WEBVTT - 2026 Preview 0:00:01.320 --> 0:00:06.320 Hello America, and welcome to the Sean Hannity Show. As 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:10.320 you probably know, like most sensible people, Sean is taking 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:15.160 his annual year end vacation. Twenty twenty five is almost 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.239 over with, and Sean will be back and ready to 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:23.040 go when twenty twenty six arrives. So this is Jeffrey Lord, 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:27.160 the contributing editor of The American Spectator, filling in for Sean, 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:30.400 and I thought with twenty twenty six arriving, we can 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:32.760 start to take a look at what will be a 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:37.520 big ongoing topic next year, that being the twenty twenty 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:42.159 six election for state governors and members of the US 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:48.280 Senate and the House. We have five interesting Senate races 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:53.880 in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, and North Carolina that are 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:57.720 going to be up for grabs, and Republicans certainly are 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:01.000 going to be pouring everything they can into an effort 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:06.080 to win those seats to keep their Senate majority going. 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:10.160 In my own Pennsylvania, and I'll come back to this 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:12.600 a little bit more in a bit, but in my 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:17.000 own Pennsylvania, we're going to have a very important governor's 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:22.560 race with Republican Stacy Garerty, who is our current state 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:28.240 Treasurer who won in unbelievable margins when she was elected 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:32.080 state treasurer, and she is going to be the Republican 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:36.959 nominee for governor running against the Democrat Governor, Josh Shapiro. 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:42.679 So we will have State Treasurer Guarity on to talk 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:47.680 about that. And she's she's a very interesting person. I 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.000 confess she's a friend. But let me let me fill 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:53.400 you in a bit on her background. She served in 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.720 the United States Army Reserve for thirty years, notably with 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:01.640 three deployments in the Gulf in Iraq Wars. When she 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:05.320 left after those thirty years, she had earned the rank 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.760 of colonel and earned two Bronze Stars in the Legion 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:12.399 of Merit. Moving into the private sector, Stacey served as 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:16.760 the vice president of Global Tungsten and Powders Corporation, a 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:22.079 company based in Tiwanda, Pennsylvania. And she was elected the 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:26.560 Pennsylvania State Treasurer in twenty twenty and re elected overwhelmingly 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:32.200 in twenty twenty four, winning over three point five million votes, 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:37.520 the most votes cast for any statewide candidate in Pennsylvania history. 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.840 Her victory over the incumbent Democrat State Treasurer was the 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.600 first time a Republican had defeated an incumbent Democrat since 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:49.320 nineteen ninety four. So already Stacy has won the support 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:53.240 of Pennsylvania Republicans, a victory that will be formalized in 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:58.320 the May nineteenth, twenty twenty sixth Pennsylvania Primary. Then we're 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.840 also going to have on as a guest. Selina Zeito 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:09.200 and Selena is a terrific journalist covering Pennsylvania and politics. 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:13.200 She joined The Washington Examiner in twenty sixteen as a 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:17.680 Pittsburgh based columnist and reporter covering national politics and culture 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:22.000 from a perspective outside the Beltway. She is the author 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.919 of the book Butler, The Untold Story of the near 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.920 assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:33.280 and the Great Revolt. She began her career at the 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:38.720 Pittsburgh Tribune Review as a reporter and columnist covering national politics, 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.040 and she has been a contributor as well to The 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.400 New York Post and the Wall Street Journal as well 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:49.640 as currently the Washington Post. And then we also were 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:54.440 going to have Jeff Bartows. Jeff is also a Pennsylvanian 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:58.120 an American real estate developer, A lawyer and a diplomat 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:03.480 currently serving by the appointm of President Trump as the 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:07.400 US Ambassador to the United Nations for Management and Reform 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:11.920 and been serving there since this year of twenty twenty five. 