Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Trump Outpaces Bush, Obama in Own-Party Love plus Obamacare 'Paying People Who May Not Exist'

Transcript

Trump Outpaces Bush, Obama in Own-Party Love plus Obamacare 'Paying People Who May Not Exist' · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: If you listen to the media, you would think that
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump has lost all support from the Republican Party
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: because of the war in Iran. Well, guess what they're
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: lying to you yet again, in fact, it is a
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: massive story just how unified the Republican Party remains behind
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: President Donald Trump. And the media is spending an enormous
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: amount of time focusing on overall approval ratings. The more
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: revealing political number is this support inside of the Republican
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Party is massive. President Trump is in an exceptionally strong territory.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Several recent polls now show that Trump's approval among Republicans
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: is actually around ninety percent, putting him ahead of where
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: other twenty first century presidents stood with their own party
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: at a similar point in their presidencies. Multiple polls comparing
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Republican and Democrat presidents over time have found Trump's Republican
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: support is exceeding the levels seen for presidents like George W. Bush,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Barack Obama on the Democrat side, and even Joe Biden
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: within their own political coalitions. That is a staggering number,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: and of course the media is not talking about it. Now,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: what does that actually mean, Well, it means this President
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Trump has now been one of the most scrutinized political
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: figures in modern political history. And let's be clear, Donald
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Trump has gone through not one but two presidential terms,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: multiple campaigns to get there. He's gone through impeachment proceedings
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: multiple times, criminal prosecutions multiple times, civil lawsuits, and then
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: the constant media attacks and then the countless political battles
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: within the party and outside as well. And yet after
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: all of that, Republican voters have not abandoned him. If anything,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: they become more consolidated, more loyal behind him. That is
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: politically significant because party unity is often one of the
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: most strongest predictors of a president's influence inside of Washington.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: When a president enjoys overwhelming support from his own voters,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: members of Congress have strong incentives to stay aligned with
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: the president's agenda, even CNN having to admit this with
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: their posters saying how shocking the numbers are compared to
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: other Democrats.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Republicans love Donald Trump more than any president's own party
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: supporters loved him at this particular point.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: Just take a look here, okay, own party.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Supporters twenty first century president's own party approval about at
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: this point the second term Bush was at seventy seven percent.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Obama was at seventy seven percent. Look at this, eighty
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: six percent of Republicans approve of the job that Donald
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Trump is doing at this point. That is higher than
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: either Obama or Bush had within their own party at
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: this point. Trump's magic touch has not seen the war
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: off yet when it comes to the Republican base.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: And what kind of approval are we talking about here?
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Okay, so we're talking about overall approval here, how about
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: the strongly approved, the strongly approved, not just like but
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: love love. Okay, We're going to look at these same
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: presidents again, strong approval among your own parties base, which
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: you see Here's Trump is the only one who gets
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: the majority at this point in their presidency.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Obama was at.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Forty eight percent, Bush was at forty seven percent. You
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: see here Trump at fifty three percent, not as high
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: as overall approval rating, but still getting a majority of
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: the Republican base at least in the average of polls
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: to say that they still really really really.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Like him, ahead of Bush, ahead of Obama, ahead of Biden.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: And yet the media is telling you there's a massive
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: revolt against Donald Trump from the right isn't it weird
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: how they just lie to you about that?
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: So what does this mean overall?
