WEBVTT - Cruzing on Air Force One 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.240 Not a lot of people traveling these days, especially by air, 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:07.119 and when you do travel by air, it's not particularly comfortable. 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.000 That is, unless you were on a private seven forty 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:12.799 seven with the President of the United States. That's an 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:15.960 experience that my co host just had. We will get 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.600 into what the senator spoke about with the President. This 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:27.880 is Verdict with Ted Cruz. Welcome back to Verdicts with 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:31.640 Ted Cruz. I'm Michael Knowles, Senator. You know I often 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:35.360 express envy and hurt that I'm not invited to your 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.800 Senate Republican lunches, and I got to tell you the 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.200 ride aboard Air Force One sounds like, well, I don't know, someday, 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.000 I assume my invitation was lost in the mail. Please. 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:48.479 It sounds like you had a crazy day yesterday. Take 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.159 us through it. Well, we did, as you and I 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:55.280 were supposed to film Verdict yesterday together in DC, and 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:59.120 I'm embarrassed to admit that I canceled on you. I 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:03.880 stood you up because, well, the President was coming to 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:06.520 Texas and so he asked if I wanted to come 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:08.800 along as he was heading to Midland and was highlighting 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:13.040 energy production and America's energy independence and that's an issue 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:15.800 I cared deeply about, and I'll pretty much always come 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:19.399 along if someone's going to Texas. And so it was 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:23.680 an interesting day though. So the way it started, I 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:26.039 had to be at the White House about seven am yesterday, 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:29.520 And for anyone that comes in contact with the President, 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.760 they do a COVID test, so that's obligatory. Before you 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:35.160 can get on, you go get tested. So I went 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:37.800 into the White House, got tested yesterday morning. The folks 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:39.319 here in the studio will be glad to know as 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:44.120 of yesterday morning, I confirmed negative WET and got in 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:48.400 the van to head to Andrews Air Force Base. And 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:50.760 there were a couple of Texas members of Congress that 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:53.720 we're flying with us. And suddenly we're sitting there and 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.840 we hear, well, Louie Gomer's not coming. What do you mean, 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:58.920 Louie Gomer's not coming. He was going to join us, 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.200 He was going to be on the flight. Louie is hysterical, 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:03.400 by the way, like anytime you spend time with Louie 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.280 you will be holding your ribs laughing. So we're all like, well, 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:09.919 why isn't Louie coming. Well, he was at the White 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.440 House and he tested positive. So that's how the morning 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:16.320 started with Louie had to turn around and leave and 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.919 was not allowed on the plane because he just tested positive. 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:22.680 So we take the van, we go jump on Air 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:27.360 Force one. The President joins us, we take off while 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.240 we're in the air, so we're headed to Midland, Texas. 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:35.040 A whole bunch of Republican candidates for Congress who were 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:38.880 running in various seats. They're not incumbents, they're running against Democrats, 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:41.240 are in open seats. They were all meeting us in Midland, 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.680 and the plan was that those Republican candidates they were 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:46.840 going to invite on the plane and meet the President 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:50.200 and do a photo op and they're all excited. Well, 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:54.120 we find out mid air that one of those Republican 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:56.880 candidates got named Wesley Hunt, who's running here in Houston 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:01.600 in my home district. Great guy, he tested positive for COVID. 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:05.240 So he was literally heading to meet Air Force one 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:09.160 and he tests positive for COVID, and as a result, 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.960 they said, well, okay, all of you candidates, none of 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:15.120 you can go in and see the president now because 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:19.720 of that. So it was a fairly surreal beginning to 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:24.080 the day. And listen, it's an underscoring that this remains 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:26.800 a dangerous disease and we need to continue to take 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:31.359 serious steps to limit its spread. Right, if for no 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.680 other reason, then you might miss your chance to go 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:35.720 on Air Force One. So you got to make sure 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:42.360 you behave responsibly and don't catch it well. It's one 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.000 of the biggest reasons actually that you joined the president 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:46.680 