WEBVTT - Poor Brett Favre?! 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.000 Native Lamp Pod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:04.359 with Recent Choice Media. 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:07.240 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:10.680 All right, d'all, welcome home. It's episode forty two of 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.680 Native Lamp Pod. So the pod is almost as old 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:16.160 as us, you guys, because I can't believe we're already 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:17.560 on forty two. 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:20.360 Uh yeah, well I'm older than that. 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:28.600 But yes, it's well, we're Angela's elders, but almost as Andrew. 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:30.560 You look pretty snazzy and you're Miami Vice. 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:30.800 You know. 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:33.560 I just you know, here's my hurricane outfit in case 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:35.839 y'all find me, you know, under a break. 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:37.880 Well, we are. 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:41.080 Seriously concerned because there is a storm headed your way. 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:44.960 Yeah, are you saying your direct hit here in Tallahassee? 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:48.120 Possibly a Cat three, which would be about the strongest 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:49.360 storm that we've had here. 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:53.240 So I had two hurricanes when I was mayor of Tallahassee, 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:56.400 and that was after almost fifty years of no storm. 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:58.279 You know, it's thirty years of no storms. 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.880 And now we've been you know whatever. So I'm actually 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:04.760 we get packing the family up and they're trying to 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:07.680 get out of here any minute now, and I'll get 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.560 out when I finished some house preparations. 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:14.000 But yeah, well, thank you for being dedicated to stick around. 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:20.479 Welcome home, and already right exactly, angel I've already complimented 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:21.840 you on your Shreditdnim. 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:25.920 I just got thrown around in a garbage disposal, but 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:29.360 don't mind me. I just don't think I was gonna 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:31.480 wear it. So you know, in Seattle it's get a 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:34.399 little colder. So I was like, well, I'm at home, 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.440 so let me put this on before. This is not 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:38.800 in vogue? Is this? 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:40.160 It's the first show. 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:43.600 I'm in Denham. I don't know what happened to you 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:44.880 all since this photo. 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:47.840 Shoot right down below. I can't show it right now, but. 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:52.280 Yeah, okay, okay, well so draws today to. 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.800 I don't know what I counted. Trust me, I got 0:01:56.840 --> 0:01:58.080 on dental. I'm somewhere. 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:00.600 Let me tell you to don't ever have on dinnim. 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:02.560 Tiff By write dinhim on her hands, and I just 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:04.440 want y'all to know again for the record, in case 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:09.680 came from Tiffany, she is not followed. 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:15.280 And only got those boots because Angela had them. I 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:17.200 thought they were cute, so then I went and bottom 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:21.680 and I probably had worn them since anyway, Angela, what 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:23.240 are we or what are you? What are you talking 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:23.679 about today? 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:24.040 On boy? 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.000 Well, I want to talk about Brett Farr. Tiff. I 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:29.240 know you're a resident sports expert, so you know what 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:31.360 NFL team this man's played for. 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:36.640 Okay, let me just say I know this. Let me 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.600 say I know this because I was reading an article 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:41.760 on my I just landed and on a flight this morning. 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:43.799 I was reading the Times and they did a whole 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:45.520 article on it, so I know that he played for 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:50.200 the Tennessee type Oh right now. 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.399 About green Baka. 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:54.520 Okay, then never mind, I was reading something about somebody 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:54.920 who played. 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.360 We were just sharing to demonstrate for you all is 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.280 how easy it is for people in influential position to 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:04.720 cover the media, uh, to be also swayed by misinformation. 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:05.520 That was just. 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:08.560 Exactly you're going right up. 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:12.520 What I want to talk about? To go up your alley, go, 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:13.080 Andrew go. 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:16.040 And there's been a lot in the news office about 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:20.320 Janet jackson commentary about Kamala Harris, And while that has 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.760 been interesting, I'm actually much more interested in the angle 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:26.720 love why it is that we think celebrities people in 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:29.960 the public space are supposed to be educated and aware 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:32.840 and knowledgeable about all things politics, and is it right? 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:34.920 Is it fair? I love to have that conversation with y'all. 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:37.680 Yeah, I like that. I actually am interested in talking 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:42.120 about this Brat Farr thing in Tennessee. Yes, yes, the 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:44.200 former Titans player in Tennessee. 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.160 And it also happens to be something happening in Mississippi. 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:49.720 Look up Tanni Mississippi. 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:52.240 Now that I am familiar with, so I know you. 