Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Holiday Spending to Smash $1 Trillion plus Sen Tuberville’s ‘Uber Act’ Targets Ride-Share Drivers

Transcript

Holiday Spending to Smash $1 Trillion plus Sen Tuberville’s ‘Uber Act’ Targets Ride-Share Drivers · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

0:01
Speaker 1: There's a word that a lot of you may have heard, affordability.
0:04
Speaker 1: That is the obsession word of the Democratic Party right now,
0:08
Speaker 1: something they never mentioned when Joe Biden was President of
0:11
Speaker 1: the United States of America. Instead, they lied to you
0:13
Speaker 1: and said that there was no such thing as inflation,
0:16
Speaker 1: that it was transitory, and that things were quote getting better,
0:19
Speaker 1: and gas prices really weren't that bad.
0:22
Speaker 2: Well, now they're wanting.
0:24
Speaker 1: Americans to believe that the economy is a disaster, and
0:28
Speaker 1: they're trying to blame Donald Trump for everything.
0:30
Speaker 2: So let's talk about the facts.
0:33
Speaker 1: Of where we were a year ago compared to now,
0:35
Speaker 1: specifically around Black Friday and holiday travel. For Thanksgiving travelers,
0:42
Speaker 1: there's a bit of good news. Let me say that again,
0:45
Speaker 1: a bit of good news for you at the pump.
0:48
Speaker 1: Gas prices are holding steady, a far crime from the
0:53
Speaker 1: sticker shock of recent years. Gas Buddy is now forecasting
0:57
Speaker 1: a national average three dollars and two cents per gallon
1:01
Speaker 1: over the holiday, matching, Yes, a low price that we
1:06
Speaker 1: needed desperately to help Americans, And we also now know
1:11
Speaker 1: that there's other things that are really exciting. Thanksgiving gas prices.
1:15
Speaker 1: This is the lowest we've had since the pandemic, when
1:19
Speaker 1: the national average hit three dollars and thirty nine cents
1:22
Speaker 1: a gallon in twenty twenty one and three dollars and
1:25
Speaker 1: fifty six cents a gallon in twenty twenty two. Gas
1:29
Speaker 1: prices are coming down and for many drivers, and national
1:33
Speaker 1: stability is showing up locally as well. Nearly thirty states
1:38
Speaker 1: now boast average prices of under three dollars a gallon,
1:44
Speaker 1: from Colorado to New Hampshire to Georgia. According to Triple A,
1:48
Speaker 1: Oklahoma tops the list with an average of just two
1:51
Speaker 1: dollars and fifty cents a gallon. That is a welcome
1:55
Speaker 1: number on many gas station signs for consumers. Now at
2:00
Speaker 1: the other end of the spectrum, where liberals are in charge,
2:03
Speaker 1: you've still got pain at the pump with overregulation and taxation.
2:08
Speaker 2: Let me give you an example of that.
2:10
Speaker 1: California is now topping the list as the most expensive
2:15
Speaker 1: state when it comes to buying a gallon of gasoline.
2:18
Speaker 1: When you look at Oklahoma, a conservative state with not
2:22
Speaker 1: a lot of regulation to make prices skyrocket, and certain
2:25
Speaker 1: blends a demand to protect the environment right because of
2:29
Speaker 1: global warming, well, compare it to what they're paying in California,
2:34
Speaker 1: it is four dollars and sixty three cents per gallon
2:38
Speaker 1: compared to just two fifty a gallon in Oklahoma. Hawaii
2:43
Speaker 1: is actually cheaper, and that's not something you hear about
2:46
Speaker 1: very often, as Hawaii is one of the most expensive
2:50
Speaker 1: places to just get gasoline, too, it is now less
2:53
Speaker 1: expensive to buy a gallon of gas in Hawaii than
2:57
Speaker 1: it is with all the regulations on gasoline in California.
3:01
Speaker 1: Hawaii at four dollars and forty seven cents a gallon
3:04
Speaker 1: compared to four to sixty three in California. Washington State,
3:08
Speaker 1: another liberal bastion of well socialism, they now are at
3:13
Speaker 1: four dollars and eighteen cents a gallon, and rounding out
3:17
Speaker 1: the top ten are Nevada at three eighty four a gallon,
3:21
Speaker 1: Alaska at three seventy five a gallon, Arizona at three
3:25
Speaker 1: thirty seven a gallon, and three states tied at three
3:28
Speaker 1: twenty nine Pennsylvania.
3:30
Speaker 2: Idaho, and Illinois.
