Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to
this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon
to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you
want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream,
I daily show prep with all of the links, become
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hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right
to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so
much for your support. Union County Crime Stoppers Barbecue. By
the way, we're here doing the whole program. Brett Winterble
will be here also doing his We raise money for
the Crime Stoppers organization. This is how they fund the
rewards for tips that come in that help solve crimes.
So you can come and eat to beat crime. You
can use that by the way. Well y'all, yeah, there
you go. That's State Senator Todd Johnson from Union County
here and District thirty five. Welcome back. So I think
this is our annual fifteen minute chat.
Speaker 2: This is our inverse.
Speaker 1: That's right. So because you were here last year and
I guess you did. You just participate in the event
inside the big room.
Speaker 3: There I did.
Speaker 2: It's This is one of the most well attended events
in Sweet Union County every year. It's a place where
if you really really despise being around politicians, probably want
to stay away, but the calls is definitely worth it.
So anybody and everybody comes here for this event. It
is as you can see, I think the facility holds
seven hundred people. It's packed all the time, and it's
constantly in and out. Cars are lined up, and actually,
you know, a lot of times we have to go
to this stuff and the barbecue is not that great.
Speaker 3: This event has really really good barbecues.
Speaker 2: Some they all say that though, but this one is
really good though, It's really really good.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm curious, is it, like what comes first?
Is it the barbecue, the politicians, the media?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 1: Like which one? Because I like they all need each other.
It's like this symbiotic relationship. Right.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, we have a saying in Raleigh. You know,
we eat with staff and the bureaucracy, and these governments
a lot of times they think they are the ones
making the decision.
Speaker 3: So many times we have.
Speaker 2: To remind them you've got to eat the barbecue to
make that decision.
Speaker 1: And so that's a saying we like to I have
not heard that one, although they could be forgiven for
sometimes thinking that because they like, in their defense, they
do draft a lot of the bills. Sure right, they
do a lot of that kind of work. And some
of them are subject matter experts in some fields. So
I could kind of see where somebody might think that
they may be in charge after a little while.
Speaker 2: Yeah, providing guidance, guidance and advice is appreciated, but when
it comes to the final decision, mate, right, the elected
official has to make that call.
Speaker 1: So all right, So the new session you all got
sworn in last week, you're fixing to go back. This
will be the long session, So this is the bigger
one where you're going to be dealing with budget stuff
and obviously the hurricane in western North Carolina, Hurricane Helene,
that recovery and response. And I asked you before we started,
you're not on because they created a legislative oversight committee, right,
And I think is that House and Senate.
Speaker 2: Members typically what they would do with a non standing committee.
It's a joint committee, but they can meet individually or
as a group with the House and the Senate to
come up and see from the state's response, oversight what
we're doing at the state level right wrong, and try
to expedite the recovery efforts in the West.
Speaker 1: And so you're not on that companty, not on that committee.
Speaker 2: Now, with the non standing committees, they can change, you know,
they may plug some more folks in if they need
some more brains in there to kind of get in
there and do some of the legwork. But as it
stands today, which it can change over the next week
and a half, as it stands today, I'm not.
Speaker 1: Do you think it's going to change.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Is that something you would want to be a part
of or.
Speaker 2: I always welcome the chance to provide input, especially on
something like that. I don't know that you would find
a member of the General Assembly that doesn't have family, friends,
some tie to western North Carolina. So everyone has been
affected in some way or another, and so the ability
to get in there would would be something that I
would definitely.
Speaker 1: Will you served with Josh Stein right he was, he
was gone.
Speaker 2: Before he was going, right before I got there.
Speaker 1: Okay, do you think that he's because I like one
of the things he said, he's not going to use
encore or rebuild NC that complete mass. Yeah, that was
supposed to, you know, help Matthew, Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane
Lawrence victims.
Speaker 3: And as I.
