Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / 100+ UNRWA Suspects and Counting—Your Tax Dollars went to Their Terror

Transcript

100+ UNRWA Suspects and Counting—Your Tax Dollars went to Their Terror · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's time to give you an update on the new
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: UNRA scandal that is rocking the United Nations and American
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: taxpayers funded it. For years, you and I were told
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: that the United Nations Relief and Work Agency, better known
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: as UNRAP, was a humanitarian organization just helping the Palestinian
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: refugees with schools, medical clinics, food assistants, and social services,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: all things obviously that you should be in favor of.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Washington then sent billions of dollars of your tax dollars
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: to support these quote operations, and American taxpayers were also
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: assured that these funds were helping innocent civilians and promoting
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: stability in one of the world's most volatile regions. Well
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: over the last several years, a very different picture has emerged,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: and now we're seeing just how bad it really was.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Investigators have uncovered evidence that many of the UNRA facilities
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: were allegedly being used by terrorists, yes, by the actual
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: terrorists that are killing innocent people. Weapons were found near schools,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Questions emerged about educational materials promoting anti Israel rhetoric. Then
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: came the shocking allegations that some of the UNRA employees,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: which then turned into more than some themselves had actually
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: participated in the Hamas October seventh terrorist attack against the
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: people of Israel. Now comes perhaps the most explosive revelation
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: on top of all of that. According to a new
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: investigative summary that was released by USAID and the Office
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: of Inspector General, more than one hundred current and former
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: UNRA employees have been referred to the US State Department
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: for suspension or debarment because investigators have now found clear
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: evidence directly tying them to Hamas or participating in the
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: October seventh massacre. Now let me go over this again
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: in a different way. You have now proof of more
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: than one hundred UNDRA employees who are being paid by
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: our tax dollars and are supposed to be doing humanitarian
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: work that are actually straight up terrorists or directly working
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: with terrorists who are killing and planning the October seventh attack.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Not only that, many of these employees actually participated in
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: the attack and the planning of October seventh, and you
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: and I were paying them their salaries. Now, if they
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: weren't actually doing their job, then you have to ask
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: yourself another question, just how bad is the actual corruption
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: To know that they're basically being paid to train for
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: a terrorist attack. And again, this would be you and
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: I are tax dollars going to what we were told
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: was humanitarian aid. Instead was going to aid and a
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: bet and support the training of terrorists to kill innocent Jews. Now,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: just let that sink in for a moment. This wasn't
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: just one person. It wasn't ten, it wasn't twenty. It
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: was more than one hundred UNRA employees. And these weren't
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: obscure employees hidden somewhere in the bureaucracy. That's something else
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: you need to understand. According to the investigators, those referred
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: included school principles, teachers, counselors, medical workers, security personnel, and administrators.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: This is how bad the terrorists control and the terrorist
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: ties are within this area in the world in Palestine.
• 4:04
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• 4:06
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• 4:18
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• 4:23
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• 4:26
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• 5:57
  Speaker 1: General's report also lays out allegations that sound almost unbelievable.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Investigators identified as school deputy principal who allegedly served as
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: a Hamas military commander and you and I were helping
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: pay for his salary. Another deputy principal allegedly served as
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: a squad leader in a Hamas infantry battalion. Again, that
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: would be a terrorist organization. One teacher allegedly worked in
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Hamas intelligence operations tracking explosive devices. Another allegedly served as
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: a platoon commander for the terrorist organization. And one teacher
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: was reportedly identified as a Hamas while master sniper. That's
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: who our tax dollars were going towards. There was also
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: another one that received orders involving anti tank missiles during
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the October seventh attacks. Now, these are not accusations involving
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: political opinions or even social media posts. These are allegations
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: involving direct participation in a designated terrorist organization and in
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: some cases, direct involvement in the deadliest terrorist attack in
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Israel's history. The Inspector General says its investigations now produced
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: referrals involving one hundred and eight individuals and that additional
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: referrals could also be quote forthcoming. The report also notes
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: that potential criminal referrals remained possible as investigators continue reviewing
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: the evidence. And here's why you should care. For decades,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: the United States was one of the largest funders, largest
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: financial backers of UNRUPP. American taxpayers contributed not millions, but
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: billions of dollars over the years to fund the agency's
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: operations across Gaza, and the line that we were sold was, Hey,
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: this is no brainer for America. We're helping civilians that
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: would reduce the instability in that part of the world
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: and create conditions for peace instead of war. But instead,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: now what we find out, as American taxpayers, you and
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: I were actually helping fund an organization that failed to
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: prevent extremists from embedding themselves inside of its workforce. And