3:32
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, the most affordable gas can be found in conservative
3:37
Speaker 1: states Oklahoma at two dollars and fifty seven cents a gallon,
3:41
Speaker 1: Mississippi at two sixty one a gallon, and Louisiana two
3:45
Speaker 1: sixty five a gallon. Those states in follow other conservative
3:49
Speaker 1: states Tennessee at two sixty six a gallon, Arkansas at
3:53
Speaker 1: two sixty seven a gallon, Texas at two seventy a gallon,
3:57
Speaker 1: Kansas at two seventy one, Zuri at two seventy three,
4:01
Speaker 1: Alabama two seventy three, in Kentucky at two seventy four
4:05
Speaker 1: a gallon. You notice the trend here. Where there are
4:08
Speaker 1: conservative states, there are lower prices. And when you have
4:12
Speaker 1: the most radical liberals at what are their prices almost
4:16
Speaker 1: double what is being paid in conservative states. TRIPLEA anticipates
4:21
Speaker 1: that nearly eighty two million Americans will journey at least
4:26
Speaker 1: fifty miles from home over the Thanksgiving holiday, one point
4:30
Speaker 1: six million more than last year, marking a record high
4:34
Speaker 1: for Thanksgiving travel. Now the revelation comes to the Trump
4:38
Speaker 1: administration is pushing ahead on energy, dominance independence. It's a
4:43
Speaker 1: key pillar President Donald Trump's economic and national security agenda.
4:47
Speaker 1: And while Thanksgiving marks the year's busiest travel stretch, it
4:52
Speaker 1: isn't the only time drivers have caught a break. This
4:55
Speaker 1: Labor Day, motorists saw the lowest gas prices in a
4:58
Speaker 1: half a decade. This is not just one blip on
5:02
Speaker 1: the map. It's a clear trend because of the President
5:05
Speaker 1: of the United States America putting Americans first, which also
5:09
Speaker 1: brings us to what's about to happen with US holiday spending.
5:13
Speaker 1: How do Americans actually feel about the economy and where
5:17
Speaker 1: we are right now? US holidays spending, we're now being
5:22
Speaker 1: told is expected to top one.
5:26
Speaker 2: Trillion dollars for the first time ever.
5:31
Speaker 1: I want you to take a listen to what they
5:33
Speaker 1: had to say about the holidays and shopping patterns this
5:37
Speaker 1: year on Fox Business Channel. Despite concerns about the economy,
5:41
Speaker 1: people are still looking to spend.
5:43
Speaker 2: Jerry Willis has the numbers. She joins us Now, hey.
5:46
Speaker 3: Jerry, Yeah, you know, it's interesting everybody asking just how
5:50
Speaker 3: generous American consumers will be this holiday season. It's the
5:54
Speaker 3: question still under debate. Both Price Waterhouse and Deloitte surveys
5:58
Speaker 3: of consumer showing Americans tightening their purse strings with declines
6:02
Speaker 3: of anywhere from five to ten percent. Gen Z the
6:05
Speaker 3: most cautious, saying they plan to spend twenty three percent
6:09
Speaker 3: less than last year, but the National Retail Federation sees
6:13
Speaker 3: sales rising two point nine to three point four percent,
6:17
Speaker 3: breaking through the one trillion mark for the first time.
6:20
Speaker 4: Matter now.
6:21
Speaker 3: Meanwhile, the big discounters like Walmart, TJ Max showing strong
6:25
Speaker 3: early results. But what can consumers expect is they hit
6:29
Speaker 3: them all. Some fire up their web browsers this holiday season.
6:33
Speaker 3: One retail consultant says potential price hikes loom with the
6:37
Speaker 3: elimination of the Dominimu's tariff, which allowed goods under one
6:40
Speaker 3: thousand from offshore to enter the US duty free. She
6:44
Speaker 3: says it could cost sticker shock for some consumers. Listen,
6:49
Speaker 3: you need to buy now because we don't know what's
6:51
Speaker 3: going to happen.
6:52
Speaker 5: Tariffs could go up at any point, in which case
6:55
Speaker 5: those prices will get passed on. The price increase will
6:58
Speaker 5: immediately get passed on to the consumer now.
7:01
Speaker 3: Travel snaffoos could also make it difficult to get your
7:03
Speaker 3: presence delivered on time, so Herzog is also recommending shipping
7:08
Speaker 3: presents early by December seventeenth at the least. Plus the
7:12
Speaker 3: big the best prices that is on big ticket electronics
7:15
Speaker 3: will be available after the holiday season January fifth and later.
7:20
Speaker 3: Bottom line, if you want to save money this holiday season,
7:24
Speaker 3: make a list, stick to it. And start early.
