WEBVTT - Elon's Exit from Trump Administration + Amanda Litman on Recruiting the Next Democratic Leaders 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.240 Well, good morning, happy Monday. At least that I'm hoping 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.600 that's when you're listening to this. I'm taping on a 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:13.200 Sunday evening. Here give you a quick rundown of everything. 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:15.520 I've got to have a little open here for you 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.239 about the end of Elon Musk in Washington, and I'll 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:21.800 get to that in a minute. My guest today Amanda Littman. 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.240 She runs an organization called Run for Something. It's geared 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.760 more towards Democrats or people on the left side of 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:32.000 the aisle, although they will work with people that are 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:36.000 thinking about running as independents. It's basically an organization that 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:39.680 number one is trying to encourage younger people to run 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:42.800 for office, but also trying to be a resource for 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:45.680 people that don't, because if you're younger, you usually don't 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:47.800 have as much of a network, You may not have 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.839 as many rich friends. You get the picture here if 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.000 and you'll hear me make these comparisons during the interview. 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:57.760 Back in the eighties and nineties, you had go Pack 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:00.400 on the right. That was a similar organization that was 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:05.440 trying to get conservatives who were not connected, essentially with 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:07.920 the tools to figure out how to run for local office, 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.440 and this is you know, maybe Emily's list, you'll hear 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:15.520 a little bit of that, but it's about trying. And 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:17.800 clearly the Republicans have done a much better job over 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:21.160 the last twenty or thirty years encouraging folks to run 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.319 for local office. Democrats have been a bit too focused 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:28.160 on the presidential big big offices and don't think about 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.479 the smaller stuff than they were. You know, arguably it's 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:34.959 why they're getting crushed on the issue of schools and 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:38.319 funding of schools and the privatization of the public school system. 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.760 You've had a lot more activist parents on the right 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:46.720 get involved in school board politics, and you've had activist 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:50.240 parents on the left, pure and simple. And it is 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.280 those type of outcomes that I think are making some 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:57.440 people reassess and decide where to where to participate. If 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:00.280 you've ever thought about running for office and didn't, I 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:02.760 actually think you'll enjoy this conversation. If you thought about 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:06.480 running thinking about running for office now, regardless of your 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:09.920 politics left or right, I think you will hear some 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:12.959 interesting advice and to do that, so you I hope 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:14.960 you'll do that. I've had a tremendous weekend. I had. 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:16.880 I had a lot of fun and I want to 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.239 showcase a neighborhood I used to work in. It's called 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:24.760 del Rey. Basically, this a neighborhood in Alexandria, just on 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.600 the border of Arlington and Alexandria. Back in the in 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:31.200 the Hotline days before we were moved to the Watergate 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:35.160 in Washington, d C. The Hotline was headquartered out in Orlandria, 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:41.000 literally this little pocket of northern Virginia in between Arlington 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.880 and Alexandria, right on the border there. Well, some good 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:46.160 friends of mine are very active in that business and 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.840 civic association, and so they asked me to be the 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:54.040 judge at their annual It's basically a restaurant contest. So 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:57.200 both the people come for the for the food festival 0:02:57.560 --> 0:02:59.919 put on by the Delray Business Association, and I got 0:02:59.919 --> 0:03:03.400 to play judge. So there was two awards mine whoever, 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:07.800 I decided we're the three best bites of food that 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:11.960 I had versus the people. If you will, and I 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:16.360 just if you are, this is probably our hippiest and 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:19.640 coolest food neighborhood that you can have in the Northern 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:22.160 Virginia area. There might be others will argue in h 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:24.240 Street and some other places in the district. Don't get 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:27.400 me wrong, but if you're a Food Network fan, you 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:30.880 would have There's a couple of restaurants in that participated 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:33.600 in this where that have been featured on Food Network, 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:35.760 a couple of chefs that have been featured on Chopped. 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.280 I do want to shout out my winner, Bella Napoli, 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.600 who made a chicken brunello that was amazing. You're eating 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:45.400 outside in a little cup and you're like, it's fantastic. 