Speaker 1: Understand that there are still people to this day from
Hurricane Matthew that have not been put back into their
homes yet. South Carolina seemed to figure it out within
like two years. That in ours was like eight years
running now, so they're not They're not going to run
it through Encore North Carolina Office of Recovery and Relief.
I think something like that or Resilience. Yeah, that's a classic.
So they're going to do it through what the Governor's office.
Speaker 2: Now, I am not one hundred percent sure because they
we've just based all at his The head of the
ENCOREPS was terminated.
Speaker 1: Was she let go or did she quit? Do we
know yet?
Speaker 2: I think I think it was a termination. Okay, I'm
pretty sure it was a termination and not going down
that rabbit hole. But but it's we're looking forward to
a fresh start. We are hopeful that Governor Stein, I really,
in my in my soul believe that he's gonna he's
gonna not repeat the sins of the of the end
Core debacle because if you talk to our friends like
Senator Danny Britt, Senator Michael Lee, these guys down in
eastern North Carolina that have you know, her, they're kind.
Speaker 1: Of used, I hate to say used to these but they.
Speaker 3: Get more of them.
Speaker 2: Sure, and just hearing the horror stories where they have
literally have constituents that are living in hotels for six, seven,
eight years, still waiting on this. And the thing that
really frustrates me is the money's there, the money has
been appropriated. You just get the money out the door.
Unlet's get help to these people. Six to eight years
been long.
Speaker 1: Enough, right, It's like that's your sole jaw right as
the end care or rebuild and see like that's your
one job. Similar complaints we've heard about FEMA. The way
they've been running the operation, if you can even call
it that in western North Carolina.
Speaker 3: Not great.
Speaker 1: I understand lots of challenges. I was willing to give
them a chance to get in there and see how
it was going. So I guess, first off, what's your
assessment or what are you hearing right now about the
way that FEMA has been managing.
Speaker 2: Sure, I'll tell you we are very fortunate in North
Carolina to have some And I'm speaking on the Senate
side because that's who I have relationships more with. Our
delegation in Western North Carolina, bipartisan. They do a phenomenal
job and have been on the ground since this hurricane hit.
Keep in mind, these folks had their homes affected as well.
Yeah and so, but they're out in their communities and
they are really working hard on this and it was
really nice. One of the best Kumbaya moments we've ever
had in this Senate was the first time back after this.
It was just a surreal moment, and I wish we
had more of them. But everybody was singing in one
singing in one song, and they were everybody was really
focused on the people of western North Carolina. But at
least from the delegation that's on the ground, what I
hear in terms of FEMA is write us a check
and get the hell out of here. Like the way
they hit, their response to things, it just the red
tape and the bureaucracy is just not effective. Whereas the
people of Western North Carolina. Keep in mind, these are
mountain folks. These are self sufficient folks. They're not looking
for a handout. They're looking for a little assistance on
the financial side. But they're not waiting on the government.
A lot of these folks got out and started doing
their own stuff right away, and so it is not
they would they would not receive a passing grade FEMA.
That is based on the feedback from our delegation in
eastern North Carolina.
Speaker 1: What about doing just like block grants.
Speaker 2: That exactly do a block grant, send it to and
you could even run it through. We could create a subcommittee,
we could There's plenty of ways to do it. To
have an administration of it, or you've got some I
have no problem with private administration. I mean, we've got
some great organizations. I think about Smaritan's Purse or a
number of different organizations that could easily administer the funds.
And of course we could provide oversight at the state level.
But when you've got in the federal government, you think
about all the things we have issues with. They're not
they're not set up to be successful. They're not going
to be nimble, they're not going to be able to
address that immediate need.
Speaker 3: And you can't.
Speaker 2: You know, when your home's gone, you have no power,
you have no running water, you have don't have any
of these things that we take for granted. It's not
a matter of hey, I can just sit back and wait. Now,
these are essentials to survival, and so you need to
be as nimble as possible.
