1 00:00:04,839 --> 00:00:05,559 Speaker 1: What's going on. 2 00:00:05,719 --> 00:00:08,080 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It 3 00:00:08,199 --> 00:00:10,039 is heard live every day from noon to three on 4 00:00:10,199 --> 00:00:11,880 WBT Radio in Charlotte. 5 00:00:11,919 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: And if you want exclusive. 6 00:00:13,439 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 2: Content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my 7 00:00:16,839 --> 00:00:19,199 daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, 8 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,559 go to dpeteclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the 9 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,120 subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your 10 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,679 smartphone or tablet, And again, thank you so much for 11 00:00:27,719 --> 00:00:33,520 your support. So I started in the last hour talking 12 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:41,000 about Rui Teshera, who is a Democrat strategist guy, and 13 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,159 he was the one that came up with the demographics 14 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:45,399 is destiny. 15 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:49,399 Speaker 1: Tactic or strategy. 16 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,759 Speaker 2: He articulated this in a book like twenty years ago, 17 00:00:53,759 --> 00:01:01,359 and it essentially promised Democrats power in perpetuity if we 18 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,400 just wait long enough for all of the white Republicans 19 00:01:04,439 --> 00:01:09,359 to die off and be replaced. And that has turned 20 00:01:09,359 --> 00:01:14,760 out to be not true because Donald Trump and so 21 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:23,239 he has a piece talking about the Democrats' strategy on USAID. 22 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,640 But also just more generally, the doge dudes as I'm 23 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:34,040 calling them, like the reaction by the Democrats and media. 24 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:39,000 But I repeat myself, the reaction to the identification of 25 00:01:39,159 --> 00:01:42,760 hundreds of billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse 26 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:50,519 by Democrats has been confusing to people like to share. 27 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,760 Who is saying like, this is not a good position 28 00:01:54,879 --> 00:01:57,760 to be taking. Donald Trump actually has the high ground 29 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:04,879 here because Americans are not fond of number one bureaucrats, 30 00:02:05,439 --> 00:02:11,960 number two foreign aid. And you can say it's only 31 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:14,039 one percent of the budget. People don't care. 32 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: Trust me. 33 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,199 Speaker 2: I have had these discussions for over a decade with people. 34 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,120 They do not care. It doesn't matter. It's a principal thing. 35 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:24,479 They don't want anybody going anywhere. And you could talk 36 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,759 about soft power. I did this last week when all 37 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,240 of this stuff first started coming out. USAID was initially 38 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:38,479 a program designed to maximize soft power, you know, rather 39 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,520 than invading a country, conquering them, you know, bending them 40 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,479 to our will or anything like that. It was simply, hey, 41 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,080 you guys need some help, we'll help you out. And 42 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,000 then you put your name on everything, and so they 43 00:02:50,039 --> 00:02:53,039 know that it was America that helped you, right, and 44 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,520 then that creates in marketing what they call a halo effect, 45 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:00,319 and people look at you more favorably. So that was 46 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,560 the whole point the problem is it became this forty 47 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:10,039 billion dollar bohemoth that has virtually no accountability. Oh and 48 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,039 by the way, not for nothing, what the hell is 49 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,439 up with all the Inspectors General. These are people who 50 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:21,639 have their jobs specifically to root out waste, fraud and 51 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,719 abuse inside the particular agencies where. 52 00:03:25,479 --> 00:03:26,879 Speaker 1: They are assigned. 53 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,039 Speaker 2: How is it that Elon Musk and a couple of 54 00:03:33,159 --> 00:03:36,759 twenty year old doge dudes can go in there and 55 00:03:36,879 --> 00:03:41,080 identify hundreds of billions of dollars in this stuff within days, 56 00:03:42,159 --> 00:03:47,039 and the IG in every one of these agencies hasn't 57 00:03:47,039 --> 00:03:49,400 been able to figure any of this stuff out. And 58 00:03:49,439 --> 00:03:53,960 they've been there for years, right the whole that the 59 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,960 whole apple is worms, to paraphrase Elon Musk. 60 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:00,439 Speaker 1: To share. 