Speaker 1: Native lamdpod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Speaker 1: Reason Choice Media. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Hello, everybody,
Speaker 1: Welcome home, y'all. It is Angela Riie with Native lamppod.
Speaker 1: I am your host today. This is a solo pod
Speaker 1: on something that is very near and dear to my heart.
Speaker 1: It is on people power, particularly when it's time to
Speaker 1: go to the polls. As you all know, we look
Speaker 1: at November in the general election in this country. There
Speaker 1: were a lot of folks who voted, certainly participated, and
Speaker 1: there were so many more who stayed home. When you
Speaker 1: look at a three way race from November, the entity
Speaker 1: that had the greatest victory was the couch. It was
Speaker 1: not Kamala Harris, it was not Donald Trump. It was
Speaker 1: actually the couch. And so when we talk about the
Speaker 1: ways in which we engage in the political process, there's
Speaker 1: a holistic view that we should talk about, but often
Speaker 1: we talk about it through the lens of voting. There
Speaker 1: is something in our democracy, at least the way that
Speaker 1: it is right now. Don't know how much longer we'll
Speaker 1: have it this way, that when democracy comes to bear
Speaker 1: in this country, there are two entities that have the
Speaker 1: greatest amount of power around election cycles. It is the people,
Speaker 1: those of you who get out and go vote, And
Speaker 1: it is also the check the folks who write checks
Speaker 1: to candidates. We talked about it at nauseum on the
Speaker 1: last Native landpod show. We talked about how much and
Speaker 1: actually it was two shows ago we talked about how
Speaker 1: much people's checkbooks, entities, corporations packs checkbooks impact the way
Speaker 1: that politicians vote on the Senate floor, the House floor,
Speaker 1: and all throughout government. And so we know that money
Speaker 1: plays an outsized role in politics. And one recent example
Speaker 1: of that is rooted in an election that will take
Speaker 1: place is taking place currently taking place in Wisconsin today.
Speaker 1: It is a Supreme Court election seat where spending records
Speaker 1: are broken. They have outspent every other Supreme court race
Speaker 1: in that in that in the country, and it is
Speaker 1: the most expensive supreme court state Supreme court. Might I add,
Speaker 1: because you know, on the federal level they are appointed
Speaker 1: by the president, but on a state supreme court it
Speaker 1: is supposed to be a nonpartisan entity. But it is
Speaker 1: a very hotly contested race between two candidates, uh and
Speaker 1: these folks. One is a pretty conservative Republican Brad Schimmel.
Speaker 1: He is a I don't even know how to pronounce
Speaker 1: this county Wellcousha County judge, Brad Schimmel. And then there's
Speaker 1: another candidate who's backed by Democrats. Her name is Susan Crawford,
Speaker 1: and it is a hotly contested race. Brad Schimmel's funding
Speaker 1: has outpaced Susan crawford spending. And I want to bring
Speaker 1: one central figure into this where you might be asking, now,
Speaker 1: what does he have to do with the Supreme Court seat.
Speaker 1: Let's roll this clip.
Speaker 2: Let me first hand out two one million dollar checks
Speaker 2: in appreciation. You know, the reason for the checks is
Speaker 2: that it's it's really just to get get attention. It's
Speaker 2: it's like we need to get attention. And and it's
Speaker 2: somewhat inevitably when I do these things, the you know,
Speaker 2: the sort of uh it causes the legacy media to
Speaker 2: like kind of lose their minds, and and and then
Speaker 2: and then they'll they'll run it on every news channel,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I couldn't pay them to the it
Speaker 2: would cost like ten times more. Or you know, it's
Speaker 2: it's to get the kind of coverage that we get.