Speaker 1: You mentioned something there and I just blanked, Oh, the
if rather than the block grants. One of the other
things that I've heard is bogging down the system is
the and you mentioned red tape, it is building codes regulations. Sure,
what can the state legislature and then with I guess
the support of the governor, I guess what can they do?
What can y'all do to you know, give reprieve because
you know, even without going through all of the different
building codes and why they were done, let's just assume
they were all done for the best of intentions and
for safety and all of that. But now it's an obstacle,
and it's an obstacle for first order needs of shelter.
So what can the state do to speed that up
to get stuff built?
Speaker 2: Well, Pete, I know you well enough to know that
you'll agree and at least understand what I'm saying. Okay,
this may be a shocker to some folks, but the
building codes and regulations that we have now are not
the bare minimum of what you need to provide safety
and security for the folks that are at is.
Speaker 1: Not actually shocking today.
Speaker 2: So to that point, there is a way that we
can pull back some of the that still keeps folks safe,
keeps people property safe, a number of different things where
it's not a matter of endangering the public. You're not
going to endanger the public. We have to look at
these regulations and there's a lot of conversation around that
because when you here's a good four example. You take
Mitchell County. Mitchell County has one water treatment plant and
it serves every single member of that county, every single
citizen of that county. That water plant was completely destroyed.
Under the current regulatory format, it would take six to
ten years to get another one online. That's unacceptable. You
can't go without water for six years, so they're having
to use temporary sources in the meantime. Certainly, there's a
way that we can look at that, look at the
regulations and again keeping the environment in mind, keeping keeping
public safety of mind, all of that. But a way
to pel that back to expediate that is that that
may not even beah, there you go, expdise We just
make it a visit.
Speaker 1: Too much time in Raleigh? Can you stick around for
a couple of minutes?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 3: Yeap?
Speaker 1: That's Senator Todd Johnson, District thirty five, State Senator from
Union County here at the Union County Crime Stoppers Barbecue.
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This is the Union County Crime Stoppers Barbecue, the thirty
third annual as a matter of fact, and it helps
to fund a great organization and the rewards that are
offered for people to call in the tips so you
can help solve crimes while you stuff your face. So
and it's very good. I've been assured by Senator Todd
Johnson is with me here Senate District thirty five, State Senate,
that this barbecue is really really good. I think that's
the direct Okay, So I mentioned Governor Josh Stein. He
came out of the state legislature at a time when
Republicans were not this ineffectual minority. They were, in fact,
the majority. So he's got some relationships there. Do you
have an expectation that he will govern relationally with the
legislature differently than Roy Cooper has.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Governor Cooper was also in the Senate,
but it was many, many years ago, different set of people,
completely different political landscape at that time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Democrats controlled the entire state career, had their own
machine running.
Speaker 2: And Governor Stein has served with a number of the
members that still serve today. So I think there'll be
some relationships there where at least communication won't break down
like it has in the past between the legislature and
the executive branch.
Speaker 1: So hopefully we're hopeful for that.
Speaker 2: And I kind of equate the new governor with the
legislature is kind of a new marriage. I think there
will be a honeymoon period. My hope is that that
honeymoon will be a very extended honeymoon period, at least
through the long session and let's get to the point
where we can continue to work together for the betterment
of North Carolina. But I'm sure at some point in time,
I look at the break point, probably going to be
around budget time, so that carries us into say June
or July maybe, but at least until then, I think
it'll be a good unified effort of trying to work
together and at least kind of doing the courting in
the courtship.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the budget, the need for the disaster relief,
right North Carolina's got the Randy Day Fund. The Republicans
funded this thing, even though Roy Cooper kept trying to
raid it for all sorts of regular ongoing operating expenses.
Republicans have guarded it, They've filled it. And so now
this is what is being looked at to use to
pay for the of the disaster relief. That's not going
to be enough.
