Speaker 1: You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
Speaker 1: six forty.
Speaker 2: I AM six forty Bill Handle here on a Wednesday morning,
Speaker 2: November sixth, yesterday. Of course, Donald Trump having been elected
Speaker 2: the forty seventh President of the United States not only
Speaker 2: the electoral college but the popular vote. So there can
Speaker 2: be no argument I at least still hate the electoral
Speaker 2: college system. Also, if there is any doubt whatsoever that
Speaker 2: Donald Trump is pro business, the stock market is up
Speaker 2: twelve hundred points, that's all.
Speaker 1: What does that tell you? Yeah, yeah, pretty much pro business. Now.
Speaker 2: Of the propositions that were passed last night, probably the
Speaker 2: most overwhelming passage was Prop thirty six with seventy percent.
Speaker 2: That is beyond a landslide, that is a wipeout. And
Speaker 2: this was the tough on crime ballot initiative, harsher penalties
Speaker 2: for retail theft, property crimes, drug offenses. Todd Spitzer, who
Speaker 2: is the DA of Orange County, who is considered pretty
Speaker 2: much of a hard ass against crime which a prosecutor
Speaker 2: should be, joins us and Todd has been a friend
Speaker 2: for way over thirty years.
Speaker 1: Todd, A couple things for small welcome.
Speaker 2: Second, are you at all surprised that it was this overwhelming,
Speaker 2: and let's analyze it a little bit from your point of view.
Speaker 3: Well, let me just say good morning, Bill, and can
Speaker 3: you say trifecta. Let me give you the trifecta. Prop
Speaker 3: thirty six seventy percent, Nathan Hawkman sixty one percent, the
Speaker 3: recall of Pam Price, the George Gascone of the North
Speaker 3: in Alameda County sixty five percent. Recall. Okay, I mean listen,
Speaker 3: I think last night was a statement statewide, knock the
Speaker 3: crap off, keep us safe. We want to be safe.
Speaker 3: Just go back to being a safe state and knock
Speaker 3: off all these experiments. And so do I think seventy
Speaker 3: percent was overwhelming. Let me tell you something, not everybody
Speaker 3: knows the billionaires, right, the ones that the George Soros group,
Speaker 3: the want netfligs, Facebook, the funds that they put in
Speaker 3: to try to, you know, open the prison doors. All
Speaker 3: the friends of Gavin knew, some that have dinner at
Speaker 3: the French laundry. They put in millions of dollars. Bill
Speaker 3: in San Diego County, hoping to use San Diego to
Speaker 3: offset the rest of the state against Prop thirty six.
Speaker 3: San Diego passed with sixty seven percent of the vote
Speaker 3: for Prop. Thirty six. Orange County was seventy six per
Speaker 3: sent bill. Those numbers are astronomical. They are even la
Speaker 3: with sixty six percent.
Speaker 1: And I know you had railed against Prop.
Speaker 2: Forty seven, which reduced penalties for crimes. And now we
Speaker 2: are back to the where I think, and certainly you think,
Speaker 2: is more well more accountability.
Speaker 1: Is it going to change at all your ability to prosecute.
Speaker 3: I'll make two points, Bill, It's gonna make a great
Speaker 3: ability to change and prosecute. But let me just tell you.
Speaker 3: If DA's over use this new tool and we abuse
Speaker 3: it and we are perceived as too tough on crime
Speaker 3: where we're just filling the prisons again and we're not
Speaker 3: forcing people into treatment and using this for deterrence, it
Speaker 3: will backfire on us. And you know, I've been friends
Speaker 3: with you a long time. I've been around a long
Speaker 3: time now, and I'm not going to let this boomerang.
Speaker 3: I can't allow my colleagues around the state to overuse
Speaker 3: the new tools we were given by the voters last night.
Speaker 2: All right, would you quickly explain which one is just
Speaker 2: I'd rather hear it from your mouth, because you're the DA.
Speaker 1: What does Prop thirty six do.
Speaker 3: So it says, if you have two or more convictions
Speaker 3: for drug possession, we can give you dory air door B.
Speaker 3: We can tell you you have to go into treatment
Speaker 3: and you have to deal with your addiction, or if
Speaker 3: you refuse, we can incarcerate you. So it is treatment
Speaker 3: first sentinel. It tells a drug dealer, now, as a
Speaker 3: matter of law, if you deal drugs and you are convicted,
Speaker 3: if you deal drugs in the future and you kill
Speaker 3: somebody and the substance that you sold them has fetanyl,
Speaker 3: you now can be charged with murder. So every judge
Speaker 3: has to give that admonishment in court to a convicted
Speaker 3: drug dealer, just like we do with drunk driving when
Speaker 3: somebody is convicted that we can charge them with murder
Speaker 3: if they kill. Okay, in the future. So we have
Speaker 3: the fentanyl, we have the drugs, and then we have theft.