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:50.160 Lena's was my second place. She made a terrific Cuban 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:54.000 beurrea taco, just awesome, and of course, being a Miami guy, 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:56.720 I'm gonna be partial to anything like that. And there 0:03:56.760 --> 0:03:59.880 was a ton of gaspachos. But the folks at Tako 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:05.119 a poblanomado a good spat show that was not red 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.520 tomato based, so it was a different It had a 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:09.200 green color to it if you were a green yellow 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.080 color to it, and it had shrimp in it, and 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:14.600 it was just it was sort of it felt more 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.440 like a Savie Chase soup, if that's possible. So anyway, 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:20.320 I just want to give a shout out to them. 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:22.520 My friend Pat Miller he's been the unofficial mayor of 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:26.800 del Rey for decades now and an old friend of mine, 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:31.120 Maureen Schweer's really appreciate you guys getting me involved. I'm 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:34.800 still full from the process and the way I digested 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.000 that had been obsessed over college baseball. This week, it's 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:41.760 been an amazing baseball weekend for my household. The Nats 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:45.440 have been on a roll, in fact, over the last 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.720 fifteen games, best record in baseball, So take that, everybody literally. 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:54.320 We were all starting to rail on the Nats front office, 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:57.680 and sure enough they go on this role. Who knows 0:04:57.720 --> 0:04:59.599 if the pitching can hold up, but James Wood is 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:03.640 proving that he was every bit the one Soto trade, 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.520 which is given the Nats these starters James Wood, c 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.919 j Abrams, Mackenzie Gore, and Robert Hassel the third. I 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:14.360 still miss Soto, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:17.520 a bad return and James Wood is doing a pretty 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:21.680 impressive one Soto impersonation. But I gotta even shout out 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:23.200 to my friends at ESPN. I like to give them 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.040 a lot of grief for how they've ruined college football 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:29.960 in their partnership with the SEC. Sometimes, however, ESPN Squeeze Play, 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:32.440 which is the college baseball tournament, and there happened in 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:34.800 all Granted my house, Miami and Florida State are in 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:36.880 my house, so we care about what's going on here 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:39.039 in both. Mimi in Florida State been doing well so 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:42.200 far in this tournament. He's been Squeeze Play. It's the 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:46.159 red zone for college baseball. I just have two requests. 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:49.280 Can we please get rid of the metal bats? It's silly. 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.520 We've got these major programs can afford wood bats. That's 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:56.120 number one. Number two, how you determine who's the home 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:59.600 team at these sites is ridiculous. Just use records, then 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:03.880 highest seat? Is it that difficult? This bizarre rotation that 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:05.680 they do. Literally go look it up in the internet. 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:09.440 It's a five step process, all right. So I've probably 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:13.479 given more about my personal weekend plans than perhaps my 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:16.760 family wishes I did. But hey, isn't that what we're 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:18.720 all doing now? We're supposed to overshare. And I did 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:20.640 want to give a good shout out to my friends 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:25.080 in Delray, But look, let me move on to starting 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.359 my week because we do. We ought to mourn the 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:32.840 departure of Elon Musk and out of Washington, and I'm 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:35.440 not saying it's going to totally disappear. In fact, as 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:40.359 I was coming back from that from that food festival 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:42.880 where I got to judge, I drove right by a 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:46.039 Tesla dealership where there was a very active protest still 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:51.120 against Elon Musk and against Tesla, which is probably the 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:54.480 why he has accelerated his exit. And technically he can 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.520 say he was exiting at the time that he always 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.320 intended to exit, but let's be honest, he is leaving 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:05.200 Washington with his tail between his legs, and you know 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:09.720 it's This is one of those where I hope the 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:14.280 idea doesn't get thrown out with the bathwater, because the 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:17.680 problem with what Musk was doing was how he went 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.920 about it. It wasn't the idea itself. But if you 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:25.560 try to run government like a disruptive tech startup, you're 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.960 gonna fail. It was a masterclass in misalignment, if you will. 