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Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics,

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Speaker 1: where we discussed the top political headlines with some of

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Speaker 1: today's best minds, and VP Harris leads Trump by two

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Speaker 1: points in a Reuter's ipsos poll. We have such a

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Speaker 1: great show for you today. New York Times contributor Justin

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Speaker 1: Wolfers drops by to talk about Biden's strong economy and

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Speaker 1: how Kamala can run on it. Then we'll talk to

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Speaker 1: Massachusetts Attorney Generals Andrea Campbell about regulating assault rifles. But

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Speaker 1: first we have talking points memos. Josh Marshall, Welcome back

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Speaker 1: to Fast Politics.

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Speaker 2: Josh Marshall, thanks for having me.

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Speaker 3: I'm so excited to have you because I feel like during.

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Speaker 4: The last three weeks of just democratic freak out, you

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Speaker 4: and I both had the same take, which was that

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Speaker 4: all of this needed to slow.

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Speaker 1: Down, and that the gut reac action to dump the nominee, well,

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Speaker 1: it ultimately was the right call. I think, I mean,

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Speaker 1: we don't know yet, but people were just being a

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Speaker 1: little bit emotional.

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Speaker 2: I think that's right to me.

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Speaker 5: As you say, I mean, we're kind of we're onto

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Speaker 5: this new period yet, like you know, whether whether it's

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Speaker 5: a good idea or not. It's the reality we're living in.

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Speaker 5: If you're a Democrat and if you care about these things,

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Speaker 5: there's you know, one choice, which is to get on

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Speaker 5: board and get everybody pushing in the same direction. My

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Speaker 5: sense from you know, the early days of this sort

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Speaker 5: of like three weeks of agony that Democrats had, that

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Speaker 5: people needed to understand the gravity of what they were proposing,

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Speaker 5: that this is something that never happens. It's something that

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Speaker 5: you know, the one if you if you look back

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Speaker 5: through history, there is one singular thing that gets you

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Speaker 5: elected president, and that is being president. Power of incumbency

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Speaker 5: is just massive. And we had a primary process and

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Speaker 5: Joe Biden was elected to be the nominee. You know,

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Speaker 5: sometimes unforeseen things happen and you kind of have to

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Speaker 5: toss the rule book out the window. But there's a

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Speaker 5: reason there's a rule book. And at least for me,

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Speaker 5: I was, you know, wanting to at least you know,

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Speaker 5: to the extent that my job is to commentate and

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Speaker 5: all that kind of stuff, to get people to slow

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Speaker 5: down a bit and remember why that rule book exists,

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Speaker 5: and that it's a pretty good one to follow except

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Speaker 5: in extreme cases. And there's also you know, just one

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Speaker 5: of these things that I always try to remind myself

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Speaker 5: in politics, which is that it's important to keep your

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Speaker 5: head about you, and it's very easy for that not

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Speaker 5: to happen. And it's also important to not just keep

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Speaker 5: your head about yourself, but maintain some kind of dignity

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Speaker 5: and sense of balance in really extreme and frightening and

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Speaker 5: bewildering moments, just because that's a good way to live

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Speaker 5: in the world, right. I think this is a case where,

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Speaker 5: you know, in piloting, they have something called I think

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Speaker 5: it's like, you know, instruments only piloting or something like that,

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Speaker 5: And what it is is that it's when you're in

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Speaker 5: really bad weather conditions and you can't literally you can't see,

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Speaker 5: you can't do it by eye. And what they tell

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Speaker 5: pilots is you just look at your instruments because your

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Speaker 5: sense of balance gets off, your sense of literally what's

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Speaker 5: up and down gets off, how fast you're going gets off.

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Speaker 5: Your brain is not able to process what's going on,

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Speaker 5: and so you just look at your instruments and you

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Speaker 5: don't look at anything else because you have all these

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Speaker 5: cases where pilots, you know, like they fly straight into

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Speaker 5: the ground because they think they're going up when they're

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Speaker 5: going down, and in politically stormy moments, that's really key.

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Speaker 5: And poles are the closest we have to instruments, even

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Speaker 5: though they're very imperfect. There was that point where we'd

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Speaker 5: been a couple weeks into this and in fact, the

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Speaker 5: poles had maybe moved like literally one point. You know,

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Speaker 5: I think what really decided this is that over the

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Speaker 5: course of the last week they really did start to dip,

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Speaker 5: but at least as long as we were in that

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Speaker 5: you know, one point move.

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Speaker 3: Right where it didn't move.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, you kind of I think you have to say, like, look,

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Speaker 5: maybe this is the right idea, but if you're telling

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Speaker 5: us that he's done, he can't win. The bottom is

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Speaker 5: falling out. Let's just take one moment to look at

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Speaker 5: our only version of an instant panel and say, that's

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Speaker 5: actually not true. The stormy weather and all the weirdness

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Speaker 5: is making you think it's true, but it's actually not so. Anyway,

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Speaker 5: that was I guess my version of kind of like,

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Speaker 5: let's take this one step at a time.

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Speaker 1: It's interesting because I actually have a theory that those

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Speaker 1: three weeks were really important for the base to galvanize

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Speaker 1: around Kamal Harris, and that if he had just dropped

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Speaker 1: out right after the debate and not waited to see

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Speaker 1: some of the fallout, and there had not been these

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Speaker 1: very obnoxious conversations where donors had said things like, can

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Speaker 1: we skip over the vice president because, you know, because

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Speaker 1: we think that these two white people from Anaheim are

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Speaker 1: better to do this?

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Speaker 3: You know, can we just west wing this thing?

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Speaker 1: If there hadn't been that inane op ed where Aaron

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Speaker 1: Sorkin had said that Democrats should nominate Mitt Romney, if

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Speaker 1: we had not had those three weeks, there might have

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Speaker 1: been more questions about Biden dropping out, Like I do

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Speaker 1: think that letting it play out for those three weeks

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Speaker 1: may have actually been a good thing. And then the

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Speaker 1: Vice president has now raised one hundred million dollars. It

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Speaker 1: was eighty, but now I think it's a I think

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Speaker 1: I saw a hundred, but even.

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Speaker 2: Still, I think at this point probably passed one hundred, right.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but eighty and twenty four, right, So that's record breaking.

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Speaker 1: And we're seeing like a lot of enthusiasm for her.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 1: Whether that enthusiasm translates to polls, we don't know, and

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Speaker 1: whether those polls translate to winning again another question, But

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Speaker 1: it's hard to think of a more seamless rollout. The

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Speaker 1: other thing I want you to talk about because that

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Speaker 1: speech yesterday in the campaign headquarters, which now, by the way,

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Speaker 1: all those people live in Delaware forever. I'm sorry, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, TJ. You'll grow to love Wilmington. But she came,

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Speaker 1: and I thought the handoff was as generous a handoff

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Speaker 1: as I had ever seen.

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Speaker 5: I think so many people would agree with this, that

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Speaker 5: if you care about beating Trump, if you care just

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Speaker 5: about Joe Biden as president and as a person, and

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Speaker 5: if you care about democratic politics, the last three weeks

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Speaker 5: just pure agony at so many different levels for so

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Speaker 5: many people. First of all, I think you're right that

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Speaker 5: if Joe Biden had dropped out of the race like

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Speaker 5: Sunday after the debate. First of all, I think at

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Speaker 5: a very basic level, that would be a shocking and

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Speaker 5: terribly irresponsible thing for Joe Biden to do. I mean,

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Speaker 5: you're the president of the United States. You were chosen,

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Speaker 5: you know, elected by primary voters to run again. You

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Speaker 5: have a bad debate, and you have like forty eight

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Speaker 5: hours of bad press, and you drop out of the race.

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Speaker 5: That's in that would be so bad, and I do

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Speaker 5: think there would be a massive probably eventually overcome, but

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Speaker 5: a shock from Democratic voters like what just happened? You

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Speaker 5: know what was that? A lot of people saying they

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Speaker 5: don't accept it. This was such a big thing that

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Speaker 5: it really probably took three weeks for everyone to process it,

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Speaker 5: certainly for Joe Biden to process it. I still can't

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Speaker 5: even begin to get my head around what he has

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Speaker 5: grappled with over the last three weeks. Fundamentally, this is

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Speaker 5: not about Joe Biden. It's about electing a president. It's

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Speaker 5: about beating Donald Trump. But as a separate issue over there,

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Speaker 5: that's also a big, fascinating, heartbreaking thing going on during

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Speaker 5: this and a lot of people, and I was one

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Speaker 5: of these people at certain points, were very against this

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Speaker 5: push to push him out. As you say, there were

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Speaker 5: a lot of sort of the Thunderdome crowd who wanted

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Speaker 5: to just you know, jump over Kamala Harris. There was

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Speaker 5: a lot of stuff to process, and I do think

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Speaker 5: by the end of that three weeks most Democrats had

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Speaker 5: come to the conclusion that it was necessary. Even if

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Speaker 5: they hated it, it was necessary. I mean, for me,

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Speaker 5: I mean, one of the ways I was looking at

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Speaker 5: this was that I think it was probably possible for

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Speaker 5: Biden to sort of after the debate, after the post

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Speaker 5: debate appearances, to slog it out, and I still think

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Speaker 5: have a chance of winning the presidency, not as much

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Speaker 5: as he had had a chance of winning the president,

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Speaker 5: but a chance. What really ended it, I think was

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Speaker 5: that once you know, by Sunday, before he made his announcement,

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Speaker 5: basically everybody in the Democratic Party had come out against

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Speaker 5: him running again, and a lot of those people had

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Speaker 5: become angry at him, publicly angry at him, and I

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Speaker 5: think that really broke him as a candidate. Now he

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Speaker 5: broke himself a lot three weeks go, but after that happened,

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Speaker 5: I just think it was literally not possible to continue

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Speaker 5: because if you think about it, think about the convention

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Speaker 5: in what is it, three weeks or whatever. Imagine having

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Speaker 5: that convention where the whole point is for everybody to

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Speaker 5: be saying rah rah rah Joe Biden. And yeah, it's

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Speaker 5: just if you think about that, it's it's absurd because

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Speaker 5: all of those people are saying, Biden, drop out, you

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Speaker 5: can't do it. And again, about half of those people

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Speaker 5: had moved from drop out to being furious at him

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Speaker 5: not dropping round, so it was impossible, and there we are.