61 00:04:00,639 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 2: Oh and by the way, yes, I was going to 62 00:04:03,159 --> 00:04:05,199 get into more of RUI to share his comments, but 63 00:04:05,199 --> 00:04:07,240 then Tony called and I hadn't talked to Tony since 64 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,280 the election. I don't know why he hasn't called more 65 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,039 frequently since the election, but anyway, so he called back 66 00:04:13,039 --> 00:04:20,199 in and apparently Tony is now maga. I don't think 67 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,759 he uh, I don't think he saw where that was going. 68 00:04:25,079 --> 00:04:26,319 Speaker 1: So I do have some messages. 69 00:04:26,519 --> 00:04:30,199 Speaker 2: Scott says, Tony was hoping to bait you into an agreement, 70 00:04:30,519 --> 00:04:32,600 but you were too savvy for his little game. 71 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: Very very satisfying. 72 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 2: Now I just need to figure out how to do 73 00:04:36,079 --> 00:04:40,480 that with my wife, that is na Scott. I don't 74 00:04:40,519 --> 00:04:43,240 think it works in marriage like that. But good luck 75 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,040 to you, sir. Seth says, I love hearing people like 76 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,199 Tony wanting instant change from Trump, who has been in 77 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,040 office for what twenty four days? Tony, what did Joe 78 00:04:53,079 --> 00:04:55,360 and Kamala do for poor people in the four years 79 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,120 they were given the chance? Good grief? Yeah, this this 80 00:05:00,199 --> 00:05:03,279 is a this is a common refrain. I hear like 81 00:05:03,319 --> 00:05:06,959 they're they're they're bleeding on about the price of eggs. 82 00:05:08,199 --> 00:05:10,160 How about the boys eggs? Like, Okay, first off, there 83 00:05:10,199 --> 00:05:12,399 was like the bird flu that broke out, you know, 84 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,680 that whole bird flu thing, and they had to slaughter 85 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:15,680 a whole bunch of chickens. 86 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: And that was under Biden. 87 00:05:18,319 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 2: And also Trump's been in office for three weeks and 88 00:05:20,959 --> 00:05:24,000 you think that like he sets the price of eggs 89 00:05:24,079 --> 00:05:28,279 or something like these These things take time to work, 90 00:05:28,399 --> 00:05:32,279 you know, like these fiscal policies and stuff, they they 91 00:05:32,319 --> 00:05:38,279 take time but messages of certainty and a consistent standard 92 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:44,079 helped give confidence to markets and industries and so those things. 93 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:45,759 And when you say we're gonna open everything up for 94 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:50,560 more energy production like the like the futures, markets respond 95 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,240 because they are looking to the future. And so you 96 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:55,600 will see some of this stuff starting to flash that. 97 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:57,399 Now I don't know what happens with the tariffs, like 98 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:02,920 that's you know, tariffs are going to increase prices, that's 99 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,439 what That's what happens because the other countries are going 100 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:07,800 to respond with their own tariffs. Like New Course Steel 101 00:06:07,879 --> 00:06:10,560 today sent out a message saying to all of the 102 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,720 builders that use their rebar and stuff, like, hey, our 103 00:06:13,759 --> 00:06:15,439 prices are going to be going up because all the 104 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,600 tariffs on steel, So construction is going to get more expensive. 105 00:06:21,319 --> 00:06:23,319 Speaker 1: And like that. 106 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,519 Speaker 2: Just prepare yourself because that's what's coming. And that's going 107 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,639 to be one of the lines of attack. Now back 108 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,959 to the ruly to Share a piece, he says, democrats 109 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,000 are and this is a democrat, by the way, Ruly 110 00:06:35,079 --> 00:06:40,160 to share. Democrats are unconditionally defending an obscure government institution 111 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:45,199 at USAID at a time when even well known and 112 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:51,639 previously trusted institutions are regarded with intense suspicion. Right think 113 00:06:51,639 --> 00:06:54,000 about that. People don't even know what USAID is about. 114 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,160 They have no idea what this thing is, why was 115 00:06:56,199 --> 00:06:59,120 set up, what it does. Why do you think they're 116 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:00,759 going to have a level of content, ffidence and trust 117 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:06,720 in that institution when their trust and confidence in institutions 118 00:07:06,759 --> 00:07:10,720 that they do know about have been completely obliterated over 119 00:07:10,759 --> 00:07:15,040 the last five years eight years. A key finding from 120 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,639 a New York Times poll in twenty twenty four during 121 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:21,959 the election cycle was that voters overwhelmingly believe that the 122 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:27,040 political and economics system in America needs either major changes 123 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:33,439 or needs to be completely rebuilt. That's what they see 124 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:37,439 Trump doing. And I will tell you as one like 125 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:41,959 in twenty fifteen when Trump was running initially the first time, 126 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,639 I was a Rand Paul supporter, I wanted Ran Paul 127 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:51,399 because Rand Paul wanted to reduce the footprint of the 128 00:07:51,639 --> 00:07:54,879 executive branch. He said that the executive branch has become 129 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,800 too powerful right the administrative state. He wanted to rip 130 00:07:58,839 --> 00:08:01,399 apart that push all of that power back to the 131 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,560 legislative branch where it was originally intended to rest. And 132 00:08:05,639 --> 00:08:09,120 he was the only one saying that stuff, this version 133 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,160 of Donald Trump two point zero, he is delivering the 134 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,600 things that I wanted at a rand pall, And so 135 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:17,600 I recognize what it is that he's doing. 