7:28
Speaker 1: Now this is also happening as we're seeing something else
7:31
Speaker 1: that's going to make you very happy, and that is
7:34
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving Meil costs have declined to the lowest level in
7:37
Speaker 1: four years, another example of affordability the Democrats are trying
7:41
Speaker 1: to say is terrible, and actually it's running yet again
7:44
Speaker 1: in the right direction. The cost of a traditional Thanksgiving
7:48
Speaker 1: meal down sharply, following to the lowest price since twenty
7:51
Speaker 1: twenty one, according to the American Farm Bureau. The Farm
7:55
Speaker 1: Bureau's fortieth Anniel survey found that a classic Thanksgiving dinner
7:59
Speaker 1: for ten people will cost fifty five to eighteen that
8:02
Speaker 1: is down five percent from last year. Since nineteen eighty six,
8:07
Speaker 1: volunteers across all fifty states in Puerto Rico have been
8:10
Speaker 1: organized by the American Farm Bureau to record local prices
8:14
Speaker 1: for turkey, cube stuffing, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, frozen peas,
8:19
Speaker 1: fresh cranberry, salery, carrots, pumpkin pie mix and crust, whipping cream,
8:25
Speaker 1: and whole milk. Price is soared during the presidency of
8:28
Speaker 1: Joe Biden, with inflation rising to the.
8:31
Speaker 2: Worst pace in forty years.
8:33
Speaker 1: The price of a classic Thanksgiving meal searched fourteen percent
8:36
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one alone, Biden's first year in office,
8:39
Speaker 1: then hitting a record high of fifty three to thirty one,
8:43
Speaker 1: despite the administration's insistence that the price increases were transitory
8:47
Speaker 1: or the result of a temporary supply shock. The following year,
8:51
Speaker 1: what came to be called Biden inflation was even worse.
8:54
Speaker 1: The price of a Thanksgiving meal jumped another twenty percent
8:57
Speaker 1: to a skyrocketing sixty four five. By Biden's final Thanksgiving,
9:03
Speaker 1: the price of a traditional family holiday meal was twenty
9:06
Speaker 1: four percent higher than it was when he took office, Yes,
9:09
Speaker 1: almost a twenty five percent increase. This year's decline was
9:13
Speaker 1: driven by a sharp fall in the price of turkey.
9:16
Speaker 1: A sixteen pound turkey will cost an average of twenty
9:19
Speaker 1: one to fifty That is down sixteen percent from Joe
9:23
Speaker 1: Biden's final year in office.
9:26
Speaker 2: So is the economy getting better? Yes? Is pricing getting
9:30
Speaker 2: better for you? Yes?
9:32
Speaker 1: And is this something we should all be excited about?
9:34
Speaker 1: You better believe it. Did you see that gold just
9:38
Speaker 1: hit an all time new high of over four thousand
9:41
Speaker 1: dollars an ounce? And if you hear that and you're like,
9:44
Speaker 1: are you kidding? Me and you're thinking, gosh, I missed
9:47
Speaker 1: my opportunity. Well, I don't know if you missed your opportunity,
9:50
Speaker 1: but my friends at Kurt Elliott Precious Metals they can
9:53
Speaker 1: answer that question for you. You also may not be paying
9:57
Speaker 1: attention to the incredible gains with silver that are happening
10:00
Speaker 1: right now as well, and that's why I trust the
10:04
Speaker 1: guidance of the team at kirk Elliott. In fact, I
10:07
Speaker 1: literally just got a hundred ounce bar of silver the
10:11
Speaker 1: other day, and the reason why is because after I
10:13
Speaker 1: talk to the team at kirk Elliott Precious Metals, they
10:17
Speaker 1: let me understand exactly where I could have a big
10:20
Speaker 1: upside in investing in silver.
10:22
Speaker 2: Now.
10:22
Speaker 1: The other part that I love about them is this
10:25
Speaker 1: they have transparent pricing. There are a lot of gold
10:28
Speaker 1: companies that you'll hear about if you listen to talk
10:31
Speaker 1: radio or podcasts or watch TV, but do they tell
10:34
Speaker 1: you how the pricing actually works well. At kirk Elliott,
10:39
Speaker 1: they're real simple, just eight percent when you buy and
10:43
Speaker 1: zero commissions when you sell, with no hidden fees. Ever,
10:48
Speaker 1: that is the other reason why I recommend them to
10:50
Speaker 1: all of you. They also don't sell you quote rare
10:53
Speaker 1: coins or precious coins that you pay insane markups on
10:57
Speaker 1: and then when you go to sell them you find
10:59
Speaker 1: out they're really not worth that much. They are a
11:02
Speaker 1: bollyon only approach. They focus on investment grade medals, no
11:07
Speaker 1: overpriced collectibles, no gimmicks. That means you get more gold
11:12
Speaker 1: or silver for your money at fair value when it's
11:15
Speaker 1: time for you to sell. So if you're ready to
11:18
Speaker 1: find out if gold and silver is right for you
11:21
Speaker 1: and your portfolio, then call them and get a plan.
11:25
Speaker 1: You can visit them at k e PM dot com,
11:29
Speaker 1: slash ben that's k e PM dot com slash ben
11:35
Speaker 1: or seven two zero six oh five thirty nine hundred
11:40
Speaker 1: at seven two zero six oh five thirty nine hundred
11:45
Speaker 1: Kirk Elliott Precious Metals online at k e PM dot com.