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:32.160 The approach was haphazard, it was discombobulated. It treated government 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:37.280 like a badly managed Silicon Valley startup. Musk was or 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:41.680 is intentionally ignorant of the complexities of public administration, and 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:45.200 that impatience coupled with his short attention span, and I'm 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:46.840 not even going to comment on what he may or 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.280 may not have been on if you will when we 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.840 got all that story about his prolific drug use, both 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.400 legal and illegal, but all of it seemed to be 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.760 the ingredients that led to some chaotic attempts at policy 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.400 make But I don't want to miss the force through 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:04.560 the trees to beat up a cliche like that. Musk 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:09.800 and Trump ended up these strange bedfellows together because they 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.520 do share some key traits. They're incredibly impatient, and they 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:17.720 prefer quick, sweeping actions over the slow, meticulous work that 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:22.520 the federal government often requires. They couldn't be more mismatched 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:26.400 for the job. The mentality was great for headline grabbing moves, 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:30.240 but it was disastrous for actually sustaining this idea of 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:33.640 cutting government. And it's a cautionary tale for the dangers 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:37.240 of trying to apply a tech disruptor mindset to the intricate, 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:42.240 slow moving machinery of government. There is no less qualified person. 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:45.679 The worst phrase I hear is we've got to run 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.200 government like a business. Bullshit. If you run government like 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:51.600 a business, you will not do the stuff that doesn't 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.360 pay big dividends. That is not how government works. Everybody 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:56.240 has to get a service. If you ran the postal 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:58.920 service like a business, nobody in Alaska would get mail 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.160 more than once a week. Okay, that is not When 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:06.160 you're providing services, and you're a country that claims to 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:09.080 be for equality, then the service you give to a 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:12.040 citizen that chooses to live in Alaska, it's got to 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:14.560 be the same than the services you give somebody that 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:19.080 lives in New York, Virginia or Maryland. And that is 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:21.800 the problem, right, it is. Frankly, if you could run 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:23.360 government like a business, you could make a lot of 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:27.440 changes that would make the government's balance sheet look better 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:31.480 and would completely be unpopular and would be a complete 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:36.920 disaster that set for all the horrendous ways that Musk 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:39.800 went about this, for the stupid, incompetent way that the 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:43.000 Trump administration went about this, it doesn't mean the idea 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:47.320 was bad, right, And in fact, this should be there's 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.800 an opportunity here, particularly for somebody on the left, to 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:54.400 pick up this, to pick up this chalice and go 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:58.640 on with it. Here's the opportunity. Must failure cannot mean 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:01.440 that the idea of reforming government is a bad idea. 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:05.080 You just have to understand it was poorly executed. He 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.319 was the worst possible person to put in charge with this, 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.559 completely temperamentally unqualified to do it. But if there is 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:13.400 a leader out there that is willing to put country 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:15.880 over party, there's a real chance to pick up where 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:19.360 this experiment failed and to do it right, thoughtfully, legally, 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:23.160 with a coalition of serious reformers. There's even a chance 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:27.120 to build a bipartisan effort around restructuring and modernizing these institutions. 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:31.559 That's what's so frustrating here. It was it was Trump's 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.680 obsessiveness and musk subscessiveness to look like they were being 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:37.880 moving quickly and being successful, that they failed to actually 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.280 do this the right way. And again, what the most 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:43.520 likely result of all this is that this experiment will 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.760 actually cost taxpayers more money than it saves. The amount 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:50.320 of government contractors that will successfully sue the government or 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.400 get their contract monument and probably get restitution is going 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:57.680 to only grow. And that's why this to execute it 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:02.320 the way they did was complete chaos and a mess. 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:06.600 But that doesn't mean that there isn't an opportunity here. Look, 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:09.760 I've got one of my long held ideas is that 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:13.120 every government agency should be vote should be sunseted every 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.560 twenty five years, forcing Congress to reauthorize and justifies its 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:20.200 existence or reform it to meet the current modern needs. 