136 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:19,519 Speaker 1: Will it work? God? 137 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 2: I hope so, I really do hope so, But I 138 00:08:22,759 --> 00:08:26,600 don't know, not for sure. I'm with you, like I 139 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:28,360 got to sit and wait and see how this stuff 140 00:08:28,399 --> 00:08:34,480 plays out. But USAID is an obscure institution and it 141 00:08:34,519 --> 00:08:37,480 does one of American voter's least favorite things, which is 142 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:43,240 provide foreign aid. Also, not only are Democrats blanket defending 143 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:47,000 an obscure institution that does something American voters don't particularly 144 00:08:47,039 --> 00:08:53,000 want to, they are defending it without explaining their own priorities. Right, 145 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,519 They're not getting up there, like they cannot get up 146 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,759 there and defend all of the grants that USAID has 147 00:08:59,759 --> 00:09:04,279 been pushing out. They can't do it, and so they 148 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,039 make it about these other things. They make it about, oh, 149 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,879 the starving children in Africa. In Africa, Well, if that's 150 00:09:11,919 --> 00:09:16,840 all USAID was doing, then there wouldn't be all of 151 00:09:16,879 --> 00:09:19,679 these other grants that have been identified, and there wouldn't 152 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:22,799 be such outrage about all of those other grants. But 153 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,200 if you're not going to stand with us and say 154 00:09:25,799 --> 00:09:29,080 that's inappropriate. We need to be you know, defunding the 155 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:32,480 you know, transgender Morocco reading group. 156 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:34,159 Speaker 1: Well, then then. 157 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:36,639 Speaker 2: You're saying you just want to keep funding this stuff 158 00:09:36,639 --> 00:09:39,840 and you want the corruption to continue, which is basically 159 00:09:39,879 --> 00:09:42,360 what they're saying. All Right, if you're listening to this show, 160 00:09:42,399 --> 00:09:43,919 you know I try to keep up with all sorts 161 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,000 of current events, and I know you do too, And 162 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,480 you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. 163 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,240 Why Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which 164 00:09:53,279 --> 00:09:56,200 is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's 165 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:59,679 an app and it's a website and it combines news 166 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:01,480 from a around the world in one place so you 167 00:10:01,519 --> 00:10:04,919 can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it 168 00:10:04,919 --> 00:10:09,480 out at check dot ground, dot news slash Pete. I 169 00:10:09,519 --> 00:10:12,399 put the link in the podcast description too. I started 170 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,159 using ground News a few months ago and more recently 171 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,360 chose to work with them as an affiliate because it 172 00:10:17,399 --> 00:10:21,240 lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. 173 00:10:21,519 --> 00:10:24,480 The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored 174 00:10:24,519 --> 00:10:27,440 by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check 175 00:10:27,519 --> 00:10:32,000 dot Ground, dot news slash Pete. Subscribe through that link 176 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,919 and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use 177 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,120 the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. 178 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,080 Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it 179 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,279 also supports ground news as they make the media landscape 180 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,279 more transparent. Democrats, I have a question, why are you 181 00:10:48,279 --> 00:10:56,159 guys so uninterested in rooting out government waste? 182 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: What's the problem? 