11:52
Speaker 1: There is a lot of anger at the moment by
11:55
Speaker 1: the radical left and demand by the name of Senator
11:58
Speaker 1: Tommy Tuberville. Why because Tommy Tuverville is using logic and
12:04
Speaker 1: common sense on something that is actually pretty important, transportation center.
12:10
Speaker 1: Tommy Teverville is now pushing an Uber Act that would
12:14
Speaker 1: require English proficiency for ride shared drivers. Now, if you've
12:21
Speaker 1: ever been picked up by an Uber driver, who doesn't
12:23
Speaker 1: speak any English. You understand just how frustrating it can be,
12:27
Speaker 1: especially if it's the airport. You're in another city and
12:30
Speaker 1: you don't know what's happening, and then you have someone
12:33
Speaker 1: you cannot communicate with. I travel constantly and it is
12:38
Speaker 1: one of the biggest frustrations that I've had, either not
12:41
Speaker 1: being able to find me or not being able to
12:44
Speaker 1: get me to where I need to go and then
12:46
Speaker 1: saying sorry, no English. So Tommy Teverville isn't the only
12:51
Speaker 1: one that is paying attention to this. Constituents are as well,
12:55
Speaker 1: and that's why he's coming out and saying it is
12:58
Speaker 1: essential to ensure that ride shared drivers speak English. He
13:02
Speaker 1: said this during an appearance on a Bright Martin News
13:05
Speaker 1: Daily discussing is Understanding of Basic English Requirements Act or
13:09
Speaker 1: the UBER Act. When asked abad's proposal, Tallbvill said it
13:12
Speaker 1: covers any kind of delivery driving, pointing to the importance
13:16
Speaker 1: of doing this for truck drivers as well. First of all,
13:20
Speaker 1: we got the CDL done. The big truckers, you know
13:23
Speaker 1: you got to speak English, he said. Here's more of
13:26
Speaker 1: that conversation he had take a listen.
13:29
Speaker 4: The UBER Act. Understanding Basic English requirements for ride share drivers.
13:36
Speaker 4: So I'm assuming this also means like a door dash
13:38
Speaker 4: and stuff like that.
13:39
Speaker 6: So what's the deal here, anything Walmart delivery, anything to
13:43
Speaker 6: do with people driving. Okay, first of all, we got
13:47
Speaker 6: the CDL done. The big truckers. You know, you got
13:49
Speaker 6: to speak English and read English to drive. You can't
13:52
Speaker 6: read the signs, you're going to hurt somebody. And we've
13:54
Speaker 6: had minia wrecks because of people that Gavin Newsom in
13:58
Speaker 6: California has given his hand out these truck licenses and
14:01
Speaker 6: kill people because those things are weapons if you don't
14:03
Speaker 6: know what you're doing. Now, here's what's happening in Uber
14:07
Speaker 6: and Lyft. We have in a lot of areas in
14:10
Speaker 6: Alabama and in the South, in peak times for beaches
14:16
Speaker 6: and all those things, you're having an influx of people
14:18
Speaker 6: coming from other countries, and a lot of them Muslim
14:21
Speaker 6: that come in. Sixty seventy of them live in four
14:24
Speaker 6: or five houses. They pass their visas around to each
14:27
Speaker 6: one of them, and they pass their driver's license around.
14:31
Speaker 6: They can't speak English and they drive uber and Lyft
14:34
Speaker 6: and folks, we got to stop it because you know,
14:38
Speaker 6: if you can't communicate with somebody. I've had Walmart people
14:41
Speaker 6: delivering to my house that they'll call I can't what
14:45
Speaker 6: are you talking about? I mean they're lost, they can't
14:48
Speaker 6: read the signs. We have got to protect the citizens
14:51
Speaker 6: of this country. And that's what this bill is about.
14:53
Speaker 6: If you can't speak English and take an English driving test,
14:57
Speaker 6: you do not get a driver's license. You do not
15:00
Speaker 6: drive people around for left and Uber doesn't happen, or Walmart.
15:06
Speaker 4: The So it's the danger issue. But it seems like
15:10
Speaker 4: it seems like if you're an illegal alien, the easiest
15:14
Speaker 4: job or the quickest job that you can get is
15:16
Speaker 4: to work for door dash or whatever. So we got
15:20
Speaker 4: to stop that, right is that is that one of
15:22
Speaker 4: the motives too, is to just turn off a bit
15:24
Speaker 4: of a magnet for illegals.
15:26
Speaker 6: You give people jobs that live in this country, because
15:30
Speaker 6: now you'll have a lot of people come from other
15:32
Speaker 6: countries that are they're illegal here and they're doing door
15:35
Speaker 6: dash and all that because it's the only thing they
15:37
Speaker 6: can get a job doing. But it again, it takes
15:39
Speaker 6: away from people in this country that are citizens that
15:43
Speaker 6: can make a living. And you know it's they make
15:47
Speaker 6: penies on the dollar. And these people love it this
15:50
Speaker 6: cheap labor. But that's part of our problem with immigration
15:52
Speaker 6: in this country.