Speaker 3: And you know, we have a nine hundred and fifty
Speaker 3: dollars limit for the distinction between a misdemeanor and a felony.
Speaker 3: We did not change that in Prop thirty six, but
Speaker 3: we said if you have two or more convictions for
Speaker 3: petty theft, we can now charge you with a felony,
Speaker 3: which is what we used to have, and we lost
Speaker 3: that and that's why we have all these thefts and
Speaker 3: smashing grabs.
Speaker 2: All right, Todd, I guess it's appropriate to take congratulations,
Speaker 2: although you know, based on what so many of us think,
Speaker 2: we're just going back to a logical use of the law.
Speaker 1: Todd, your voices a little bit out. You've been screaming.
Speaker 3: No. I was with Nathan last night late in Los Angeles,
Speaker 3: and I've been doing interviews, and let me just tell you, Bill,
Speaker 3: I am so excited that California, at least with respect
Speaker 3: to public safety, maybe going back to the middle just
Speaker 3: truth in sentencing. Let's just follow the law, follow the evidence,
Speaker 3: and protect the public.
Speaker 2: Todd Spitzer, da friend over thirty years and district attorney
Speaker 2: in Orange County.
Speaker 1: Todd, you have a good one. Take care of your voice.
Speaker 2: You have a good one, Thanks, Cheryl. Okay, what did
Speaker 2: we decide as Californian's last night? And I think the
Speaker 2: biggest one was Prop thirty six, which Todd Spitzer just
Speaker 2: talked about, and that's bringing accountability back. As he mentioned,
Speaker 2: this prop had to do with making sure that criminals
Speaker 2: are going to be more accountable. In the aftermath of
Speaker 2: the George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, das
Speaker 2: and laws were swept away in terms of how serious
Speaker 2: crimes were considered, how crimes were defined, how they were
Speaker 2: dealt with.
Speaker 1: Well, this, this brings us back.
Speaker 2: In other words, some of the terms of Prop.
Speaker 1: Thirty six has to do with theft. Simple theft.
Speaker 2: You've got to retail theft, that can be a felony
Speaker 2: after two and then fentanyl selling and you know that
Speaker 2: becomes a felony.
Speaker 1: I mean, it just brings us back to normalcy. So
Speaker 1: that was easy.
Speaker 2: That was seventy percent. Seventy percent we voted. And then
Speaker 2: a couple things about money that I wanted to talk about.
Speaker 1: Prop two.
Speaker 2: Authorize the state to borrow ten billion dollars to modernize
Speaker 2: K through twelve schools and community colleges. As I said
Speaker 2: yesterday and a few days before, Californians have never met
Speaker 2: a tax they don't like, which is why we have
Speaker 2: the highest tax rate in the United States by a
Speaker 2: long shot. And this one is not necessarily a tax
Speaker 2: per se. It allows the state to borrow money, sell
Speaker 2: a bond, and then we pay for it back. So
Speaker 2: I guess it's the second tier tax. We voted yes.
Speaker 2: Let's borrow another ten billion dollars. We voted yes to
Speaker 2: the tune of fifty six percent. Now another bond ten
Speaker 2: billion dollars to help fund the response to climate related disasters, drought, flooding.
Speaker 1: Extreme heat in shore, clean drinking water.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 1: By the way, I voted no on Prop two. Yes
Speaker 1: on Prop.
Speaker 2: Four dealing with the clean water and flooding and climate
Speaker 2: related to disasters.
Speaker 1: I voted yes on that one. And I'll tell you why.
Speaker 2: Because this is state government, and this climate change has
Speaker 2: really taken everybody for a loop. It's really not their fault.
Speaker 1: Prop five.
Speaker 2: Hey, this is an interest interesting one local governments. It
Speaker 2: would be easier for local governments to approve bonds and
Speaker 2: tax measures that fund affordable housing and some public infrastructure.
Speaker 2: And all it does is require lower the requirement vote
Speaker 2: to approve those measures from two thirds to fifty five percent.
Speaker 2: You want to know something, we voted no, voted no,
Speaker 2: And it could be maybe we've reached the point where
Speaker 2: the money that's going to housing and homelessness is.
Speaker 1: So high that it almost dwarfs everything else. That's my
Speaker 1: take on it.
Speaker 2: Well might as well, spend our entire budget on homeless
Speaker 2: because we're moving in that direction. And this will do
Speaker 2: the last one before we take a break. Sorry, I'm
Speaker 2: coughing here. This is banning involuntary servitude and in mandatory
Speaker 2: work requirement for state prisoners. State prisoners under current law
Speaker 2: can be forced to work. And this was called the
Speaker 2: Anti Slavery Statute or anti Slavery proposition.
Speaker 1: We voted no.
