1 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: On this episode of Newts World, as we watched the 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: debt sealing discussions between President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: McCarthy on the Daily News, I thought it was important 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: to look back at my experience as Speaker and how 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 1: to balance the budget. We did it for four consecutive 6 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,280 Speaker 1: years in a row, the only time in our lifetime 7 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: that was done. And in fact, when I left office, 8 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: Alan Greenspan, who was then the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, 9 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: actually gave a speech in which he talked about projections 10 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: that we would pay off the federal debt by two 11 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: thousand and nine. That all broke down after I left office, 12 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: but we had proven that you could balance the federal budget. 13 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,559 Speaker 1: We actually did it in four years. We planned to 14 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: do it in seven, but we did it in four. 15 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: I've been working with the Budget Committee chairman and others 16 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: to try to develop a plan. They're doing a great job, 17 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:53,200 Speaker 1: and I think they will have a plan that gets 18 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: to balance in ten years and it's real. And so 19 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: it developed sort of the lessons. What is it we 20 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: had learned earned over the process of getting to a 21 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,119 Speaker 1: balance budget and what are the things that worked right. 22 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: I recently put that memo into an article form for 23 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: the American Spectator entitled Speaker McCarthy balance the Budget to 24 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: Save America, And I want to talk about this. It 25 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: originally start out as a memo for House and Senate 26 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,400 Speaker 1: Republicans and then became an article, and it really is 27 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: based on what we literally did. So I really think 28 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: that it's useful to realize one that it is possible 29 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,479 Speaker 1: to balance the budget, two that it takes a set 30 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: of principled steps, not just slashing, not just cutting, but 31 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: thinking your way through how to reshape government. Budgets in 32 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: the end should reflect policy, so you have to think 33 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: through what are your policies. For example, we reformed welfare. 34 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: I'M built in a very strong work requirement and as result, 35 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: millions of people went to work increased their income. It 36 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: was the largest most successful program of getting children out 37 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: of poverty that had ever been undertaken. And as a result, 38 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: you took people who had been getting money from the 39 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: government and turned them into people who had jobs and 40 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: were paying money into the government. And that was a 41 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: major step towards getting to a balanced budget. We'd also 42 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: followed the principles that Ronald Reagan had espoused as supply 43 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: side economics, developed in part by Art Laffer and others, 44 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: and that principle was that economic growth is a key. 45 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: So it's not just about being cheap. It's about thinking 46 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: through the nature of government, thinking through programs that don't work, 47 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 1: and developing the most rapid possible economic growth. And when 48 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: you start doing that, you're in a different world. So 49 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: I think there's a real opportunity now because of the 50 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 1: nature of the House Republican Party, because of the depth 51 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: of its commitment to and its member's commitment to balance 52 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: the budget, to focusing on smaller government, to returning power 53 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: to the American people, and to encouraging small businesses and 54 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: entrepreneurs to create jobs. We have a terrific opportunity to 55 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: work our way back to a balanced budget. And why 56 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,959 Speaker 1: does that matter. First of all, huge deficits lead to inflation. 57 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: We're now suffering from that problem. Second, huge deficits allow 58 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: every bureaucrat to spend all the money they want because 59 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 1: there's no sense of having to set priorities, there's no 60 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: sense of having to weed out inefficiencies. You know, you 61 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: just get more money. It's like having a giant credit card. 62 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: When you start going towards a balanced budget. You create 63 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: a sense of limits, and you put people in the 64 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: situation where they absolutely have to start thinking through what works, 65 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: what doesn't work, what really matters that we have to do. 66 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: What are some things that are nice, but we don't 67 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: have to do them? And so from that standpoint, there 68 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: are real principles for approaching this. Now, the principles is 69 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: that we consistently paid attention to public opinion. We knew 70 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: from Abraham Lincoln's rule that with popular sentiment everything is possible. 