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Well, Republican lawmakers they understand that as long as Donald
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Trump's supporters are highly engaged and highly motivated and incredibly loyal,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: that gives the president consider leverage when pushing for legislation
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: and then also backing candidates and primaries or shaping the
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: party's message heading into future elections. It's also important to
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: separate two different measures here. Overall national approval measures well,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: that is how all Americans view the president. Those numbers
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: are well naturally much lower because they include Democrats, Republicans,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: and independence together, and many times those national polls are
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: also skewed. But recent national polls have shown Trump's overall
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: approval is well below his Republican approval. That is normal,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: by the way, that's what a divided country looks like.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: But in the inside of the Republican Party itself, the
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: people that elect you the story, it is completely different.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Polling has consistently placed Republican approval around nine out of
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: ten Republicans. That's how many approve of Trump's job performance.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: And this in includes pulling that's been done after he
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: made sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: and gas prices of spike because of that war. Many
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: of the surveys showing even higher support among Republicans who
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: identify with the MAGA movement.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: So those that say.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: It's time for Tuger Carlson isolationism, well, guess what it's not.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: And clearly the Republican Party trusts the president over those
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: that are saying abandon Israel, abandon going after Iran if
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: they're getting a nuclear weapon. Now, presidents often see erosion
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: within their own party as difficult policy fights accumulate international
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: divisions over things like spending in foreign policy and immigration
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: or economic issues. But what we're seeing here is Trump,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: even as he's taking on these tough issues, is avoiding
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: this dynamic that has been well a staple in political history.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: He has the Republican voters behind him because they genuinely
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: trust him. Now, this political coalition behind him is also
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: remarkably stable despite an extraordinary number of headline making events,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: and for Republicans that translates into confidence going into the
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: midterm elections, and Trump remains the party's dominant national figure.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: It's clear he's on the ballot for the midterms. And
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: wrapping himself in candidates that will push the America First agenda.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: For Democrats, it also presents a major strategic challenge because
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: it means there's very little daylight between Trump and the
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Republican grassroots. Whether Republicans are discussing immigration or border security,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: or tax policy, or inflation, or energy or energy production,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: or even judicial appointments, Donald Trump is continuing to define
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: much of the party's agenda. So the bottom line from
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: all of this is pretty simple. National approval ratings tell
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: one story about a polarized country. Republican approval ratings tell
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: an entirely different story. And the second story is that
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump continues to command one of the strongest levels
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: of support from his own party of any president of.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: The twenty first century.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: At this point in a presidency that is history breaking.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: The level of party unity gives them significant political influence
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: heading into the next major legislative battles and the election cycle.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: So the next time you hear the well media tell
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: you there's some sort of massive revolt against Trump from
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: the right, just know they're lying to you. They are
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: straight up lying to you, and they know it, and
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: they're happy to lie to you. For one reason, because
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: they're doing anything they can to try to undermine and
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: attack the president of the United States of America so
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: that the America First agenda will disappear. There's also been
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: a ton of talk recently about taxes, about immigration, about
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: foreign policy, and about Supreme Court decisions coming down. But
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: there's one story about religious liberty that you really need
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: to know about. President Trump is trying to follow through
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: on many of his recommendations made by his Religious Liberty Commission.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: It actually could fundamentally change how the federal government treats
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Americans whose religious beliefs will conflict with government mandates, including
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: healthcare workers and members of the United States military. A
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: lot of this goes back to COVID nineteen in the
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: COVID vaccine well. Last week, the commission that's chaired by
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: the Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and the vice chair,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: doctor Ben Carson, delivered its final report to President Trump
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: in the Oval Office after spending more than a year
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: holding seven hearings and hearing testimony for more than one
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: hundred different witnesses. The commission was created in twenty twenty
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: five to identify threats to religious liberty and then recommend
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: legislative and regulatory and executive actions. This is exactly by
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: the way how government should work, and the report it's
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: pretty amazing. Not only does it cover schools and parents
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: and faith based organizations and anti Semitism and the workplace,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: but two sections could have enormous consequences. They deal with
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: health care and the US military. So let's start with
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: health care. The Commission recommended significant expanded protections not only