Speaker 2: Clearly we are in favor of slavery in this state.
Speaker 2: Slavery is a very popular thing. Not bad you slaveholders,
Speaker 2: pro slave people, Okay, so be it. Prop Thirty three
Speaker 2: would have allowed cities and counties to enact rent control
Speaker 2: to bring in more rent controls cities and counties, for example,
Speaker 2: Santa Monica cities would be able to out Santa Monica
Speaker 2: out Anamonica Santa Monica with rent control.
Speaker 1: That was a big sixty one percent no. That was surprising.
Speaker 2: Prop thirty four and I'm surprised that barely passed. Healthcare
Speaker 2: providers have to spend most of the revenue they get
Speaker 2: from federal prescription drug discount programs on direct patient care,
Speaker 2: not advertising, not political ads, straight to patient care. And
Speaker 2: it only passed by fifty one percent. Figure that one out.
Speaker 2: And by the way, California voters, we approved the measure
Speaker 2: to provide permanent funding for medical which is our version
Speaker 2: of Medicaid. And right now, the tax on managed health
Speaker 2: insurance plans that funds the program is expiring twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2: And here's the way these measures are passed. You have taxes,
Speaker 2: You have certain measures that are going only on for
Speaker 2: three or five, five or ten years, and then the
Speaker 2: sunset out because they are for either emergency purposes or
Speaker 2: to fund various programs, and then okay, we funded it,
Speaker 2: We're done. What ends up happening is that no tax
Speaker 2: is ever revoked, even temporary taxes become permanent taxes.
Speaker 1: And how why is that?
Speaker 2: Because they're always advertised as this won't raise taxes one bit,
Speaker 2: you won't pay one penny more for this proposition, and
Speaker 2: they leave out the fact that it's supposed to end
Speaker 2: next year and it's going to go on forever. Therefore
Speaker 2: you're not paying any more than you do now. And
Speaker 2: you've got things that go up a quarter of a cent,
Speaker 2: another quarter of ascent. And this is how we work
Speaker 2: in California. You know, I'm surprised that there isn't this
Speaker 2: huge influx or out flux of California is leaving the state.
Speaker 2: We have become and we are the most expensive state
Speaker 2: in the United States to live in.
Speaker 1: Housing is astronomical.
Speaker 2: Of course, the cost of gasoline, although it's gone down.
Speaker 1: Is more expensive than ever before.
Speaker 2: And I will also say something about Donald Trump being
Speaker 2: pro business. Donald Trump is pro business as long as
Speaker 2: your business is not in California.
Speaker 1: He hates California.
Speaker 2: And case in point is the salt and salt is
Speaker 2: basically eliminating your property taxes to for deductions beyond ten
Speaker 2: thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: Now, there are people that pay.
Speaker 2: Twenty five thousand and thirty thousand dollars in property tax.
Speaker 2: Because you have a home that's let's say a two
Speaker 2: million dollar house, which is not astronomicals. So you pay
Speaker 2: twenty thousand dollars in property tax, you can only deduct
Speaker 2: ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: Why well, because that was.
Speaker 2: Put in, by the way, during Donald Trump's previous administration.
Speaker 2: Why well, because it's California has those expensive, expensive tax rates.
Speaker 2: You go to a southern state, nothing like that happens.
Speaker 2: The other thing is the amount of income you make
Speaker 2: your state tax Your federal taxes used to be deductible.
Speaker 1: Well that changed to a max of ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: Why is that?
Speaker 2: Because Californians make more money than people in Alabama do.
Speaker 2: Because Californians voted against Donald Trump. People in Alabama love
Speaker 2: Donald Trump. So let's just say, whatever laws that are
Speaker 2: going to be passed helping people out not going to
Speaker 2: help California or New York or Connecticut.
Speaker 1: And that's the reality of it. So, by the way, pro.
Speaker 2: Business, it's Donald Trump is perceived as so pro business,
Speaker 2: which he is for the most part.
Speaker 1: Amy, what is the stock market? Earlier?
Speaker 2: You had said had been up twelve one hundred points,
Speaker 2: which is like beyond astronomical.
Speaker 1: What is it now?
Speaker 2: It's now up thirteen hundred and sixty nine points. That's unbelievable.
Speaker 2: I've never heard of that those numbers going up that high.
Speaker 2: You think the perception that President Trump is pro business? Wow,
Speaker 2: And we'll see, we'll see. I think that's true. I
Speaker 2: think workers are going to be put on a lower run.
Speaker 2: I think those people who are working stiffs.
Speaker 1: Are and it's a lot of people that.
Speaker 2: Are working stiff. I don't know if I put myself
Speaker 2: in the category. Yeah, I'm pretty stiff, and I work.
Speaker 1: That's fair gross, thank you. I do believe that middle
Speaker 1: class is not going to be treated.