71 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: Without popular sentiment, nothing as possible. And frankly, I believed 72 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: very deeply in President Lincoln's statement at Gettysburg that we're 73 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: in favor of government of the people, by the people, 74 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: and for the people. Well, if you really believe that, 75 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: then in order to understand what government of the people, 76 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: by the people, and for the people is, you have 77 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: to listen to the people. So we were very careful 78 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: in understanding what the American people wanted and what the 79 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: American people were afraid of. And as a result, probably 80 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: our most extraordinary achievement was we actually reformed medicare in 81 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: the middle of a presidential election in nineteen ninety six, 82 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: and we did it so carefully and so thoughtfully that 83 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: AARP American Association retired persons, normally a liberal democratic organization 84 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: sided with us, the House Republicans against the Clinton White House, 85 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 1: because we had taken into account what their concerns were. 86 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: We had listened carefully to what they valued and their 87 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: members valued, and they thought that it was a good, 88 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,919 Speaker 1: sound modernization that actually increased the number of opportunities. That 89 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: was the reform from which the whole concept of Medicare 90 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: Plus evolved, which allowed people Today it's the largest single 91 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: part of Medicare and gives people many more choices than 92 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: they used to have. So this process of listening is 93 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: at the beginning. Reagan understood this, and it's very interesting. Reagan, 94 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: and his farewell address said that when you come down 95 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: to it, all of his victories were victories of the 96 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: American people. He said, it was your phone calls, your letters, 97 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 1: your involvement that made it possible to win. And I 98 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: think he really did understand in the Lincolnian sense that 99 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: if you listen to the people, if you develop government 100 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: of the people, you are going to have tremendous support. 101 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: So Reagan said one time his job was to shine 102 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: the light on the American people, so they would then 103 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: turn up the heat on Congress, and he saw himself 104 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: triangulating between the American people and the Congress, never negotiating 105 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 1: only with the Congress. He described that in his farewell 106 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: address when he said, quote, almost all the world's constitutions 107 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: are documents in which governments tell the people what their 108 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: privileges are. Our constitution is a document in which we 109 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: the people tell the government what is allowed to do. 110 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: We the people are free. Well, if you think about that, 111 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: that means you have to pay attention to the people. 112 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: You have to go back home to town hall meetings, 113 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: you have to listen to their concerns. Out of that, 114 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: I developed, partly with the help of the US Armies 115 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 1: training and Doctrine command, a concept of listen, learn, help, 116 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,679 Speaker 1: and lead in that order. So you have to listen 117 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: to people, you have to learn from them what they're 118 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: really concerned about. Ideally, you help them with their concerns, 119 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 1: and then they will turn to you. If they know 120 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: you're going to listen to them, learn from them, help them, 121 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: they'll say, well, then would you lead us? You tell 122 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,119 Speaker 1: them where you want to go, But you immediately swing 123 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: back to listening to them. So every person, every constituent, 124 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: every person you get involved with ends up being your 125 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: consultant and your advisor because you're opening up and saying 126 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: what do you think of this? And it was that 127 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: process which led us to the Contract with America, because 128 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: every single thing in the Contract with America had the 129 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: support of seventy percent or more of the American people. 130 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: It was that process which enabled us to work our 131 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: way through getting to a balanced budget because we were 132 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: constantly listening. Now, as you listen, that doesn't mean you're passive. 133 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: We'd learned from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who had as 134 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: a principal. First you win the argument, then you win 135 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: the vote. And the way you win the argument is 136 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: you focus on the people. You understand their language, their concerns. Sometimes, frankly, 137 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: you have to change, you have to say we can't 138 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: do that. They won't support it. And that's part of this. 139 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: This is the dance of government. It's not some smart 140 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: person in Washington who got a PhD at Harvard or 141 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: Yale or Princeton, who now is so smart they're going 142 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: to tell the American people that's exactly wrong. What you 143 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: want to do is share information with the American people 144 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: and then let them tell you. So we've developed in 145 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: recent times America's New Majority Project, which you can see 146 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,679 Speaker 1: if you go to America's New Majorityproject dot com. And 147 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: we have done polling since twenty eighteen trying to understand 148 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,680 Speaker 1: where the American people are and what they care about. 