a favor to take 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:47.040 care of people of his constituency. He's not doing his job. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.560 And I said, I'm gonna run. I'm gonna I'm just 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:51.000 got went through me like a knife. I said, I'm 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.080 gonna run. And Dad says, oh no, no, he don't 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.880 get involved in politics. That's not a good, good profession. Boy. 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:59.399 How prolific he was back then to understand that. And 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.359 I said, I said, Dad, you're you're a hypocrite. I 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:04.520 thought he was going to hit me. And he looked 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:06.000 at me and he says, why would you call him? 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.520 I said, Dad, you always said you want good people involved, 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:10.639 have to get good values. They should get involved for 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:12.680 the right reason. I said, I think I was raised 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:15.119 right and you all, I mean, I think I feel 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.440 pretty balanced. And he looked at me and he says, 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.200 you're right. Let's go get him. So so I ran 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.280 a one and that's how I got involved. I was 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:25.000 one of a hundred when I was a House of Delegates. 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:26.960 I said, you know what, if I was in the 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:28.800 state Senate, i'd be one of thirty four, I have 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.520 three times the ability to help more people. And then 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.159 I said, boy, if I was governor, i'd be one 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:36.280