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Speaker 5: That is really a big part of this massive enthusiasm

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Speaker 5: for Kamala Harris is not just her, although a lot

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Speaker 5: of it's her, it's whole.

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Speaker 2: We're done with that.

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Speaker 5: We got through that three weeks and we're putting that

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Speaker 5: behind us and we're moving on. And that is such

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Speaker 5: a relief and such a you know, you have to,

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Speaker 5: like anything in life, people have to process things.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's right.

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Speaker 1: One of the things with the people calling for him

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Speaker 1: to drop out was they didn't know Sincereily like, if

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Speaker 1: a president drops out, the vice president the job is

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Speaker 1: that right to be there when the president cannot. You

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Speaker 1: don't nominate a vice president for any other reason. So

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Speaker 1: the idea that a lot of these dropouts were like

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Speaker 1: you know how there's like polling where they say, like,

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Speaker 1: would you like another candidate? And everyone says yes, because

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Speaker 1: of course you'd like someone else, because someone you know.

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Speaker 1: It's like would you like to sleep with someone who's.

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Speaker 3: Not your spouse?

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Speaker 6: You know?

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Speaker 1: I mean I don't know, So I think what's interesting

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Speaker 1: is like, but ultimately you'd ask those people and they'd

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Speaker 1: say ten percent would say, you know, I'd like Michelle

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Speaker 1: Obama will absolutely, unequivocally not run, you know, ten percent.

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Speaker 1: I'd like Oprah, I'd like Mark Cuban, I'd like this one.

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Speaker 3: I'd like that one.

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Speaker 2: Like I like FDR. I mean, okay, great, great.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it just felt like West Wing fantasy. I'd like

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Speaker 3: Mitt Romney. Nobody actually wants mid Romney.

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Speaker 1: But it didn't feel like it was grounded in actual reality.

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Speaker 1: It was more just like hostility to our Biden. So

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Speaker 1: I think there was some like emotional preparation that needed

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Speaker 1: to happen.

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Speaker 5: It wasn't just about Biden. It was about a sneering

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Speaker 5: contempt a lot of those people have for Kamala Harris.

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Speaker 5: That was kind of ugly.

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Speaker 3: And very racist and sexist.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, or a lot of things. And part

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Speaker 5: of my kind of antipathy or resistance to that kind

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Speaker 5: of thinking is that, I think, if that's where you're at,

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Speaker 5: and let's you know, let's set aside the reasons for

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Speaker 5: the moment that people wanted to skip over Harris. I

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Speaker 5: think if you're thinking, like, hey, Biden will step aside,

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Speaker 5: and then we'll have like a whole cool thing where

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Speaker 5: everybody will throw their how to and.

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Speaker 2: It'll be it'll be awesome.

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Speaker 5: I think if you're thinking that way, you're not understanding

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Speaker 5: the gravity of what you're doing. We're not doing this

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Speaker 5: kind of make your own adventure thing. We're doing it

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Speaker 5: because this is something that can never happen, that does

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Speaker 5: never happen. But we have a totally unforeseen, you know,

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Speaker 5: set of circumstances, and we have to do an emergency thing.

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Speaker 5: And in an emergency thing, you don't get a chocolate

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Speaker 5: Sunday with all the toppings you want. You hopefully you

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Speaker 5: just you know what I mean, you just it's it's

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Speaker 5: not that kind of thing in an unforeseen emergency. It

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Speaker 5: is in the bedrock of American politics, president has to

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Speaker 5: step aside. There's one person who steps in, that's the

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Speaker 5: vice president.

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Speaker 1: No, a really good point, and I think that with

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Speaker 1: all that sort of stuff. And the thing I was

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Speaker 1: struck by two was when I would talk to people

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Speaker 1: about it, they would say, you know, I'd say, well,

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Speaker 1: this is like a major thing you would be doing.

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Speaker 1: And the historical president for it is not great.

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Speaker 2: To put it mildly, yeah, right.

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Speaker 1: Exactly, Like historically, you know, when a president steps down.

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Speaker 1: It's just not great, you know. So, I mean, now,

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Speaker 1: remember this is we are in a historic times, right.

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Speaker 1: She's running against a man who has convicted Fallon. Now

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Speaker 1: he has two more cases because one was dropped by

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Speaker 1: a maga judge.

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Speaker 2: That one I think will come back.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, whether Trump is elected and they all disappear, but

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Speaker 5: I think that one is likely to come back, right.

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Speaker 1: And that you have just he's been impeached twice. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he just you know, you have a Supreme Court that

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Speaker 1: is preparing to make it so that he can be

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Speaker 1: God king forever. And then you also have the Heritage

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Speaker 1: Foundation with this fulsome plan to just dismantle the entire

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Speaker 1: federal government and make it so women can't have anything

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Speaker 1: at all. Basically, So I do think that it is

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Speaker 1: a historic times, and so we have to wonder. And again,

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Speaker 1: like the mainstream media is decimated. There are like three

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Speaker 1: outlets left. So whether people understand the states of this,

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Speaker 1: we have no idea. And whether they'll ever understand the

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Speaker 1: stakes of it or even get that information, we don't know, right.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, I feel funny saying it, but

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Speaker 5: I do think that, as you kind of mentioned before,

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Speaker 5: that this three weeks. I think was just necessary. You

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Speaker 5: can't get through something like this in a couple of days.

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Speaker 5: It's not even the idea to get through something like

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Speaker 5: this and a couple of days. And it's funny probably,

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Speaker 5: I don't know. Four or five days after the debate,

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Speaker 5: I was talking to a person who has a very

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Speaker 5: high up position in democratic campaign politics, but not someone

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Speaker 5: in the Biden campaign. And this person told me that

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Speaker 5: what they had seen from the people knocking doors was

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Speaker 5: not nearly as dramatic as you know, what the pundits

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Speaker 5: were saying. So it was definitely in a kind of like,

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Speaker 5: let's not freak out mode about this. But this person

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Speaker 5: said again very early in July that let's kind of

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Speaker 5: let it play out. If it really seems necessary, it

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Speaker 5: would actually be better to do it after the GOP,

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Speaker 5: just right after the GOP convention.

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Speaker 3: Interesting, why, well.

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Speaker 5: I think a because there's no rush, which was I

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Speaker 5: think always an important part of this. I mean, like

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Speaker 5: from the perspective of July second, or third, it's months

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Speaker 5: or a year or two late, right.

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Speaker 3: Right to have a regular process.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean you need to rush backwards

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Speaker 5: in time, right, it's such a rush. But having said

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Speaker 5: that once you're already in July, doing it in early

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Speaker 5: July versus mid July is really not.

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Speaker 2: A big deal.

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Speaker 5: And b what the conventions really are, unlike what the

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Speaker 5: Thunderdome crowd thinks, is there four day commercials for your slate.

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Speaker 5: It's a singular chance when you kind of command everything

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Speaker 5: for four days, and it's not a bad thing to

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Speaker 5: have the other side go first, and then you come

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Speaker 5: out a day later and say, well, cool guys, but

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Speaker 5: we're actually running someone else, so sorry, too bad, you

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Speaker 5: can't do another convention.

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Speaker 1: The timing was incredible. They made this entire thing about

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Speaker 1: mental acuity because Biden was so old. But now that

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Speaker 1: Biden has dropped out, Donald Trump is the oldest person

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Speaker 1: ever to run for president.

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Speaker 3: Whoops.

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Speaker 5: The other good thing that Trump did for the Democratic

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Speaker 5: ticket was that speech, right for ten.

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Speaker 3: Minutes of normal and an hour and a half of crazy.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean everybody was, I mean, coming after the

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Speaker 5: shooting and after the convention and after all the ra rah,

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Speaker 5: like most of the press was basically, let's just move

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Speaker 5: on to building the cabinet. I mean, this is a formality, right,

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Speaker 5: and like you know, most of the sort of the

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Speaker 5: DC Insider sheets went totally in with new spiritual, serene

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Speaker 5: Trump and all this kind of stuff, and then he

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Speaker 5: gets up there and it's just like a total freak

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Speaker 5: for an hour and a half. And that was if

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Speaker 5: you're writing a non goofball script for this that was

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Speaker 5: I think an important inflection because a lot of people

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Speaker 5: people were still uncertain assuming it was Biden.

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Speaker 2: But a lot of.

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Speaker 5: People, a lot a lot of press, people who sort

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Speaker 5: of chatter on Twitter and create the sort of the

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Speaker 5: background noise of politics, we're saying like, ish, he's kind

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Speaker 5: of whack, Like well, you know, you know, even if

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Speaker 5: Biden's a wreck, this guy's kind of a mess too.

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Speaker 5: The Republican convention, i think ended with this guy's campaign

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Speaker 5: is going to be a bit of a mess too.

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Speaker 5: Let's slow it down a little because you know, maybe

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Speaker 5: it's not to be a straight line from everybody wearing

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Speaker 5: a near thing to the inauguration.

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Speaker 1: Yeah that's right, Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm

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Speaker 1: really glad that you came on.

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Speaker 2: No, thanks for having me.