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.920 This is the kind of reevaluation that could help ensure 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:28.080 that government is actually relevant and effective. This is the 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.640 type of reform that somebody ought to tackle. This isn't 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:32.880 something the left has seated. This to the right for 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:36.360 some god forsakered reason. The middle of the political middle 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:40.319 of this country would like to see some responsible reform. 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.319 And what it really is, it's modernization in the same 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.560 way we finally decided, Hey, maybe the bridges we built 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.200 nineteen fifty five ought to be the same bridges we 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.440 drive over with today's vehicles, Right, maybe we ought to 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:55.440 build a new bridge or update the new bridge. Well, 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.920 it's the same thing with government, Okay, what we you know, 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.400 the Department of Defense that was developed in the fifties 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:03.559 is not the same department we should be running today. 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:06.600 And instead, what we do with these government agencies, and 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:08.719 the reason we ought to sunset them every twenty five 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.520 years and then reauthorize them, is they end up becoming 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.280 like the you know, there's always one house in every 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:18.200 neighborhood where that people don't have enough money to knock 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:20.520 it down and build something new, so instead they do 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.839 a little bit at a time, and it's a Frankenstein house. Well, 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.199 that's what every government agency that's more than twenty five 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:29.000 years old has become. It becomes like a Frankenstein agency. 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:33.600 Instead of doing maybe rehabbing something within the agency, they 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:37.840 literally tack on an annex, or tack on a special committee, 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:41.120 or tack on a special sub agency to do some 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.880 work that they think, oh, maybe this falls under Commerce 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:47.600 rather than falling under the Department of Defense or something 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:50.239 like that. You know, I mean, in fact, some of 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:54.599 our departments couldn't have weirder combinations of things, right, A 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:59.000 Department of Commerce also happened. The largest department within agency 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:02.559 within Commerce is Noah. Right, Why is basically our weather 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:07.800 office in Commerce? Right? The two Yes, weather can impact commerce, 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:11.240 but okay, but other than that, what's it doing in there? 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.080 You could argue that weather belongs in the Department of Defense, 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:18.280 or the weather Noah belongs in Homeland Security. If FEMA's 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:21.040 in Homeland security, why is it Noah in Homeland security? 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:24.040 Point is that there's a lot of actual good work 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:28.080 to be done here in this reform. And and you know, 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:31.240 the fear that I think some real reformers have is 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:35.120 that Musk's failed effort, in Trump's failed effort, because it 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:38.040 didn't get done in the haphazard way that they did it, 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.679 that they're just going to give up on it. And 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:43.200 what somebody ought to do is pick up this mantle 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:45.360 and carry it and make it their own and do 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.320 it the right way. Get Congress involved. You can actually 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:53.680 do this speaking of of sort of musk and tail 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.440 between his legs. So it was as if, as if 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:02.199 as if his humiliation of Washington couldn't get worse. Right 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:05.280 the day he leaves, the Times drops this story about 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:11.760 his obsession, his what appears to be excessive drug use, 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:14.520 uppers and downers, whatever it is that needs to meet. 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.680 The moment his handpick guy that he wanted for NASA, 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:23.520 Trump decides to boot because somebody drops some appo on 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:27.240 this nominee for NASA. Apparently he had given to Democrats 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:31.880 in the last couple of cycles. And Donald Trump, he is, 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.200 even though he himself is given to quite a few 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.440 Democrats in his political career, doesn't believe that somebody in 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:41.000 the last four years giving to Democrats is anything other 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:46.720 than an affront to himself. This is again, this is 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:51.560 a moment where if this is how he's really making decisions, right, 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:56.400 we already see that pardons and this, and my gosh, 0:14:56.480 --> 0:15:00.400 it is breathtaking. What is happening on this pardon front. 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:03.640 It is, I mean, and this is the numbness that 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:07.040 we often describe when it comes to Donald Trump. Here 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:11.000 is behavior that in any other president would be impeachable. 