Speaker 2: No, And and so for the six years that I've
been in the legislature, I know every time we talk
about appropriations, uh, my caucus, I'm Republican in the Senate,
and so the center of Republican Caucus as well as
the Republican House caucus, we literally get our teeth kicked
in by folks. And you need to give more money here, here, here,
and here.
Speaker 3: Why are you being.
Speaker 2: So so such a scrooge and holding all this money back?
You hate people you hate people, you hate orphans. You
have americacation pie, I mean puppies, you pick it, you
ate them. All that being said, we live on a coast.
We know that we're gonna have earthquakes. We are not well.
We do have some money. Yeah, we know we're going
to have hurricanes. Flooding is actually this was just a
major flood, but flooding occurs in western North Plina quite often,
and so we were trying to be good stewards of
the taxpayer dollar, the money, at least in our caucus,
we do not look at this as our money. This
is the taxpayer money, and we try to spend it
and save it accordingly. When you think about a state
budget that's in the range of thirty five billion with
a bee, the damages estimated damage, and keep in mind
these are government estimates, so they're going to be undershot
by a little bit. Is around sixty billion dollars. So
if you took all the money for two years, you
cover it maybe. And so there's really no way for
us to fully fix western North Carolina. We're going to
rely heavily on the federal government. So what we've tried
to do and thus far we've appropriated about one point
two to one point four billion of that six billion
rainy day fund that we were able to build up.
The question we get is, why aren't you just sending
it all there? Just go ahead and send it unlet's
get that going. The problem is is if you get
too far ahead of the federal government, they will say, Okay,
North Carolina, you've got it. You guys got it under control.
Good luck. Or you have an issue where not all
federal but some federal money requires a match six to one,
eight to one, nine to one. So you go to
these small towns, take a small I know, I mentioned
Mitchell County, Spruce Pine, Pine, Spruce Pine can't come up
with a million dollars. There's no way that a million,
not a billion, eight billion.
Speaker 1: Wooden pipes, right, wooden water pipes.
Speaker 2: They can't come up with the match needed for their community.
That's where we're going to come in as a state
and help these communities and counties in towns be able
to pay that federal match. So we're trying to get
money deployed for the immediate need, but also be prudent
with the remainder of that and then also look for
the next storm, we got to be mindful of the
next one as well, so trying to thread that needle
to where we don't get too far ahead of FEMA,
but then also that we don't leave our friends out
west without help, because it's this along red recovery will be.
You know, I've been in here six years. If for
some reason I'm crazy enough to stay four or six
more years, we will still be working in western North Carolina.
This is not a two year fix.
Speaker 1: We are at a time. State Senator Todd Johnson. Thanks
a lot for stopping by, although to be fair, I
was just here at this other more important event that
he went to. But you're welcome anytime.
Speaker 3: On the show. See you next year, Pade.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, well let's not make it a year.
Good to see us, sir, Thanks so much. All right,
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at create a Video dot com. I want to welcome
to the program, Congressman, Reverend, Reverend Congressman, when do you
go by Mark Harris District eight? What do we do?
Reverend Congressman?
Speaker 4: I answered it just about anything these days, That's what
everybody says.
Speaker 1: But like, which do you pick?
Speaker 3: Which did well?
Speaker 1: Which is the like?
Speaker 4: No, they call me congressman, pastor, it is fascinating congressman
passed in fact on the floor and really without in
the conference, a number of my colleagues will come up
and uh just say pastor to refer to me as
pastor right off the bat.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, well, I mean I'm just always curious
when people come in with multiple honorifics or degrees or
whatever like which what gets top billing kind of. So
we were talking about this before we came on the year,
and there's been a change to the inauguration from the
for the planning, and so as I understand it, they
are moving the ceremony inside the rotunda at the Capitol.
Speaker 4: That's right, That's what I've understood, and canceled the up
door swearing it and have canceled the parade.
Speaker 1: Oh, they've canceled the parade now as well.
Speaker 3: It's correct.
Speaker 1: So earlier i'd seen that the parade had not been canceled.