149 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 1: And it's fascinating, for example, that in this whole fight 150 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: over the debt ceiling, consistently the majority of the American 151 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: people have opposed raising the debt ceiling without reforms. The 152 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: position of President Biden took that he would not negotiate 153 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: and he would not accept any spending cuts is held 154 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:01,959 Speaker 1: by twenty four in the country. That's one out of 155 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,960 Speaker 1: very four Americans. Overwhelmingly, the rest of the country thinks 156 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 1: that that's crazy and they want to see changes. They 157 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: think we're spending too much. They're deeply opposed to taxes. 158 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: Most recent survey I saw indicated something like seventy six 159 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: percent of post tax increases galloped at a poll a 160 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: couple of years ago, the average American believes that fifty 161 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: percent of the federal government is waste. Now, I think 162 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: that's not technically true, but it gives you this sense 163 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: that the country does understand that there are bureaucracies that 164 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: aren't very effective. I mean, when you learn, for example, 165 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: that they probably lost twenty billion dollars in the California 166 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: Unemployment insurance program, think about that twenty billion dollars were lost, 167 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: mostly to computer theft and probably to prisoners in the 168 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: California prisons using the California State prison computers. And it's 169 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: an extraordinary and it wasn't just California. In Washington State, 170 00:09:57,440 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: the estmen is they lost six hundred and twenty million 171 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: dollars out of their unemployment compensation fund to people who 172 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: basically engage in identity theft. They had one guy who 173 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: actually was collecting unemployment and I think forty seven states 174 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: because he'd figured out how to do it, and they 175 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: wanted the money and he was a crook. So government's 176 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 1: so incompetent that it's throwing your money away in crooks. 177 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: Is a government that people have great suspicion about raising 178 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: spending and great suspicion about raising taxes to pay for 179 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: what they see as in competence, a waste. Hi this 180 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: is newt In my new book, March the Majority, The 181 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 1: Real Story of the Republican Revolution, I offer strategies and 182 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: insights for everyday citizens and for season politicians. It's both 183 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: a guide for political success and for winning back the 184 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: Majority in twenty twenty four. March to the Majority outlines 185 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: the sixteen year campaign to write the Contract with America, 186 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: explains how we elected the first Republican House majority in 187 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,439 Speaker 1: forty years, and how we worked with President Bill Clinton 188 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:10,959 Speaker 1: to pass major reforms, including four consecutive balance budgets. March 189 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: to the Majority tells the behind the scenes story of 190 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,679 Speaker 1: how we got it done. Here's a special offer for 191 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: my podcast listeners. You can pre order March the Majority 192 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: right now at gingrishtree sixty dot com slash book and 193 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: it'll be shipped directly to you on June sixth. Don't 194 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: miss out on the special offer to pre order my 195 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: new book today. Go to ginglishtree sixty dot com slash 196 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: book and order your copy now. Order it today at 197 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: gingishtree sixty dot com slash book now. As you develop 198 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: these approaches, one of our keys was that you have 199 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 1: to stay on message. Remember, we have clutter. We have 200 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: all the news channels. They get filled up with news 201 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,439 Speaker 1: every hour. That's a very different world than thirty or 202 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: forty years ago. You have all of talk radio, podcast 203 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: you have newspapers, you have magazines, So there's this constant 204 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: noise level, and in order for you to get your 205 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,320 Speaker 1: message through, you have to be very consistent. We knew 206 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 1: just like today that we had a Democrat in the 207 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 1: White House, and he had all the advantages of the 208 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 1: White House machinery, all the advantages of the Press Secretary. 209 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: You know, that's a place where all these reporters come together, 210 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: they all cover the same interview. So the White House 211 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: on a daily basis can do pretty well. But if 212 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:34,319 Speaker 1: your team in the House and Senate understands what they're doing, 213 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: and if you are right, that is, if what you're 214 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:41,560 Speaker 1: saying resonates with the American people fits what they already believe, 215 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,319 Speaker 1: then you ultimately outlast the White House and you ultimately 216 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,679 Speaker 1: are in much better shape than the White House in communicating. 