183 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,919 Speaker 2: Why why don't you care if we're spending hundreds of 184 00:11:01,919 --> 00:11:06,840 billions of dollars all over the globe and wait till 185 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,759 this stuff, wait till the doge dudes gets into uh 186 00:11:09,919 --> 00:11:16,399 or they get into the domestic agencies. I mean, you 187 00:11:16,399 --> 00:11:19,919 guys are always talking about the bloated military budget. Do 188 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,279 you really think the doge is going to find no 189 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,200 waste inside the DoD budget? I bet they do. And 190 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:30,440 by the way, I'm here for that too, Like I 191 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:35,440 expect there to be a very large amount of waste, fraud, 192 00:11:35,519 --> 00:11:40,360 and abuse inside that budget. And when you say get 193 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:42,480 rid of that, I will be right there with you 194 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:46,480 to say, yes, get rid of that too. But why 195 00:11:46,519 --> 00:11:48,080 don't you want to get rid of all of the 196 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:55,360 other agencies waste? Right, unless, of course, you agree with 197 00:11:55,399 --> 00:11:59,720 the waste you want the waste the abuse because we 198 00:11:59,799 --> 00:12:02,080 now have all of the receipts, we have the records, 199 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:03,679 and we're getting more and more and more of them, 200 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,600 of all of the various connections, as I've outlined last week, 201 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,000 how the taxpayer money gets confiscated, then flows through the 202 00:12:12,039 --> 00:12:16,480 grant programs and then makes their way down to these 203 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:22,679 NGOs and these various organizations that are staffed by you 204 00:12:22,799 --> 00:12:26,159 and your friends. And so it kind of looks like 205 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:32,480 you're personally enriching yourselves at the taxpayer trough. And that 206 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,080 might explain to me. And I'm trying to, you know, 207 00:12:35,159 --> 00:12:37,120 give the benefit of the doubt. I'm trying to keep 208 00:12:37,159 --> 00:12:40,000 an open mind here as to why there is just 209 00:12:40,039 --> 00:12:46,240 this visceral pushback on the identification of waste in government 210 00:12:46,279 --> 00:12:47,799 spending like. 211 00:12:51,279 --> 00:12:52,759 Speaker 1: And I'm really it's a. 212 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 2: Head scratcher for me, except of course for the you know, 213 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:59,360 personally enriching yourself. But I don't want to make any accusations. 214 00:13:00,159 --> 00:13:03,559 I've got the evidence. Ed Morrissey at hodair dot com. 215 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:10,519 He says, you know who loves USAID and its unaccountable structure, 216 00:13:11,919 --> 00:13:17,720 the progressive academia elite that run it, and other less 217 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:23,200 than responsive federal bureaucracies. Why it appeals to their elitism 218 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,480 and the flow of money without accountability allows for massive 219 00:13:26,519 --> 00:13:31,759 manipulations and social engineering. You know who hates USAID and 220 00:13:31,919 --> 00:13:37,759 other less than accountable federal bureaucracies like almost literally everybody else, 221 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:44,840 Almost everybody else hates this. To address Ruy to share 222 00:13:44,879 --> 00:13:49,080 his third point, where he says that Democrats are defending 223 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:54,639 an obscure institution that does something American voters don't want 224 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:59,799 to do. He says it's worth noting. Morrisey says it's 225 00:13:59,799 --> 00:14:03,720 worth noting that Democrats have a different strategy altogether. They 226 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,279 want to preserve the structure as is, not offer any 227 00:14:07,399 --> 00:14:11,879 kind of priority sets that would necessarily prompt scale down decisions. 228 00:14:12,519 --> 00:14:16,159 They're using the time tested and usually successful strategy of 229 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,559 victim naming, or if you will, what he calls the 230 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,360 poster child strategy. I called this the Mott Bailey, the 231 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:27,480 Mott and Bailey fallacy. That's how I described it last week, 232 00:14:27,799 --> 00:14:32,200 which is, you know, an easily defensible position, that's the Mott. 233 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,240 Think of a castle, right, the bailey is the fields 234 00:14:35,279 --> 00:14:37,919 all around the castle, right where the farming takes place 235 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,600 in the old medieval kind of set up there, and 236 00:14:40,679 --> 00:14:45,759 so the bailey is a more easily attacked argument and 237 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,320 the mott is the easily defended one. And so people 238 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:50,320 will go out and they'll do something or they'll say something, 239 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:52,799 they'll make an argument. They're out on the bailey, they 240 00:14:52,799 --> 00:14:55,120 get attacked, and then they retreat to the mot and 241 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,080 they're like, but we just want to feed starving children 242 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,720 in Africa, and then the attack are like, oh, well, 243 00:15:00,799 --> 00:15:04,600 I mean that's okay, but down on the bailey, that's 244 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,120 where you've got the you know, the funding for the 245 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:12,240 Guatemalan sex changes, and that's a controversial thing, that's indefensible. 246 00:15:12,279 --> 00:15:16,360 We shouldn't be funding that stuff as American taxpayers. That's 247 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:18,519 really a thing that we were funding. By the way, 248 00:15:18,759 --> 00:15:21,320 I'm not making that up, like the things that we 249 00:15:21,399 --> 00:15:26,480 have been funding that they have identified through USAID, including terrorist. 