Speaker 1: So so I want to play this because it's important
Speaker 1: for us to understand. One. This is the same country
Speaker 1: where there was a hotly debated conversation around whether or
Speaker 1: not it would be a would be breaking the law
Speaker 1: in Georgia to give people who are standing in line
Speaker 1: bottles of water so they can can continue to stand
Speaker 1: in line. Elon Musk has told people that he could
Speaker 1: pay twenty dollars per vote, and somehow they figured out
Speaker 1: a way to make that be acceptable and not really
Speaker 1: be in the public discourse. There have also been conversations
Speaker 1: about this million dollar check. So he gave two one
Speaker 1: million dollar checks in Wisconsin, so he spent twenty million
Speaker 1: dollars from America pack It's twenty two million dollars if
Speaker 1: you count these checks. And I just have to say,
Speaker 1: it is alarming to me that the Wisconsin Supreme Court,
Speaker 1: the very seat that this is about. Right there's a
Speaker 1: seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court that sways can sway
Speaker 1: the balance of power around redistricting, around many other cases
Speaker 1: that are central to the public discourse right now, and
Speaker 1: he is offering a million dollars. He said it was
Speaker 1: as a gift of gratitude to thank people for their
Speaker 1: engagement around this race. But really we know what this is, right,
Speaker 1: if black voters matter, if the NAACP IF collective pack,
Speaker 1: if any other entity offered a black voter or a
Speaker 1: black constituency money for ingratitude, for their support of this race,
Speaker 1: for paying attention to this race, and right before the election,
Speaker 1: do we really think there would be no conversation about this?
Speaker 1: Do we really think there would be no charges pressed? Like,
Speaker 1: let's be for real. And I think that that's what
Speaker 1: we really have to discuss here. I talked a little
Speaker 1: bit about Elon Musk and his paying members of Congress
Speaker 1: through campaign contributions who have written articles of impeachment to
Speaker 1: oppose judges, to impeach judges who have ruled against the
Speaker 1: Trump administration. This is the same type of not just
Speaker 1: fraudulent activity, but it is. It looks like extortion, it
Speaker 1: looks like bribery, it looks like quid pro quo kind
Speaker 1: of behavior. And I'm trying to understand where the great
Speaker 1: area for them is when we're talking about water going
Speaker 1: to voters and someone just giving blank checks, a million
Speaker 1: dollar checks at that to voters and people who are
Speaker 1: organizing voters. So that is what I am questioning right now.
Speaker 1: So Wisconsin is one thing, but now I want to
Speaker 1: turn our attention to another very important race. So Wisc
Speaker 1: Consin is going on today. So you all know there
Speaker 1: are two congressional seats open in Florida right now, one
Speaker 1: vacated by Matt Gates, and I can't think of who
Speaker 1: the other one is vacated by. But these two races
Speaker 1: are not likely to be closed. I don't think that
Speaker 1: Democrats are going to prevail in these races today, but
Speaker 1: we'll see. I think that miracles happen every single day.
Speaker 1: And if people get out and vote, even in districts
Speaker 1: that Trump, you know, won in twenty four by double
Speaker 1: digit margins, you know, maybe so that's sick of Matt
Speaker 1: Gates and don't want anything like it. I don't know,
Speaker 1: but I think that what we have to understand here
Speaker 1: is money play a role here as well. These are
Speaker 1: very expensive special elections, and people got to get out
Speaker 1: the vote and turn out and we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: But I think that it would be truly a miracle
Speaker 1: if Florida were to pick up some seats for Democrats
Speaker 1: in this special election today. Now that said, there are
Speaker 1: miracles that happen sometimes, and I think one of the
Speaker 1: latest examples of a miracle happening is in Louisiana this
Speaker 1: weekend where there was a special election on four amendments
Speaker 1: to the state constitution. So there's someone who decided to
Speaker 1: weigh in all four of these constitutional amendments were defeated,
Speaker 1: by the way, But there's someone who a lot of
Speaker 1: us will recognize, who does a lot of stuff in
Speaker 1: terms of putting black people on on air, on TV,
Speaker 1: on movies, and film on TV shows, who has business
Speaker 1: now in Louisiana, and he was encouraging the black community
Speaker 1: and others in Louisiana to vote against their interests.
Speaker 3: Let's roll that as election day looms tomorrow, Curtis fifty
Speaker 3: cent Jackson throws his support behind Louisiana Amendment two.
Speaker 4: But some question the timing.
Speaker 1: NBC six is Lynn Vance shares our time.