15:55
Speaker 1: You hear what Tommy Tuberville is saying here, and part
15:57
Speaker 1: of it, I want to go back to you, says.
15:58
Speaker 1: We have a lot of areas in Alabama that's where
16:00
Speaker 1: he's a center of in the South, and peak times
16:03
Speaker 1: for beaches and all these things. We're having an influx
16:05
Speaker 1: people coming from other countries, and a lot of people
16:08
Speaker 1: that are coming in, he said, a lot of them Musslim.
16:10
Speaker 1: They come in, sixty seventy of them live in four
16:12
Speaker 1: or five houses. They pass their visas around to each other,
16:16
Speaker 1: each one of them, and they pass their driver's licenses around.
16:20
Speaker 1: They can't speak English, and they drive uber and lyft,
16:23
Speaker 1: so they're basically one person gets in and then they
16:26
Speaker 1: just basically fake it. He said, we got to stop
16:29
Speaker 1: it because if you can't communicate with somebody, and he
16:32
Speaker 1: goes back to what he said about Walmart, I got
16:34
Speaker 1: people delivering to my house and they're loss they can't
16:36
Speaker 1: read the signs. We've got to protect the citizens of
16:39
Speaker 1: this country, and that's what this bill is about. If
16:41
Speaker 1: you can't speak English and you and take an English
16:44
Speaker 1: driving test, you do not get a driver's license, and
16:47
Speaker 1: you do not drive people around for Lyft and Uber.
16:50
Speaker 1: This all goes back to by the way of the CDL.
16:53
Speaker 1: You got big truckers.
16:54
Speaker 2: They can't speak English, they can't read the English signs.
16:58
Speaker 1: How is that safe? If you can't read the signs,
17:00
Speaker 1: you're gonna hurt somebody. We've seen people die because of this,
17:03
Speaker 1: and we've had a lot of racks, a lot of
17:05
Speaker 1: this because of California Gavin Newsom given handing out these
17:09
Speaker 1: these CDLs to people.
17:11
Speaker 2: They're killing people on our roadways. We know this.
17:14
Speaker 1: These eighteen wheelers, these rigs are weapons. They will take
17:19
Speaker 1: your life if you don't know what you're doing, and
17:22
Speaker 1: if you can't speak English, it is a problem. This
17:26
Speaker 1: is also and I go back to exploiting. Why is
17:30
Speaker 1: it that Uber and Lyft and door dash have so
17:35
Speaker 1: many illegal immigrant drivers. It's the easiest way to get
17:38
Speaker 1: a job. You can lie about it. We see people
17:41
Speaker 1: that lie about it, and they and not the person
17:43
Speaker 1: that you think is picking you up, is picking you up.
17:45
Speaker 1: They share these cars and these licenses and they're there
17:48
Speaker 1: just to get, you know, exploit the system any way
17:51
Speaker 1: they possibly can.
17:53
Speaker 2: I think this is for me a no brainer.
17:59
Speaker 1: I think for me, this is just straight up common sense.
18:04
Speaker 1: For me, this is one of those where it's like,
18:07
Speaker 1: I want people to be safe. If you are taking
18:11
Speaker 1: an uber and a lift, I believe that you should
18:13
Speaker 1: be able to feel safe. And what does it mean
18:17
Speaker 1: to feel safe? Means the person that's picking up you
18:20
Speaker 1: can communicate with, like, I think that's really, really, really,
18:22
Speaker 1: really incredibly important. I think it's for others around you
18:28
Speaker 1: that maybe even don't know.
18:29
Speaker 2: Who you are, feel safe as well.
18:32
Speaker 1: Knowing that there are people on the roadways that are
18:34
Speaker 1: not going to make a mistake because they cannot speak English,
18:38
Speaker 1: because they cannot read the signs, there is a reckoning
18:45
Speaker 1: is maybe the best way that I can describe it
18:47
Speaker 1: that I think is happening right now where we are
18:50
Speaker 1: genuinely going back to common sense instead of this insanity.
18:58
Speaker 1: I think people now care more about safety than they
19:01
Speaker 1: have in a very long time.
19:02
Speaker 2: I'll give you another example of this.
19:04
Speaker 1: The FAA says it's launching one of the biggest air
19:08
Speaker 1: traffic controller hiring pushes in decades, aiming to bring on
19:12
Speaker 1: about eight thousand, nine hundred new controllers by twenty twenty eight.
19:17
Speaker 1: As part of a supercharge effort back by Sean Daffy,
19:21
Speaker 1: the Transition Secretary. The agency hired twenty twenty six controllers
19:25
Speaker 1: in the fiscal year twenty twenty five, beating its goal
19:28
Speaker 1: of two thousand after bringing in eighteen hundred the year before.