Speaker 2: So well under President Trump. I do not believe that,
Speaker 2: although he pushed it very hard.
Speaker 1: I think you can't. As as who voted for him.
Speaker 1: That's exactly that's exactly correct. That's exactly correct.
Speaker 2: That he was able to convince the middle class that
Speaker 2: he would do better for them than Kamala Harris, which
Speaker 2: I believe is the other way around. By the way,
Speaker 2: I'm just telling you that. And this is not a
Speaker 2: value judgment, this is not a moral judgment. I just
Speaker 2: believe you cannot be pro pro business and still be
Speaker 2: pro labor at the same time.
Speaker 1: The two just don't work together. So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2: As I said, we are in for a roller coaster
Speaker 2: ride this next four years. As I said before, this
Speaker 2: was an election that both the popular vote as well
Speaker 2: as the electric college went to Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: And no one can argue that this is a democracy.
Speaker 1: This is the way it works. And I know people
Speaker 1: are very upset. I know people who are very upset
Speaker 1: about the election.
Speaker 2: Getting texts and it is the level of losing I've
Speaker 2: never seen in terms of how upset people are. But
Speaker 2: I want to share with you something that you probably
Speaker 2: are not going to hear, and that is.
Speaker 1: How Donald Trump handled this election.
Speaker 2: And I'm talking about a reference to a book that
Speaker 2: I'm reading by Bob Woodward called War Bob, Bob Woodward
Speaker 2: and Carl Bernstein Fame. Of course, those two broke the
Speaker 2: Watergate story and then they wrote a bunch of books,
Speaker 2: and Woodward has written dozens of books. Anyway, he's going
Speaker 2: through his files and he discusses it in his book
Speaker 2: that he keeps the number of files and the records that.
Speaker 1: He keeps like fills garages.
Speaker 2: And he's going through his one of his boxes and
Speaker 2: he pulls on an envelope and in it was a
Speaker 2: taped interview that he did with Donald Trump when Donald
Speaker 2: Trump was forty two years old, and talking about how
Speaker 2: he Donald Trump made business decisions, and he said, I
Speaker 2: always go by my gut. I don't listen to people
Speaker 2: around me, and I've made some spectacular deals. The best
Speaker 2: deals I've ever made was not listening to people that
Speaker 2: were telling me what to do. Fast forward to the election,
Speaker 2: Donald Trump was off message. We heard that about his
Speaker 2: advisers telling him he was completely off message. He was ranting,
Speaker 2: he was talking of personal attacks, he was going off
Speaker 2: off message and just going.
Speaker 1: To areas that made no sense whatsoever.
Speaker 2: And he kept on saying, I don't listen to my advisors.
Speaker 2: We heard that over and over again, that he's going
Speaker 2: contrary to his circle told him what to do, and
Speaker 2: he always said, I don't listen to my advisors. I
Speaker 2: go with my gut instinct. And his gut instinct worked.
Speaker 2: His advisors told them, stay on message, stay on message,
Speaker 2: stay on message. His gut instinct is attack, make stuff up.
Speaker 2: Why literally, dogs and cats. I would not want to
Speaker 2: be a Haitian in Springfield, Ohio going into a pet
Speaker 2: store today.
Speaker 1: I would not want to do that because, well, what
Speaker 1: are you gonna do? Are you gonna get arrested for
Speaker 1: eating the dogs? It all worked. The point is.
Speaker 2: That Donald Trump, in his own way, clearly knows more
Speaker 2: than his advisors ever will, knows more than his business
Speaker 2: partners ever will.
Speaker 1: And why is that because he doesn't listen to them.
Speaker 2: And here's the scary part is that he is now
Speaker 2: president of the United States. He's gonna have advisors around him,
Speaker 2: and he's gonna ignore all of them because he wins
Speaker 2: by doing that.
Speaker 1: He totally wins.
Speaker 2: So we are going to see a president who doesn't
Speaker 2: have necessarily more power than other presidents do. I mean
Speaker 2: he will if both Congress and the Senate and the
Speaker 2: presidency is one house, that one Republican party, of which
Speaker 2: he really isn't a Republican. The party is Donald Trump.
Speaker 2: There's the Democratic Party, there's the Donald Trump Party.
Speaker 1: And then there are a couple of some offshoots. So
Speaker 1: prepare yourself. It's going to be a roller coaster ride.
Speaker 2: And I've talked a little bit about it, and we
Speaker 2: will be talking more and more as decisions are made.
Speaker 2: They're going to take us for a loop. Hey, this
Speaker 2: is America, all right? We do this again tomorrow once again.
Speaker 2: Wake up call at five o'clock with Amy, then the
Speaker 2: rest of the show from six to nine, all of
Speaker 2: us jump in, Neil and Me and Kono is always
Speaker 2: here as his an R producer. This is KFI AM
Speaker 2: six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
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