Speaker 3: Well, that was the latest i'd heard.
Speaker 4: My chief had texted me, so that could have changed,
but yeah, that was less.
Speaker 1: Well, the first order, the first notice I got was
just that they were moving inside quote unquote, and that
was all. And then I got the other thing. Okay,
it's part of it's going to be in the retunda.
I was like, well, that's not going to hold the
whole crowd. But then they were also going to have
Capital One Arena and they're going to fill that up,
and I guess put it on the jumbo trons and stuff.
Speaker 3: Correct, that's what I understand.
Speaker 1: Okay, So, but is that enough room to fill or
is that enough room for the crowd size?
Speaker 4: Well, nobody really knows, you know. I had heard numbers
the end of this week. The folks were saying they
were maybe expecting a million people to be there. But
then we also started hearing from people as the forecast
came out, and it is going to be.
Speaker 3: Bitterly, bitterly cold.
Speaker 4: I mean, like eight degrees that morning of the inauguration
is low for Sunday night, So when you start, people
are going to be coming out before the sun comes
up to get in line. So they were going to
be out there for hours in single digits. And then
the high for the day is maybe twenty one or
twenty two degrees, So it was going to be bitterly cold.
And so I can only assume that they felt like
that it was going to put too many.
Speaker 3: People at risk. In that case.
Speaker 4: So no, it's not going to be enough room to
hold all the ticket holders because every congressional office, for instance,
we had four hundred and seventy some request for about
one hundred and seventy tickets that we were granted, and
only a handful of those were actually seated. A lot
we're standing. But again, there's no way that that arena
is I don't know what the arena holds. I'm gonna
guess fifty sixty thousand. I'd say that's a good bet
that's gonna be it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So is it possible that the frigid temperatures are
indicative of the underworld freezing over?
Speaker 3: I felt that way.
Speaker 4: Right after our swearing in, a snowstorm hit Washington, d C.
And we had twelve inches of snow, which was pretty amazing.
So it could be it's all freezing over. It's a
whole few day. I think of it from the spiritual
sense of a purification that's going to come from the
snow that covers everything.
Speaker 1: So speaking of things of biblical proportion, the hurricane that
hit western North Carolina, obviously that's of great importance. At
the state level. We were talking to Senator Todd Johnson
about that at the national level though, like the state
of North Carolina does not have the money to pay
for all of the recovery that's going to be needed.
The number, like he threw out there was like sixty
billion dollars. So where do we stand as far as
you know, And I know you're new and you just
found out where the office is learning, where the water
cooler is and the president's shape machine.
Speaker 3: But.
Speaker 1: Where do you think where do you think we are
in getting enough support for the kind of aid that's
going to be required.
Speaker 4: Well, I can assure you, Pete that western North Carolina
is not being forgotten. Obviously, we're in a situation right now.
Lots of problems with FEMA. I think everybody recognized, lots
of problems with FEMA money being spent on illegal immigrants
and all of the things that went on with that.
That then suddenly they say, we don't have the money
that we need to take care of the victims of
Hurricane Helene. So I know, back in December there was
a large disaster relief amount that was passed as part
of that cr that went forward. But again, the big
question as we've watched these wildfires happening in California, and
everybody's saying, O, FEMA's running out there making commitments. We're
going to be here, there and everywhere. At the same time,
you're getting word that letters are going from FEMA to
some families that were cutting you off no more support.
I was part of a letter that was written by
Chuck Edwards. Chuck contacted us in the delegation. And that's
one thing, by the way I'll say I'm very excited
and proud about, is we are communicating very well as
a delegation. We're trying to have regular meetings where we
actually meet together. Just this past Wednesday we had one
of those meetings and talked about what was happening.
Speaker 3: In western North Carolina.
Speaker 4: I'm involved from a church standpoint, interestingly enough, in some
of the rebuilds with Baptist on Mission Samaritan's per that
have been at the forefront. But we signed a letter
I think all of us in the delegation did that
went to FEMA urging them to not send their personnel
out of Western North Carolina until the job was finished.