Speaker 2: Sorry tonight.
Speaker 4: I'm hoping that reporters are smarter than that.
Speaker 3: Residents and Tree were taking to social media saying they
Speaker 3: received text messages and emails with Curtis fifty cent Jackson
Speaker 3: asking them to vote yes for Louisiana. I'm in two.
Speaker 5: I want to see more jobs and prosperity in the
Speaker 5: state of Louisiana. This is why I support the amendment too.
Speaker 5: On your ballads the side of it.
Speaker 3: But one state representative questions fifty cents timing as well
Speaker 3: as others coming out in support of the amendment right
Speaker 3: before the election.
Speaker 4: If it's strangers or somebody who've never heard before and
Speaker 4: havn't heard how this particular organization feels about it. It's political,
Speaker 4: I mean, and we don't have time for that kind
Speaker 4: of politicians.
Speaker 3: NBC six has reported on several city council members and
Speaker 3: cattle commissioners speaking out against Amendment to. This week, just
Speaker 3: like fifty Cents, Shreeport's Chamber of Commerce came out in
Speaker 3: support of the amendment.
Speaker 5: It gives teachers permanent pay raise, a doubles senior citizens
Speaker 5: tax deduction. This August Stuff.
Speaker 3: Representative Phelps says it does much more than what fifty
Speaker 3: speaks of in his video. She claims the way the
Speaker 3: amendment is written is misleading to voters.
Speaker 4: Saturday's election is really really important to the state of
Speaker 4: Louisiana because again, we're changing our constitution, things that have
Speaker 4: been protected, things that have been best thus far for
Speaker 4: the state of Louisiana.
Speaker 3: Lynn Vance, NBC six.
Speaker 1: So I was trying to find another video. Hopefully we
Speaker 1: can find it before we go off today. But fifty
Speaker 1: put up a video and I want the full video
Speaker 1: to run. So if we couldn't grab that, you all sorry.
Speaker 1: I don't know why I thought that the video I
Speaker 1: pulled earlier was that video. But if we can grab
Speaker 1: that video instead, and you could just cut me off
Speaker 1: and play it while I'm talking, because I do think
Speaker 1: it's important for people to see the full remarks from
Speaker 1: fifty cent. Now, there were four constitutional amendments on the
Speaker 1: ballot this past weekend in Louisiana, and what I think
Speaker 1: is important here is that they were championed by their
Speaker 1: current governor, who is a Republican governor, Jeff Landry. They
Speaker 1: were associated with crime, with the courts, and with finances.
Speaker 1: As you all can see from the clip before. They
Speaker 1: packaged things in very unique ways, and I think we
Speaker 1: have to be mindful of how things are communicated to
Speaker 1: us when they are on ballots. You know, we are
Speaker 1: told like I remember in Washington State when they were
Speaker 1: challenging affirmative action work. Connorly was a black Republican who
Speaker 1: was going around throughout the country with Pete Wilson in
Speaker 1: California when they did Proposition two on nine, and we
Speaker 1: followed behind them and before Michigan on something called Initiative
Speaker 1: two hundred. Well, they called Initiative two hundred on the
Speaker 1: Washington State ballot the Civil Rights Amendment. If you're not
Speaker 1: reading the fine print right, you are going to assume
Speaker 1: that the thing called the Civil Rights Amendment is not
Speaker 1: about to take away your opportunity and access to higher education,
Speaker 1: to contracts. And that's not what you're thinking is going
Speaker 1: to happen. But that is exactly what happened in Washington State.
Speaker 1: And I would say that in Louisiana it's no different.
Speaker 1: But what happened here is nothing short of a miracle
Speaker 1: because voters came out in droves. There was a thirty
Speaker 1: seven percent increase in black voter turnout, which was significant
Speaker 1: and very well could have made the difference. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: check really quick, do we have that fifty cent video
Speaker 1: or do I need to keep going? Okay, we don't
Speaker 1: have it. So these are the four amendments that I
Speaker 1: that I want to call to your attention. Making it
Speaker 1: easier to charge minors as adults. That was one of them.