217 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: So in nineteen ninety six, when we were developing a 218 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: modernization program for Medicare which led to Medicare Advantage, we 219 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: had one member, Representative Dan Miller of Florida, whose job 220 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,959 Speaker 1: was to train and monitor members on language. His assignment 221 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: was make sure everyone is describing an increase in medicare 222 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: spending as an increase. Now that may sound strange, but 223 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: the fact is liberals had developed this argument that the 224 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: Congressional Budget Office would tell you what was called a 225 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:23,559 Speaker 1: quote current services budget, and a current services budget always 226 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: showed an increase, so if you tried to just control spending, 227 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: it was described as a cut from the current services budget, 228 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: even though it was an increase. And we trained our 229 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: members to say, now, if we're going to spend more 230 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: money next year, that's called an increase, it's not called 231 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: a cut. And that was a huge fight. We all 232 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,319 Speaker 1: only had all two hundred and thirty members coordinated and consistent, 233 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:48,319 Speaker 1: and as a result, we were able to win the 234 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:50,840 Speaker 1: argument with the White House. And as a result of 235 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: winning the argument, we became the first re elected GOP 236 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 1: House majority in sixty eight years, that is since nineteen 237 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: twenty eight. Now, I mentioned that because the News would 238 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: like to tell you that some of the things we did, 239 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: including two government shutdowns, really hurt us. But the fact is, 240 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:10,679 Speaker 1: not only were we the first elected House Republican majority 241 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:15,199 Speaker 1: in forty years, we're the first re elected House majority 242 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 1: in sixty eight years. And the reason was people saw 243 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: that we were serious we were keeping our word. We 244 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: had promised to do the things they wanted. They wanted 245 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: welfare reform, they wanted tax cuts, they wanted to have 246 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: a better government, they wanted to get to a balanced budget. 247 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: They wanted to reform the Food and Drug Administration, they 248 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: wanted to reform telecommunications. And so they saw us actually 249 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: doing what we had promised. And it is a real parallel, 250 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: I think, and this is part of what I deal 251 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: with in my new book, March to the Majority, where 252 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 1: we described both the sixteen years of becoming a majority 253 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: and the four years of negotiating with President Clinton. And 254 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: in March the Majority, I lay out something very parallel 255 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:03,119 Speaker 1: to what Speaker Kevin McCarthy's now doing. We had a contract, 256 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: he has a commitment. We laid out very specific plans, 257 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: and we were prepared to fight over them. He has 258 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: passed amazingly with a very tiny majority, a debt ceiling 259 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 1: bill with real spending reforms. Currently, that bill is the 260 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: first actual cut in spending ever attached to a deat ceiling. Historically, 261 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: what they do is they slow the rate of growth, 262 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 1: but it's still getting bigger. This time with the House, 263 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: Republicans of past actually would cut federal spending in a 264 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: way that has never been done before on a deat 265 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: ceiling bill. So I'm watching a process which is actually 266 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: very parallel to what we did. And it means you 267 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: tell people what you're going to do, you stick to it, 268 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: you use the same language over and over again. We 269 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: still have a rule that if you're getting totally bored. 270 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: People were beginning to hear it, but you have to 271 00:15:55,160 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: be maniacal, but repeat, repeat, repeat. So we did had projections. 272 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,480 Speaker 1: We had campaigned on a balanced budget amendment. We got 273 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: within one vote of passing it. We had three hundred 274 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 1: and five votes in the House and sixty six votes 275 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: of the Senate. We had passed it in the House 276 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: as a constitutional amendment. We were within one vote of 277 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: passing on the Senate. So we decided we would go 278 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: ahead and balance the budget because with that big majority 279 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 1: voting for an amendment, we figured we could get the 280 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: votes for the balanced budget. Well, there was a power 281 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: to doing it over time. You can't balance the budget 282 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: in one year, it's too big a project. But if 283 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: you're doing seven to ten years, you can start a 284 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: reform this year and it can grow every year to 285 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 1: be bigger and bigger and bigger. And remember every dollar 286 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: you don't spend translates over ten years into sixteen percent 287 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: more in savings on interest because you're not borrowing the 288 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 1: money since you're not spending it. So if you save 289 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: a billion dollars, you actually save a billion one hundred 290 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: and sixty million dollars when you add in the interest 291 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: on the debt begins to really build momentum, not over 292 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 1: one year or two years, but over seven to ten years. 