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:16.120 So we're going to have an interesting time talking with 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:20.760 all these folks. Things kind of slow down, as we 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.240 all know in America when we get to that week 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:27.719 between Christmas and New Year's as people try and get 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:31.640 a fix on what it is their New Year's resolutions 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:34.600 are going to be. In this case for twenty twenty 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:38.440 six and twenty twenty six, as I've said, is going 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:43.440 to be an election year, and from the President Trump perspective, 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:48.000 I suspect this is very important in terms of keeping 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:52.359 control of the House and Senate, and he is I 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:55.440 believe I am correct in saying this. He's already said 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:59.960 he is going to be out there campaigning all across 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:05.280 the country for Republican candidates to get them, to get 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:09.800 them elected, and to carry the day for a Republican 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.359 House and a Republican Senate. Not to mention in cases 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:20.200 like Stacey Garrity's a Republican governor. What we're going to 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:23.520 be dealing with, I think President Trump has said that 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.840 the midterm elections are going to be this is his 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:32.960 phrase about pricing, quote unquote, and he said, what I 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:37.359 think most people out there doing their daily shopping is 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.080 they not to mention as they got ready for Christmas, 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:45.839 and with Christmas shopping, they could tell that the nation's 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.760 economy was much better this year than it was after 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:53.919 President Biden left it. And the President said that he 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:55.880 thought it is going to be about the success of 0:05:55.920 --> 0:06:00.440 our country, meaning the twenty twenty sixth election, said they 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:04.440 gave us high, high, high pricing, and we're bringing it down. 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:08.560 Energy is way down, gasoline is way down. And I 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:13.360 can tell you from my Christmas experience driving from Pennsylvania 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:18.320 to the far end of eastern Long Island where my parents' 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:22.479 family was from. Uh, you can see the difference in 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:26.080 prices as you're as you're getting getting your gas here. 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:29.680 There is no question about that. So that's a good thing. 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:34.000 These elections, I have to say, uh, and I've been 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.080 through my share of them. They always come down at 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.239 the end. And unless there's a you know, a massive 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:49.640 World War two style running running crazy, Uh, the economy 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:54.479 is always the answer, always, And so I think you 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.960 were going to find that these candidates, both on both 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:01.440 sides are going to be talking about this, although if 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.279 you are a Republican and a Trump supporter, you're going 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.640 to want to be talking about this a lot. If 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:09.600 you're a Democrat, you're going to probably try and pretend 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:16.520 that this doesn't happen. But we will see how this goes. 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:22.080 There have been a lot of positive economic reports that 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:26.280 have shown that inflation is decreasing, with the White House 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:30.520 highlighting the latest data while addressing the cost of living 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:36.559 concerns nationwide, and according to a political poll conducted last month, 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:42.760 Americans say they are finding that the cost of groceries, utilities, healthcare, housing, 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:48.640 and transportation are too expensive. And so President Trump has 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.000 been going after this and they are as I say, 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:54.480 I certainly have noticed in terms of energy and gasoline 0:07:55.040 --> 0:08:02.080 that prices have been coming down, and he, the President 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:06.120 has added that electricity is down, it's way down. And 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:09.480 then he also added, when the gasoline goes down, and 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.040 when the oil and gas go down, the electricity gap 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:19.080 comes down naturally. And so this is always job number 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:22.680 one for a president. And the long ago I worked 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:25.400 just to give you an example of how this works. 