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:14.040 This guy's been impeached twice. What kind of appetite is 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:16.200 our political system going to have for a third impeachment? 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.560 But what he's doing on pardons, that alone, isn't it. 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:24.920 The partons are for sale. It's plainly obvious these his 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:27.880 pardons are for sale. It's sitting in front of us. 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:32.040 It's the quid pro quo. Other than him showing us 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:36.000 the ledger sheet itself that keeps track of the quid 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:38.760 pro quot. That's about the only piece of evidence that's missing. 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:42.080 But you know you had the one whe of the 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:44.160 person shows up at a million dollar fundraiser. A couple of 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:47.600 days later, her husband and her relative gets out of 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:51.000 gets what he wants out of this. So it is 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.720 alarming how easy it is. Everybody has figured it out. 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.160 And this gets it to why foreign governments are all 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.960 willing to do some form of business with him, because 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.360 they all know how transactional he is, and if he 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.160 doesn't get what he wants, he may do what he 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.040 just did to musk Here it looked like he cut 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:10.520 a deal with musk heye NASA's yours. You get to 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.760 decide who runs it. And then he decided, oh no, 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.280 I've got to make sure that I'm gonna if I 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:19.840 allow anybody in that gave to Democrats in the last 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:23.680 four years. Then it means there are other nominees that 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.520 he essentially has already, other people that he has actually 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:30.920 fired from the National Security Staff and from the Pentagon 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:35.080 who also had made supposedly, I mean apparently, if you've 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.280 given money to Liz Cheney is the equivalent of giving 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.880 money to a Democrat as far as Donald Trump's concern 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:42.520 So that is among the other things that are out there. 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:46.720 So this is how he's running the government, which means 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.400 it's not being run with the best people. It's simply 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.800 being run based on who's the most loyal to him 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:54.800 and to him personally. I know none of this for 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.280 many of you that are listening his news, but this 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.960 is terrible governance. This is bad for the by the way, 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.240 this is bad if you care about the Republican Party. 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:06.800 It's bad. He is so corrupting the Republican Party right 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:10.439 now because there is no difference between Trump's party and 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:12.800 the rest of it, you know, those there's a lot 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.399 of good Republicans have walked away. There's some Conservatives who 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:19.520 are uncomfortable but have stuck it out, believing they are 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.080 better operating on the inside on the outside, but the 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.840 stain that they're receiving, you know, it's really interesting. There's 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:27.879 a lot of ways to look at Jony Ernst, the 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.439 Republican senator from Iowa whose comments about well, we're all 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:33.240 going to die son, you know, and how they went 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:36.600 viral and how frustrated. But that s back to me 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:41.680 of somebody who's had to carry a ton of water 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:45.439 on ideas that she's not in favor of, but she 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:47.919 has no choice but to support because if she doesn't 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:51.200 do it, she will lose any political support she has 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.560 in Iowa. Because the Maga movement is that popular in Iowa. 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.960 It felt like the type of line somebody says when 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:02.720 they realize they're just sort of frustrated with where they are. Look, 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.800 I'm not I'm not going to be here. I'm not 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:07.359 here to tell you that I was going to be 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:10.320 that competitive of a state in twenty twenty six. Although 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.119 I think it will be more competitive than it's been 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:14.879 the last cycle. I think it's going to be more 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:18.320 like twenty eighteen, and who knows. I certainly think Rob 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.440 sand has a very good chance of becoming governor. I'm 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:23.160 not going to sit there and tell you Joni Arn's 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.720 Senate race should be moved to toss up just yet. 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:29.640 But that is a line that will stick with her. 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:34.840 She strikes me as somebody I'm not put it this way. 