on a trip and I've done at this point a 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.200 number of trips on Air Force One with the President 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.960 is that you spend a lot of time with him, 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.040 and so if there are issues going on, it is 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:58.720 some of the most concentrated, intense time, and it's a 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:01.440 stark difference. First four years I was in the Senate, 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:04.600 Barack Obama was president that entire time. I went on 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:08.120 Air Force One once. If you remember when when five 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:10.880 Dallas police officers were murdered and there was a funeral 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.520 for those police officers, Obama came down to speak at 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:18.080 it and he invited me to come along. Actually, I 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:22.240 sat next to Nancy Pelosi on Air Force One. We 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:26.400 had it may have been the first time I had 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:29.599 met Nancy. We had a very pleasant conversation, mostly about 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:34.080 her grandkids, not about anything remotely related to politics. And 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:37.760 the interesting thing about Obama's he wouldn't hang out with us. 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:41.279 He briefly came back and talked with There were several 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.760 folks that were coming down and that had been invited 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:46.320 to guests, and he came back briefly and kind of said, Hi, 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:48.680 how you doing okay? Great, and then went off went 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:50.720 off to his office and we didn't see him the 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:54.279 rest of the flight. Trump is totally different. Like Trump 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.599 hangs out, he wants to like the office on Air 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:01.120 Force One. It's it's exact actually like the movie. It's 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.680 a cool desk with the seal and it's so there 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:09.719 were the Texas House members and look or there Texas 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:11.920 members of the US House who were there who were 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:14.800 pretty excited, and so I was taking pictures of all 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:16.240 of them. All right, go stand by the president, give 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:17.680 me your phone, I'll take a picture. So I was 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:22.520 the designated photograph, the photographer. But it's it's actually really 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:26.800 valuable because you're sitting down with the president for significant 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:30.880 time talking and right now there is a lot to 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:35.159 talk about. So we had probably seven hours of he 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:40.960 and I discussing, in particular the economic challenges in the 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.920 country and the legislation moving moving through the Senate right now, 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.480 and so it was it was a propitious time to 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:50.039 be there with him. Well, without you know, asking you 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:52.960 to violate any confidences or tell any tales at a school, 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:56.240 I would like to know something about perhaps what you 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:59.640 spoke about or what you're thinking about this economic relief 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.240 bill that seems to be coming down the pike in 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.320 the midst of all this kind of bad economic news. Well, 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:07.440 let's take it in a couple of pieces, and I'll 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:09.480 tell you what I think. I'm not going to share 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.560 what the President said, and that's usually the line I 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:16.080 try to follow, is what I said, I'm happy to relay. 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.359 I'll leave it to others to share what they said. 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:22.880 But but let me just get in my views, the 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:27.480 Nancy Pelosi three trillion dollar bill that they passed a 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:33.320 couple of months ago is an absolute monstrosity. It is 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.360 three trillion dollars, even in government speak, is a crap 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:43.040 ton of money. And it's a bill. Look, Pelosi wasn't 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:44.960 intending to pass that in the law. It's it's a 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:48.919 bill that is just a Democratic wish list. And she 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:51.520 didn't talk to any Republican, she didn't talk to the Senate. 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.560 It was a campaign document. They passed it so that 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.760 Democrats could campaign on it in November. That's all it's about. 