250 00:15:26,159 --> 00:15:28,039 Speaker 1: Organizations and the like. 251 00:15:28,039 --> 00:15:31,519 Speaker 2: Like you would think it was out of a parody 252 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,360 I would say Saturday Night Live, but that hasn't been 253 00:15:35,399 --> 00:15:39,720 funny in a long time. So it's like the Babylon B, 254 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:42,240 Like these are things that you would expect to see 255 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,440 in some mockery posts from the Babylon B, but we 256 00:15:46,519 --> 00:15:51,200 actually have been funding them that's the bailey, and then 257 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:55,159 when attacked for funding the Guatemalan sex changes, they retreat 258 00:15:55,159 --> 00:15:58,320 to the mott we're only feeding starving children, a more 259 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,200 easily defensible position. He calls it ed Morrisey calls it 260 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:03,720 the poster child strategy. 261 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:04,679 Speaker 1: Okay. 262 00:16:05,759 --> 00:16:10,039 Speaker 2: He says he expected this would happen when these programs 263 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:14,519 got exposed. The Democrats and the protection racket media would 264 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,399 cherry pick a handful of worthy spending decisions as a 265 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,360 way to defend the whole corrupt structure. And that's what 266 00:16:20,399 --> 00:16:22,879 we have seen with references to a couple of medical 267 00:16:22,919 --> 00:16:25,799 trials right which actually should have been under the NIH, 268 00:16:25,879 --> 00:16:30,919 not USAID poverty programs that'll disrupt real humanitarian efforts. And 269 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,759 that's assuming that the money reached those recipients in the 270 00:16:33,759 --> 00:16:36,279 first place, which we don't even know that to be 271 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:41,120 the case. Less than five percent of USAID's HATI program 272 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:48,240 spending actually got to Haitians, less than five percent. Where 273 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:53,120 else did the money go? Clinton Global Initiative. 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Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, 290 00:17:45,839 --> 00:17:49,799 two villas, and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. 291 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,160 Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for 292 00:17:53,279 --> 00:17:57,000 any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or 293 00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:00,839 text eight two eight, three, six, seven seventy six or 294 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:02,920 check out all there is to offer at cabins of 295 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,440 Aashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. 296 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:13,359 I have some messages on Twitter. The Hellian says, uh, 297 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:18,720 constitutional crisis is the new danger to democracy. Yes, they've 298 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:20,559 been using this term that they're trying to make it 299 00:18:20,599 --> 00:18:25,920 happen like fetch, you know, and they may be as successful. 300 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:26,279 Speaker 1: I don't know. 301 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:29,519 Speaker 2: But it's interesting too if you track, like when the 302 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:34,960 narrative of the democracy really ramped up, you know, within 303 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,160 the last five years, you can see a lot of 304 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:42,400 the NGOs and these nonprofits started putting the word democracy 305 00:18:42,559 --> 00:18:47,240 into their grant applications, and it was like opening the 306 00:18:47,279 --> 00:18:51,799 spigots for the for the funding, you know, like you 307 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:52,799 put that in there. 308 00:18:53,279 --> 00:18:57,799 Speaker 1: And it's like gold, you know, like almost literally. 309 00:19:01,279 --> 00:19:05,319 Speaker 2: Another message, this is from a Twitter user called former 310 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,519 poll Dancer, who says, Pete, when you put people into 311 00:19:08,519 --> 00:19:11,839 a position of power without accountability, you create the opportunity 312 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:16,200 for corruption. We need a sufficiently difficult method that it 313 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,200 won't be abused, but simple enough that it's not impossible 314 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:23,119 to hold judges accountable. I don't pretend to know exactly 315 00:19:23,319 --> 00:19:27,920 how to put that method together, though. Yeah, that is 316 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:34,000 the challenge, because you do want judges to be able to, 317 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:40,720 you know, to rule without fear of retribution for any opinion. 318 00:19:41,319 --> 00:19:43,839 But I think if you get a track record built 319 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:49,839 up of constantly getting overturned on legal grounds, right on 320 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:55,720 constitutional grounds, and you've shown yourself, you know, unable to 321 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,240 weigh constitutional arguments, then you probably shouldn't have the gig anymore. 322 00:20:00,599 --> 00:20:04,480 Russ says the left needs to lean into the constitutional 323 00:20:04,519 --> 00:20:07,759 crisis narratives. I know several people who don't pay much 324 00:20:07,759 --> 00:20:11,599 attention to politics but have come to realize constitutional crisis 325 00:20:11,599 --> 00:20:15,240 means the left just doesn't like it. Same for worse 326 00:20:15,279 --> 00:20:20,839 than Civil War, as well as Hitler and Watergate Horribleizing 327 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,960 everything is a strategy with diminishing returns. 