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Speaker 6: You're real grown up, Oh, thank you, And you know

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Speaker 6: these are grown up times, right or a historical hopefully?

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Speaker 1: Are you concerned with Project twenty twenty five and how

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Speaker 1: awful Trump's second term could be. Well, so are we,

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Speaker 1: and by the way, we really are, I have to say,

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Speaker 1: which is why we teamed with iHeart to make a

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Speaker 1: limited series with the experts, a lot of academics, really

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Speaker 1: smart people about what a disaster Trump's second term would

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Speaker 1: be for America's future. Right now, you can find the

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Speaker 1: first two episodes by looking up Molly Jong Fast, That's

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Speaker 1: Me Project twenty twenty five on YouTube.

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Speaker 3: And if you're thinking that you're.

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Speaker 1: More of a podcast person and not a YouTuber, you

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Speaker 1: can and now I'm going to explain into something very complicated.

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Speaker 1: Hit play on YouTube, then put your phone in the

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Speaker 1: lock screen and it will play back so you can

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Speaker 1: listen to it like a podcast. New episodes are dropping

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Speaker 1: in the next few weeks. We need to educate Americans

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Speaker 1: on what Trump's second term would look like and exactly

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Speaker 1: what his plans are.

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Speaker 3: For this country. Watch and help us spread the word.

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Speaker 1: Justin Wolfers is a professor of economics at the University

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Speaker 1: of Michigan and a New York Times contributor.

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Speaker 3: Welcome Back, Too Fast Politics.

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Speaker 1: He's back in the US of a after seven months

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Speaker 1: in Australia. Our favorite economists. Don't tell Paul Krugman, and

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Speaker 1: I said that justin.

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Speaker 7: Wolfers, you can tell Paul, go ahead.

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Speaker 1: It's our secret. Justin Wolfers. I feel like we've been

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Speaker 1: through so much. I was thinking about like you and

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Speaker 1: me being like, is it going to be a recession?

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Speaker 1: And you were saying, I still am optimistic. I don't

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Speaker 1: think remember that where everyone was like, it's going to

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Speaker 1: be a recession, it's going to be a recession. I

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Speaker 1: feel like I'm like, one of the things that really

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Speaker 1: helps me is I remember six months ago, whereas.

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Speaker 3: No one else does.

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Speaker 1: And this makes me a super genius when it comes

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Speaker 1: to political commentary.

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Speaker 3: I'm just giving myself a little credit that I do

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Speaker 3: not deserve. Paul Krookman told me that, Yeah, exactly.

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Speaker 1: But can you explain what it has, what's going on

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Speaker 1: and where we are, et cetera, et cetera.

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Speaker 7: Well, so I'm just thrilled that you want to talk

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Speaker 7: economics after everything that's happened. So yeah, the story turns

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Speaker 7: out to be much simpler than the emotional rollercoaster that

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Speaker 7: the media and so many Americans have been through. Here's

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Speaker 7: the story. Twenty nineteen, the economy was doing pretty well.

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Speaker 7: I'm going to say that Trump economy was a strong economy.

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Speaker 3: That's the truth, right, I've heard that from Trump before.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, that's how I know it. He told me, yeah, no,

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Speaker 7: but it's true. Unemployment got down to a fifty year low,

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Speaker 7: and that's the single best barometer of how we're doing.

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Speaker 7: You might have liked it if when we grow the

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Speaker 7: pie we gave some of it to the rest of

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Speaker 7: us and not just the plutocrats. That's what the Trump

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Speaker 7: tax cuts made sure that that's where all the cream went.

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Speaker 7: But overall, the pie was big. Then the pandemic hit,

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Speaker 7: and it was the sharpest, deepest, most terrifying moment of

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Speaker 7: any of our economic lives. It can be hard to

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Speaker 7: remember how bad it was. We have a natural psychological

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Speaker 7: tendency to want to memory hold the whole thing, which

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Speaker 7: matters a lot, because if you ever asked the question,

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Speaker 7: are you better off than you were four years ago?

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Speaker 7: Four years ago, the virus was everywhere, The economy was

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Speaker 7: shut down, and you and I were scared for our professional,

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Speaker 7: economic lives and personal The administration tried to pretend the

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Speaker 7: pandemic wasn't happening, which is a terrible thing. To do

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Speaker 7: to a pandemic, because virus has spread whether you acknowledge

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Speaker 7: them or not. And so we in the United States

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Speaker 7: had a worse time with the pandemic than most of

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Speaker 7: the rest of the world. And then the Biden presidence

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Speaker 7: he began in January twenty one, take the virus seriously.

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Speaker 7: The virus was the single thing holding back the economy.

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Speaker 7: The economy bounces back, surgeres, surgeres at a rate never

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Speaker 7: seen before. Now Republicans say this is just bounce back,

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Speaker 7: We're just recovering the jobs we lost, to which the answers, yes,

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Speaker 7: that's true. That's what happens when you take the biggest

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Speaker 7: economic calamity of our lifetime. Seriously, the economy bounces back,

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Speaker 7: and it did. Economic growth was extraordinary through twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 7: amazing through twenty twenty two. And just because people are pessimistic,

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Speaker 7: they started to say, oh, then we must have a recession.

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Speaker 7: I don't know it's due. And that theory doesn't work

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Speaker 7: with roulette and it doesn't work for economics. And so

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Speaker 7: when an economy's going well, that tells you it's probably

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Speaker 7: likely to continue going well. In fact, that's what happened

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Speaker 7: through twenty twenty three, everyone was saying there's a recession,

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Speaker 7: except you and I, Molly, we were right. And what

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Speaker 7: happens after the bounce back from a deep recession is

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Speaker 7: the economy's got to start to get back to normal

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Speaker 7: at some point. It's got to go from recovering from

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Speaker 7: a deep high at an extraordinary rate to we're there

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Speaker 7: and we need it to become boring again. And in fact,

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Speaker 7: that's what's happened through twenty twenty four. The economy has

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Speaker 7: gotten boring. You know, you might never have thought you

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Speaker 7: would need calculus again after high school, but it matters

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Speaker 7: for understanding the economy because if we said how's the

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Speaker 7: economy doing, the answer is great. Unemployment is just a

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Speaker 7: touch above a fifty year low. Output incomes all are

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Speaker 7: well above pre pandemic levels. So that's the level. There's

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Speaker 7: this thing, the first derivative, which is the rate of change,

435
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,640
Speaker 7: the rate of change. Things are getting better, yeah, they

436
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,920
Speaker 7: kind of are. They still are getting better, but now

437
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:39,920
Speaker 7: we're going to go one more derivative. The rate of

438
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:44,639
Speaker 7: change are the rate of change. Things aren't improving miraculously anymore.

439
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,639
Speaker 7: They're just improving at a good old slow and steady space.

440
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,359
Speaker 7: And so if you were used to this incredible bounce

441
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,440
Speaker 7: back through twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, the disappointing

442
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 7: news is it's not happening right now. The great news

443
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:00,879
Speaker 7: is we're in a great spy, and we're moving in

444
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,720
Speaker 7: the right direction, and we're moving in a sustainable pace,

445
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,679
Speaker 7: and all of this is pretty much exactly what you

446
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,240
Speaker 7: want to hope for. So I think it's so worth

447
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 7: framing any economic discussion in the context of where were

448
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:16,440
Speaker 7: you four years ago? Where are you today? You're much

449
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:17,200
Speaker 7: better off today.

450
00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:18,440
Speaker 3: So let's talk.

451
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:22,119
Speaker 1: About the sort of complaints, the bad faith complaints that

452
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,320
Speaker 1: inflation is too inflationary and everything is too expensive.

453
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,560
Speaker 7: Well, inflation has been too high. You'll notice a tense

454
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,439
Speaker 7: that I just used. There has been what happened as

455
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,160
Speaker 7: part of the look, the pandemic's crazy. We've never seen

456
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,520
Speaker 7: anything like it before. You shut a whole economy down

457
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,160
Speaker 7: and then you try and open it up the next day.

458
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,159
Speaker 7: Economies don't work like that. Old people don't work like that.

459
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,520
Speaker 7: I don't work like that. Takes a while to get

460
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,159
Speaker 7: the engine running, and because of that, we had imbalances

461
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:51,960
Speaker 7: between people wanting to go back and spend and the

462
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,240
Speaker 7: economy's ability to produce and to move goods around the world.

463
00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 7: That caused high inflation in almost every country around the world.

464
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,440
Speaker 7: Really important because if you think Biden caused inflation is

465
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,480
Speaker 7: a genius because he managed to do it in every

466
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:09,160
Speaker 7: other country. Now inflation got to real crisis levels nine percent.

467
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 7: I want to be careful, that's not a crisis. That's uncomfortable,

468
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,640
Speaker 7: and it's uncomfortable because it could become a crisis, as

469
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,800
Speaker 7: countries like Argentina have shown us. But instead of continuing

470
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 7: to go north, it went south. And so inflation today

471
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:24,480
Speaker 7: is back around three percent. We want it ideally down

472
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 7: around two percent. You might say, what's magical about two percent.

473
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,439
Speaker 7: It's when economists look at this and they say, we

474
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,439
Speaker 7: want inflation so low you barely notice it. Two percent

475
00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:37,200
Speaker 7: is basically barely noticeable. Three percent is one percent away

476
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,960
Speaker 7: from being barely noticeable. Our interesting, So we're on our

477
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,520
Speaker 7: way back. We're almost there, and actually by election day

478
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,240
Speaker 7: there's a pretty good chance will be all the way there.

479
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:51,439
Speaker 7: And so the story that the folks who write talking

480
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:55,960
Speaker 7: points haven't yet come to grips with is the inflation

481
00:24:56,240 --> 00:25:00,360
Speaker 7: crisis was a crisis of twenty two and twenty twenty three.