19:33
Speaker 1: They have plans to hire more than twenty two hundred
19:35
Speaker 1: next year. They're trying to fill every seat at its
19:38
Speaker 1: training academy in Oklahoma City, and they say even with
19:42
Speaker 1: a searche the system will still fill tight. FA workforce
19:46
Speaker 1: plans and outside analysis say the agency is roughly three
19:49
Speaker 1: thousand and thirty five one hundred controllers short of where
19:54
Speaker 1: it wants to be, with many facilities relying on mandatory
19:56
Speaker 1: overtime in six to eight weeks work weeks to keep
20:00
Speaker 1: scheduling running, retirements, early exits, and high wash out rates
20:04
Speaker 1: in training mean that even hiring the nearly nine thousand
20:08
Speaker 1: new controllers by the end of twenty twenty eight would
20:10
Speaker 1: result in a net gain of only about one thousand
20:12
Speaker 1: additional certified controllers in the FA ranks, according to the
20:16
Speaker 1: agency's own forecasts. They're trying to get ahead of it here,
20:21
Speaker 1: and this is again about safety for travelers. They say
20:25
Speaker 1: this is a backstory behind a lot of staffing delay messages.
20:30
Speaker 1: When there's not enough controllers on a shift, the FA
20:33
Speaker 1: slows the rate of arrivals and departures.
20:35
Speaker 2: Many of you have been affected by that.
20:36
Speaker 1: I have during travel recently outside the government shut down
20:40
Speaker 1: by the way, which can back up flights for hours.
20:42
Speaker 1: And the new hiring push is meant to chip away
20:44
Speaker 1: at that problem, they say, while the agency also modernize
20:48
Speaker 1: old computer systems, and officials admit it will take years
20:52
Speaker 1: before passengers really feel the difference because they're so far
20:55
Speaker 1: behind now. For now, they say, the US is trying
20:58
Speaker 1: to rebuild a controller workforce that was allowed to shrink
21:01
Speaker 1: for far too long, certainly under the Biden administration, but
21:05
Speaker 1: even before that, there were warning signs, and people didn't
21:09
Speaker 1: pay attention to those warning signs. So if you look
21:12
Speaker 1: at these two issues, one of the things I'll say
21:14
Speaker 1: is when the president is clearly focused on what he
21:17
Speaker 1: can do now to help you, but also what he
21:20
Speaker 1: can do to make you safer, and he's inherited a
21:23
Speaker 1: lot of problems and he's doing everything he can to
21:26
Speaker 1: fix those problems.
21:28
Speaker 2: I love where we're headed with this. I hate that
21:31
Speaker 2: we're there.
21:32
Speaker 1: I hate that this is the reality of the situation,
21:33
Speaker 1: but I love where we are headed.
21:38
Speaker 2: It is big news.
21:39
Speaker 1: The White House is unveiling a new healthcare framework. They say,
21:43
Speaker 1: we'll lower costs for all Americans. This after the debacle
21:48
Speaker 1: that was exposed during the government shutdown of just how
21:52
Speaker 1: much money we are spending to subsidize the Affordable Care Act,
21:57
Speaker 1: which is anything but adable. The Trump White House, were
22:02
Speaker 1: now being told, is expected to unveil a healthcare policy
22:06
Speaker 1: framework that not only wou lower costs, but also extend
22:10
Speaker 1: expiring Obamacare subsidies while they figure out how to move forward.
22:16
Speaker 1: Ms Now and Politico reported both that the healthcare policy
22:20
Speaker 1: framework would include a two year extension of the expiring
22:25
Speaker 1: Enhanced Premium tax credits. Those are the subsidies that you're
22:30
Speaker 1: paying for yees. So Obamacare is not cheap at all.
22:33
Speaker 1: It did not make things more affordable at all. In fact,
22:37
Speaker 1: it made the healthcare insurance providers rich at the expense
22:42
Speaker 1: of you, the tax payer. We also know that there'll
22:46
Speaker 1: be enhanced Obamacare's subsidies, which would otherwise expire at the
22:51
Speaker 1: end of the year. The proposal could be unveiled as
22:54
Speaker 1: early as this coming Monday. A White House spokesman declined
22:58
Speaker 1: to confirm the details of the plan, stating, quote, until
23:03
Speaker 1: President Trump makes an announcement himself, any reporting about the
23:06
Speaker 1: administration's healthcare positions is mere speculation. But here's what we
23:11
Speaker 1: are learning through background. The plan apparently with lower limits
23:16
Speaker 1: on income eligibility for credits, and that would save American
23:21
Speaker 1: taxpayers a significant amount of money. It would also, I'm
23:25
Speaker 1: being told, set minimum premium payments as well.
23:29
Speaker 2: According to multiple reports.