Speaker 1: The other amendment was liquidating education trust funds to support
Speaker 1: permanent teacher pay raises. This would have liquidated trust funds
Speaker 1: to pay off two billion dollars in public school system debt,
Speaker 1: and then they would use the savings on interest payments
Speaker 1: to boost teacher salaries by two thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 1: It's not necessarily permanent and not necessarily the type of
Speaker 1: rays you want to see as a teacher, especially when
Speaker 1: it ends up impacting your retirement and other things that
Speaker 1: reduce savings for teachers. It said it received some bipartisan support,
Speaker 1: but that the real issue is that there was significant
Speaker 1: amounts of transparency lacking when you're talking about taking savings
Speaker 1: and different education funds. There was also this idea to
Speaker 1: restructure the court system. The Louisiana legislature was seeking to
Speaker 1: broaden power of specialty courts handling cases like veterans affairs,
Speaker 1: drug abuse, and only ensuring that those cases went to
Speaker 1: specific judicial districts. And so there were a number. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to see, Oh there was something else, I miss one.
Speaker 1: I miss one. There was a tax reform measure, and
Speaker 1: that is the one that fifty Cent has been so
Speaker 1: vocal about so I want to make sure now that
Speaker 1: we go to this fifty cent video so you can
Speaker 1: see that sometimes when it comes to what is in
Speaker 1: our best interest, our skin folk don't always move like
Speaker 1: kim folk. Let's roll that fifty cent video.
Speaker 5: You might know me as fifty cent. I have a
Speaker 5: special message for the people in Louisiana. As you may
Speaker 5: have heard, I'm now a proud Louisiana property and business
Speaker 5: owner working hard to bring film and television industry back
Speaker 5: to Louisiana. I'm working because I have an opportunity to
Speaker 5: use my influence and make real change in the communities.
Speaker 5: I want to see more jobs and prosperity in the
Speaker 5: state of Louisiana. This is why I support the amendment too.
Speaker 5: On your balance the side of there, you should too.
Speaker 5: Don't let anyone confuse you about the amendment too. It
Speaker 5: gives teachers permanent pay raise, It doubles senior citizens tax
Speaker 5: deduction is all good stuff. Voting and fatal Amendment two
Speaker 5: makes common sense and this is a bipartisan effort. Every
Speaker 5: Louisiana State Senate Democrat voting to get the Amendment too
Speaker 5: on the ballot. This one is about the people coming together.
Speaker 1: So yes, this is something where you know, you listen
Speaker 1: to it on its face, an increase for teachers, you know,
Speaker 1: making taxes more affordable for folks, tax deductions for citizens
Speaker 1: over sixty five. There are all these things any here
Speaker 1: that sound very, very favorable. But the challenge comes in
Speaker 1: when it's it's not always what it says on its face.
Speaker 1: It's also what you have to read between the lines.
Speaker 1: And I think that I think that what we what
Speaker 1: we have to understand is it is always work to
Speaker 1: be civically engaged, you have to understand what is all
Speaker 1: at stake. And I think that while this is the
Speaker 1: first opportunity for Louisiana's to demonstrate to the governor, look, bro,
Speaker 1: were not on your side like that, and they've done
Speaker 1: that not by voting down amendments that he suggests supported
Speaker 1: to the Constitution. The other thing that I think is
Speaker 1: important and worth noting is he was recently in a
Speaker 1: press conference with Speaker Mike Johnson, who is who represents Louisiana,
Speaker 1: but he's also the Speaker of the House of the
Speaker 1: United States Congress. He was in this press conference with him,
Speaker 1: and he's essentially saying that there's not broad support, but
Speaker 1: that they are banking on low voter turnout. Y'all be
Speaker 1: very concerned and wary of people who are banking on
Speaker 1: people not showing up. That's not what democracy is supposed
Speaker 1: to be about. When we talk about people power. The
Speaker 1: power of the people is not in the smallness of numbers.
Speaker 1: The power of the people is when a majority of
Speaker 1: us feel like we're seen enough in the process to
Speaker 1: continue to participate. So what I think is important here
Speaker 1: again is that two thirds of Louisiana's voted down these amendments.