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: for doctors, but nurses, pharmacists, hospitals, and then other medical
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: professionals who object on religious or moral grounds to participating
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: in certain medical procedures. Among its recommendations are stronger enforcement
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: of federal conscience laws and support for legislation such as
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: the Conscientious Protection Act, as well as more aggressive investigations
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Civil Rights, as well as strategic litigation by the Department
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: of Justice, not only to defend healthcare workers but their
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: religious freedoms. They were trampled all over by the last
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: administration and during COVID nineteen mandates of Yes the Vaccine
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Now supporters are making it clear they believe no Americans
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: should have to choose between their deeply held religious beliefs
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: and literally providing for their families losing their careers. Critics,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: of course, on the radical left. They argue that expanding
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: conscientious protections will just make it more difficult for some
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: patients to access certain medical services.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: Well, regardless of wherever.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: You stand on that, this is a major policy debate
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: that is going to reshape because of Trump's leadership on
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: health care employment across the entire country. And then there's
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: the second part of this, and that's the military. The
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: commission recommends streamlining and then strengthening the religious accommodations process
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: for service members. It also highlights testimony from top military
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: personnel who said they suffered career setbacks, lost benefits, or
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: were even forced out of our service after refusing a
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: simple COVID nineteen vaccination requirement, even after they stated it
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: was on religious grounds. Now, you've got to remember the
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: COVID years, you had not hundreds, but thousands military members
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: that requested religious exemptions for vaccine requirements for the COVID
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: nineteen shot some requests and the majority actually were denied.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Some service members were then forced to leave the military. Now,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: others argued that they were effectively forced out of their
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: career that they had been spending decades building and serving
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: their country. And that's where the Commission's report comes in.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: They said, those stories illustrate why stronger protections are not
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: only needed because in the future, and yes, with future administrations,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: there will be a Democrat at some point back in
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: the White House. They said, the future administrations cannot, and
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: the Commission's view unnecessarily burden the free exercise of religion.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: And then that is where it really comes back to
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: COVID nineteen vaccine and the debate. The report itself, i
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: want to be clear, does not recommend banning vaccine mandates. Instead,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: it recommends making religious accommodation requests that are really actually
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: just more meaningful, and ensuring that when you do make
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: that request, if you're serving in our military or at
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: our hospitals, that you receive greater legal protection in both
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: civilian health care and military settings. Now, if those recommendations
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: are actually implemented through executive action or legislation, the next
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: time the federal government considers a nationwide healthcare mandate, which
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: is exactly what happened under the liberal leadership in this country,
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: then agencies may face a much higher bar for denying
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: religious exemption requests and that potentially is a very significant
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: change and one for the better. The Commission also earned
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: testimony from workers, including military service members, who said, not
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: only do they lose their jobs, but they lost pensions,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: they lost retirement opportunities, and yeah, then they lost their
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: jobs because they declined the COVID nineteen vaccines based on
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: religious grounds. Now those accounts are cited as evidence that
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: it's clear that we need stronger safeguards that are desperately
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: needed and warranted. The report also goes well beyond COVID.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: It also recommends that the Department of Justice, the Department
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: of Health and Human Services, and the Equal Employment Opportunity
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Commission developed know your Rights materials and create hotlines and
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: online reporting systems for people who actually believe that the
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: religious liberties have then been violated and that could even
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: be the federal government doing it. It also proposes honoring
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: it individuals who had defended religious liberty through new presidential
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: awards and calls for additional education about First Amendment protections. Now,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: President Trump has already come out praising the Commission during
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: the Oval Office presentation of all of this, saying that
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: the administration intends to strengthen religious liberty protections for all
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Americans and emphasize that freedom of religion is central to
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: the country's constitutional rights and constitutional traditions. Not going to
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: be very clear, none of these recommendations automatically become law.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: That's why I'm telling you about it right now. Some
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: of these could be pursed through executive action, others could
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: require Congress's approval, and others will likely face significant court challenges.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Why because Democrats are going to sue on all of this.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: But what the President has now laid out is a
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: roadmap that could shape federal policy for decades to come.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: And clearly he's willing to fight this battle. And if
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: you're a supporter, then you see these recommendations as not
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: only restoring what you believe is the original meeting of