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.560 I have a lot of thoughts on that. So I'm 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.600 curious how we're in covering. So my subject is kind 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:00.720 of somber, so I definitely don't want to kick us off, 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:04.120 but I want to talk about the death penalty in 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.480 this country. You all have probably seen those posts that 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:08.920 a man was lynched today. You saw a lot of 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:11.600 people posting about that this week, and I just I 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.760 want to talk about this because it's a challenging position 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.799 for us as black folks to be in in this country. 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.320 So I don't know how we're gonna kick it off first, 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:28.839 but let's kick it off. Nonetheless, Welcome home, y'all. I 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:31.440 don't want to kick us off because my subject is somber. 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:32.120 And I'm on the show. 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:38.159 But I think you should not. But see that's somber 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:39.640 in a different way. So I think we should end 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:41.520 with celebrities. I think Angela, you should kick us off. 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:48.120 But that's different. All right, I'm kicking us off. So 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:50.400 why don't we do this instead of me kicking you off. 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.800 Let's go straight to the Ways and Means Committee testimony 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:57.000 testimony that Brett Favre gave earlier this week at a 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:01.200 hearing about the misuse of TANNIF, which temporary assistance for 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:05.760 needy families. All of those dollars being misallocated in several states, 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.400 and Mississippi is one of them. Brett Farbus found himself 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:09.839 in the crosshairs. Let's roll it. 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:14.839 Democrats and Republicans should agree. Rampant state misuse of TANNA 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:18.640 funds is hurting efforts to help vulnerable families and children. 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.600 And I was told Ways and Means Committee was working 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:23.280 on this problem. So I was willing to speak to 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:27.479 you to encourage Congress to reform this important anti poverty program. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.760 And I urge Congress to put taniff guardrails in place 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:33.760 to ensure that what happened in Mississippi doesn't happen again. 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:37.680 I urge Congress to pass the TANNA reforms included in 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:41.400 the Committee member bills, Reforms designed to target funds to 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.800 those truly most in need, to help low income American 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:48.280 find and keep a job, to limit how states can 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.640 spend tan of grants and reduce wasteful bureaucracy, and to 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:55.360 protect tax fair funds from fraud and abuse. And in closing, 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:57.880 thank you Chairmans Smith and ranking Member Neil. 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.599 Now, when you hear Brett Favre here, he sounds like 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:06.880 the model citizen. He's using all the right talking points. Waste, fraud, 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.640 and abuse is something that Democrats and Republicans have agreed 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:12.160 on for a long time when we talk about government spending. 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:15.160 Now here's the challenge. There is a lot that was 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:17.760 left out and a lot left to be desired. But 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:20.440 I'm going to go to a Green Bay Packers fan. 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:25.240 Congressoman Gynmore, who worked on tannef legislation in the state 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:27.919 legislature and has certainly worked on it in the House 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.120 as a single mother, please drow the tape. 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.960 But I do want to say that I was at. 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:34.800 The scene of the crime. 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.880 When we ended welfare as we knew it in nineteen 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:39.479 ninety six. 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:40.040 I was in. 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.840 Wisconsin, I was a state senator. I had one hundred 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:46.560 amendments that would have addressed this problem. And what I 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:48.760 am saying to you, I just want to repeat some 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.200 of the things that have been said here already that 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:56.720 this flexibility was deliberate it. Indeed, I agree with mister 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:00.480 George's characterization of it is that it literally became a 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:04.440 slush fund for states to do what they wanted to do. 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:10.320 In our own state, we literally had people called diversion specialists, 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:11.520 and it was their. 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:13.680 Job to convince. 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:16.520 You when you showed up pregnant and one baby on 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.560 one arm and the other at your feet, that you 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:23.280 didn't need welfare funds, and all of that profit could 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:26.520 be used to pay bonuses. I even had an amendment 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:30.560 that was directed at some of the vendors who administered 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:31.760 welfare to say. 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.560 You can't earn more than the governor of the state. 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:39.640 Because of these salaries were so lucrative. So surprise, surprise, 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:46.600 here we are, what twenty eight years later, discovering the 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.560 fraud and waste and abuse in this program. We have 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:55.320 the same level of poverty we have, you know, eighty 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.360 percent of the people who qualified, people who live in 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:02.960 deep deep, deep poverty, not getting the benefits people in 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:06.080 Mississippi getting What did you say, mister Dorr two hundred 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:09.760 and thirty six dollars a month in twenty twenty four, 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:15.400 that that that's the truth. These data are not updated. 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:20.320 It's not true. I just want to go on to 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:24.200 talk about some other things that I saw on the report. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:28.000 You say that that. Oh and also some of your 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.640 data the six hundred industries that's in Maine. So I 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.600 want to congratulate you with whatever you did in Maine. 