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.400 Then we get to the Senate. Unfortunately, in the Senate 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:07.120 this week, the Republican leader Mitch McConnell rolled out his 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:12.840 own plan, and the so called Republican Leadership Plan is 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.880 it's cheaper than the Democrats plans. Instead of three trillions, 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:21.400 it's only one trillion. But it's it's fundamentally flawed, and 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.760 so I have been very outspoken against it, very outspoken 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:30.560 at our lunches that we do every day in the 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.120 Republican Conference that you and I have talked about before, 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:39.320 but I've been very outspoken publicly, and I was very 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:41.720 clear with the President what I thought yesterday when we 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:46.000 were together. I seem to recall, if some people haven't 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.640 been following you your takes on this, you said that 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:50.920 as the legislation currently stands, you're not just to know 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.800 you're a hell no, yep, that that is exactly right 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.480 on a couple of levels. First of all, let's talk 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.120 the amount, like the one trillion, which is a ton 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:06.520 of money, is clearly just an opening bid, and nobody's 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:08.760 hiding the fact, Okay, we'll start at a trillion, but 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.280 the plan is to get negotiate up to one and 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:15.040 a half or two or two and a half, and 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.840 we don't have it. There's no magic money tree in Washington. 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.080 It's not like there's some secret vault hidden in the 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.240 Capitol nobody knows about. This is all money that we're 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:28.960 either printing or borrowing from China, but it doesn't exist. 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:32.920 We've already spent over three trillion dollars and so the 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:35.880 amount is a problem. But actually my concern, Michael, is 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:37.960 much bigger than the amount, and this is that this 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.720 was the center of what I was arguing to the 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:47.520 President yesterday. The focus of the bill, the objective of 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:52.480 the bill is wrong. The objective of the bill is 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:58.920 just shoveling cash. It's just spending trillions of dollars shoveling 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.520 it into the economy, but none of it creates jobs. 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.360 And so what I've been arguing to the other Republicans, 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.640 what I've been arguing to President, our focus on this 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.000 bill should be one thing. In particular, it should be 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:15.880 creating jobs. We've got now fifty one million Americans who've 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:20.200 lost their jobs because of this catastrophe that's hit this country. 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.600 We've got to get them back to work. That is 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:27.640 overwhelmingly the priorities. Get people back to work. And you know, 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:29.719 you look at these first bills, the bills that we 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.040 passed several months ago, in the height of the crisis. 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:39.040 Those were overwhelmingly bipartisan. The big one, the Cares Act, 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:42.800 ninety six to nothing. Every Democrat, every Republican voted yes. 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.200 I voted yes. Bertie Sanders voted yes. That was not 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:50.480 a stimulus bill. It wasn't designed to stimulate the economy. 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.040 The press calls it a stimulus bill, but that's not 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:55.400 what it was. It was a relief bill. It was 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:59.760 designed to give emergency loans, short term loans to people 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:03.280 at the very height of the crisis. Now our focus 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:05.400 has got to be different. It's got to be getting 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:10.120 people back to work. We need a recovery bill. Now, 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:13.520 what does the recovery bill do? Our entire focus, I 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:18.560 think should be cutting taxes and reducing regulations that are 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:22.680 killing jobs, making it easier for small businesses to open. 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.960 That's the issue. And by the way, the entire election 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:28.920 in November turns on it. So the Democrats, what does 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:31.960 Nancy Pelosi want. She wants all fifty one million people 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:36.760 who've lost their jobs to stay unemployed, to stay at home, 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.160 to not be working, to not have their kids in school, 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:45.000 because she is gambling on that fifty one million people 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.240 who are broken, unemployed and out of a job and 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.640 pissed off are going to go in and vote to 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.640 throw the bums out, and she's most interested in defeating 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.400 Donald Trump. Well, the case I made to the President 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:58.880 and to the other Republicans is we shouldn't be complicit 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:03.040 in that objective. If the President wants to win in November, 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.440 we need people going back to work, We need people 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:10.120 earning a paycheck, We need people providing for their families again. 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:15.760 And simply spending trillions for Nancy Pelosi's buddies ain't going 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.560 to get the job done. You know, I remember early 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.320 on when when there were those debates over the initial 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:26.080 relief bill, you in particular pointed out that this language 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.760 that the Democrats added in on the question of unemployment 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:34.199 insurance was going to disincentivize people going back to work. 