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: the First Amendment free exercise clause, but also about better
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: protecting Americans from actually being penalized because of sincerely held
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: religious beliefs. Now, the left, they're angry. They say all
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: this is is a shift in the balance of power
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: between religious liberty and other legal protections. They say it's
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: creating new conflicts over access to service and equal treatment
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: under the law. Those debates. Well, they're going to want
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: to have them, I think will win. But what is
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: clear is that the Commission has now placed religious liberties
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: squarely at the center of a national conversation, and when
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: it comes to healthcare workers and members of the military,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: these implications could be substantial. That's why you should be excited.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: If all of these recommendations are actually adopted. Future administrations
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: will then face greater legal constraints before requiring you to
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: comply with policies that conflict with sincerely held religious beliefs,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: particularly in areas like public health mandates as well as
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: medical ethics. Now, whether you view this as a restoration
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: of your constitutional protections you already had, or a significant
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: policy shift, it's a debate about well just the beginning
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: of all of this, and one of these that could
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: have a huge impact on healthcare as well as the
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: armed forces, and then dealing with the other big issue,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: the scope of religious accommodations in America. This all will
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: have a big impact for years to come and will
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: probably impact not only your kids, but maybe even your
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: grandkids when they're born. That's why Donald Trump clearly is
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: wanting to have this argument, this fight, this debate right now,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: because if we don't have this debate now, what happens
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: the next time is a COVID esque outbreak. What happens
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: when they come up with a vaccine quickly? Are you
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: going to be forced to take that vaccine or lose
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: your job? Will that happen to thousands and thousands of
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: American soldiers? And that's part of why this commission is
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: doing their work right now and giving these recommendations the
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: President of the United States of America. We already know
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: the President says yes to these types of recommendations. He's
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: the one signed the alarm about abuse of power by
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: the Democratic Party, the Socialists, and the Marxist in Washington,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: d C. One of the biggest stories happening in Washington
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: right now isn't getting nearly the attention that it deserves,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: because if the numbers being released by the Trump administration
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: are holding up the way that it looks like we're
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: talking about billions of taxpayer dollars and what officials describe
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: as one of the largest government fraud problems in recent history.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: This past weekend, Health and here Woman's Services Secretary RFK Junior,
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator, Doctor Oz
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: announced that more than one million Affordable Care Act marketplace
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: enrollments do not have a social Security number on file.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: Let me say that again, one million.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: People that signed up for Obamacare did not have a
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: social Security number. They described that figure as a major
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: warning sign for fraud and said it reflects years of
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: weekend program integrity. Now, it's important to take note that
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: not every enrollment lacking a social Security number has been
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: proven fraudulent yet, but Secretary Kennedy and Oz argue that
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: the absence of that information is automatically a significant and
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: massive red flag that should have triggered much stronger verification
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: years ago. According to the administration, investigators s to mate
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: that now, Obamacare fraud and improper enrollment has been costing
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: taxpayers roughly ten billion dollars every year during the.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: Past several years.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: That's money that officials say should have gone to eligible
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: Americans instead of improper and fraudulent claims. Now, Doctor Oz
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: and RFK Junior put out this message to the American people,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: explaining the fraud that they are now witnessing and exposing.
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: Healthcare fraud and corruption effect millions of Americans and maybe
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: even you. The Obamacare marketplace is plagued by fraud, in
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: large part because the Biden administration dismantled basic program integrity
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: guard rails all partisan lawfare blocked common sense efforts to
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: protect taxpayers. Today, doctor Oz and I are exposing one
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: of the latest examples of fraud that we've uncovered. More
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: than a million people enrolled in Obamacare with that was
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: a social Security numbers on file. Is a glaring warning
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: side of fraud. If even a single person was on
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: Obamacare with no social Security number, we should have found out.
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: Why are we paying people we don't know if they
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: actually exist.
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: Shady insurance agents and other bad actors have been getting
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: paid to enroll unsuspecting Americans and health plans they never
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: signed up for. These rogue agents have been flooding into
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: healthcare dot gov that's the Obamacare marketplace. They submit applications
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: for fake people, enroll stolen identities, all to collect millions
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: of dollars improper fees from insurance companies for selling plans
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: they never legitimately sold. Some of these agents refused to
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: follow basic rules like providing their clients social Security number. That,
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: my friends, is a huge red flag.