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.200 Whatever happened in Maine didn't happen Mississippi. 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:39.960 So just so okay. 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:44.560 So what you see is Brett Farb, a former All 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:50.160 star NFL quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, who found 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:55.200 himself embroiled in a huge scandal in Mississippi. Mississippi is 0:08:55.240 --> 0:09:01.240 accused of misallocating ninety four million dollars in TANNE funds. Again, 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.480 that's the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. It is 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.560 a block grant program that exists all throughout the country. 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:10.920 There is a lot of waste, fraud and abuse, as 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.880 you just heard Congresswoman when Moore talking about in this 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:18.040 particular program with Brett Farvre, he was working with a nonprofit. 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:25.280 Some states utilize nonprofits to allocate these funds through varying programs, 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:27.960 varying families who need them, and for the most part, 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.200 the families that need the resources the most don't actually 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:35.800 see these resources. So Brett Farr, for example, his accues 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:39.680 of receiving one point one million dollars in speaking fees 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:45.679 from Tannet funds and also helping to broker a five 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:50.080 million dollar volleyball stadium to the University of Southern Mississippi, 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:54.760 where his daughter attends. These are just some of the 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.360 ways in which these resources have been used or misused. 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:01.640 And I think what makes it egregious is yesterday. This 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:06.640 is particularly for you yesterday what you see from the headlines. 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:08.160 And I know by the time this podcast will be 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:11.240 two day so from Tuesday, the headlines are the next 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:15.320 day that Brett Favre tells this committee that he is 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:20.560 suffering from Parkinson's because there was also a business who 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:25.199 he helped get resources to in the millions that is 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:29.880 supposed to help players who have experienced concussions. He uses 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:32.920 this moment to disclose to the public that he's been 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:37.120 diagnosed with Parkinson's. On the other side of giving millions 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:40.680 of dollars to tan Of funds to this business. The 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.680 woman that helped to get the resources to this company 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:46.880 has now pled guilty. Her son has pled guilty. There's 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:50.600 a civil lawsuit in Mississippi with with more than twenty 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:54.760 defendants for their role in misallocating tant Of funds to 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.800 everyone except for the people who need them most. So 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:00.840 that is what this is all about. It is infuriating, 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:05.120 especially when we talk about this handout concept. The people 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:08.719 who need handouts are really hand ups, don't get them 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:11.839 because they're busy patting the pockets of folks who run 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:15.160 these organizations and are ensuring that the folks who do 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:19.160 need assistants, who are needed families never see the resources. 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.280 So Brett Favre, I am so sorry about your diagnosis. 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.880 I really am, But that does not excuse you from 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:26.920 what you knew when you look at these text messages 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:28.520 that I know that we're gonna put up on the screen. 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:31.600 But for those of you who are listening, he says 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:36.480 things like if I get these resources, will people find out? 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:37.080 Right? 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:41.320 He says, is the money I was paid one hundred 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:44.400 percent legal for the radio commercials. We didn't even talk 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:49.240 about those, and then she tells him yes. On another message, 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.040 he says, I can have my CPA talk with you 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:54.400 and get a better understanding of this and go from there. 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:57.280 Maybe the university will figure out some things as well, 0:11:57.320 --> 0:11:59.200 as long as we can use the money any way 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.360 we choose some how will the public perception be that 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:08.240 I became a spokesperson for various state funded shelters, schools, homes, 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.360 et cetera, and was compensated with state money or can 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:14.520 we keep this confidential? This does not sound like someone 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:17.040 who says in his testimony that he did not know. 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:22.320 He let me just add to that. So this company 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:24.839 that you're talking about where he funneled two point one 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:32.040 million dollars, to be exact, is run by Jason van Landingham. 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:34.800 So that two point one million dollars that he funneled 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:38.800 to him. Jason pleaded guilty to wirefraud. This was in July, 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:43.160 admitting to using those funds to pay off gambling and 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:47.679 personal debts. Brett farre In the one point one million 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:50.439 dollars you referenced, Angela, those were for speeches that he never. 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.640 Gave, allegedly allegedly because he's saying he made the speeches, 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:54.880 so we don't want to be caught up in the 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:56.120 same defamation. 