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: in fact, it's pretty clear they were allowing it to
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: happen on purpose. Now the allegations, thank goodness, are fueling
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: outrage on Capitol Hill. Many lawmakers have spent years warning
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: that UNNERS oversight mechanisms were inadequate and that the agency
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: had become vulnerable to be infiltrated by hamas. Those warnings,
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: by the way, were often dismissed as you know, political attacks. Well,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: those critics are pointing to the latest investigation and asking
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: a simple question, how did this happen? How did individuals
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: connected to hamas end up working as teachers, principles, counselors,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: and administrators inside and or organization receiving international support. How
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: were these individuals able to remain employed while holding positions
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: inside of a terrorist organization at the highest levels? And
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: perhaps even more important than that, what safeguards failed or
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: were they purposely not used? Now UNRAP has consistently denied
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: institutional support for hamas, but their employees, well, they tell
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: a very different story. They, of course, in point to
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: internal investigations and employees screening efforts. The organization is said
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: it takes allegation seriously and has terminate employees when credible
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: evidence emerges. The United Nations has also conducted, they claim,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: investigations into previous allegations involving staff members ties to terrorism.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Now the latest development is different because of the scale,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: and this is the part that matters. The number is
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: no longer a handful of employees. The number is now
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: over one one hundred. And what makes this such a
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: political moment is this The Usaid Inspector General says these
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: referrals are intended to prevent these individuals from receiving future
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: benefits through US funded aid programs. Now, one former Unredschool
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: principal previously received a government wide debarment after investigators linked
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: him to Hamas activities directly connected to October the seventh.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: Investigators say we are continuing to quote review approximately one thousand,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: five hundred on repersonnel and their records, and additional referrals
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: will be forthcoming. And that means, when I'm telling you
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: right now in this story, well it's far from over.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: And politically, it arrives in a moment when many Americans
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: are already demanding greater scrutiny over how our taxpayer dollars
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: are being spent not overseas, but actually in this country,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: with massive fraud and corruption supporters of the for of
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: course they're saying, no, no, no, we got to keep sending
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: the money. Well, why would you send our tax dollars
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: directly to terras? Because that's exactly what we're looking at now.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: And this is also a story about lack of accountability
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: or previous administrations deliberately looking the other way, knowing exactly
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: what was going on. The story is also about oversight,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: like why were so many people in Washington asleep at
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: the wheel on this? And it's also a story about
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: whether American taxpayers can really trust our government and knowing
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: that billions of dollars were sent overseas that are actually
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: reaching the people they claim to be reaching, well instead, no, no,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: it's going to the terrorists.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: The Usaid Inspector General's investigation is quote ongoing and robust.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: More referrals are expected, more evidence, they say, is being reviewed,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: and lawmakers in Washington are already signaling that they want
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: real answers now. One thing is certain. The pressure on
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: UNRA has never been great, and after this latest bombshell report,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: the questions surrounding the agency are only getting louder. Earlier,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: we're talking and we're exposing everything that's going on with
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: UNRA and USAID. We now know that billions of our
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: tax dours have been going to Terras. I'm going to
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: say that again, billions of our tax dours have been
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: going to help Terris. That is a massive problem. But
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: what's even more shocking than that is how the left
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: has completely decided to look the other way, even when
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: there was massive warning signs sitting right there in front
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: of us for years. So was this done on purpose?
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Senator Cruz and I talked about this a few days
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: ago and we discussed just how much corruption we have
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: found in UNRA. I want to move to Andra right now,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: and we've talked about under on the show before, but
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: we have new news on this and I want to
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: get the headline for people say understand just how big
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: of Initious is, even if it's not being covered by
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the media. That's why we do a show. The Washington
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Free Beacon came out with an article. It says exclusive
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: US probe of embattled you and gads A relief agency
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: now expands to one thousand, five hundred plus staffers suspected
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: with direct ties to HAMAS. Now that would be direct
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: ties to a terrorist organization. Senat. We've been warning about
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: this for a long time. There's the presence talked about
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: how worthless in many ways the United Nations can be,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: certainly in the Middle East. This is another example of this.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: We know that Hamas had worked with the United Nations
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: people on the ground, Food had been stolen, Countless dollars
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: of eight have been stolen and given to terrorists, and
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: now you see the compromising of UN staff of up
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: to one thousand, five hundred plus people. I wish I
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: could say I'm surprised by this. I am not. But
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: what does this story say about what America's role should
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: be moving forward?