328 00:20:25,799 --> 00:20:26,640 Speaker 1: That is correct. 329 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,400 Speaker 2: Russ goes on to say, those people are saying, if 330 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,480 there was an actual problem, Democrats would address the facts, 331 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:37,640 not just wait that it's not just waiale, that it's 332 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:41,319 the same as some other awful thing. Right, I address 333 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:47,559 the thing that is at issue. And you know, there's 334 00:20:47,599 --> 00:20:51,519 this identification of all of this waste, and your response 335 00:20:51,599 --> 00:20:57,960 is to attack the people that have identified the waste. 336 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,279 Got a message here from Dennis the this is a 337 00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:03,440 peat male, He says, I'm having fun watching these Democrats 338 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,519 protesting Trump's doge findings of all the corruption and wasteful 339 00:21:07,519 --> 00:21:10,799 spending in the federal government. Once again, it's another exercise 340 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:14,599 of the modus operandi, which is to first create the problem, 341 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,680 then second claimed you want to fix it. This really 342 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,200 does make great comedy, especially when you have Aunt Esther's 343 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:23,480 replica Maxine Waters leading the way. 344 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,039 Speaker 1: Yeah. 345 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,039 Speaker 2: Yeah, she's always good for a laugh, and John says, 346 00:21:28,039 --> 00:21:29,680 good show today, Pete, I have learned much. 347 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 1: Thank you, John. 348 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 2: I appreciate that Ed Morrissey, who I always learned from 349 00:21:35,839 --> 00:21:41,640 as well. This is a piece over at hotair dot Com. 350 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:48,799 Liberal analyst warrens Democrats it's suicide to defend USAID. He says, 351 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,839 the obvious point is Congress could restore funding for any 352 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:58,279 worthy efforts at USAID that the administration has terminated. There 353 00:21:58,319 --> 00:22:02,240 are no legitimate reasons that the funds for worthy projects 354 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,200 should have to come out of a slush fund that 355 00:22:05,279 --> 00:22:07,799 defeats accountability, both fiscal and political. 356 00:22:08,039 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: Right. 357 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,640 Speaker 2: This is It's the same argument I make on teacher pay. 358 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:12,920 I said this last week. I want great teachers to 359 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,079 make a lot of money, six figures. I want them 360 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:17,640 really well paid, But I refuse to be held hostage 361 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,119 and pay the bad teachers the same amount of money 362 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,480 as the great ones get paid. I'm not going to 363 00:22:22,559 --> 00:22:26,160 do that, And you can't make me pay for good 364 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:31,079 things at the expense of having to fund way more 365 00:22:31,319 --> 00:22:36,480 terrible things. Ed Morrissey asks why aren't Democrats in Congress 366 00:22:36,519 --> 00:22:44,599 stepping up with proposals to specifically fund any USAID projects? Right, So, 367 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,000 if you identify one that you want to keep, run 368 00:22:47,039 --> 00:22:48,839 a bill, say okay, you know what you're going to 369 00:22:49,319 --> 00:22:52,240 You're wanting to pause funding on all this Let's fund 370 00:22:52,519 --> 00:22:57,240 this particular thing at this funding level. And the reason 371 00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:58,960 why they're not doing is because almost all of them 372 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,200 would not just be on po popular, but a significant 373 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,279 amount of them were corrupt from the start. They don't 374 00:23:04,279 --> 00:23:07,160 want to put their names on most of these specific programs, 375 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,200 nor have their support for those programs on the record, 376 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,759 which is why USAID got set up as an unaccountable 377 00:23:14,799 --> 00:23:17,839 slush fund in the first place. They don't want their 378 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,559 fingerprints on it. On a larger scale, that's how we 379 00:23:21,599 --> 00:23:24,079 got the bureaucratic state too, or the deep state, if 380 00:23:24,079 --> 00:23:27,160 you prefer. That goes back a century to the first 381 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:31,599 wave of progressive policies when Woodrow Wilson and after his strokes, 382 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:36,759 his wife, helped create agency law to bypass the Constitution 383 00:23:37,319 --> 00:23:40,319 and to grandize the executive branch at the expense of 384 00:23:40,319 --> 00:23:45,559 the legislative branch. Wilson argued that experts could craft laws 385 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:53,200 better than elected representatives, and legislators eventually embraced this dereliction 386 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:58,359 of their duty. That's why we're in this mess. Trump's 387 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:03,720 actions now leverage that overwhelming executive authority to dismantle at 388 00:24:03,799 --> 00:24:07,480 least some of the bureaucratic