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.119 I'm actually going in another direction. She doesn't look like 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:40.480 somebody who's running for reelection. Yes, she went through the 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:44.159 town hall, which wasn't a great exercise for her, but 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:48.200 that I'll just say this, I have a I still 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:52.000 believe she's the hegg Seth backup. I'm not sure Pete 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:54.040 hagg Seth is going to survive. It's clear that the 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.240 Pentagon and he's not been able to you know, his paranoia. 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:00.480 You know he sees a spy around every corner. I mean, 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.720 my goodness, he's so restricted press access at somebody from 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:06.159 Owa n seem to complain about it, right, That tells 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:11.520 you something. My guess is the only reason she hasn't 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:13.840 snapped at the Republican party itself is that she would 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:16.760 like to be Defense secretary. And she's probably the Pete 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:20.120 Hake seth backup plan, and at this point, I'm sure 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:22.840 she'd prefer to do that then to try to carry 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:27.119 Trump's water in a midterm election in Iowa at a 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:28.840 time when there's not going to be a lot of 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.520 this because this big, beautiful bill is turning out to 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:38.680 be a big piece of let's just say, of a 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:41.800 big piece of rock that they got to carry around 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:46.359 because remember, it does not have a tax cut. It 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:50.600 just is preventing a tax hike. There is no deliverable 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:53.960 that Republicans have for the people. They can't say, here's 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.399 a check, here's a tax cut, here's something you're going 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.520 to benefit from this. Instead, this thing is already to 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.320 have been defined by what it takes away, not what 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:07.080 it gives. That is a bad place to start, and 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:10.240 I'm sure Trump's going to try to find out how 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:12.400 to write checks under his name to people in some 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:15.480 form or another. Maybe it's these baby bonuses, whatever he's 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:17.720 going to try to do. But right now this bill 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:21.520 is I don't see any political upside on this bill 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:26.159 as it stands, and if anything, the impact on the 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:30.280 bond market because of the debt this thing could be 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.399 considered in the same way. What I think we all 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:36.719 thought was, Look, I will confess I thought the first 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:40.080 Biden tranch of money was going to be something that 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:42.280 would be positive for him. He got those two thousand 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:43.879 dollars checks to them, Well, it turned out to be 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:48.680 probably something that shouldn't have been done. It was blamed 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:54.479 for helping to accelerate the inflationary problems that we already 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:58.119 were having because of the supply chain, and it really 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:02.639 sort of tarnished all of his bills, and the public 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:04.600 didn't see it as a net positive. I think this 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:06.879 is a situation that Trump is going to find himself in. 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:09.760 This bill is not a positive at all for him. 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:13.760 Not many good deliverables to give to the voters to 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:15.920 say hey we've lowered cost or hey we've done this, 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:18.760 and oh, by the way, he's still got the terrified 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:21.280 that the more the courts say no, the more determined 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:23.119 he seems to be to have it, which of course 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:28.120 only does more damage to the economy. All right, I 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:33.000 will I think I've said enough. The conversation with the 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:35.160 man a litment. Again, if you've ever once thought about 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:38.600 running for office, or you know somebody, particularly if there's 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:41.080 somebody under the age of forty who's been thinking about it, 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:45.600 take a listen. It's a fascinating conversation and regardless of 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:51.280 whether you're left or right. Well, my guest right now 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:56.320 is Amanda Littman. She runs an organization called Run for Something. 0:21:56.480 --> 0:22:03.600 It is primarily an organization trying to recruit more diverse 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:06.480 set of candidates to run, particularly on the left side 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:09.240 of the aisle, Progressives, Democrats, and I'm going to ask 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:13.359 her about her opinion on things like Dan Osborne and 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:16.119 whether that's the profile of finding more Dan Osborne's as well, 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:19.240 who didn't run as a member of any major party, 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:23.439 but certainly ideologically certainly was on the left side of 0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:25.440 the asse. So Amanda, thanks for coming on the. 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:27.960 Podcast, Thank you for having me. I'm very excited. 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:33.520 So all right, let's do some basics here. Run for Something, 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:37.560