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: These fraudsters deliberately picked plans with no premiums. No premiums
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: means no bill. No bill means most people never know
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: that they've been enrolled in a plan that you and
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: I are paying for or with our taxplayer dollars. The
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: only people who benefit are the fraudsters.
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: The Trump administration has zero tolerance for that. So here's
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: what we're doing about it. And maybe we took swift
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: action to block this fraudulent behavior directly on healthcare dot
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: gom and to our marketplace call center. If an agent
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: wants to be paid, they must follow the rules, noifs
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: ands or butts. They are going to have to provide
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: government verified information for their clients to be enrolled.
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: Thanks to this aggressive enforcement strategy, we've already elimited thousands
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: of fraudulent policies and we're just getting started. We're also
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: working with insurers to cancel every policy that should never
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: have been issued and recover every taxpayer dollar that was
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: fraudulently paid out.
• 21:42
  Speaker 5: We're also scaling up our enforcement efforts to prevent these
• 21:45
  Speaker 5: bad actors from finding new ways to manipulate the system
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: ahead of the open enrollment system this fall.
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: Because we know the bad actors. Don't sip.
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: We stop when you cut off one vulnerable area. The
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: Biden administration let healthcare frosters run wild. Thanks President Trump,
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: those days are over to.
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: Every unscrupulous insurance agent and fraudster exploiting the American people.
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: Here's our message. If you steal from the American taxpayer,
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: or if you defraud American families, AGHS will find you
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: and we will hold you accountable.
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: If you're a froster, here's our advice to you. Do
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: not walk away from us, run because we are going
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: to find you.
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: We're just getting started. This is the American people's health,
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: this is the American people's money, and the Trump administration
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: is committed to protecting both.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Now, I want you to just go back to the
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: number and think about this real quick. They're saying roughly
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: ten billion every year during the past several years. Ten
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: billion dollars. Now, that's not pocket change. That's enough money
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: to build schools, to repair our roads, hire thousands of
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: law enforcement officers, which would be an amazing idea, or
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: significantly even reduce the federal deficit, which apparently no one's
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: been thinking about. But instead, the administration argues much of
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: it was lost and we're not going to get this
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: money back because of oversight systems that weren't working as intended. Now,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: was that on purpose? There's a very good chance the
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: answer is going to come out to be yes. The
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: Democrats said, Hey, we want Obamacare to fill our friends
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: coffers with cash and then they'll support us. Now, you
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: may say that, Ben, that's a crazy idea. It's actually
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: no different than the waste fraud and abuse that we
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: have witnessed first hand in Minnesota, the waste fraud abuse
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: that we've seen with Medicare and Medicaid in California and
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: honestly now basically in every state in America. And many
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: of the people that are doing the waste fraud and
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: abuse they know who to support. It's not Republicans, it
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: is Democrats. They hate doach, they actually hate anyone. It's
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: fine to get rid of. Well, they're free paychecks for
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: doing nothing and screwing the American taxpayer. Now, the administration
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: also says that during the previous administration, the Affordable Care
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Act enrollment surged dramatically. Again, it goes to the data
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: point that I was mentioning just a second ago. Democrats
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: weren't trying to stop this fraud. They were actively expanding it,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: for roughly ten million in rollies at the start of
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty one to more than twenty two million in
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: rollies by twenty twenty four. How did we go from
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: ten million in rollies of twenty two million? Because they said,
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: take off all the safeguards, take off the bumpers, and
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: let this thing skyrocket out of control, as long as
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: we get some of the money back. Now, officiels say
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: some of that growth reflected expanded eligibility and subsidies, but
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: they also contend that weakened verification procedures, meaning these were
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: done on purpose, created opportunities. They knew for this system
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: to be abused, and that's exactly what happened. But they
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: were designed for the systems to be abused. Now, among
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: the alleged problems that they highlighted individuals receiving subsidies that
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: they weren't entitled to, income being misstated to qualify for
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: larger taxpayer subsidies. You also had duplicate enrollments, not a
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: few thousands and thousands and thousands of duplicate enrollments, and
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: that is just simple fraud. And what officials call phantom
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: enrollments are also a big problem. That's where insurance brokers