And so Senator Tillis, I know, has been trying to
weigh in on that. Senator Bud as well, So I
think we're all working together to make sure that it
stays at the forefront. Of course, you've got the Speaker,
Mike Johnson that made it very clear that we're not
just going to be sending money to California without there
being some conditions, and that sort of seemed to trigger
a little bit of a response from Governor Newsom, who's
firing back about these are people's lives. But I think
the Speaker has been very clear, and interestingly enough, within
our conference, I think that the members from California have
been clear that they don't really feel we should be
putting money in without conditions placed on it for how
that money would be spent.
Speaker 1: My guest is Congressman Pastor Mark Harris from North Carolina's
eighth congressional district, first termer, first and a half turmer.
Maybe maybe because you kind of won last fight. Anyway,
can you stick around for another segment? Sure? Okay, cool,
All right? If you're listening to this show, you know
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I'm joined by Congressman Pastor Mark Harris from the North Seat.
How it sticks, That's what I asked you from the
North Carolina eighth Congressional District. So we were talking during
the break and the topic of the House Freedom Caucus
came up. Your predecessor, Dan Bishop was a member of
the Freedom Caucus. Is this something that you want to
be in and how would that happen?
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, a lot of times people ask
me that, and when I ran in the campaign, I
made it very clear to folks that I certainly aligned
with the ideas and the.
Speaker 3: Principles of the Freedom Caucus.
Speaker 4: But the Freedom Caucus isn't something that just members join,
as they would maybe mainStreet Caucus or others. But you
have to actually be invited to it. So I tell
people asked this question just this week, are you going
to join the Freedom Caucus? And so well, I want
to don't want to presume anything, but you know, certainly
if I was invited to be a part of the
Freedom Caucus, and I would assume those invitations would come
up fairly soon. It is certainly an organization that I
have had a lot of respect for. Martin Meadows, Jim Jordan,
those guys were folks that I aligned with very early,
even when I was just getting started in running in
this arena, you know, just for fiscal sound government, and
I think that that is so important. I mean, when
I was in this peek early on, I remember several
years ago I was talking about twenty one trillion dollars
of debt and how horrible that was what we had
to do. And now we're hitting thirty seven trillion dollars
of debt, and it's just it is so rapid that
it just I think people are just quickly just letting
it go out of their minds, and yet our nation
is in peril.
Speaker 1: It's literally incomprehensible.
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 1: The number is unfit athomable. People cannot understand how large
of a number that is, and we cannot.
Speaker 3: Look.
Speaker 4: I'm for We've got extended tax cuts, so please understand
what I'm going to say. But as much as we
grow the economy, we will not grow ourselves out of
thirty seven trillion dollars a debt.
Speaker 3: We have got to cut spending.
Speaker 4: There's going to have to be some places that we
find that's not going to be popular. In some cases,
it's not going to be easy, but there are going
to be decisions that have to be made that ultimately
are going to fall on this Congress. And I believe
we do have a rare opportunity with this thing called reconciliation,
that you're going to be hearing more and more about
in the coming weeks, and the Speaker has set us
on a course that is very aggressive as far as timetable.
By the end of February, we're going to have that
top line budget number. By the time we get to
early April, we're expecting to have a reconciliation bill passed
out of the House. So no regular order, well, I
think there's going to come regular order at some point.
Speaker 3: I know that's the main thing.
Speaker 4: Thereafter we need to have twelve appropriation buildings that we passed.
Speaker 1: Going through committees, going cashing the outs, the spends and
the asks and.
Speaker 4: Every absolutely and listen, I'm blessed to be on three committees.
I'm going to be on Judiciary Committee, I'm on Agriculture Committee,
and I am on Education and Workforce. Those are three
great committees to be a part of, and the subcommittees
that are part of that are important as well. And
one of the things I've seen in AG obviously, so
much of that budget is spent with SNAP and that
program that we have seen the Biden administration just exploded
the eligibility for that.