482
00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:04,639
Speaker 7: But by November twenty twenty four, inflation will be either

483
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,080
Speaker 7: barely noticeable or a touch above barely noticeable.

484
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:13,359
Speaker 1: Can you explain to our listeners what it means with

485
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,120
Speaker 1: the wage growth going up?

486
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,639
Speaker 7: Look, here's the thing. Inflation is back to normal, but

487
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:22,359
Speaker 7: prices aren't. That's what's got people upset. Stuff at the

488
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,960
Speaker 7: store is still expensive. Now. One thing we could do

489
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,920
Speaker 7: is we could try and have the opposite of inflation.

490
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,240
Speaker 7: That's called deflation. That's when price is full. We could

491
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:31,960
Speaker 7: have them fall back to where they were in twenty

492
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,160
Speaker 7: nineteen before the pandemic. The way to do that would

493
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,160
Speaker 7: be to have a deep recession, maybe even the depression.

494
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 3: It's not what you want.

495
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,640
Speaker 7: I think it's a bad idea. Let's not do that.

496
00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:43,800
Speaker 3: Yeah.

497
00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 7: So the other way to make sure that people aren't

498
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,320
Speaker 7: hurt by inflation is if prices go up twenty percent,

499
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,440
Speaker 7: if wages go up twenty five percent, then we can

500
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:56,440
Speaker 7: now all afford five percent more than we could before

501
00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:00,440
Speaker 7: the inflationary first And actually that's what's happening. So when

502
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,240
Speaker 7: inflation was as high as nine percent, it was hard

503
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,200
Speaker 7: for wages to keep up. It was sprinting out of

504
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 7: the blocks. It was the hair. But once inflation then falls,

505
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,800
Speaker 7: the slow and steady thing that is wages, it catches up.

506
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,359
Speaker 7: And so people now they still find the prices at

507
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,600
Speaker 7: the store offensive, but there's more money in their wallets

508
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:21,879
Speaker 7: and they can afford it.

509
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:25,960
Speaker 1: Talk to me about interest rates, because part of this

510
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 1: inflation landscape has to do with interest rates. Can you

511
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 1: explain to me why interest rates? And I actually know why,

512
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 1: But were you for our listeners, what's happening with interest rates?

513
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,480
Speaker 7: Okay, when inflation speeds up, economists start to worry that

514
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:47,119
Speaker 7: that's because the economy's ability to produce stuff isn't keeping

515
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:49,720
Speaker 7: up with how much stuff people want to buy. Demand

516
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:53,440
Speaker 7: exceed supply, so people raise prices if you can't bump

517
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,439
Speaker 7: around supply, and actually can. There was a lot of

518
00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,200
Speaker 7: what Biden was trying to do with the Inflation Reduction Act,

519
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 7: trying to get the supply side of the economy back

520
00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,240
Speaker 7: to normal so that we could start producing as much

521
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,439
Speaker 7: stuff again. But once you've exhausted all of that, if

522
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 7: you want to try and reduce the gap between demand

523
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 7: and supply, you've got to reduce demand, and the way

524
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,000
Speaker 7: to do that is you raise interest rates, because if

525
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,800
Speaker 7: interest rates are high, if I are an investor, it's

526
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,199
Speaker 7: going to be less likely to makes sense for me

527
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 7: to borrow money and start and you've build a your factory.

528
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,680
Speaker 7: Or if I am thinking about building a house if

529
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:25,520
Speaker 7: interest rates are high, I'm going to be less likely

530
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:27,840
Speaker 7: to do that if interest rates are high, because I'd

531
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:30,359
Speaker 7: have a much bigger mortgage as a result. And so

532
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 7: the idea is you want to slow the economy enough

533
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,520
Speaker 7: that you'll slow inflation. This is where you get the

534
00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:38,840
Speaker 7: word soft landing. You want to slow it enough that

535
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,800
Speaker 7: you won't cause a crash, but it'll be enough to

536
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:46,639
Speaker 7: reduce inflation. Economists talk about this all the time. Every

537
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,680
Speaker 7: business cycle, we hope will get one. Almost every time

538
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,840
Speaker 7: we fail. But this time it looks like we've nailed

539
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,200
Speaker 7: the soft landing. The economy's going well, there's no recession

540
00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,119
Speaker 7: in sight, and inflation has fallen from its very high

541
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:04,000
Speaker 7: levels down to barely noticeable levels. We'd like it to

542
00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 7: fall a little more, and so that's where there's a

543
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:09,399
Speaker 7: little bit of debate about what should we do now.

544
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,119
Speaker 7: If you think inflation's all the way back to normal,

545
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:14,880
Speaker 7: or or you're confident that it will be soon, Then

546
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 7: you say, hey, we're putting on the brakes. Let's not

547
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,439
Speaker 7: do that, in which case you want the Fed to

548
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 7: reduce interest rates. But if you're worried that inflation is

549
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:24,520
Speaker 7: still a little bit higher than we'd like it to be,

550
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,639
Speaker 7: then maybe you want us to still keep a foot

551
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,119
Speaker 7: on the break to slow the economy, to slow inflation. Look, well,

552
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,639
Speaker 7: debate backwards and forwards. Will the Fed cut rates in September,

553
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 7: you know, one month or two months, you know, changing

554
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,760
Speaker 7: the timing or whether it's by half a percentage point

555
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:44,959
Speaker 7: or a quarter. But step back, and the one thing

556
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,400
Speaker 7: we can be confident of is the Fed looks like

557
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:50,239
Speaker 7: it stopped raising rates. It might leave them where they

558
00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 7: are for a couple of months, but then it sees

559
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,120
Speaker 7: interest rates coming back down to the sorts of levels

560
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,280
Speaker 7: that most folks are used to. So if you've been

561
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,360
Speaker 7: putting off getting a mortgage, sure put it off for

562
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,600
Speaker 7: another few months still, but be confident that interest rates

563
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,480
Speaker 7: are going to be lower, you know, I think within

564
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:07,280
Speaker 7: a year for sure.

565
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:12,200
Speaker 1: Can you explain to us a little bit about what

566
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,920
Speaker 1: is happening right now with the billionaire oligarch class going

567
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 1: very trumpy and where cryptocurrency figures into that.

568
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 7: Oh my goodness, Marley and Marley, I'm sorry too?

569
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:25,800
Speaker 3: Is that too mean?

570
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:26,720
Speaker 2: No?

571
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 7: Not mean enough? I mean, honestly, I wish we lived

572
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:33,440
Speaker 7: in a world where the most important question on people's

573
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,080
Speaker 7: tongues was how do you think the working class are doing?

574
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 7: How are people getting by? There are a lot of

575
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 7: people with food insecurity, unable to put food on the

576
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 7: table during the pandemic. Where are they at now? And

577
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,320
Speaker 7: instead because they're so splashy, so ugly, die They have

578
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,360
Speaker 7: so many colors, where so many types of folicece vests.

579
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:53,960
Speaker 7: We talk about mask and Trump and all of these clowns.

580
00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 7: You know, they're a big share of the world's worth

581
00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,200
Speaker 7: and a small share of the world's humanity. One of

582
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,080
Speaker 7: that's meaning to dodge your question, Molly. Look, I think

583
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,480
Speaker 7: if I were a billionaire, I would think about my

584
00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,560
Speaker 7: political activity as a horse race between two things. One,

585
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:11,760
Speaker 7: I want people to like me and I want to

586
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,280
Speaker 7: fit in. Two. I want to keep as much of

587
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,360
Speaker 7: my billions of dollars of cash as I can because

588
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:22,320
Speaker 7: I like bathing naked in a vault full of US dollars.

589
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:28,120
Speaker 7: What happened in twenty sixteen is Trump was, and twenty

590
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,800
Speaker 7: twenty the person who he is, which is awful, a rapist,

591
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,479
Speaker 7: a criminal, a person of low character, a person of

592
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:39,680
Speaker 7: low leadership ability, an economic illiterate, and so it was

593
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 7: simply too embarrassing. The first of those factors I want

594
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,720
Speaker 7: to fit in led the billionaires to stay quiet. What's

595
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,760
Speaker 7: happened since then is they've realized that the tax cuts

596
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,760
Speaker 7: they stand to get are enormous, and once one or

597
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 7: two billionaires comes out pro Trump, the rest start to

598
00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 7: realize that when I go to sun Valley or when

599
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,520
Speaker 7: I go skiing and an, the other guys are still

600
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 7: going to talk to me, even if they come out

601
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:04,160
Speaker 7: of creatrum.

602
00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:06,280
Speaker 3: They're disgusting too.

603
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 7: Yeah, so you know, we all know how hard it

604
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,400
Speaker 7: is to vacation on Martha's vineyard. As a pro Trumper,

605
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,240
Speaker 7: it's a little less hurt and probably it's almost comfortable

606
00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:18,080
Speaker 7: over on Nantucket. So once one goes, you expect a

607
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,640
Speaker 7: fare few of them to go to them. I say,

608
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,920
Speaker 7: on the one hand, you might care to make sure

609
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,440
Speaker 7: that you get your big piece of the pie. On

610
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,440
Speaker 7: the other hand, competence matters. The size of the pie

611
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:33,080
Speaker 7: will be determined by the quality of the economic advice

612
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:35,400
Speaker 7: the next president gets and the decisions that he or

613
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:39,000
Speaker 7: she makes. The quality of economic advice under the last

614
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,719
Speaker 7: Trump administration was literally the worst in any of our lifetimes.

615
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,400
Speaker 7: The decisions the president made were abysmal. And the single

616
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,080
Speaker 7: greatest test of economic leadership and economic policy was the pandemic,

617
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:52,400
Speaker 7: and the United States under Trump failed that to a

618
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:54,680
Speaker 7: greater degree than any other industrialized country.