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.000 And it now seems that your prediction turned out to 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:39.319 be true. There's a Cato Institute survey of this. It 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:43.319 showed that two thirds of people who went on unemployment 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:47.000 for the COVID lockdowns are making more money than they 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.240 would have made had they remained at their jobs. And 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.400 one third of people actually made two times or you know, 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:56.800 two x their salary, which you know, wonderful for them. 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.120 I don't think we begrudge anybody money, but that is 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:02.360 a recipe to keep people out of work that would 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:06.800 seem to have a political objective in an election year. Well, 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:12.760 incentives matter, and the dumbest part of what Congress did 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:17.720 already in this crisis was creating massive disincentives to work. 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.559 And in particular, what Congress did is added six hundred 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:24.160 dollars a week to the already existing unemployment conversation. So, look, 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:26.200 we had an unemployment system. If you lost your job, 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:30.360 you could file file for unemployment. That's designed to be 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.480 to help you meet basic necessities, but it's designed to 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.800 be substantially less than your job was. Because you want 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:39.719 people who've lost their job to have strong incentives to 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.120 go back to work. The best thing if someone's out 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.120 of work has helped them get back to work. Adding 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.800 six hundred dollars to unemployment, let me give you some 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.520 math and I apologize to everyone in the podcast. There 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:53.280 was supposed to be no math. They told me I 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:55.640 couldn't sign up for this. Let me give you just 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:59.560 a little bit. So. It used to be the maximum 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.640 weekly unemployment check in Texas was five hundred and twenty 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:08.040 one dollars a week. When Congress added six hundred dollars 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:11.520 to that, that took it to eleven hundred and twenty 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.960 one dollars a week, more than doubled it. That works 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:21.320 out to about fifty eight thousand dollars a year, or 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:25.240 about twenty eight dollars an hour. Now, think about it 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:29.040 for a second. If you're if you're working waiting tables, 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.840 if you're working in an hourly job, you ain't making 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:37.280 twenty eight bucks an hour. And if suddenly the government 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.120 pays you more to stay home than to go back 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:42.400 to work, well naturally you're not going to go back 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:43.800 to work. I mean, if you're paid more to do 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:47.120 something else, you're going to follow the incentives. But that's 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.640 terrible for you, and it's terrible for the economy, and 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.120 it's why Nancy Pelosi wants to keep doing it, and 0:13:53.760 --> 0:14:00.240 the Republicans are falling in this trap that sixty eight 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.559 percent of people nationally right now because of what Congress did, 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:10.000 are receiving more ununemployment than their previous salary twenty percent, 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:14.520 or receiving double their previous salary. If you're getting paid 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:17.880 twice as much not to work as to work, what 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:21.040 are you gonna do? I mean, that ain't complicated, and 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:24.760 it's why Nancy Pelosi is all in on wanting to 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.920 keep that going right until November third, right until the election. 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:34.360 But Republicans shouldn't be complicit in that. And I talk 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.920 to small business owners every single day that they're trying 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:41.360 to reopen their businesses and they can't rehire their employees. 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:45.320 They're calling their employees saying come back, and they're saying, understandably, 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:47.680 why would we come back. We're getting paid more not 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:51.840 to That is disastrous for getting the economy moving again 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.720 and getting people back on their feet. Right. It's a 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:57.640 pretty deceitful tactic. It would see them. I understand the 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.520 political objectives the Democrats have, but you know, you're you're 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:05.000 not getting what they seem to be proposing. You know, 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.200 this has this underhanded aspect. I think that ties in 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:12.320 pretty well with another underhanded display we saw from Democrats 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:16.200 on Capitol Hill this week, which was the billbar testimony. Yeah, 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:17.920 and let me actually stop you there and go back 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:22.680 to the prior topic for a second, which is, let 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:24.880 me tell you right now, what is pretty good in 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:29.200 the in the Republican bill, okay, and what could be 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:32.560 good in the Republican bill. So there are two elements 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.720 that are mildly good in the Republican bill. Number one, 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:42.120 it includes actually legislation that I've introduced that is for 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:46.840 school choice, that creates federal tax credits for contributions to 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:52.000 scholarship granting organizations for K through twelve education. That's really good, 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:56.440 and it's really important, and it's really substantive, and it's transformational. 