293 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:10,120 Speaker 1: It's very important that you project the budget in actual dollars, 294 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,400 Speaker 1: do not try to measure it against the current service budget, 295 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: don't try to measure against any other theory. Are you 296 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:18,920 Speaker 1: going up or are you going down? And I think 297 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: it's very important to recognize that you can. In fact, 298 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: every family has to plan a budget. This is not magic, 299 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: and that means sometimes you have to decide you can't 300 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:31,959 Speaker 1: afford to go in a vacation, or you can't afford 301 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,119 Speaker 1: to buy a new home, or you can't afford to 302 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:37,639 Speaker 1: buy that new TV, whatever it is. People routinely in 303 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:40,639 Speaker 1: their own lives have to live within a budget, and 304 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,680 Speaker 1: people routinely within their own lives have to set priorities 305 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: and so to get the federal government to understand that 306 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:51,159 Speaker 1: it should follow the same rules as people really was 307 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: an extraordinarily important part of that. And I think that 308 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: it's very important to understand that you can get this 309 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,879 Speaker 1: done if you recognize that there are three pillars to 310 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: balancing the budget. First, economic growth. If you get enough 311 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: economic growth, it makes it dramatically easier. And remember, historically, 312 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: we've been averaging about three and a half percent growth 313 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: for many, many, many years. That includes recessions, periods of 314 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,440 Speaker 1: boom and then periods of recession, then periods of boom, 315 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:23,920 Speaker 1: but the averaged out to about three and a half 316 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: percent real growth per year. The current projections under President 317 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 1: Biden are about one and a half percent. Well, the 318 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: difference in an economy are size between three and a 319 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:37,200 Speaker 1: half percent growth compounded every year and one and a 320 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: half percent is enormous. It's trillions and trillions of dollars 321 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,679 Speaker 1: and it's a major step towards balancing the budgets. So 322 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: number one, you have to focus on economic growth. Number two, 323 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: you have to have major reforms of large spending programs. 324 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: The largest single program in the federal government is health 325 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: Remember that healthcare is about eighteen percent of the gross 326 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:02,119 Speaker 1: domestic product almost one out of every five dollars. The 327 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,520 Speaker 1: biggest single reform that would begin to bring down the 328 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: cost of healthcare is transparency. If people understood what the 329 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: price and what the quality was of everything they were 330 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: doing in healthcare, they would shop just like they do 331 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: with everything else. And that requires that the insurance companies 332 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:25,199 Speaker 1: and the hospitals actually report what it's going to cost you, 333 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,359 Speaker 1: what your choices are, and what the quality of the 334 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: outcome is. And I think Art Laugher, who developed the 335 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: Laugher curve, which was a key to marketing supply side 336 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: economics in the seventies and eighties. Laffer has told me 337 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: that he believes that just getting transparency where people get 338 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: to shop and get to choose, actually would save up 339 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,920 Speaker 1: to two percent of the gross domestic product. Now that's 340 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,879 Speaker 1: trillions and trillions of dollars. Also, we're getting real breakthroughs. 341 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:00,920 Speaker 1: We have the very first Alzheimer drugs, and tragically, under Biden, 342 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 1: the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has decided not 343 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:07,719 Speaker 1: to pay for them. Now Alzheimer is going to be 344 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 1: one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive 345 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: disease of the next fifty years. And it has an 346 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: enormous impact on caregivers. As any of you know who've 347 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,440 Speaker 1: ever had a family member who has Alzheimer's, caregivers are 348 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: twice as likely to have health problems as people who 349 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: are not having to provide support and help to people 350 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: with Alzheimer's. So finding ways to cure Alzheimer's or curing 351 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: sickle cell anemia, these are the kind of things that 352 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: really change everything. And so the combination of dramatic breakthroughs 353 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 1: in health and finding ways to bring knowledge so you 354 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,960 Speaker 1: as a patient can wisely choose how much does it 355 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: cost and who has a good track record, who does 356 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: not have a good track record, We believe those things 357 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 1: really start changing again to go back to where we 358 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: were in nineteen ninety six with welfare reform. Simply and 359 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,679 Speaker 1: this is one of the big fights that Speaker McCarthy's 