state, starting with the least 389 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:13,279 popular outposts of the United bureaucracies of America. Democrats won't 390 00:24:13,319 --> 00:24:17,359 address foreign aid priorities because they're not defending foreign aid, 391 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,920 they're defending the bureaucratic state. That should be obvious at 392 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:29,559 this point now. On Friday, a Trump appointed judge Carl Nichols, 393 00:24:30,319 --> 00:24:33,920 a federal district court in Washington, d C. Temporarily paused 394 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:38,039 Trump's directives placing about twenty seven hundred USAID employees on 395 00:24:38,079 --> 00:24:41,799 administrative leave and evacuating them from their host countries on 396 00:24:41,839 --> 00:24:46,519 an expedited basis. The objections were raised by government employee unions, 397 00:24:46,559 --> 00:24:48,839 which we really shouldn't even have either. When we look 398 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,759 closely at the order, Judge Nichols is not saying that 399 00:24:52,839 --> 00:24:55,359 the Trump administration will not eventually be able to do 400 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,359 what the president wants done. Rather, the judge's concern is 401 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,680 whether it reparable harm will result from the abrupt manner 402 00:25:03,759 --> 00:25:07,119 in which employees who continue to be paid have been 403 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,880 cut off from USAID information systems and they've been told 404 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,200 to evacuate. And this is where he said, you know, 405 00:25:14,319 --> 00:25:17,599 evacuating out Assyria is not like, you know, having to 406 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,000 leave your job at the office in Virginia. 407 00:25:20,079 --> 00:25:24,680 Speaker 1: It's not the same. So does this hold water? All right? 408 00:25:24,759 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 2: I hope you had a happy holiday season, But tell 409 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,039 me if something like this happened at your house. Your 410 00:25:30,039 --> 00:25:32,559 family and friends are gathered around, Maybe y'all are in 411 00:25:32,559 --> 00:25:36,200 the living room, You're laughing, swapping stories, reminiscing, and then 412 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:40,200 somebody says, hey, Dad, remember those old VHS tapes? Did 413 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:42,839 you ever get them transferred? And then the room gets 414 00:25:42,839 --> 00:25:46,400 all quiet. All eyes are on Dad, who says, oh, 415 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,519 you know, well, I've been meaning to but I just 416 00:25:48,559 --> 00:25:51,519 having gotten around to it. Look, don't let those priceless 417 00:25:51,559 --> 00:25:54,519 memories sit in a box for another year. All right, 418 00:25:54,599 --> 00:25:57,440 Create a Video has been helping families in the Charlotte 419 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:01,559 area preserve their history since nineteen ninety. Simply bringing your 420 00:26:01,559 --> 00:26:05,200 old camquarder tapes and Creative Video will transfer them to 421 00:26:05,319 --> 00:26:08,680 a USB flash drive for just fourteen ninety five per tape. 422 00:26:08,799 --> 00:26:11,400 You have a big collection, they've got a discount for you. 423 00:26:11,519 --> 00:26:15,440 And next year, instead of talking about those memories, imagine 424 00:26:15,799 --> 00:26:19,160 gathering the family to watch them together. Talk about a 425 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,200 memorable gift. So do what I did. Trust the experts 426 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,720 at Creative Video, conveniently located in mint Hill right off 427 00:26:25,799 --> 00:26:29,880 I four eighty five and online at create avideo dot com. 428 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:35,720 So I mentioned before the break, Judge Carl Nichols Trump 429 00:26:35,759 --> 00:26:40,960 appoint e Washington DC Federal District Court temporarily paused the 430 00:26:41,039 --> 00:26:46,160 directives putting a bunch of USAID employees on paid administrative 431 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,519 leave and evacuating them from their host countries. The judge's 432 00:26:49,599 --> 00:26:52,960 concern is over getting some of them out of some 433 00:26:53,039 --> 00:26:55,160 of those locations. So the government's going to have to 434 00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:02,000 address particular perils faced by employees in unstable countries, as 435 00:27:02,039 --> 00:27:06,319 well as those who have special needs kids, property other 436 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:10,160 considerations at risk. If the evacuation is carried out too hastily, 437 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,640 But these things can be worked out, Andy McCarthy at 438 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,839 National Reviews. As constitutionally speaking, I believe Trump is going 439 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:23,200 to prevail as the litigation moves forward, quite possibly up 440 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,079 to the US Supreme Court. 441 00:27:25,839 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: Now. 442 00:27:26,079 --> 00:27:30,640 Speaker 2: Julie Kelly has a copy of the sworn declaration to 443 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:39,079 the court by Pete Morocco, who oversees USAID for President Trump. 