619
00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:57,720
Speaker 1: It's just tax cuts, I mean, and maybe a lack

620
00:31:57,760 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 1: of regulation too.

621
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,719
Speaker 7: It could be that. And also like, look, how am

622
00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:05,200
Speaker 7: I meant to understand a person who spends forty three

623
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,280
Speaker 7: billion dollars just so the rest of the world will

624
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,480
Speaker 7: stare at them more frequently. I don't have a great

625
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:16,960
Speaker 7: theory of these guys.

626
00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:19,040
Speaker 3: That's really good.

627
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,840
Speaker 1: One of the things that there are some business leaders

628
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,640
Speaker 1: that felt that some of the regulatory stuff that Biden

629
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,320
Speaker 1: was doing was anti capitalist. You and I have very

630
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 1: similar views on this. Can you explain to our listeners

631
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:39,840
Speaker 1: why capitalism with regulations is much better capitalism with no regulation?

632
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:41,840
Speaker 7: Boy, that sounds like a leading question.

633
00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:44,360
Speaker 3: This is a layer for you, right.

634
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,800
Speaker 7: Hey, listen, I want to stop by actually acknowledging the critique,

635
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,800
Speaker 7: which is they said Biden is anti capitalist. Sometimes they

636
00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 7: mean anti.

637
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:53,000
Speaker 3: Capitalis yeah, good point.

638
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:57,120
Speaker 7: Think about the economy bakes one big pie, and then

639
00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,760
Speaker 7: we have to decide who gets what slice. If capital

640
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:05,160
Speaker 7: gets a big slice, there's less left for labor. Biden

641
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 7: is unapologetically pro labor. If you're in favor of labor

642
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,080
Speaker 7: getting a bigger share than you are anti capital. So yes,

643
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:17,720
Speaker 7: he was anti capital to the extent that that's what's

644
00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:20,440
Speaker 7: required to be pro labor, given that most of us

645
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:24,200
Speaker 7: are not billionaires, that's kind of okay. So that's saying

646
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 7: if the size of the pie is given, being pro

647
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:31,000
Speaker 7: labor might help more people because most people get their

648
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,560
Speaker 7: income from labor. Now, the truth is the size of

649
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:37,840
Speaker 7: the pies not given, which is markets. Now, I'm going

650
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 7: to sound like everyone's favorite libertarian or the libertarian of

651
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 7: your nightmares. Markets are an extraordinary way of generating wealth.

652
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:49,560
Speaker 7: You just need to compare North and South Korea to

653
00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:53,640
Speaker 7: see this. North Korea doesn't use markets users central planning.

654
00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:57,800
Speaker 7: South Korea adopted markets and in the post war period,

655
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:02,120
Speaker 7: has grown extraordinarily North Caore people are short, they're hungry.

656
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,680
Speaker 7: They're short because they're hungry, they're poor. All sorts of

657
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:09,600
Speaker 7: outcomes are much worse in North Korea than in South Korea.

658
00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:12,520
Speaker 7: So that says markets are a fantastic way of generating

659
00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:16,120
Speaker 7: wealth and lifting all of us out of poverty. The

660
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:19,360
Speaker 7: problem is, the reason markets work is because of the

661
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,040
Speaker 7: value of competition. The problem is, if you own a

662
00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,080
Speaker 7: business and you're in competition with other firms, the first

663
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,239
Speaker 7: thing you want to do is eliminate competition. That's why

664
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:31,680
Speaker 7: Apple and Google used to have a deal where they

665
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:35,359
Speaker 7: wouldn't steal each other's employees, they wouldn't compete and pay

666
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,600
Speaker 7: the workers more. And when you don't compete, then we

667
00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:41,239
Speaker 7: don't get all the benefits of markets. Now, you can't

668
00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,359
Speaker 7: just ask people to compete. You've got to force them

669
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,600
Speaker 7: to because otherwise what they'll do is they'll try and

670
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:48,160
Speaker 7: run monopolies in which they screw you and I with

671
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:51,400
Speaker 7: higher prices. And so that's the essential point of regulation.

672
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,440
Speaker 7: Markets need rules to work. It's just like thinking about

673
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,239
Speaker 7: football or any of your favorite sports games. If there

674
00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 7: were no rules, it'd be kind of a game. Once

675
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,040
Speaker 7: we have rules, we have competition, and it's that competition

676
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,080
Speaker 7: that produces the beauty.

677
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:09,840
Speaker 3: So interesting, Thank you so much.

678
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,080
Speaker 7: Justin it's always a great pleasure. And Molly, I'm just

679
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,600
Speaker 7: going to offer one unsolicited word of advice. Here's the

680
00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:19,239
Speaker 7: question I was expecting you to ask. I love the

681
00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:20,960
Speaker 7: fact you went to let's go to the meat and

682
00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:24,520
Speaker 7: potatoes economics. Let's continue our econ one oh one journey together.

683
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,160
Speaker 7: But I would have thought the news of the week

684
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,319
Speaker 7: was there's Kamala Harris running for the presidency, and the

685
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,160
Speaker 7: question is how should she run on the economy?

686
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,080
Speaker 3: Yes, give us that answer.

687
00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 7: She should own the economic record. She should say we

688
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,919
Speaker 7: faced the economic calamity of a lifetime, and we've turned

689
00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:46,359
Speaker 7: the economy around. Consider where you are compared to where

690
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:49,840
Speaker 7: you were four years ago. Remember the fear, Remember the horror,

691
00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,160
Speaker 7: Remember the concern about how we would be in a

692
00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,640
Speaker 7: few years time. And look at life today. Isn't it better?

693
00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:57,560
Speaker 2: We did that?

694
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:01,560
Speaker 3: Yeah? That's good. Well, I'm I'm pressed. Thank you, justin.

695
00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:04,000
Speaker 3: I hope i'll here. I hope you'll come back soon.

696
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:05,040
Speaker 7: I look forward to it.

697
00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:11,960
Speaker 1: Andrea Campbell is the Attorney General of the state of Massachusetts.

698
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:17,080
Speaker 1: Welcome to Fast Politics. Attorney General Campbell. I'm not going

699
00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:19,359
Speaker 1: to call you General Campbell. We just talked about this

700
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,960
Speaker 1: you know, it's too weird, but I think Attorney General

701
00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:25,839
Speaker 1: Campbell is good.

702
00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:28,000
Speaker 8: Right, that's great, Thank you for having me.

703
00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:32,000
Speaker 1: You are the Attorney General of Massachusetts, which is I

704
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:36,600
Speaker 1: think a really important state for any number of reasons. First,

705
00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:38,719
Speaker 1: I want you to talk a little bit about what

706
00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:42,640
Speaker 1: you guys are doing when it comes to guns and

707
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,440
Speaker 1: young people, because you know, we had this assassination attempt

708
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:50,040
Speaker 1: on Donald Trump, and you, like so many of these

709
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,880
Speaker 1: violent gun crimes, right, and like so many of the

710
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:56,279
Speaker 1: school shootings, this was a twenty year old with an

711
00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 1: AR fifteen.

712
00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:01,000
Speaker 8: That's exactly right. And you know, there were some that suggested,

713
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:05,600
Speaker 8: while you're, of course extending prayers for the former president,

714
00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:08,040
Speaker 8: which I did immediately to him and his family, and

715
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:11,200
Speaker 8: of course was praying that he was okay, that we

716
00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:14,440
Speaker 8: should wait in talking about gun reform and gun violence,

717
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,319
Speaker 8: and I said, absolutely not. It's been an epidemic, not

718
00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:19,680
Speaker 8: only in Massachusetts but in this country as you know,

719
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:22,719
Speaker 8: for a very long time. I'm proud of the progressive

720
00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:25,520
Speaker 8: gun laws that we have in Massachusetts. Actually, the weapon

721
00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,520
Speaker 8: that this gentleman used you couldn't have purchased in Massachusetts,

722
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:32,960
Speaker 8: and you couldn't have purchased copies or the duplicates of

723
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,600
Speaker 8: that weapon. So clearly we're ahead, but there's still work

724
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 8: to do. So since becoming Attorney General of Massachusetts, I

725
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,360
Speaker 8: have started a gun violence Prevention unit, and we are

726
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:46,600
Speaker 8: focused on all things related to gun enforcement, so actively

727
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:50,480
Speaker 8: enforcing our current gun laws because sadly they are under attack.

728
00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:52,719
Speaker 8: And then the second was making sure that we were

729
00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:55,520
Speaker 8: in the state House to expand our existing gun laws,

730
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 8: so we had to update our assault weapons banned. We

731
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:00,879
Speaker 8: had to actually make sure there was lef legislation pass

732
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:04,800
Speaker 8: to protect and regulate ghost guns, which just recently happened.

733
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 8: We expanded our red flag law, which also recently happened.

734
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:11,280
Speaker 8: And then the other piece I think is just as important, Molli,

735
00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:14,319
Speaker 8: is there are a lot of community based organizations in

736
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:18,400
Speaker 8: Massachusetts that are on the ground breaking cycles of violence

737
00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:21,359
Speaker 8: in community and so I'm pushing my team to think

738
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:25,040
Speaker 8: about funding these organizations through our new gun violence Prevention unit.

739
00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,640
Speaker 8: And so we're convening a lot of folks right now.

740
00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:29,719
Speaker 8: We just got the unit off the ground last year,

741
00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:31,880
Speaker 8: but that's also going to be a major focus of

742
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:32,520
Speaker 8: the unit too.

743
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:39,160
Speaker 1: Can you explain to us what that gun violence unit does.

744
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:40,880
Speaker 3: And looks like absolutely.