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:29.160 And the long ago I worked for President Reagan in 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:31.560 the White House as a political director when I was 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:39.360 younger than I am now, and he had an enormous 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:43.800 package of tax and budget cuts to reform the country's 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.640 the economy and get it out of the recession that 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:53.120 it had been thrust into in the Carter years. And 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.800 he got the legislation passed, he signed it in August 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:03.360 of twenty twenty two, I believe it was, But the 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:06.880 kicker or twenty twenty one. I'm sorry, but the kicker 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:10.240 was it didn't kick in. It takes a while for 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:17.200 these things to make themselves felt, and people didn't know 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:19.800 what to make of this in the nineteen eighty two elections, 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:24.079 and so he had a real problem getting Republicans elected 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:27.200 in nineteen eighty two. And then in January or so 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:31.800 of nineteen eighty three, then suddenly the economy took off 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.560 like a rocket and it was just it was just 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:41.720 incredible to behold. And by the time nineteen eighty four 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:45.680 rolled around and he himself was up for reelection, he 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:51.360 wound up winning a forty nine state landslide because people 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.840 were in fact, very, very happy with the state of 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.160 the economy. So that I think is going to be 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:00.720 is always going to be a big deal here as 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:05.880 we go on, and then I'm seeing a headline on 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:10.439 Fox News that the Justice Department is releasing Epstein documents 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:17.000 with warning about Trump allegations. And I think we will 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.800 we will see. You know, who knows what's going to happen. 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:24.160 You know, frankly, I don't think most Americans care about this. 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:30.479 Most Americans are concerned, as I was saying, about the economy. 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:33.679 That's where their bread and butter is, That's where how 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:37.480 they take care of their families. A story like this 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:43.280 is titulating to you know, various people out there in 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:48.319 the media and Democrats, well maybe Democrats, because some Democrats 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.080 are not so happy about it. And you know, there's 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:54.520 all kinds of things. There are pictures floating around with 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.520 former President Clinton that I suspect Democrats don't want to 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:04.600 see out there. So I really think that that Epstein 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.040 episode is not going to be a big deal when 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:12.040 it comes to elections because people just don't really care 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:16.960 that much. It doesn't affect them. So on we go 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:19.720 with all of that, and then we still have to 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:23.600 deal and President Trump has to deal with Russia, which 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:29.800 claims now that Ukraine attacked the residents of President Putin 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:34.920 with are you ready for this? Ninety one drones and 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:39.920 the Kremlin is apparently now changing ceasefire terms and all 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:43.200 of this kind of thing. But you know, one of 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:47.600 the things that is sort of amazing here, it's always 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:50.000 well to remember that this world of ours has been 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:54.520 around a very long time, and there are all kinds 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:58.600 of rivalries and problems and all of this kind of 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:00.880 thing going on with one kind of tree after another 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:05.480 that have been going on for years. I mean, none 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:07.680 of us were around, or most of us weren't around 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.760 when World War One broke out and came to a conclusion, 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:17.199 and I imagine people in the day thought, well, that's it, 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.640 it's over. We've resolved it. And then of course the 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:26.840 rise of Adolf Hitler and Germany, and suddenly there was 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.280 World War Two, and there was the problems over in 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:34.880 the in the Far East with with the Japanese and 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:37.560 all this, and so World War two came and we 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:40.080 had to fight the America had to fight the war 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:44.080 all over again. So, in other words, I think the 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.760 lesson and this has been true in all kinds of 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:51.480 situations where you think that you ended a situation, a 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:55.640 violence situation, and then you find out that lo and behold, 0:12:57.400 --> 0:12:59.920 there are people out there that still want to continue fight. 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.199 And I think that that's one of the problems, that 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:09.120 it's basically a humanity problem. And I don't know, you'd 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:11.480 like to think that any president of the United States 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:14.200 could put their thumb down and say that's it, But 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.079 I have to say I think that as much as 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:21.600 President Trump or any other president tries, it's not always doable, 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.880 and things come back around to bite us all over again. 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:30.800 So you know, we'll be set with that. In the meantime, 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:35.120 I hope everybody is getting ready to celebrate New Year's Eve. 