Speaker 1: That's not where the most money is, right, I mean, well,
the most money in spending is where well, you're.
Speaker 4: Going to get in, you're going to get into Medicare
and Social Security, those mandatory spending, right, And that's true.
But again you can't discount the billions I mean billions
with a B dollars that I mean two hundred and
fifty one million dollars just expansion and snap from twenty
twenty one coming out of COVID. So I think we're
taking every committee is taking a serious look at areas
where we can claw back. I mean this whole energy deal,
of the Green New Deal, the Dibden in the administration
put intact. Fortunately a lot of that money hasn't been
spent yet and if we can claw that back, that's
going to be an important piece of it. So it's
going to be an exercise, no question. You raise the
devil in the details is meant?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's the I mean, because you can
even what is Ramaswami or musk I forget who one
of them said, Look, yeah, we probably can't We're not
going to be We're not. We can't find two trillion
dollars right in the budget to cut like, it's probably
not going to be there. So without touching some of
these other programs that are the quote third rail in politics.
Speaker 4: I think the key is going to be when we
get to that point. And again I'm new we've not
gotten to that point yet in the conversations I've a
part of.
Speaker 3: But I think we're going to have to look.
Speaker 4: At ways to make adjustments to the program for the
future so that benefits are not hurting people that are
dependent on those today.
Speaker 3: Right in the near future. I think that's the whole
key way.
Speaker 1: And I have never heard a proposal ever in twenty
plus years that has called for cuts to existing benefits, right,
it's always future generator. Like because I'm gen X and
I remember getting into the workforce, I knew at that
time Social Security is not going to be there for me.
So that's why ever since I had a job that
had a four to one K, I've been putting money
into the four to one case because I knew. And
I still don't ever plan on my retirement plan. Like
I talked to my financial guy and I'm like, don't
ever count anything from Social Secure, So I don't. Yeah,
I don't know if anything's going to be there, so but.
Speaker 4: I'll promise you this, somebody is going to be left
hold in the back if we don't do it now.
When you get to twenty thirty four, and you're not
that far away from that at all, somebody is going
to be having to explain to everybody why they're taking
twenty percent cuts and benefits then, not because of any policy,
just because the money is not there, right and we've
got it. We've got to look at those serious challenges.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and yeah, and giving people an option,
that's the like, that's my would be my recommendation is
to give people the option to say, let me take
some of this that is being diverted out and put
it someplace else that will make up more that will
make me more money in the law.
Speaker 4: I've always felt that made the most sense. Especially the
younger people are the opportunity to make some decisions in that.
So I think all of those ideas are going to
be on the table. I think the President is committed
that we're going to protect those that are are depending
on Social Security now and there Now, we've got to
protect those benefits, but we do have to begin to
make plans for the future, and I think we go forward,
we're gonna have to look at that but I think
in this immediate future, with a reconciliation, we are gonna
look at shrinking the size of government, shrinking some of
the spending. I just think to get the votes that
we have to have on the Republican side, you're gonna
have to do that because you've got it. Reconciliation allows
you to get through.
Speaker 3: In a quick Yeah.
Speaker 4: Does not need sixty votes, so nobody can filibuster. Fifty
one votes passes.
Speaker 1: It's how we got Obamacare.
Speaker 4: That's how we got Obamacare. It's how we got the
Trump tax cuts in twenty seventeen. It's true because we
had the trifecta. Yeah, so this is this is a moment.
You've got to be wise as a serpent, innocent as
a dove in this very moment.
Speaker 1: Congressman Pastor Mark Harris, North Carolina District eight, good to
see again. Good to see you're looking well, and best
of luck up there in the swamp. We appreciate you, Thank.
Speaker 3: You very much. Appreciate you.
Speaker 1: All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you
so much for listening. I could not do the show
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