745
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:43,720
Speaker 8: So it's the first time such a unit as existed

746
00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:46,440
Speaker 8: in the office. And the reason I set it up

747
00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,239
Speaker 8: is when I was campaign for Attorney General, there were

748
00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:51,919
Speaker 8: a lot of folks, including those in law enforcement, who

749
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:55,240
Speaker 8: felt like in the state, we needed a one point

750
00:38:55,239 --> 00:38:57,839
Speaker 8: of contact, a place for folks to go one to

751
00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:01,080
Speaker 8: be informed of about our existing gun law. Law enforcement

752
00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:03,399
Speaker 8: included they needed a place to go to ensure they

753
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,760
Speaker 8: were in compliance if they had to, for example, comply

754
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,719
Speaker 8: with certain regulations. Who could they talk to to make

755
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:12,560
Speaker 8: sure that they were doing that. Our storage laws, are

756
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,279
Speaker 8: licensing laws, you name it. So that was really the

757
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:18,960
Speaker 8: brain child for creating a gun violence Prevention unit, was

758
00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:21,440
Speaker 8: to be a one stop shop for folks to also

759
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:25,320
Speaker 8: be a convening power. Massachusetts is progressive, so how do

760
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:28,959
Speaker 8: we work with other states, including surrounding states, on making

761
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:33,160
Speaker 8: sure removing guns from our communities addressing gun trafficking. So

762
00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:35,600
Speaker 8: the unit is involved with efforts with respect to that

763
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:37,520
Speaker 8: at too, and right now it has a director and

764
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,799
Speaker 8: a deputy director. They're working really hard. They also work

765
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,640
Speaker 8: with other parts of the office to make sure the

766
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:47,359
Speaker 8: work is more intersectional. So one division is enforcing our

767
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,680
Speaker 8: gun laws, but making sure that they're also talking to

768
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,919
Speaker 8: our grant's division that can put out grants and resources,

769
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:57,920
Speaker 8: for example, to fund community based organizations taking on gun violence.

770
00:39:58,080 --> 00:39:59,759
Speaker 8: So they're doing a lot of that work to make

771
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:02,799
Speaker 8: sure it's intersectional, not siloed in the office. It's a

772
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:05,799
Speaker 8: tall order, but as you know, it is timely, it

773
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,120
Speaker 8: has been timely for a long time. And then lastly,

774
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,640
Speaker 8: I will say it's not any less significant. I'm a

775
00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:13,120
Speaker 8: mom of two beautiful boys. I have a four year

776
00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:15,000
Speaker 8: old and a six year old, so going to be

777
00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:18,040
Speaker 8: seven and five, and I want to make sure that,

778
00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:21,000
Speaker 8: of course they are living free with no fear of

779
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:24,759
Speaker 8: gun violence. It's a candidate running for office, someone going

780
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:26,960
Speaker 8: to the grocery store, going to school, should not live

781
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,800
Speaker 8: in fear of losing their light. And so actively thinking

782
00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:32,920
Speaker 8: about how we protect our children and our kids is

783
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:35,120
Speaker 8: also a major focus of the unit.

784
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:36,920
Speaker 3: Yes, so really good point.

785
00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:41,000
Speaker 1: Can you talk to us about what the other sort

786
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:44,280
Speaker 1: of key issues as an attorney general that you're facing

787
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:45,959
Speaker 1: in the Massachusetts right now.

788
00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:49,640
Speaker 8: In addition to addressing, of course, gun violence, other issues

789
00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 8: include everything having to do with affordability and economics. The

790
00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:56,840
Speaker 8: number one issue I would say, based on polling and

791
00:40:56,920 --> 00:41:00,520
Speaker 8: conversations complaints into our office, it's just to it'ssive to

792
00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:04,640
Speaker 8: live in Massachusetts. Healthcare is to expensive groceries and too expensive.

793
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,480
Speaker 8: That is far and wide what we're here across the country.

794
00:41:07,560 --> 00:41:09,640
Speaker 8: So we do a lot of consumer protection work. We're

795
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,920
Speaker 8: putting money back into the pockets of workers every day.

796
00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:15,640
Speaker 8: Wage stuff is an issue, so when they go to work,

797
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:18,279
Speaker 8: they're not getting paid and we're setting absolutely not. So

798
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:20,320
Speaker 8: we have a whole division that takes on that work.

799
00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:23,719
Speaker 8: We're taking on scams, particularly in the context of our elders.

800
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:27,440
Speaker 8: I established an Elder Justice Unit to direct and do

801
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:30,560
Speaker 8: that work. We are also making sure we're taking on

802
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,200
Speaker 8: student loan debt. We have great federal partners, so we

803
00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:36,680
Speaker 8: are wiping out hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt

804
00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:40,120
Speaker 8: for folks in Massachusetts, taking on junk fees, all those

805
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:43,040
Speaker 8: hidden fees. We have some proposed regulations out there. I

806
00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:45,120
Speaker 8: think we're ahead of the game working with the Feds

807
00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:47,879
Speaker 8: on this in Massachusetts as well. And then the other

808
00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:50,560
Speaker 8: sets of issues. I want to mention everything having to

809
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:54,000
Speaker 8: do with protecting our civil rights, and that includes reproductive justice,

810
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:56,560
Speaker 8: I have a reproductive Justice unit that we got off

811
00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:59,040
Speaker 8: the ground yet last year that is at the forefront

812
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:03,440
Speaker 8: of protecting all access to reproductive healthcare, but also gender

813
00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:07,239
Speaker 8: affirming care, and also making sure we're addressing the disparities

814
00:42:07,239 --> 00:42:10,360
Speaker 8: in black maternal health and then taking on hate, the

815
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:15,960
Speaker 8: uptaking complaints in terms of anti Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, you

816
00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:18,680
Speaker 8: name it that's on the rise. In Massachusetts, we have

817
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:23,000
Speaker 8: sued a neo Nazi group that started in Massachusetts. Sadly,

818
00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:25,279
Speaker 8: it's not something we want to be known for, and

819
00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:29,279
Speaker 8: that has been significant work. In addition to suing this

820
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,080
Speaker 8: neo Nazi group, we're also doing a lot in terms

821
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,920
Speaker 8: of school based training to make sure our kids are

822
00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:37,680
Speaker 8: not dealing with bullying and harassment. So it is a lot.

823
00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:40,160
Speaker 8: That's a snapshot of just what rises to the top

824
00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:43,920
Speaker 8: for our constituents. I think what's also relevant to folks nationwide.

825
00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:47,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like, one of the underreported stories this cycle has

826
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:53,120
Speaker 1: been the number of black women who are running for election,

827
00:42:53,600 --> 00:42:58,520
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking about Angela Osbrooks, our vice president, who

828
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,000
Speaker 1: is now running for president. One of the things that

829
00:43:01,239 --> 00:43:04,320
Speaker 1: has really struck me is Vice President Harris was actually

830
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:08,560
Speaker 1: the second black woman ever to be in the Senate,

831
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:12,640
Speaker 1: which is insane. That's where Angela would be fourth, which

832
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:16,399
Speaker 1: is still insane. I know you've campaigned with Harris, and

833
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:19,560
Speaker 1: also can you talk to us about like what this

834
00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:20,640
Speaker 1: feels like for you.

835
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:25,120
Speaker 8: I so appreciate the question, Mollie, but also your frame. Right.

836
00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:28,560
Speaker 8: We are very proud of Vice President Harris. And I

837
00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:30,839
Speaker 8: say we because I have been on so many different

838
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:34,279
Speaker 8: zooms with so many different women and men who are

839
00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:37,440
Speaker 8: just proud of the direction we're going here and saying, frankly,

840
00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:41,720
Speaker 8: it's about time. And she does have an extensive career.

841
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:45,120
Speaker 8: When I first met her, I was at UCLA graduating

842
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:47,799
Speaker 8: from law school and she was my convincement speaker and

843
00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:50,319
Speaker 8: she was a district attorney then and then becomes the

844
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,480
Speaker 8: first black woman ang in the country, as you said,

845
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:56,319
Speaker 8: the Senate vice president. She's been doing the work. But

846
00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:59,160
Speaker 8: like you've also lifted up, so have other black women

847
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:03,160
Speaker 8: who are taking on these challenges of running for office,

848
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:06,520
Speaker 8: which is not easy putting themselves out there because they

849
00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:09,000
Speaker 8: feel as though they can bring a unique voice and

850
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:12,160
Speaker 8: of course a great professional background. So I would add

851
00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:16,280
Speaker 8: even Lisa Blunt Rochester who's running as well, right.

852
00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:19,960
Speaker 3: Who we've also interviewed who's amazing. Yeah, he's amazing.

853
00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:23,520
Speaker 8: And folks with incredible stories in their own right, right,

854
00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:25,920
Speaker 8: fourth and fifth, right, we could get that's a good

855
00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:26,560
Speaker 8: bust cycle.

856
00:44:26,680 --> 00:44:27,719
Speaker 3: Sorry, that's right.

857
00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:28,160
Speaker 1: You know.

858
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:31,239
Speaker 8: We're working hard to increase these numbers, and kudos to

859
00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:34,319
Speaker 8: you for always lending your platform. I'm working hard, not

860
00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:37,560
Speaker 8: just in Massachusetts on local races, because we need more

861
00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:40,439
Speaker 8: black women too. I'm the first black woman to serve

862
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:43,239
Speaker 8: as a g in Massachusetts and the first woman of

863
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:48,000
Speaker 8: color to win statewide office in Massachusetts. While I'm proud,

864
00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:50,160
Speaker 8: it clearly speaks to the work we still have to

865
00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:52,440
Speaker 8: do in a state that we deem to be very progressive.