Speaker 1: The amendment to which was also voted down, this is
Speaker 1: the one that fifty cent was talking about supporting. Says
Speaker 1: it would have lowered the maximum income tax rate the
Speaker 1: state could enact, and restricted annual state budget increases, and
Speaker 1: would have made it more difficult to enact new tax breaks. Allegedly,
Speaker 1: but it would have moved hundreds of millions of dollars
Speaker 1: in tax revenue from state savings into Louisiana's general fund,
Speaker 1: and that is where Governor Landry and state legislators legislators
Speaker 1: could spend that money more easily. That does not mean
Speaker 1: that's in the best interest of taxpayers. So with that,
Speaker 1: I want to pause here and get any questions or
Speaker 1: comments to react to. I think the thing that is
Speaker 1: most pressing to me is Louisiana is a place where
Speaker 1: we can look at it as a recent victory. I
Speaker 1: think the victory is and the fact that the people
Speaker 1: spoke up for themselves, they participated. Of course, we want
Speaker 1: to see voter participation rates going up. Wisconsin, Mississippi, and
Speaker 1: Florida have an opportunity today. It is an election day
Speaker 1: in this country, and I think this is why we
Speaker 1: often talk about they're not every two years, they're not
Speaker 1: every four years. There are special elections all the time
Speaker 1: that impact your daily life in more ways than some
Speaker 1: of these major elections. And that doesn't mean to choose
Speaker 1: to pick or pick and choose between which one you're
Speaker 1: going to participate in. It actually means making sure that
Speaker 1: you participate in all of them, and that you know
Speaker 1: what's coming up. I didn't say, and I want to
Speaker 1: make sure I get to that too. Today Mississippi has
Speaker 1: on its ballot It's a municipal primary where local leaders
Speaker 1: decide on policies like public safety, housing, and education. And
Speaker 1: that's what is at stake here. So we want to
Speaker 1: make sure that we're paying attention to what is happening
Speaker 1: on the ground in Mississippi today too. So with that, Lolo,
Speaker 1: you have any questions comments, Oh, maybe she's not on Okay,
Speaker 1: so I gotta read it. So what are the Dems
Speaker 1: or others going to do about this? Okay, I don't
Speaker 1: know what this is, but I'm gonna tell you what
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do about this. I am going to make
Speaker 1: sure that every opportunity I have to tell y'all about
Speaker 1: what's going on, I do that. So we are in
Speaker 1: unique times. We are in a time where I think
Speaker 1: more more of us than not are concerned about what
Speaker 1: our future looks like and what is at stake, And
Speaker 1: so I want us to continue to engage even while
Speaker 1: we are thinking about if our votes actually matter, if
Speaker 1: they are gaming the system. When you look at someone
Speaker 1: cutting a million dollar checks like Elon Musk and Wisconsin
Speaker 1: for a Supreme Court race in the state, you gotta
Speaker 1: wonder why is it so important that they would try
Speaker 1: to pay people to think their way right? That is
Speaker 1: what is really really important. We got to think through
Speaker 1: that in Mississippi. I want to go back to this
Speaker 1: really quick today is a primary, so it's the primary
Speaker 1: for mayor. It is the primary. My friend Choqui Lamamba
Speaker 1: is the current mayor, aldermen, councilman and more for the
Speaker 1: next four years. This is the primary. Polls opened in
Speaker 1: Mississippi at seven am and they close at seven pm Central.
Speaker 1: Any voter that's in line by seven pm can still
Speaker 1: cast their ballots. So make sure that you all get
Speaker 1: out to vote in Mississippi today. We did talk about
Speaker 1: those Florida races already, but I'm gonna go back into
Speaker 1: the Florida polls for today and what we who's on
Speaker 1: the ballot. These are people who are running to replace uh,
Speaker 1: Matt Gates and Michael Waltz. That's who it is. These
Speaker 1: are in two GOP you know, heavily leaning districts right now.