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.600 Allegedly that he according to the reporting, right, he never 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.080 gave them, but he says allegedly. I just want to 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.280 point out here because why this matters to me. My 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:10.120 mother's family is from Mississippi. A lot of folks, you know, 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.000 you all know the Great Migration, A lot of us 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:17.160 have roots in Mississippi. Mississippi is a challenge. It is 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.200 the state with the highest number of black folks there 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.520 and they are in the bottom ten percent of poverty 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:24.880 when it comes to this country. There's not a single 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:31.559 black statewide elected official in Mississippi, despite having the highest 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:36.760 population there. The racism is literally written into the state's 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:39.680 constitution in Mississippi. Let me just tell you a little 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:43.680 bit about the folks in Mississippi. Then this is welfare 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.640 essentially what we're talking Tana funds are another word for 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:51.440 it will be welfare. Mississippi in twenty sixteen approved just 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:55.840 one point five percent of applicants who are applying for 0:13:55.920 --> 0:14:00.560 these funds. That's according to reporting from Mississippi today, just 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:05.599 five out of eight hundred and twenty four applicants were approved. 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.360 This is all during the time when Brett Favre was 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:13.640 stealing millions among other people. After the reporting came out 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:20.680 about this, Mississippi inexplicably started approving more people, still not enough. 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:23.640 In twenty eighteen, this is at the height of the scandal, 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.880 Mississippi spent one hundred and thirteen million dollars in federal 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:30.400 funds for TANA funds. This was over its allotment of 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:35.040 eighty six point five million dollars of unspent funds. Just 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:39.720 five percent of that cash went to needy families. That 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:43.160 left over one hundred million dollars on the table for 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:46.520 them to do essentially what they wanted to do. This 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.840 was under Republican Governor Phil Bryant at the time. His 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.680 office oversaw the Welfare Department and their goals. So, like 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:57.000 Angela said, state and nonprofits used tens of millions of 0:14:57.040 --> 0:15:00.280 dollars in these federal funds as a playground and did 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.560 pretty much whatever they wanted to do. They purchased lavish homes, 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.240 they gave money to their friends and families. They propped 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.000 up programs that had little to do with alleviating poverty. 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:13.160 Millions also went to other purposes, including other pro football 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:17.920 players who have yet to be named, wrestlers, lobbyists, expensive 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:23.760 pr campaigns, conservative radio talk shows. The Mississippi Department of 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.640 Human Services still pushes out these funds, and it's really 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:31.440 very little oversight. And so there are real names and 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.880 faces and consequences to what Brett Favre did. Now, why 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:39.240 I got this information, Angela, is because this morning. I 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:41.800 read the Times every day, and I read the Times, 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:44.600 and you would think by reading the article about it, 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:46.880 that Brett Farr was on Capitol Hill to talk about 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:48.040 his Parkinson's diagnosed. 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:48.600 That's right. 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.920 There was no mention, no mention of the people of Mississippi. 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:56.600 There was no reference of how impoverished the state is. 0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:00.360 There was no demographic breakdown on who was a applying 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.320 for these funds overwhelmingly black folks, who was applying for 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.720 these funds and who was being denied also a lot 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:08.320 of poor white folks in Mississippi. I might add, so 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.640 the fact that we are playing a violin for this 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.760 man for stealing millions of dollars, and the media took 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:16.840 that and said, we will add, we will sing your 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:21.760 songs of sorrow with you and completely bypass the impoverished 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.400 people and Andrew, you know a lot about this, because 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.760 we've talked about this as if they don't deserve a 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.560 song of sympathy, as if they are not the main 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:33.840 point of this story. I find it disgusting and yet 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.720 again another failure of the media who would rather center 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.920 conservative white folks at the literal cost of our lives 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:43.920 and our livelihoods when it comes to black folks. 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:48.880 Total, total, abject failure by the media in complicity, by 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:52.280 the way, because at this stage, when the controversy was 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:56.240 first uncovered, you know, Brett fav was all. 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:56.720 In the middle of it. 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.560 We saw messages come out, we saw his complicity and 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:02.400 cooperate with it, and so it isn't as if the 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.240 media had no clue what he was doing on Capitol Hill, 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.000 what he was there to testify about, so on and 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:08.600 so forth. I won't name the source, I mean the 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:12.800 media organization, but I got a text, you know, a 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:16.240 message alert in the middle of the day about Brett Farban. 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:20.000 It was about his diagnosis. And again we can have 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:25.560 sympathy for his diagnosis and wish him well on his 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:29.280 journey ahead, but also hold him fully accountable for why 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.280 he was on Capitol Hill in the first place to 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:37.040 further underscore Angela and Tiffany's points around the real need 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:40.960 in Mississippi is that Mississippi's poverty rate is twenty percent, 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.640 which is double the national poverty rate. So when we're 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.920 talking about poor, we're talking about the epicenter of poverty 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.879 in this country being at a state where twenty percent 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.680 of the people we're out of ten people, right, two 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:59.160 of every ten is suffering at or below the poverty level. 