360 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:04,679 Speaker 1: now making in terms of the debt sealing bill. Just 361 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:09,800 Speaker 1: simply having a work requirement begins to dramatically change behavior, 362 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: and you begin to see people who had planned to 363 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: spend their whole lifetime living off of the taxpayer Sunday decided, 364 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: you know, yes, I ought to go to work. The 365 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: effect of it in the nineteen nineties. When we passed 366 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: the nineteen ninety six Welfare reform Bill was astounding. Millions 367 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,439 Speaker 1: and millions of people went to work. The welfare offices 368 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,640 Speaker 1: went from being counseling services and how to be dependent 369 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,439 Speaker 1: on government to being counseling services and how to go 370 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: find a job and become independent. You have to look 371 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 1: through the whole system for changes. Hi. This is newt 372 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: In my new book, Marks the Majority, the Real story 373 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 1: of the Republican Revolution, I offer strategies and insights for 374 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: everyday citizens and for seasoned politicians. It's both a guide 375 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,399 Speaker 1: for political success and for winning back the Majority. In 376 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, March to the Majority outlines the sixteen 377 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:11,120 Speaker 1: year campaign to write the Contract with America. Explains how 378 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: we elected the first Republican House majority in forty years 379 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,160 Speaker 1: in how we worked with President Bill Clinton to pass 380 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: major reforms, including four consecutive balance budgets. March to the 381 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,399 Speaker 1: Majority tells the behind the scenes story of how we 382 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,880 Speaker 1: got it done. Here's a special offer for my podcast listeners. 383 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: You can pre order March the Majority right now at 384 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: gingrishtree sixty dot com slash book and it'll be shipped 385 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: directly to you on June sixth. Don't miss out on 386 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,879 Speaker 1: the special offer to pre order my new book today. 387 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 1: Go to gingishtree sixty dot com slash book and order 388 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,880 Speaker 1: your copy now. Order it today at gingishtree sixty dot 389 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:58,159 Speaker 1: com slash book Now. The Pentagon is begging for a 390 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,000 Speaker 1: huge scale of reform. The bureaucra season the Pentagon are 391 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: so thick, so slow. It's impossible for the Pentagon to 392 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:08,399 Speaker 1: get in modern technology at a rate fast enough to 393 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: stay ahead of China. And both in terms of having 394 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,200 Speaker 1: the best possible national security, but also in terms of 395 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 1: saving an enormous amount of money. The Pentagon has to 396 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: be overhauled. And furthermore, you have now I think eighteen 397 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:26,639 Speaker 1: different intelligence services. And yet they got Kiev wrong. Remember 398 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: when the Chairman of the Joint Chief said the Russians 399 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: are being keyed in three days, Well they're still not there. 400 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 1: They got the withdrawal from Afghanistan wrong. And so there's 401 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: a lot of money to be saved by just eliminating 402 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,920 Speaker 1: duplication and incompetence in the intelligence services. So you've got 403 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 1: to have an addition to academic growth, you've got to 404 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: have fairly systemic reforms that begin to yield the kind 405 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: of change that gives you a more effective government, a 406 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,640 Speaker 1: less expensive government. Third, we just have to go through 407 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,640 Speaker 1: all of the domestic spending and cut out a lot 408 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 1: of stuff. Peter Druck used to have a rule that 409 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 1: if you weren't already doing it, would you start? And 410 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,359 Speaker 1: if the answer is no, why are you still doing it? Well, 411 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: I would argue that there are tons of things you 412 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: could just take, for example, the Durham Report, which came 413 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: out three hundred pages on the corruption and dishonesty of 414 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:19,840 Speaker 1: the Justice Department, the CIA, and the IRS and the FBI, 415 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: and you could take that and go through and save 416 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: hundreds of millions of dollars just eliminating the offices and 417 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: agencies which he said were corrupted. You also have to 418 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:33,439 Speaker 1: set standards where you are careful about not spending your 419 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: money on things that you don't need, because there's a 420 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: certain momentum government that once something starts, that lives on forever. 421 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:40,919 Speaker 1: And I think one of the things we did in 422 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,399 Speaker 1: the nineties is we went through and we eliminated a 423 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,159 Speaker 1: lot of stuff that wasn't working, or a lot of 424 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,680 Speaker 1: stuff that had worked twenty years earlier, but wasn't necessary anymore. 425 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: Part of the process, by the way of getting to 426 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,639 Speaker 1: a balanced budget and getting to economic growth, is to 427 00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 1: go back to emphasizing American energy independence. It was very 428 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,960 Speaker 1: significant that HR one was the Lower Energy Cost Act. 429 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: Steve Scalis from Louisiana, a big oil and gas producing state, 430 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: introduced it. It passed the House by two hundred and 431 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: twenty five to two oh four. The Republicans were two 432 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty one yes and one no. The Democrats, unfortunately, 433 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,119 Speaker 1: were two hundred and three nos and only four yeses. 