866
00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:54,640
Speaker 8: And we know that's true across the country. So I'm

867
00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:58,280
Speaker 8: doing the work in Massachusetts. I'm supporting some local incredible women,

868
00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:02,520
Speaker 8: but also showing up nationwide and also looking at other

869
00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:05,800
Speaker 8: ag races. But this is a moment in time where

870
00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:09,000
Speaker 8: the inspiration and the hope that people are feeling is

871
00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:12,040
Speaker 8: exactly what we need. We have candidates up and down

872
00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:15,759
Speaker 8: the ballot that are uniquely positioned not only to bring

873
00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:18,960
Speaker 8: people together, but have a story that offers hope and

874
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:22,040
Speaker 8: inspiration and then they have a track worker of actually

875
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:24,759
Speaker 8: helping people. They have the substance right. So it is

876
00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:27,440
Speaker 8: a unique moment in time in this country. It feels

877
00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:30,560
Speaker 8: really good. And as a black woman, to see other

878
00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:33,600
Speaker 8: black women stepping up and stepping out there means a lot.

879
00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:36,080
Speaker 8: And the Vice President has been a mentor and friend

880
00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:38,040
Speaker 8: for a long time. So I'm proud of the work

881
00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:40,880
Speaker 8: she's already putting in. She's not taking anything for granted,

882
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:42,799
Speaker 8: and I look forward to supporting her not just at

883
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:45,239
Speaker 8: the convention, but even beyond the convention and all the

884
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:46,160
Speaker 8: way through November.

885
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:47,000
Speaker 3: One of the.

886
00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:49,920
Speaker 1: Things that has come out in the news besides this

887
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:54,000
Speaker 1: massive one hundred million dollar fundraise in twenty four hours,

888
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:57,640
Speaker 1: is that there have been these calls, these enormous calls

889
00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:02,080
Speaker 1: when with black women, black men to you twenty forty thousand,

890
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:06,000
Speaker 1: I mean crazy numbers. Do you think that that kind

891
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:10,360
Speaker 1: of ground game, that kind of real enthusiasm, which I think,

892
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:13,040
Speaker 1: you know what's happened in the last twenty four hours,

893
00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:15,759
Speaker 1: and this is going to air tomorrow, so where I

894
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:19,480
Speaker 1: actually will be forty eight hours, is that what we've

895
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:23,360
Speaker 1: seen is there has been grassroots enthusiasm that was literally

896
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:27,480
Speaker 1: not there for her predecessor, who is you know, who

897
00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:30,040
Speaker 1: has been incredible and I believe one of the best

898
00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:33,680
Speaker 1: presidents of my lifetime. But I was anxious that Democrats

899
00:46:33,719 --> 00:46:38,440
Speaker 1: would not galvanize and get their shit together. But in fact,

900
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:40,959
Speaker 1: I mean I could not ask for a better twenty

901
00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:42,960
Speaker 1: four hours for her. You know, what are you hearing

902
00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:43,520
Speaker 1: from people?

903
00:46:43,640 --> 00:46:44,320
Speaker 3: What are you seeing?

904
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:49,239
Speaker 8: Oaks are excited, they are inspired. People needed that right

905
00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:52,640
Speaker 8: and you hear it all the time, the vitriol that

906
00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:57,279
Speaker 8: is out there, the political divisiveness, the hate. People were

907
00:46:57,320 --> 00:47:01,319
Speaker 8: feeling despair on all sides, in a sense of hopelessness.

908
00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:06,240
Speaker 8: And kudos to President Biden because he gets all the credit.

909
00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:09,080
Speaker 8: Like you say, I think the greatest president we have had,

910
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:13,000
Speaker 8: because he didn't just put his ego aside and really

911
00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:18,320
Speaker 8: put our country first and his sacrifice on full display

912
00:47:18,360 --> 00:47:20,680
Speaker 8: with he decided not to run for him in the

913
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:25,439
Speaker 8: same day to immediately put his support behind Kamala. How

914
00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:28,360
Speaker 8: he did it also, of course will submit his legacy,

915
00:47:28,360 --> 00:47:30,360
Speaker 8: and of course he selected her as vice president. But

916
00:47:30,520 --> 00:47:33,240
Speaker 8: he I think drove that right. I think he probably

917
00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:37,000
Speaker 8: recognized that wait a minute, we need some inspiration and

918
00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:39,799
Speaker 8: we need some greater energy and I remember even after

919
00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:41,680
Speaker 8: the debate, I said, it's his decision whether or not

920
00:47:41,719 --> 00:47:43,560
Speaker 8: he's going to run, but he will have to step

921
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:45,359
Speaker 8: it up because we need someone who's going to bring

922
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:48,880
Speaker 8: energy and inspire and pump people up. And so she

923
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:51,719
Speaker 8: has hit the ground running. But I think the context

924
00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:54,239
Speaker 8: was there because people were just waiting. So kudos to

925
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:57,520
Speaker 8: Biden from making the decision and not wasting any time

926
00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:00,480
Speaker 8: to pivot to this new generation of leadership. And I

927
00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:03,600
Speaker 8: think all of the conditions were there. And just add

928
00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:07,319
Speaker 8: the assassination attempt, regardless of your party, we don't want

929
00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:09,680
Speaker 8: that in unentry, right. So I think the doom and

930
00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:13,640
Speaker 8: gloom that people were also experiencing the gun violence topic

931
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:15,920
Speaker 8: coming back up to say what the heck are we

932
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:18,960
Speaker 8: doing and protect our kids and to protect ourselves at

933
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:19,800
Speaker 8: public spaces.

934
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:20,680
Speaker 2: Enough is enough.

935
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:23,600
Speaker 8: All of that coming together, I think was just the

936
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:28,640
Speaker 8: perfect condition in context for Kamala Harris right to come

937
00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:31,680
Speaker 8: out there, insert some enthusiasm and for folks to have

938
00:48:31,800 --> 00:48:34,560
Speaker 8: something to attach to. And even as a candidate running

939
00:48:34,560 --> 00:48:38,719
Speaker 8: for different levels of government, people need something to believe in, right,

940
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:42,600
Speaker 8: They need a want, hope, in positivity. Even if folks say,

941
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:44,880
Speaker 8: well no, they don't they do, because at the end

942
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:47,320
Speaker 8: of the day, life is hard, life can be hard,

943
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:49,279
Speaker 8: and so I think we are in that moment in

944
00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:52,680
Speaker 8: time where it was just perfect timing and he delivered.

945
00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:55,399
Speaker 8: So kudos to President Biden. They're just really grateful to him.

946
00:48:55,680 --> 00:48:58,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, one of the things that I've been struck by

947
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:00,239
Speaker 1: was just when you listen.

948
00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:04,440
Speaker 3: To that speech, how this was not a grudging passing

949
00:49:04,520 --> 00:49:05,120
Speaker 3: of the torch.

950
00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:09,640
Speaker 1: This was a complete belief that she could do this.

951
00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:12,040
Speaker 1: And I think that is important.

952
00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:16,120
Speaker 8: That's exactly right. And I actually had goosebumps when I

953
00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:19,160
Speaker 8: read his statement regarding her and him throwing his full

954
00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:23,040
Speaker 8: support and then tears because I recognize, even as a

955
00:49:23,040 --> 00:49:26,920
Speaker 8: woman and as a black woman, in many industries or places,

956
00:49:27,200 --> 00:49:30,880
Speaker 8: for you to be successful, you need a mentor, you

957
00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:33,920
Speaker 8: need folks to invest in you. You need folks to,

958
00:49:34,360 --> 00:49:37,760
Speaker 8: as they would say, sponsor you, to give you the infrastructure,

959
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:42,040
Speaker 8: to give you the relationships. Otherwise good luck, and especially

960
00:49:42,080 --> 00:49:44,600
Speaker 8: if you are the first. And so for him to

961
00:49:44,760 --> 00:49:48,000
Speaker 8: do that so quickly and so full with full heart

962
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:51,239
Speaker 8: and passion was exactly what we need. And I think

963
00:49:51,239 --> 00:49:55,520
Speaker 8: it demonstrates in whatever sector we're in, that woman can

964
00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:58,239
Speaker 8: do the job. We don't need another report on that,

965
00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:02,279
Speaker 8: including in law enforcement, public safety agencies, the military. We

966
00:50:02,360 --> 00:50:05,160
Speaker 8: can't do the job. We need folks to believe in us,

967
00:50:05,239 --> 00:50:08,279
Speaker 8: to invest in us, and to empower us and give

968
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:10,560
Speaker 8: us the space and maybe in many ways get out

969
00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:12,839
Speaker 8: of the way a little bit to allow us to lead,

970
00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:15,960
Speaker 8: to step in who we are, to step into our leadership.

971
00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:19,240
Speaker 8: And he did that, and that can never be lost

972
00:50:19,280 --> 00:50:21,520
Speaker 8: because I hear in politics a lot of times people

973
00:50:21,520 --> 00:50:24,080
Speaker 8: saying we want the next generation of leaders, but then

974
00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:27,960
Speaker 8: they're holding on so tight to their own power, or

975
00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:31,160
Speaker 8: they let go to move on to whatever's next for them.

976
00:50:31,560 --> 00:50:34,560
Speaker 8: They don't go back to send the elevator back down right,

977
00:50:34,719 --> 00:50:39,280
Speaker 8: to send the resources, to send the relationships. And anyone

978
00:50:39,320 --> 00:50:41,759
Speaker 8: who's ever made it, who's ever been the first, you know,

979
00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:44,920
Speaker 8: you need folks to invest in you early on, to

980
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:47,239
Speaker 8: take a risk on you. And he did just that.