Speaker 1: Why this is so important is because Democrats hold two
Speaker 1: hundred and thirteen seats. There are two recent vacancies, of course,
Speaker 1: one being after the death of Sylvester Turner from Houston, Texas.
Speaker 1: And then Republicans have two hundred and eighteen seats, which
Speaker 1: is the the minimum needed to keep the majority. And
Speaker 1: so these two seats today in Matt Gates Old District
Speaker 1: which is the first congressional district in Florida is there's
Speaker 1: two candidates running. One is Republican Jimmy Patronis and then
Speaker 1: Democrat Gave Vallomont. Valamont is a gun control activist. And
Speaker 1: then there's Congressional District six, which is Mike Waltz's old seat.
Speaker 1: There are there's a Republican state Senator Randy Fine, who
Speaker 1: is running for that seat, and then Democrat Josh Well
Speaker 1: who's a public school educator. And so these are again
Speaker 1: there're Republican districts, but it's important for us to understand
Speaker 1: that again, things can change. I know that some folks
Speaker 1: were surprised to see the results in Louisiana. Somebody asked
Speaker 1: about the Corey Booker philibuster. I will tell y'all as
Speaker 1: a teaser. We're going to talk about this on the
Speaker 1: podcast tomorrow. But I do want to know if you
Speaker 1: all think that Elon Musk is playing too heavy handed,
Speaker 1: like he got Doge and everything that Doge is doing,
Speaker 1: including making some massive mistakes in the federal government, he
Speaker 1: is benefiting significantly from Doje's overreach with the number of
Speaker 1: contracts that he has in the federal government. And he's
Speaker 1: taking that same outsized influence that he used to the
Speaker 1: tune of two hundred million plus dollars with the America
Speaker 1: pack I believe is how much they spent. Maybe two
Speaker 1: ninety I think it was. I put it in my substack. Oh,
Speaker 1: I got to say about my substack. But just hold that,
Speaker 1: hold that thought. You hold that thought for me. We
Speaker 1: have him playing an outsize role in the federal government
Speaker 1: with the election in November, paying all that money into
Speaker 1: the process and making sure that he wrote his ticket
Speaker 1: to be able to run the Trump administration, which he
Speaker 1: is doing through an agency that is not congressionally approved.
Speaker 1: DOJE is not congressionally approved, y'all. That's something they made up. Okay. Now,
Speaker 1: the other thing that I want you to understand is
Speaker 1: he's taking that same outsize influence into the Supreme Court
Speaker 1: contest in Wisconsin today. They have spent so much money
Speaker 1: on this race, y'all. We gotta pay attention to these
Speaker 1: things at some point if we don't stand up and say,
Speaker 1: you cannot continue to write your checks and think that
Speaker 1: your checks are as meaningful as our votes. And the
Speaker 1: only way we can do that is as a collective.
Speaker 1: So tomorrow we will talk about Corey Booker's filibuster, why
Speaker 1: is it too little, too late? We will talk about
Speaker 1: if it's if all the senators need to be joining in.
Speaker 1: We will talk about what the House can do. I
Speaker 1: talk about in my new substack post. It's my first one.
Speaker 1: I hope y'all subscribe. Angela t Rye. Tea is for
Speaker 1: Teresa Angela t Rye on substack. Please subscribe today. Know
Speaker 1: that I took a moment to really think about what
Speaker 1: we needed to do differently in this very important time.
Speaker 1: So I have five ways to meet the moment. It
Speaker 1: is in my substack. I hope you'll check it out.
Speaker 1: I hope you'll weigh in with way you think we
Speaker 1: should be meeting the moment. What I know is that
Speaker 1: we can't continue to require of our leaders what we
Speaker 1: are not willing to do ourselves, and so let us
Speaker 1: lean into what it means to meet the moment. But
Speaker 1: first make sure you lean into subscribe on our page
Speaker 1: at Native lampod on YouTube, and make sure you also
Speaker 1: subscribe and download our podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: We are a partnership with Reason Choice and iHeart Media,
Speaker 1: and we're so grateful for your support. As we say
Speaker 1: every single week and on our solo pods, Welcome home, y'all.
Speaker 1: Native Lamppod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
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