434 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: But the Act provided for expanding dramatically oil, gas and minerals. 435 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,679 Speaker 1: And for all of the folks who love electric cars, 436 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: electric cars require a lot of mining, So if you 437 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: have a anti mining environmentalism, then nonetheless wants to have 438 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,400 Speaker 1: electric cars. There's an explicit contradiction in terms, and that's 439 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 1: an area where the Lower Energy Cost Act was designed 440 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,439 Speaker 1: to both reduce the cost of the materials that go 441 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:53,040 Speaker 1: into electric cars and provide dramatic increases in the production 442 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 1: of oil and gas, which will remain primary sources of 443 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: energy for the foreseeable future. It's an act which both 444 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: would increase American jobs and lower the cost of energy 445 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,959 Speaker 1: for America, and it's a significant step towards a balanced budget. 446 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: You lower the cost that the government has to pay 447 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: to get gasoline or to get other energy. You increase 448 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:14,880 Speaker 1: the number of people who are at work, and therefore 449 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 1: you increase the amount of taxes being paid. So it's 450 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 1: a win win process. Now, part of this is to 451 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: recognize that we have a modern system and we have 452 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,639 Speaker 1: an obsolete government. I mean, my favorite example is the Pentagon, 453 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:34,359 Speaker 1: which was opened in nineteen forty three so that twenty 454 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: six thousand people could run a global war World War 455 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: two using carbon paper and manual typewriters, And today we 456 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 1: use iPads and smartphones and computers, and we still have 457 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: twenty six thousand people. Now, when you think about how 458 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 1: much more efficient your iPad or your smartphone is than 459 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: a manual typewriter with carbon paper island cabinets, you get 460 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,120 Speaker 1: a flavor of how much we could modernize things by 461 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: simply moving towards things we already know. I've talked recently 462 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: with Dave Clark, who had been the head of the 463 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,680 Speaker 1: Amazon Logistics and worked with Amazon for twenty three years. 464 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 1: He now has up a Flexport, which is a company 465 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: that provides logistics modernization for small and medium sized companies. 466 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,199 Speaker 1: Clark estimates that applying modern systems to the federal government 467 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,640 Speaker 1: would save twenty to thirty percent in cost. Think about 468 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: that twenty to thirty percent. Frankly, if you only receive 469 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: ten percent, given the scale of federal government, you're talking 470 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: about huge amounts of money. Alisa Hirshman, who was the 471 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: chief management officer in the Pentagon, believes you can easily 472 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:44,919 Speaker 1: save one hundred billion dollars in the Defense Department over 473 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: the next decade and actually get a better, more agile 474 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: system than you currently have. We know from how badly 475 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: COVID was handled that the US Centers for Disease Control 476 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:59,159 Speaker 1: and Prevention is hopelessly bureaucratic and overstaffed and frankly incompetent. 477 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: If you will through that and you applied modern management 478 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: to the Center for Disease Control, you'd be shocked how 479 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: much money you would save and in the process, how 480 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 1: much better their systems would get to be. Another great 481 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: example is what Elon Musk did in inventing reusable rockets. 482 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: You look at the rate in which SpaceX is evolving, 483 00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: the rate at which it is lowering the cost to 484 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,760 Speaker 1: get into space. And when the new Starship system, which 485 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,720 Speaker 1: has thirty six engines, the most powerful rocket ever built, 486 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: as that gets improved and ultimately starts working, it is 487 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 1: going to so dramatically lower the cost of going into 488 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 1: space that it begins to make it conceivable that you 489 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,560 Speaker 1: will see people going into space in very large numbers. 