444 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:46,000 He says, I made numerous requests for information about USAID's operations, 445 00:27:46,039 --> 00:27:50,599 programs and compliance with the President's directives. I have consistently 446 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:56,440 found USAID senior staff were unwilling or unable to provide 447 00:27:56,519 --> 00:28:02,680 basic compliance and oversight information. For example, senior professionals in 448 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:07,240 the finance, legal and human capital groups, so human resources 449 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:12,279 were not able to identify who, when, and why. Dozens 450 00:28:12,319 --> 00:28:17,240 of very specific multimillion dollar payments were approved or dispersed 451 00:28:17,799 --> 00:28:26,599 in the day's following Trump's directives to pause the disbursements. Right, 452 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,400 So think about what that means is that Trump says 453 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:34,440 paused the disbursements, and they pushed out the door multimillion 454 00:28:34,559 --> 00:28:40,519 dollar payments in direct violation of that order. That's in 455 00:28:40,599 --> 00:28:43,920 subordination at the very least no. This lack of clear 456 00:28:44,039 --> 00:28:48,279 or timely information sharing caused grave concern about whether USAID 457 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:53,480 was faithfully following the presidents and Secretary of State Rubio's directives. 458 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,960 Those concerns were amplified when agency leadership became aware that 459 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:02,039 a group of USAID employees were not complying with the 460 00:29:02,079 --> 00:29:07,000 executive order and continued to permit new funding obligations that 461 00:29:07,079 --> 00:29:10,359 were paused by the directives. So this goes all the 462 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,680 way up to the top. The leadership was like, yeah, 463 00:29:12,799 --> 00:29:17,039 keep doing it. By February one, the administration had placed 464 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:21,200 one hundred and fifteen USAID officials on paid leave for 465 00:29:21,359 --> 00:29:26,799 non compliance and other acts of insubordination. The plan was 466 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,160 for all but roughly six hundred out of the roughly 467 00:29:30,599 --> 00:29:33,559 four thousand, seven hundred and sixty five full time USAID 468 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:37,960 employees to be put on leave as Morocco and his 469 00:29:38,079 --> 00:29:42,880 team analyzed foreign projects, but that was thwarted by this 470 00:29:43,039 --> 00:29:47,960 judge's temporary restraining order. By the way, Morocco also took 471 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:52,400 a swipe at the judge's unsubstantiated claim that USAID employees 472 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,480 in Syria faced imminent danger. He said, to the best 473 00:29:55,519 --> 00:29:58,359 of my knowledge, none of these employees were located in 474 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:02,559 high risk countries like Perhaps Nichols would have learned that 475 00:30:02,599 --> 00:30:05,440 had he allowed the DOJ to respond to the lawsuit 476 00:30:05,839 --> 00:30:09,240 before issuing his temporary restraining order, but he did not. 477 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:15,039 Morocco also identified one USAID employee who defied the directive 478 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:22,079 related to assistance funding for Gaza. Quote one USAID employee 479 00:30:22,079 --> 00:30:26,240 who broke that chain of command, did not communicate with 480 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:31,920 her immediate USAID supervisor and attempted to obligate or authorize 481 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:36,000 the expenditure of nearly half a billion dollars in assistance 482 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,960 in a manner that was inconsistent with the President's priorities. 483 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,559 So she's trying to push out the door half a 484 00:30:44,599 --> 00:30:49,680 billion dollars to Gaza in direct violation of what the 485 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:55,920 President ordered. Meanwhile, in Manhattan Court, Federal Court, Southern District 486 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:59,880 of New York, Judge Paul Engelmeyer has paused the act 487 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,839 excess of the DOGE to what are described as sensitive 488 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:08,240 Treasury Department records. By the way, DOGE is an overhaul 489 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,799 of the existing US Digital Service, which was put in 490 00:31:11,839 --> 00:31:15,200 place by Barack Obama poisted on his own petard. There 491 00:31:15,599 --> 00:31:19,400 the stated concern of that judge an Obama appointee. Is 492 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,920 that doge's access to sensitive records carries a high risk 493 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:27,480 of improper disclosure or hacking, and these concerns are echoed 494 00:31:27,519 --> 00:31:30,160 in the media I'm sure just a coincidence, and in 495 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,519 the New York Times op ed by five former Treasury 496 00:31:33,599 --> 00:31:40,440 Department secretaries. So political actors can't be trusted. We need 497 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:46,920 the altruistic, professional bureaucrats who aren't it all partisan. They 498 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,240 can be trusted. You see the disconnect here, It's pretty obvious. 499 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:53,440 All right, that'll do it for this episode. 500 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:54,839 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening. 501 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,039 Speaker 2: I could not do the show without your support and 502 00:31:57,119 --> 00:31:59,799 the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, 503 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,240 so if you'd like, please support them too and tell 504 00:32:02,279 --> 00:32:04,000 them you heard it here. You can also become a 505 00:32:04,039 --> 00:32:08,680 patron at my Patreon page or go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, 506 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,480 thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything 507 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:12,839 while I'm gone.