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Look for a long time, I've called for unroad to
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: be complete, defunded, to be shut down. UNRA is so
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: bad it makes the UN itself seem like a pro America,
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: fantastic organization with integrity. Unra's part of the UN, but
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: it is it is the most corrupt part. Here's what
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: was reported the story by Adam Credo, the Federal Investigation
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: and his staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: The UN Gaza relief organization that has been closely linked
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: to Hamas will soon encompass at least one thousand, five
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: hundred UNRA linked individuals suspected of terror ties. This unprecedented dragonet,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: reported here for the first time by The Washington Free Beacon,
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: exposes an AID group brimming with HAMAS operatives and is
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: generating momentum in Congress and the Trump Administration for harsher
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: sanctions on the embattled AID group. According to Congressional staffers
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: briefed on the matter, the punitive matters up for consideration
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: include stripping UNRA of its diplomatic immunity under US law law,
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: which would open it up to legal action from terror victims,
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: and fully designating the AID organization as a foreign terrorist organization,
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: according to three Trump Administration officials and other sources tracking
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: the matter in Congress, these discussions have accelerated since The
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Freebeacon first reported in April that UNRUN other UN agencies
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: are stonewalling a federal probe into their ties to HAMAS.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: The US Agency for International Development Inspector General's Office, a
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: law enforcement agency separate from the largely defunct USAID, has
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: spent months independently unearthing evidence that multiple UNRE employees participated
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: in hamas's October seventh terror attack. Let me repeat that
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: again participt multiple UNRA employees participated in Hamas's October seventh
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: terror attack. The probe will soon expand to at least
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: one thousand, five hundred suspected militants with UNRA ties, The
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: article continues. Senators Ted Cruz and Bill Haggerty, influential members
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Nice of them to
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: say that both told the Free Beacon. I mean they
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: could have said, you know, lousy.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Members, because those two random guys in the Senate.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, we're the two guys we ran into
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: on the street. So that's nice of them to say
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: both told the Free Beacon that it's time to move
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: beyond merely freezing unrestfunding, particularly as the USAID Inspector General
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: continues to unearth evidence of HAMAS complicity. Quote. Either they
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: come clean or I expect growing momentum for designating them
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: for the support they give to terrorists crew said Haggarty
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: called it quote appalling that the other UN agencies today
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: are still stonewalling the Trump administration's ongoing investigations, adding that quote,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: if UN agencies refused to show basic transparency and accountability,
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: then the Executive Branch and Congress must respond appropriately. That's
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: a big deal. And it's a big deal that both
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: the UN and and and UNRE in particular are still
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: stonewalling and refusing to accept any accountability whatsoever.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is one other thing on this is the
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: fact that it's so widespread. There is no way that
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: the United Nations didn't know about this. There was no
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: way that UNDRA and the leadership didn't know about this.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: And we're not talking about fifteen I'm talking about more
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: than one thousand and five hundred would directie a terrorist organization.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: What does that say about the President's standpoint on not
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: just UNDRA, but also on the UN in general, because
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: I don't believe for a moment that the UN doesn't
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: know this.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: Well, let's talk about how pervasive it is, so so, Ben,
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: how many employees do you think there are an UNRA.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: That's a great question. I have no clue. I mean,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: I'd say ten thousand just because I'd a bloated agency.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I had no idea. And so as we were
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: preparing for the POD, I pulled out my Google and
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: I typed in how many staff are there at UNRA?