0:15:56.480 --> 0:16:00.360 And as you know, I'm passionate about school choice. Now. 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:06.120 The problem is the Democrats are passionately opposed because the 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:11.000 teachers unions opposed choice. And my concern is the Republican 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.400 negotiators will give that up at the table that it's 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.040 in there, but it's not going to stay in there. 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:18.800 That it's in there to be a bargaining chip to 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:23.160 be given up. The second good elements right now is 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:25.920 some liability protection. And there's no doubt it's a real 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:29.680 problem right now for any small business, for any school, 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:32.800 for any university that opens, they're going to be sued. 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:34.920 All of them are going to be sued. Trial lawyers 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.440 are going to descend upon them. Yeah, because if any 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:41.640 customer gets sick, if any employee gets sick, immediately they're 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.440 getting sued. So I very much agree with the objective 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:50.240 of providing some reasonable liability protection so that people could open. 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.720 It's not their faulty. It's not like the small businesses. 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:57.960 It's not like the movie theater created this this coronavirus 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:01.440 from Wuhan, China, and and it doesn't make sense for 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:05.359 billions of dollars of damage judgments to make a bunch 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:10.520 of plantiffs lawyers rich suing everybody. But the problem is 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:14.520 those same plantiffs lawyers are, along with the teachers unions, 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.320 the biggest owners to the Democrats. So they're going to 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.200 fight to water that provision down. So those two provisions 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:25.440 are right now pretty good, but my concern is they 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.480 will be gutted. Here's what we ought to be doing instead. 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.600 We ought to be engaged in pro growth policy. So, 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:37.080 for example, instead of just shoveling cash out the door, 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:39.959 one thing we could do is between now and the 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:44.920 end of the year, suspend the payroll tax. That results 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:49.600 in for you and for everyone, basically an immediate pay 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:52.520 raise in your job because the payroll tax you pay 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.840 out of your pocket. Suddenly your take home pay is higher. 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:59.840 But that's an incentive for work. Suddenly your employer apportion 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:04.399 payroll chat tax your employer pays. Suddenly the cost of 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.600 employees of bringing back an employee has gone down for 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:10.560 your employer. That is a pro growth incentive. That is 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:15.200 a pro jobs incentive. That is all about helping encourage 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:18.480 people to go back to work and work more. That's 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.880 a very worthwhile thing to do. Another example of a 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:25.520 very good thing to do. I've got legislation on health 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:31.320 savings accounts. So health savings accounts are accounts where you 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:35.240 can save in a tax advantage way for healthcare needs. 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.400 The problem is, current law prohibits most people from having 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.680 a health savings account. The only instance in which you're 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.280 allowed to have a health savings account is if you 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:48.800 have a high deductible health insurance plan, which most people 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:52.720 don't have. I have legislation that says everyone can have 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:56.640 a health savings plan. That just lets everyone have one. 0:18:56.800 --> 0:19:02.000 That is really important healthcare reform right now in terms 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.600 of changing the system, driving down the cost of healthcare, 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.000 making healthcare more affordable. And we're in the middle of 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:14.720 a pandemic. People are understandably concerned with healthcare costs. This 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:18.560 would be really meaningful reform. So this is something I 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:21.159 urged the President, and I said, by the way, for 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:25.400 the Republicans that want to shovel cash, look, we've got 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:27.720 the checks of twelve hundred dollars sent out to everyone. 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:30.480 My parents both received twelve hundred dollar checks. They don't 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.680 need a twelve hundred dollar check. But Congress set on 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:37.600 one the proposals to do it again. I said, listen, 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:42.280 if you are really intent on throwing money out of 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:46.679 a helicopter, how about taking the twelve hundred dollars and 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:50.200 populating it in a health savings account for everyone, so 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:52.879 that everyone can suddenly have a health savings account to 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:57.720 meet healthcare costs. If you must spend the money, actually 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.639 spend it in a way that does some positive, if good. 