0:17:59.119 --> 0:17:59.960 In this state. 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:03.840 These are resources that are desperately needed to wind up 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.159 in the hands of the people who are struggling to 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:07.960 keep food on the table and the roof over their head. 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.879 But that's not what it's going to. And the shame 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.119 of it all, the real shame of it all, is 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.160 that these are the same elected officials who have as 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:19.600 part of their talking points the need for people to 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:23.520 pull themselves up by the bootstraps. Right, So that's supposed 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:25.960 to apply to working poor people in your state, but 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:30.120 it doesn't apply to the corporations and the moneyed interest 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.399 and the former athletes whose children are at your state's 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:38.119 schools who need a new volleyball course or some new turf. 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.560 Added to this, that and the third is shameful because 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:44.320 what Republicans know, and I have to call them what 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.600 they are because they're the ones who manufacture these talking points. 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:50.880 What they are is they're hypocrites of the greatest order. 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:53.600 It is not that they don't believe in handouts or 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.240 hand ups, it's just that they only believe in those 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:58.640 things when it comes to other white folks and white 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:02.280 people's companies and their white constituency who are by the way, not. 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.840 Poor, but the ones who are well healed, well mented. 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:09.199 Or in gambling debt right, who have the luxury to 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:15.240 be in gambling a debt. So this is embarrassing for 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.440 the state at a whole new level, except they'll take 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.760 no embarrassment at all. And I'm confused about what the 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:23.119 change is going to be because I was a local 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.040 as a former person mented in government through. 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:25.600 The local level. 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:29.000 I know that there's something called categorical grants which could 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:32.600 have gone directly to the cities, to the counties where 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:35.560 poverty is the greatest, where there could have been much 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:40.600 more how do you say, specific oversight by the local communities. 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:42.360 But they didn't come down. 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:43.879 To Mississippi that way, and they don't come to the 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.440 other states that way they're coming into these states to 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:50.000 these block grants where universally we have seen abuse not 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:52.800 just in this not just in this area, but across 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:54.679 the board. When you send a big old chunk of 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:56.960 money and you say to the state that this is 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:00.800 intended for this purpose, and the state undoubted figures out 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:04.080 a way to undermine the system, to undermine its intentional goal, 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:06.040 to undermine. 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:07.840 Those policies that they disagree with. 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:10.720 Why would you send to Florida and all these other 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:16.320 states money for uh, the Obamacare Universal Care and then 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:21.679 allow them to redivert that money, reallocate that money, or 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:25.800 reduce the state's commitment in this area, supplant it with 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:28.960 the federal government's committed commitment. So you don't get any 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:31.320 increase in resourcing at all. All you got was a 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:34.840 plug and play. You got You got them using federal 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:40.080 money UH and relieving state money and then not increasing 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:44.520 the real need, not really not increasing the the financial 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:46.480 support into the areas that it's needed. I would just 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:49.000 say Congress needs to take a really good hard look 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:52.160 at itself. They are the ones that created these categories 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:55.480 of granted and I would I would charge them to 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:58.400 look at ways in which they can get the resources 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:00.600 to the people who need them the most. And I 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:02.040 know that we got to go to break, so I'll 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:02.560 stop there. 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:05.600 Yeah. Well, on the other side, ahead, no, i'd say 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:07.320 if I was going to say too. On the other side, 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:09.840 there's another little twist in this story that I think 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:13.159 we need to get to. That is it demonstrates a 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.960 failure of the courts and media combined. 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:22.240 Interestingly enough, that is a perfect segue into the death 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:24.720 penalty that I want to talk about too, the failure 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:27.640 of the courts and media combined. So right after this break, 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:28.239 we'll pick it up. 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:41.480 So as you can see, there are so much there's 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:44.399 so much passion around this topic, and I think living 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:47.479 in our black bodies in this country, you constantly are 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:49.879 seeing the lack of justice. We're not asking to be 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:52.200 able to cheat, We're asking for you to be able 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.160