23:32
Speaker 1: The proposed eligibility cap would set the subsidies to seven
23:36
Speaker 1: hundred percent of the federal poverty line. Republicans have complained
23:42
Speaker 1: that with the Colone Obama here in hands subsison scheme,
23:45
Speaker 1: wealthy Americans would benefit from the subseason what was meant
23:49
Speaker 1: to be only temporary.
23:51
Speaker 2: Why were they temporary?
23:53
Speaker 1: It was during the COVID nineteen coronavirus outbreak when they
23:57
Speaker 1: had these extra benefits. That now did Democrats want to
24:00
Speaker 1: make well lasts forever? Which is insane. The White House
24:05
Speaker 1: plan also would urge Congress to fund cost sharing reductions
24:12
Speaker 1: and plans, which Republicans pushed for in the Big Beautiful Bill,
24:17
Speaker 1: but were next after Senate Democrats objected to its inclusion
24:21
Speaker 1: in Trump's landmark legislation, believing it violated rules on budgetary reconciliation.
24:27
Speaker 1: They claimed, Now here's the other part that's very interesting
24:31
Speaker 1: about this. The Congressional Budget Office found that these healthcare
24:36
Speaker 1: reforms would have lowered healthcare premiums by twelve point seven
24:42
Speaker 1: percent and reduce costs by decreasing the need for Obamacare
24:48
Speaker 1: and the welfare of the government for the epcts known
24:52
Speaker 1: as the subsidies for Obamacare. The plans would have also
24:57
Speaker 1: lowered the costs if this CRS plan would have been
25:00
Speaker 1: put into effect by thirty point eight billion dollars. Now
25:05
Speaker 1: that's literally thirty point eight billion dollars. It would have
25:07
Speaker 1: saved you the tax payer, and that is exactly why
25:11
Speaker 1: Democrats were against it. Now, the Trump proposal would also
25:16
Speaker 1: have part of their tax credits goes straight to Americans
25:20
Speaker 1: via tax advantage savings accounts instead of the checks going
25:24
Speaker 1: directly to healthcare insurance companies that are getting rich. To
25:28
Speaker 1: lower America's premium indirectly, the President probably would like to
25:33
Speaker 1: go bigger. Then the Hill has the appetite for. So
25:38
Speaker 1: we'll have to see how that. You know, how it
25:41
Speaker 1: works out, is what the White House WI Chief of
25:43
Speaker 1: Staff James Blair said last week talking about the reforms
25:48
Speaker 1: that need to be made, what we also know is
25:51
Speaker 1: the White House Fichief of Staff says that President Trump
25:54
Speaker 1: would love to push for healthcare reform in a way
25:57
Speaker 1: that would be meaningful, saying, quote, we're going to have
26:00
Speaker 1: to have the healthcare conversation.
26:03
Speaker 2: We're going to put some legislation forward.
26:06
Speaker 1: The debut chiefs said there could be interest in bi
26:09
Speaker 1: Parson reform. However, he said if that path is foreclosed,
26:14
Speaker 1: there is the Parson path of reconciliation as well. The
26:18
Speaker 1: President probably would like to go big, because there needs
26:21
Speaker 1: to be big reforms. Republican lawmakers have said they believe
26:25
Speaker 1: the right House will release a framework to lower health
26:28
Speaker 1: insurance costs, expand health savings accounts, and scrap parts of
26:33
Speaker 1: the Affordable Care Act that are just flat out unsustainable.
26:36
Speaker 1: In fact, much of the Obamacare program is unsustainable without
26:41
Speaker 1: record tax dollars going to prop it up. As I
26:45
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, there's nothing affordable about the Affordable Care Act now.
26:51
Speaker 1: The White House also signaled that the President's interest in
26:53
Speaker 1: healthcare reform is something he believes could be a massive
26:58
Speaker 1: change for the mare and people. A slide deck shared
27:02
Speaker 1: by the House Majority leaders Stieve Scalise this last week
27:06
Speaker 1: made it clear that House GOP leadership also falls in
27:10
Speaker 1: the overhaul camp. One slide that was viewed by Politico
27:14
Speaker 1: was titled the Unaffordable Care Act and highlighted statistics that
27:18
Speaker 1: show the premiums have increased by eighty percent since the
27:23
Speaker 1: ACA passage aka since Obamacare became law. It also claimed
27:28
Speaker 1: that more than fifty percent of Obamacare and rollees did
27:33
Speaker 1: not file a single claim this year. Walking into the meeting,
27:39
Speaker 1: Scalise said in a brief interview that he planned to
27:42
Speaker 1: keep talking with the chairs of three key committees of
27:45
Speaker 1: jurisdiction over health policy. That would be Ways and Means,
27:49
Speaker 1: Energy and Commerce, Education, and the workforce. Now, healthcare became
27:54
Speaker 1: a focal point in the national politics as Democrats shut
27:58
Speaker 1: the government down, as I mentioned earlier for weeks over
28:01
Speaker 1: what they described as mandatory Obamacare subsidies. They were not mandatory.