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: enroll people into plans without their knowledge in order to
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: collect the commissions from enrolling them in their plans. Why
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: did Democrats allow that to happen? So they could again
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: get their friends rich and those friends support them when
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: running for office. Now, doctor Oss had some rogue agents
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: even signed unsuspecting Americans up for those zero premium plans,
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: because then those customers might never realize that they'd even
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: enrolled at all, because they don't cost anything. And as
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: doctor Oz explained, some applications were submitted without basic identifying information.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Now what's basic identifying information? You know, things you would
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: need to do to enroll, like so security numbers, which
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: he described as a major warning sign. Democrats knew this
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: was a problem. They didn't care. In fact, I go
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: back to what I said a moment ago, they designed
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: the system to be abused. Now, the administration sets that
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: has already removed nearly three million improper or fraudulent enrollments.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: I want you to just think about that.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Somebody set in front of a computer three million times,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: and three million times they put in improper information fraudulent enrollments,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: and then the dollars flowed instantly from the Affordable Care
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: Act rolls three million people they've already said we've gotten
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: rid of. That's unbelievable. They also believe millions of other
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: question enrollments are now under review, so that number, I'm
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: sure will go up. Officials also estimate that there's about
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: two point six million improper phantom enrollments that are still
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: being investigated, So the fraud could actually be upwards of
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: six or seven million fraudulent enrollees into Obamacare, including more
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: than one million they say without the Social Security numbers.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: So what's going to change, Well, you heard them lay
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: it out. According to HHS in the CMS, they're restoring
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: income verification requirements, they're tightening enrollment rules, they're.
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: Checking for duplicate Medicaid enrollment.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: They're investigating fraudulent brokers, and working with insurance companies that
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: cancel policies that officials conclude should never have been issued
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: in the first place. Secretary Kennedy put it bluntly, arguing
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: that the Obamacare marketplace had become plagued with fraud because,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: in his view, important safeguards had been we can deliberately,
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: He asks a question that has become central by the
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: way the administration's message, Why are we paying people we
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: don't know if they actually exist, they're healthcare bills.
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: It makes no sense.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Now, whether you support Obamacare you oppose it politically, there's
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: one principle that almost everyone.
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: Should be able to agree on.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: These government programs should be administered accurately. Taxpayer dollars should
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: go only to people who qualify under the law.
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: What a novel idea.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: If there are fraudulent enrollments, most Americans, I would hope,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: would agree they should be identified and then they should
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: be removed, which is exactly what the Obama administration look
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: the other way when the numbers were skyrocketing, and so
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: did Joe Biden. Now, at the same time, it's also important,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: I want to be clear that legitimate beneficiaries they get
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: what they deserve. But there's too much fraud now and
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: the debate now shifts to hungers and to the watchdog agencies.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: The question now is can investigators document the full scope
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: of these alleged proper payments, and then can they recover
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: the taxpayer money?
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately it's not very likely.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: And then how hard is it to really have stronger
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: verification systems that prevent similar problems like this in other
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: government programs. Can there be a safeguard or a system
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: that actually works across the federal government, Because if the
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: administration estimates are ultimately bore out to what we expect,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: we're not talking about isolated waste here. We're talking about
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: billions and billions of taxpayer dollars and government programs that
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: officials say we'll have no integrity and they need bare
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: minimum massive reforms.
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: Now, one thing is certain.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: This investigation is likely to become one of the most
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: significant healthcare oversight stories we've ever seen. And you can
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: also expect lawmakers on the left to look the other way.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: They don't want you to know about this problem, and
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: they sure as hell don't want to fix it because
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: they're the ones on the left who are getting the
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: massive kickbacks from all of this fraud. Thanks as always
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: for joining us on the show Don't Forget. You can
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: grab the Ben ferguson podcasts wherever you get your podcasts,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: and I'll see you back here on this radio station
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: next week and on the podcast all week long.