981
00:50:47,360 --> 00:50:48,960
Speaker 8: So I'm so proud of him, and I'm proud of

982
00:50:48,960 --> 00:50:49,520
Speaker 8: this country.

983
00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:51,520
Speaker 1: You know, it's so interesting because it's like I grew

984
00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:54,399
Speaker 1: up with so much privilege, and I had parents who

985
00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:57,120
Speaker 1: were famous and grandparents who were famous, and a lot

986
00:50:57,160 --> 00:51:01,839
Speaker 1: of financial privilege, and I still feel it.

987
00:51:02,160 --> 00:51:03,640
Speaker 3: You know, and I am like.

988
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:07,480
Speaker 1: A white woman like you just can only imagine how

989
00:51:07,560 --> 00:51:11,319
Speaker 1: fucking hard it has to be for black women to

990
00:51:11,400 --> 00:51:12,160
Speaker 1: do this thing.

991
00:51:12,400 --> 00:51:16,200
Speaker 8: And so go on, Molly, God bless you because you

992
00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:18,719
Speaker 8: just get it on the head. We have to recognize

993
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:21,160
Speaker 8: it's hard for anyone who has ever been a part

994
00:51:21,200 --> 00:51:24,600
Speaker 8: of a marginalized group to move forward, to move ahead,

995
00:51:24,680 --> 00:51:26,920
Speaker 8: and if you are the first in any setting, that

996
00:51:27,040 --> 00:51:29,279
Speaker 8: is also really hard, and to become the first, you

997
00:51:29,320 --> 00:51:32,760
Speaker 8: need support. But I also recognize you naming the privilege piece.

998
00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:36,440
Speaker 8: It is another layer for black women. Even on the fundraising,

999
00:51:36,480 --> 00:51:39,600
Speaker 8: I should say for black women who are running for office,

1000
00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:42,480
Speaker 8: it's harder. You have to prove more, you have to

1001
00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:46,560
Speaker 8: do more to get folks to invest in you. And

1002
00:51:46,600 --> 00:51:49,359
Speaker 8: of course you wish you weren't so hard, but it is.

1003
00:51:49,680 --> 00:51:51,719
Speaker 8: And even if you have all the credentials, even if

1004
00:51:51,760 --> 00:51:54,160
Speaker 8: you have the background that they think is appropriate, in

1005
00:51:54,239 --> 00:51:58,399
Speaker 8: the best background, it's still a sales pitch to get

1006
00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:01,440
Speaker 8: folks to invest where sometimes, of course, it comes more

1007
00:52:01,520 --> 00:52:06,000
Speaker 8: natural because others have their relationships or the generational relationships.

1008
00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:09,719
Speaker 8: And so Bike has done what's necessary to set her

1009
00:52:09,800 --> 00:52:12,520
Speaker 8: up for success, and we can't discount that as you

1010
00:52:12,600 --> 00:52:16,800
Speaker 8: have remarked, it's critically important if we want our political

1011
00:52:16,880 --> 00:52:19,560
Speaker 8: leadership to be reflective of the people we serve.

1012
00:52:19,960 --> 00:52:20,759
Speaker 3: So here's my.

1013
00:52:20,880 --> 00:52:23,560
Speaker 1: Question, and this is a question I asked a campaign

1014
00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:26,279
Speaker 1: guy last week too. Which is the anxiety that a

1015
00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:28,720
Speaker 1: lot of people will listen to this podcast have, Which

1016
00:52:28,760 --> 00:52:31,160
Speaker 1: is our voters in the country going to just be

1017
00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:33,680
Speaker 1: so racist and sexist that they're not going to vote

1018
00:52:33,680 --> 00:52:33,960
Speaker 1: for her?

1019
00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:35,000
Speaker 3: I don't think so.

1020
00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:39,120
Speaker 8: What will have to happen is she, along with every

1021
00:52:39,200 --> 00:52:42,480
Speaker 8: other organizer and Sarah Gate, will have to get out

1022
00:52:42,520 --> 00:52:46,040
Speaker 8: there with a strong message one not really make it

1023
00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:49,040
Speaker 8: about her. People want to know who is des vice president?

1024
00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:51,960
Speaker 8: Where does she come from? Her record of accomplishment? Of course,

1025
00:52:52,200 --> 00:52:53,880
Speaker 8: but what are you going to do for the American people?

1026
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:55,920
Speaker 8: How are you going to bring them together? How are

1027
00:52:55,920 --> 00:52:59,120
Speaker 8: you going to deliver on all things economics and affordability?

1028
00:52:59,160 --> 00:53:01,440
Speaker 8: How are you going to create an opportunity for folks?

1029
00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:02,960
Speaker 8: What are you going to do in the context of

1030
00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:05,319
Speaker 8: repro What are you going to do about the Supreme Court?

1031
00:53:05,680 --> 00:53:07,120
Speaker 8: What are you going to do about Congress?

1032
00:53:07,120 --> 00:53:09,560
Speaker 3: And how do you go to white There's a long list.

1033
00:53:09,640 --> 00:53:11,960
Speaker 8: There's a long list. That's what people want to hear it.

1034
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:15,000
Speaker 8: The sooner we all get out there with the message

1035
00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:16,799
Speaker 8: around who she is, and each of us have our

1036
00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:19,920
Speaker 8: different stories, then what we're going to do for the people.

1037
00:53:20,360 --> 00:53:23,560
Speaker 8: I think it's in stark contrast of frankly the noise

1038
00:53:23,600 --> 00:53:25,920
Speaker 8: that we're hearing from the other side. But we have

1039
00:53:25,960 --> 00:53:28,799
Speaker 8: to work. And let's not discount black women voters. I

1040
00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:30,960
Speaker 8: was just on that zoom the other day. I had

1041
00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:35,480
Speaker 8: forty thousand black women show up. And if all of

1042
00:53:35,520 --> 00:53:37,480
Speaker 8: them are organizing, all of us are going to tell

1043
00:53:37,520 --> 00:53:42,359
Speaker 8: our respective networks and people that voting block has always been,

1044
00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:46,759
Speaker 8: as many have suggested, as significant backbone of the Democratic

1045
00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:50,080
Speaker 8: Party's base. They are excited, they are mobilized. You have

1046
00:53:50,120 --> 00:53:53,160
Speaker 8: folks who were thinking about sitting this one out now

1047
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:55,600
Speaker 8: they're not. So we just can't take anything for granted.

1048
00:53:55,719 --> 00:53:57,799
Speaker 8: Have to get out there with a strong message and

1049
00:53:57,840 --> 00:54:00,400
Speaker 8: do the work all the way through November and of

1050
00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:03,960
Speaker 8: course early voting states mobilizing as soon as possible.

1051
00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:06,799
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you, thank you, thank you. I kept you

1052
00:54:06,840 --> 00:54:09,040
Speaker 3: too long. I'm sorry. This was great.

1053
00:54:09,080 --> 00:54:11,520
Speaker 8: Thank you Mollen for having me. Thank you to you

1054
00:54:11,600 --> 00:54:13,359
Speaker 8: and your team. Thanks for the work you do.

1055
00:54:15,840 --> 00:54:19,760
Speaker 3: Now moment Jesse Cannon.

1056
00:54:19,880 --> 00:54:23,600
Speaker 2: Holly jug Fast It's really been amazing five days of

1057
00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:26,280
Speaker 2: turning this selection around, and one of the funniest turns

1058
00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:28,239
Speaker 2: is the turn on jd Vance. What are you see

1059
00:54:28,239 --> 00:54:28,560
Speaker 2: in here?

1060
00:54:28,840 --> 00:54:28,960
Speaker 3: So?

1061
00:54:29,160 --> 00:54:34,520
Speaker 1: Jd Vance was picked by Trump, perhaps at the instruction

1062
00:54:34,920 --> 00:54:37,880
Speaker 1: of Don Junior. He was a good friend of Don Junior's,

1063
00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:42,520
Speaker 1: also the favorite of Peter Teal. I have always thought

1064
00:54:42,600 --> 00:54:44,960
Speaker 1: jd Vance was not that good, and in fact, if

1065
00:54:44,960 --> 00:54:47,640
Speaker 1: you look at Ohio at the election, he became a

1066
00:54:47,680 --> 00:54:53,400
Speaker 1: Senator and he ran about twenty points behind Republican Governor

1067
00:54:53,520 --> 00:54:57,280
Speaker 1: Mike DeWine, so it makes sense that he was absolutely

1068
00:54:57,640 --> 00:55:02,280
Speaker 1: not a great candidate and not great at politics in general. Anyway,

1069
00:55:02,560 --> 00:55:07,439
Speaker 1: he gave his first solo rally and he bragged about

1070
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:11,840
Speaker 1: drinking diet mountain dew, which I guess he feels makes

1071
00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:13,600
Speaker 1: him seem more appellation.

1072
00:55:14,080 --> 00:55:14,680
Speaker 3: I don't know.

1073
00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:20,000
Speaker 1: He also said that Democrats say everything is racist, and

1074
00:55:20,120 --> 00:55:24,560
Speaker 1: that they might say mountain dew was racist. Needless to say,

1075
00:55:24,680 --> 00:55:27,640
Speaker 1: he did not get a laugh, and for that that

1076
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:31,640
Speaker 1: is our moment of fuck Ray. That's it for this

1077
00:55:31,719 --> 00:55:35,320
Speaker 1: episode of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday and

1078
00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:38,479
Speaker 1: Friday to hear the best minds in politics makes sense

1079
00:55:38,520 --> 00:55:41,560
Speaker 1: of all this chaos. If you enjoyed what you've heard,

1080
00:55:41,960 --> 00:55:44,880
Speaker 1: please send it to a friend and keep the conversation going.

1081
00:55:45,280 --> 00:55:46,960
Speaker 1: And again, thanks for listening.