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.760 And I think I saw a story somewhere that the 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:43.200 ball drop that you see in New York on New 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:46.480 Year's Eve is going to be red, white and blue 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.400 this year. And I think the reason for that is 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.800 we are kicking off the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.839 of the United States of America, and that is going 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:02.200 to be quite something. As someone who was around as 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:05.120 I'm sure many of you were for the nineteen seventy 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:10.600 six bi centennial, I can only imagine what the two 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:13.680 hundred and fifty celebration is going to be. It will 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:18.240 be a very very big deal. Indeed, So all right, 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:20.920 we'll be back in a bit. We have some great guests. 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.960 As I say, so, thank you, stay tuned, hope you 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.720 had a merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and on we go. 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:32.880 All right, welcome back, and I want to a very 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.360 first thing, this being what we call in the trade 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.960 talk radio, I want to give you an opportunity to 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:44.520 call in and talk and uh, just dial in eight 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:48.840 hundred nine four one seven three two six or eight 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:54.120 hundred nine four one Sean Sea and we can have 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:58.400 a conversation. There is so much going on here in 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:04.040 the world as we speak. Also today President Trump has 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:09.080 been meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin b b Bibi 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:14.360 Netan Yahoo, and we'll see what comes out of that. 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:19.800 I know Sean has been to Israel a number of times, 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:23.040 and I've watched these reports and they are on television 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:26.560 and they are just amazing to see. I had never 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:31.880 been until this year, and it was quite an amazing trip. 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:33.920 So maybe we'll talk a little bit about that when 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.840 we when we come back. So just hang in there, 0:15:37.920 --> 0:16:04.360 stay tuned, and we will be right back. 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:20.360 The one thing you can always count on. 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:25.560 Sean Hannity is back on the radio. All right, we 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.520 are here. This is Jeffrey Lord from an American Spectator 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.240 and he's Max sitting in for Sean Hannity. You can 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:35.120 reach us here at eight hundred nine four one seven, 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.080 three two six or eight hundred and nine for one 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.960 Sean if you'd prefer. And I am delighted to have 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:46.280 as our first guest one Stacy Garrity, who is the 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:52.600 Pennsylvania State Treasurer who has done just enormous work. And Stacy, 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:54.760 before we start, I just want to do a little 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:59.360 bio in for our guests, particularly for Pennsylvanians who are 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:05.640 looking in and may not be familiar. Before she joined us, 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.680 as I say, let me fill you in here. She 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:12.000 served in the United States Army Reserved for thirty years, 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:16.200 notably with three deployments in the Gulf in Iraq Wars. 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.520 When she left after those thirty years, she had earned 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:22.800 the rank of colonel and earned two Bronze Stars and 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.919 the Legion of Merit. She moved into the private sector, 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:28.800 where she served as the vice president of Global Tungsten 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:34.480 and Powders Corporation, a company based and headquartered in Tiwanda, Pennsylvania. 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.400 She was elected the Pennsylvania State Treasurer in twenty twenty 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:43.400 and re elected overwhelmingly in twenty twenty four, winning over 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.960 three point five million votes, the most votes cast for 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:52.199 any statewide candidate in Pennsylvania history. Her victory over the 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:55.359 incumbent Democrat state treasurer was the first time a Republican 0:17:55.920 --> 0:18:00.720 had defeated an incumbent Democrat since nineteen ninety four. Already, 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:04.639 Stacey has won the support of Pennsylvania Republicans and that 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:08.960 victory will be formalized on May nineteenth of twenty twenty 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:14.240 six and the Pennsylvania Primary. So if I may, Madam Treasurer. 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.240 Are you there, Jeffrey, I am, and it is so 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.080 great to be on with you today. 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:25.000 It's great fun. And I assume you've been like every 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.000 other Pennsylvania busy with the holiday and all of that 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.960 kind of thing. But you have, I think this small 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:34.639 thing known as an election for governor Pennsylvania upcoming that 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:36.159 may be keeping you busy. 