490 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 1: Compare that to the older, traditional, protected, bureaucratic big corporations 491 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,800 Speaker 1: like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. You begin to realize that 492 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 1: we could have dramatically less expensive and more entrepreneurial approaches 493 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: to get into space. And frankly, you're going to see 494 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: i think, a dramatic improvement in our ability to land 495 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: people on the moon. You're going to see a private 496 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: international space station replace the government built station, and you're 497 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,800 Speaker 1: just going to see continuing innovation in a way that 498 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: is remarkable. So one of the things you should do 499 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: to get to a balanced budget is bring in people 500 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: from the private sector who are entrepreneurs and who know 501 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: what they're doing and how to do it. When we 502 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,239 Speaker 1: were developing a balanced budget in the nineteen nineties, I 503 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: would host dinner as speaker. I'd host dinner every Wednesday 504 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: night and we would get ten to fifteen CEOs from 505 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: corporations to come in and we would say to him, look, 506 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 1: this is the scale of what we're trying to do, 507 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: and consistently, week after a week, the CEOs would tell 508 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: us three things. Set very big goals with very short 509 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 1: time horizons. That was number one. So big goals with 510 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: short time horizons. Number two, delegate implementation to lots of people. 511 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: You want to get it off your plate. Find somebody 512 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: who's smart, put them in charge, let them go do it. Three, 513 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 1: do not have any experts involved, because they'll always tell 514 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,760 Speaker 1: you what you can't do because they have a psychological 515 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 1: investment in the old order and the way it used 516 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: to be done. What you want to do is invent 517 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: a new generation of experts. So I think that we 518 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,959 Speaker 1: have an opportunity here to develop a balanced budget approach 519 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: that's enormous. I think that we can go through and 520 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: figure out things like eliminating fraud and corruption. In twenty 521 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 1: twenty one, the US Government Accountability Office found that federal 522 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 1: agencies made and estimated two hundred and eighty one billion 523 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 1: dollars in improper payments in fiscal year twenty twenty one. 524 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: Think about that, scale. If you stop the crooks, or 525 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 1: at least stop say half the crooks, you save hundreds 526 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: of billions of dollars just with that one step. So 527 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 1: I think that there's a lot of possibilities that we 528 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,959 Speaker 1: can develop the kind of forms we need, and I 529 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: think absolutely we are in a position to get back 530 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,000 Speaker 1: to a balanced budget. I am delighted with the work 531 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: being done by the House Republicans, and I fully expect 532 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: their Budget Committee will produce the spring in early summer 533 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:19,600 Speaker 1: a balanced budget that is remarkably helpful for us to 534 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: get back to borrowing less, spending less, having lower taxes, 535 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 1: having more economic growth, having dramatically less inflation, and having 536 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: the kind of dynamic, opportunity oriented America that gives everybody 537 00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 1: a chance to get a good job and everybody a 538 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: chance to have a productive life. So I wanted to 539 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 1: share these ideas. You can see the original in the 540 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: American Spectator, and I think that you will find it useful. 541 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 1: I think this is going to be one of the 542 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,880 Speaker 1: biggest efforts of the next few years, is to get 543 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: the government under control, begin to take out the waste, 544 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: to replace the programs that just plain don't work, and 545 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: move us back to a dynamic, prosperous America where every 546 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 1: person gets up in the morning to pursue happiness and 547 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 1: every person is expected to work and be involved in 548 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 1: the dynamic society, and where you have a smaller government, 549 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: a bigger economy, and greater freedom. And I hope you 550 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: find that useful. And this is a topic you'll hear 551 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 1: me talk about more and more because I do believe 552 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 1: building a momentum to get back to a balanced budget 553 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: is one of the major goals of the next few years. 554 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: Let me thank you for listening. I hope you found 555 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 1: this episode helpful. I encourage you to go look at 556 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 1: America's new majority project dot com, which really has tons 557 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: of data that balances this out. And of course I 558 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:37,960 Speaker 1: also write three newsletters a week and a number of 559 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: them are on various specific issues that relate to balancing 560 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: the budget. So this is going to be an ongoing project, 561 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 1: and I hope you found this particular podcast helpful about 562 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:55,960 Speaker 1: that project. Neut World is produced by Gengish three sixty 563 00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Guardnsei Sloan. Our researcher 564 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,280 Speaker 1: is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the show was created 565 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 1: by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team at Gingerish 566 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,920 Speaker 1: three sixty. If you've been enjoying Newtswork, I hope you'll 567 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 1: go to Apple Podcast and both rate us with five 568 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,680 Speaker 1: stars and give us a review so others can learn 569 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: what it's all about. Right now, listeners of Newtsworld consign 570 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: up for my three free weekly columns at gingishthree sixty 571 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 1: dot com slash newsletter. I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Newtswork.