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.919 Right next week, I'm going to introduce a bill that 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:07.399 I'm calling the Recovery Act that is going to be 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:11.720 a whole series of pro jobs, pro growth steps that 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.000 if we're going to take our focus should be getting 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:18.160 people back to work. And right now, the current so 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:20.760 called Republican bill that is going to lose a lot 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.960 of Republican votes if and when we vote on it 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:27.280 is not focused on jobs. Pelosi wants jobs to go away. 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:32.439 And right now, basically the Republican bill took the Nancy 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:35.880 Pelosi bill, divided all the numbers by three, and proposed 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:40.400 the same damn thing. We should have different ideas, ideas 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:45.360 that work. And a final political point, So are there's 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:47.679 some Republicans who are really scared. We got to do this. 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:49.720 We just got to do it. It's an election. You 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:53.960 got to spend money. Look in the battle to be 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:59.840 Santa Clause, Republicans will always lose. If suddenly we pony 0:20:59.880 --> 0:21:02.840 up three trillion dollars, they'll go to four like like 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:08.880 there's no limit. And frankly, show me the voter out 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.760 there that's really looking for a bunch of cash that's 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.480 actually going to vote for the president because of it. 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:19.480 If you want someone to bankrupt the country and bankrupt 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:21.800 your kids and grandkids in order to get more cash, 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:26.520 right now, you're going to vote Democrats. Yeah, I think 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:30.359 it's a null set. We should be the party of 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:34.800 jobs and growth and prosperity and higher wages. Look at 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:36.640 other proposal. I told the President, all right, at five, 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:41.160 you want to spend money, waive the federal income tax 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:43.480 for the next six months up to a certain amount. 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:48.840 That again puts real money in people's pockets now, and 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:53.760 unlike what's being proposed, it doesn't kill jobs. We should 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:58.920 be creating jobs, not killing jobs. Well, I love this 0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:01.760 point you're making. You're you're never going to out democrat 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:04.800 the democrats. You're never going to outliberal the liberals. There's 0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:08.640 a famous conservative book from many decades ago called a Choice, 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:10.919 not an echo. You want you want to actually have 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:13.320 a choice in your politicians when you go to the 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:15.119 ballot box. And I got to tell you, as somebody 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:18.320 who has an HSA, who uses an HSA, I love 0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:21.520 HSA's I think it is it's brilliant. It's shocking to 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:24.080 me that they have not been more popular, they haven't 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:26.320 been more encouraged over time. And I think a lot 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:29.639 of that is a law prohibited. The reason they're not 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:34.200 more popular is Congress. Unless you have a high deductible 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:38.880 health insurance plan, it's legal for you to have an HSA. 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:41.520 The poet I'm trying to make to the other Republicans, like, 0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:46.040 is there anything we want to accomplish that actually would 0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:49.440 be good and fix the problem. We shouldn't rush out 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:52.600 like chicken little and say we must do something to 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:57.880 do something. Let's do something that would work and help 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:00.639 people get back to work. That's right. There a lot 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:02.919 a lot of perverse incentives I noticed going on on 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:05.640 the left side of the aisle on Capitol Hill. And 0:23:05.760 --> 0:23:09.360 I think nowhere was this clearer than when our former 0:23:09.480 --> 0:23:13.320 verdict guest, the Attorney General William Barr, was invited to 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:16.600 testify on Capitol Hill. He was actually he accepted the 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:19.320 invitation on the very day that you and I sat 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:21.880 down with him at the Department of Justice. And so 0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:24.280 he finally goes to sit down for this hearing, and 0:23:24.320 --> 0:23:26.720 then it turned out that the Democrats and a House 0:23:26.720 --> 0:23:29.320 of Representatives didn't really want to hear a single word 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:34.320 he had to say. It really was studying. When you 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:37.960 and I were interviewing Bill Barr, you recall we nicknamed 0:23:38.040 --> 0:23:41.960 him Honey Badger, which wasn't planned that that was off 0:23:41.960 --> 0:23:46.760 the cuff. But if anyone didn't believe that nickname. You 0:23:46.920 --> 0:23:53.919 just had to watch the you know, the Liliputians trying 0:23:53.960 --> 0:23:57.159