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:40.800 Yeah, just a little bit. In addition to my you know, 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:43.680 position as treasure where I'm a watchdog for one hundred 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.120 and eighty billion dollars right, expay money right. 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.840 I mean, all of this work is is just incredible 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:54.440 and that you have been able to just plunge right 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.280 in and do this and be such a success as 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:01.400 the Pennsylvania State Treasurer. You know, my experience in Pennsylvania 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:05.840 politics is that people generally know who the governor is 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:08.560 or who's running for governor, and who the US Senator 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:12.080 is and who's running for senator. They have a harder 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:17.560 time knowing about the state treasurer and the auditor General 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.199 and that sort of thing because they're lower down on 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:25.080 the ballot and ordinarily it's not something you know. Some 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:28.560 of these people, you know, pick up the paper in 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:31.280 the morning to see what's up. So tell us a 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:35.080 little bit, I think, to explain what the treasurer does, 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:39.240 because I think it's it's fabulous. I've known a couple 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:41.800 of your predecessors, or at least one or two of them, 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:45.679 and I just wow, you really you really got something 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:48.359 here when you're doing this. So give us a little 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:50.040 talk about that. 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:54.439 Absolutely, Tue, as I think you mentioned, it is my 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.600 very first elected office. Had I not hit my mandatory 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:01.240 retirement date in the Army Reserve, I would have never 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:04.479 even thought about running because serving was and is the 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:07.480 honor of a lifetime. But I think because I come 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:10.639 from the private sector in the military that you know 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:12.680 I did, I was able to jump in and get 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:16.560 a lot of stuff done, and for example, giving back 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:21.680 a billion dollars of taxpayer money, saving parents and grandparents 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:24.440 over twenty two million dollars for the College and Career 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:27.720 Savings Plan, money that goes right back into their pockets. 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:30.960 I also give back military decorations, and we've been able 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:34.240 to give back gosh, over five hundred and thirty including 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:38.240 thirteen purple hearts, three bronze stars, and a gold Star medal. 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:44.359 And you know, we also implemented Pennsylvanian money Match, so 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:48.400 gave back fifty million dollars this calendar year to people 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.159 that didn't even know they had unclaimed property, and so 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.000 much more. We also opened up the books that Pennsylvanian 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.919 Treasury and made us the most transparent agency in the 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.920 entire commonwealth, because you know what, it's our money, it's 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:00.680 not Harrisburg. 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:04.880 Well, that's right, that's right. My experience with government having 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:07.159 worked both in Harrisburg when I started out in the 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:10.320 state Senate and then moving on to Washington and working 0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:14.440 there is the people who run these things think it's 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:17.639 their money and it doesn't belong to the taxpayers, the 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:21.280 people who are out there every day, you know, getting 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:26.240 their kids up and going to work and earning the 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:29.679 money that has got a fund, whether it's Pennsylvania or 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.640 the federal government of the United States, and you get 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.159 too many people who just want to sort of be 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:37.040 spend thrifts with it. 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:42.239 And exactly there isn't one taxpayer dollar that you know, 0:21:42.320 --> 0:21:44.120 I have to say, both sides of the aisle they 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:47.280 want to spend. And in fact, the last budget that 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:49.240 was passed, which was by the way, one hundred and 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:53.200 thirty four days late, we are spending just about five 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:57.240 billion dollars Jeffrey, more than what we're bringing in effectively 0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:01.280 blowing through the entire surplus next year. The only thing 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:03.320 that's left is the rainy day fund. 