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: And Google came back and said there are approximately thirty
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: thousand staff in Iran. We have an investigation into more
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: than fifteen hundred of them for direct ties to HAMAS.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: That's five percent of the agency. That's not one isolated person,
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: fifteen hundred out of thirty thousand suspected of being HAMAS
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: terrorist or directly linked to HAMAS terrorists. That is a
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: big damn deal. That is an agency that needs to
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: shut down, needs to be padlocked, needs to be ended.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: The idea that the United Nations, much less the United States,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: would be providing funding that's going directly to Hamas terrorists,
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: that is insanity. It needs to stop.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: There were warning signs when COVID was going on. There
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: were warning signs from people that were being silenced as well,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: saying that no one was understanding the harm that was
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: being done to our children academically by having quote remote learning.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: You remember when kids stayed home for a couple of
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: years and we're having school over their iPad. Well, now
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: we are seeing real data of just how much damage
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: was done to the future of this country and our
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: children that should have probably just been held back instead
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: of socially promoted. Well, not only was children's well being
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: a decline during that time, but now we're seeing a
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: decline nationwide since the COVID nineteen pandemic, with children now
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: in twenty nine states worse off in twenty twenty four
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: than in twenty nineteen, according to a new report out
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: from the Anti E. Casey Foundation. Now the report comes
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: as families struggle with higher costs for food, housing, and
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: other necessities. Advocates warned that cuts to government safety net
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: programs could worsen conditions for children, and so they want
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: you to spend more money. But the research is showing
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: something very different. In fact, the research shows the kids
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: who are healthy, safe, fed, educated, and surrounded by strong
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: family relationships have a much better chance to thrive and
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: contribute as independent adults. The foundation's vice president saying this
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: to Axios. We know that today's children are tomorrow's workforce.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: So the strength of the economy is the future, and
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: that is directly tied to the well being of kids today.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: The Foundation's twenty twenty six Kids Account Data book measured
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: children in four different categories, and this should make every
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: American furious. Economic wellbeing, than education, than health, and then
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: family and community. The national score fell from five to
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: fifty three to five forty seven from twenty nineteen to
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. In fact, five of the top seven
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: states were in the Northeast, while eleven of the fifteen
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: lowest rank states were in the South. Still, eight southern
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: states actually improved, in South Carolina, which posted the nation's
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: biggest gain at thirty eight points. The share of children,
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: by the way living in households burdened by housing costs
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: rose from thirty to thirty one percent. That affects more
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: than twenty two point four million children. It was the
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: first increase since twenty ten according to the data as well,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: and the report revealed sharp declines in health and education scores.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Even though we have quote Obamacare, child in teen deaths
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: actually rose eight percent, so much for Obamacare saving kids' lives,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: while health scores fell from six hundred and twenty four
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: to six oh seven, And then the education part comes
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: in education scores took the biggest hit in any category,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: plunging from five eighteen to four seventeen, driven by massive
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: declines in reading and math proficiency in forty seven different states.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: They said the rise and child and teen deaths reflect
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: a youth mental health crisis as well that was a
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: real problem during COVID. Some states have moved to put
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: more mental health professionals in schools, and family and community
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: scores improved from five eighteen to six oh eight. Well
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: economic well being rose to five point fifty one, all
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: the way up to five point fifty seven. Now here's
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: the part that's really interesting about this. These safety net programs,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: including a temporary twenty twenty one child tax credit expansion,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: may have actually helped cushion families, but recent Georgetown University
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: data actually showed fewer children enrolled in Medicaid and more
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: uninsured even though Obamacare is out there, raising concerns now
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: about what was going to happen in the terms of
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: child wellbeing and outcomes for children with a system that
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: is clearly broken and heading in the wrong direction, particularly
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: around the economics of security in a time when we
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: know costs are rising for food and housing and basic necessities.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Now New Mexico, for example, ranked forty ninth, but improved
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: by twenty two points, largely on economic gains. Mississippi ranked
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: last overall that saw stronger education results after at twenty
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: thirteen third grade reading law and continued funding in schools,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: teacher training, and early childhood education. All of those things
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: obviously are really really really really really important. Now that's
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: positive proof that when we make direct investments in families
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: and children, the children then do well. The teen birth rate,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: by the way, also fell twenty four percent. I'm going
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: to say that again. The teen birth rate fell twenty
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: four percent during the study period. Is the direct results
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: of decades of investment in trying to ensure that teen
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: pregnancy rates actually decline. The study sense. Now you put
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: all this into perspective right now, and here's what we know.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: For a fact. We know that COVID and having children
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: stay home not only literally cost kids their lives with
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: mental health issues, but it also took away the quality
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: education or even maybe the bare minimum education that they
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: were receiving. It made it all worse. And now we
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: have a major economic problem on the horizon. Too many
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: kids that don't even know how to read going into college.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Let me say that again. The new data also shows
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: that more kids are going to college without being proficient
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: in reading. How is that even possible? Welcome to social
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: promotion of our government schools. It's clearly defrauding kids of
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: their future. And the fact that we socially promoted countless
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: children all across the country is now really coming back
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: to haness and it will honesus in the workforce as well.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Because Democrats wanting to shut down the schools and remember
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: the big lie, Oh it'll only be for two weeks.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Well we now know it's going to have a lifetime
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: of repercussions for so many kids that were in our
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: public schools systems. Don't forget. Share this podcast with your
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: family and friends, share it on social media please, and
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: I'll see you back here tomorrow.