28:05
Speaker 1: They were enhanced during COVID, and they will expire on purpose.
28:10
Speaker 1: The Democrats planned this way. At the end of the year.
28:14
Speaker 1: Democrats first enhanced these substies through one point nine trillion.
28:19
Speaker 1: Let me say that again, one point nine trillion in
28:23
Speaker 1: coronavirus era stimulus plans, including the American Rescue Plan. They
28:29
Speaker 1: continue the subsease through the end of twenty twenty five
28:33
Speaker 1: with the so called Inflation Reduction Act that did anything
28:36
Speaker 1: but that. Trump weighed in on the issue, stating that
28:39
Speaker 1: healthcare dollars should go directly to the American people instead
28:44
Speaker 1: of through subsidies to health insurance companies, saying it this
28:48
Speaker 1: way on social media quote, the only healthcare I will
28:52
Speaker 1: support or approve is sending the money directly back to
28:56
Speaker 1: the people, with nothing going to the big, fat rich
29:00
Speaker 1: insurance companies who have made trillions and ripped off America.
29:05
Speaker 1: Long enough, the people will be allowed to negotiate and
29:10
Speaker 1: by their own much better insurance. Power to the people. Congress,
29:16
Speaker 1: do not waste your time and energy on anything else.
29:20
Speaker 1: This is the only way to have great healthcare in America.
29:25
Speaker 1: The Republican Set of Community chairman said that a second
29:28
Speaker 1: reconciliation bill should address affordability, which should include healthcare reform,
29:35
Speaker 1: saying the Democrats are incapable of coming up with a
29:38
Speaker 1: plan that is competitive, transparent, and actually reduces costs wine
29:45
Speaker 1: because they're lining the pockets of their friends in the
29:49
Speaker 1: healthcare provider industry, and they know that as long as
29:53
Speaker 1: the government's willing to send them the check, they get
29:56
Speaker 1: rich every single time the money comes into their accounts.
30:00
Speaker 1: This also just goes back to consumer choice and freedom.
30:05
Speaker 1: The President believes that you, as an American, deserve to
30:07
Speaker 1: have your money and then you can put it to
30:09
Speaker 1: work the way that you decide to do it, in
30:12
Speaker 1: a more responsible manner than the corruption of the government.
30:15
Speaker 1: Doctor Mark Siegel on Fox News Channel talking about exactly this,
30:19
Speaker 1: and here is what he had to say on Fox
30:22
Speaker 1: News Sunday.
30:24
Speaker 7: But I can't get your treatments.
30:25
Speaker 5: What about this idea that the President has floated about
30:28
Speaker 5: the money that flows into a lot of these subsidies,
30:30
Speaker 5: instead of paying the insurance companies, going direct to the
30:33
Speaker 5: consumer and letting them take the money with them where
30:35
Speaker 5: they choose.
30:36
Speaker 7: He's gotten a lot of criticism for that, but he's
30:38
Speaker 7: on the right track because it would give the consumer
30:41
Speaker 7: more control of the situation. Health Savings Accouncil part of
30:44
Speaker 7: this being able to buy your own insurance, making it
30:47
Speaker 7: affordable and you choose a marketplace idea more. It's not
30:51
Speaker 7: quite that simple. That's a huge step in the right direction, well.
30:55
Speaker 1: What are your odds do you so at the end
30:57
Speaker 1: of the day, there are two options. Either you as
31:00
Speaker 1: an American, say no, no, no government, just be in charge
31:03
Speaker 1: of my life, doesn't matter how much it costs.
31:05
Speaker 2: Just you be in charge of my healthcare.
31:07
Speaker 1: Or there's the Donald Trump plan, which is he believes
31:10
Speaker 1: that you, as an American, should decide what is best
31:12
Speaker 1: for you, that you should spend your money in a
31:15
Speaker 1: way that is well more responsible than what the government
31:18
Speaker 1: does each and every day, and he believes that prices
31:22
Speaker 1: will lower significantly if you do it that way. I
31:26
Speaker 1: think many Americans have made it clear that they like
31:29
Speaker 1: the way the President is describing this and the amount
31:32
Speaker 1: of corruption that we are witnessing from those in the
31:35
Speaker 1: Democratic Party and in government who are overspending your tax
31:39
Speaker 1: dollars and what are you actually getting in return, Not
31:43
Speaker 1: a lot for your money.
31:45
Speaker 2: And that's where we are today.
31:47
Speaker 1: Don't forget to share this podcast, by the way, with
31:49
Speaker 1: your family and your friends on social media wherever you
31:51
Speaker 1: can hit that subscribe or auto download button and I'll
31:55
Speaker 1: talk to you again tomorrow.