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:09.439 Wow. Wow. You know. My first lesson in this really 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:12.400 was in Washington. I was working for Congressman Bud Schuster, 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:15.399 was a member of the House Budget Committee, and so 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:17.960 I had to do this staff work and all of 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:20.600 that kind of thing. And one of the things I 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:23.560 learned this was in the first part of President Reagan's 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:28.400 term first term is that you had Republicans who were 0:22:28.480 --> 0:22:32.680 great with the rhetoric, but when it came to budget 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:35.480 cuts and all of that kind of thing, they didn't 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:39.040 want to go there. And that's when I began to realize, 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:43.800 this is an institutional problem with legislators, whether they're state 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:48.200 legislators or whether they're members of Congress, is that it's 0:22:48.560 --> 0:22:52.960 you know, count the guy behind the tree, but don't 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:55.959 touch me is more or less the problem with it. 0:22:56.000 --> 0:22:59.880 So in other words, we've got to have somebody exactly 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:03.280 like you in that treasurer's job to be the watchdog. 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:09.000 Well, I agree, and right now, you know, Pennsylvania is 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:12.000 going in the wrong direction. We rank thirty eighth economically, 0:23:12.040 --> 0:23:15.720 we rank thirty ninth in education, and we rank forty 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:19.120 first overall. And it just doesn't have to be that way, 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:20.240 and it should be that way. 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:23.920 No, And I imagine this will be a grade A 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:26.920 number one issue for you as you run for governor 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:32.320 this this next year. I mean, now, there's always this 0:23:32.400 --> 0:23:36.320 sort of lull. So it seems with political campaigns that 0:23:36.680 --> 0:23:38.440 you know, it takes a while for them to kick off, 0:23:38.440 --> 0:23:41.400 and then you get to you know, the actual election year, 0:23:41.840 --> 0:23:45.880 and wow, things things heat up in a sudden here 0:23:46.200 --> 0:23:49.560 and the work you've got to do is just just incredible. 0:23:50.200 --> 0:23:54.040 So you know, I'm I'm glad that you're in this 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:57.240 and making this an issue because I think most people 0:23:57.880 --> 0:24:01.359 don't understand they understand the office of governor better I 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:04.880 think than they understand the office of treasure. But now 0:24:05.000 --> 0:24:08.000 is the time for them to be aware and to 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:12.040 understand that your experience, whether it was in the military, 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:15.080 whether it's in the private sector, whether it's in government, 0:24:16.040 --> 0:24:20.960 can play a real role in how you would serve 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:22.320 as governor of Pennsylvania. 0:24:23.200 --> 0:24:27.040 Absolutely, because you know, just like we expect families to 0:24:27.080 --> 0:24:29.040 live within their means, our states should be doing the 0:24:29.040 --> 0:24:33.320 same thing. And unfortunately, because we both know there will 0:24:33.359 --> 0:24:37.359 be no programs that get caught, what's going to happen 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:40.840 is that taxes will be raised. And you know, unfortunately, 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:42.919 we have a governor right now that's more interested in 0:24:42.960 --> 0:24:46.760 Pennsylvania Avenue than Pennsylvania yea. And the fact of the 0:24:46.840 --> 0:24:49.160 matter is he's never been challenged. In fact, there's never 0:24:49.200 --> 0:24:51.440 even been an ad run against him. But there are 0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:56.560 two sides to every story. And with everybody's help and 0:24:56.600 --> 0:24:58.399 it is going to be an all hands on deck mission. 0:24:58.680 --> 0:25:00.280 We're going to be able to tell this to and 0:25:00.280 --> 0:25:02.040 if that people want to help, they can go to 0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:06.639 garrityfourpa dot com and check it out. But when people 0:25:06.960 --> 0:25:10.040 understand what he stands for, and he is a far 0:25:10.119 --> 0:25:14.840 left liberal, he believes that biological mail should compete against 0:25:14.840 --> 0:25:17.840 our girls in sports. He believes in gender affirming care 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:22.280 for trans little kids using your tax pay dollars. We 0:25:22.400 --> 0:25:26.280 talked about the budget and the spending and both in 0:25:26.359 --> 0:25:29.960 his offices of Attorney General as well as governor. There 0:25:30.000 --> 0:25:33.760 are many many scandals that will need to come out. 0:25:34.359 --> 0:25:39.200 So and he has sued Donald Trump over two dozen 0:25:39.359 --> 0:25:42.919 times and rags about it. And so I think we 0:25:42.960 --> 0:25:45.360 need a governor that's going to work with the administration, 0:25:45.520 --> 0:25:48.399 not work against the administration, because, like you and I know, 0:25:49.040 --> 0:25:51.920 Pennsylvania should be leading the nation. We shouldn't be falling, 0:25:52.320 --> 0:25:57.200 you know, so far behind, you know, states like Florida, Texas, 0:25:57.240 --> 0:25:58.680 the Carolinas, Tennessee. 0:25:59.000 --> 0:26:01.800 Well, you know, sometimes when I had to discuss this topic, 0:26:02.320 --> 0:26:06.280 I say that his role model is as a Pennsylvanian 0:26:06.480 --> 0:26:10.640 is James Buchanan. And for people in our audience who 0:26:10.680 --> 0:26:13.639 may not know who that is. James Buchanan is the 0:26:13.680 --> 0:26:17.480 only Pennsylvanian elected president of the United States. It didn't 0:26:17.520 --> 0:26:20.880 go so well. He is generally rated by historians as 0:26:21.119 --> 0:26:26.480 the one before Lincoln, and it just wasn't a good 0:26:26.520 --> 0:26:31.560 time for the country. And I think that Josh's ambition 0:26:31.760 --> 0:26:36.960 is very much directed towards twenty twenty eight and twenty 0:26:37.000 --> 0:26:40.120 twenty six is the hurdle that he has to get 0:26:40.320 --> 0:26:44.600 through or over before he gets there, as does anybody 0:26:44.680 --> 0:26:47.719 in this situation. But I do think that that affects 0:26:47.840 --> 0:26:52.000 how you do your job as governor if you're more 0:26:52.080 --> 0:26:54.280 interested in running for president. 0:26:55.440 --> 0:26:59.439 Absolutely, he's really a career politician, and he's really only 0:26:59.680 --> 0:27:02.760