Speaker 1: By Billy Cunningham the Great America and welcome to someone
Speaker 1: ran the afternoon the tri State this Monday afternoon. Thank
Speaker 1: god Reds Baseball is off, but back out of Tuesday,
Speaker 1: Wednesday and Thursday against the Chicago White Sox, the favorite
Speaker 1: team of Leo the fourteenth. There's fourteen again is the
Speaker 1: Chicago White Sox. In fact, I've you had some time
Speaker 1: google Pope Leo at the White Sox game and Fox
Speaker 1: Sports during a cutaway in between pitches in twenty oh
Speaker 1: five when the White Sox were beating up on the
Speaker 1: Houston Astronomicals. At that point they were in the National League,
Speaker 1: and they had a cutout in which they had Pope
Speaker 1: Leo the fourteenth in the stands cheering on the White Sox.
Speaker 1: This is twenty years ago, sitting next to his brother
Speaker 1: and his nephew. But until then, Jonah, you and I
Speaker 1: now is Senator John Eustad of the Great State of
Speaker 1: Ohio and Senator Houstead. Welcome again to the Bill Cunningham Show.
Speaker 1: Before we talk about drug pricing and tariffs, tariffs and
Speaker 1: trade and Ukraine, Gaza, Indian Pakistan, give me your comments
Speaker 1: on Leo the fourteenth, who's a fan of the Chicago
Speaker 1: White Sox and also an Eagles fan. The White Sox
Speaker 1: win the World Series, the Eagles win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: What's your comments about the Pope?
Speaker 2: We love the Pope, don't we. You know, Hey, I
Speaker 2: saw something the other day. I thought this was hilarious.
Speaker 2: Is typical Chicago. They said, you know, we had Walter Payton,
Speaker 2: they had Michael Jordan, they have Oprah Winfrey, Mike Dickka.
Speaker 2: Now god, all from Chicago. So it was it's unbelievable. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's that's Chicago, man, right there.
Speaker 1: We have coming to America. We have the Olympics, we
Speaker 1: have the World Cup, we have the Pope, and we
Speaker 1: got Donald Trump. Those are the foreheads of.
Speaker 2: Golden Age, the Golden age of America.
Speaker 1: And I'm watching this and I watched the Trump so
Speaker 1: this morning about drug costs, etc. So Senator to you said,
Speaker 1: I think there was some reporting that you were with
Speaker 1: the President and the White House on Friday discussing this
Speaker 1: issue with him. First of all, can you explain the
Speaker 1: problem why we pay so much more than any country
Speaker 1: in the world and what the Trump star is going.
Speaker 2: To do about it? Yeah, quickly, I was at the
Speaker 2: White House on Friday, because the President signed my first
Speaker 2: bill into law, which is a regulatory repeal of biden
Speaker 2: error regulations on household appliances, trying to we wanted to
Speaker 2: drive down the cost, give more consumer choice. So I
Speaker 2: was there for that and he said, well, what do
Speaker 2: you think about the prescription drug issue? And I said,
Speaker 2: he said, he said, we need most Favored Nation status.
Speaker 2: We need to pay the best prices that these drug
Speaker 2: companies are given other countries, because we're subsidizing the rest
Speaker 2: of the world. And well, that's absolutely right. American taxpayers,
Speaker 2: American consumers have been paying astronomically higher prices on prescription
Speaker 2: drugs than the rest of the world. And he's trying
Speaker 2: to bring it into that, by the way, not to
Speaker 2: give America a better deal, just to give America a
Speaker 2: fair deal, the same prices that everybody else is paying.
Speaker 1: Tony Bender wants to know, why do we pay five, six,
Speaker 1: seven times more than any other country. We're not talking
Speaker 1: about Africa, We're not talking about subse Ara. We're talking
Speaker 1: about Germany, England, France, Italy, talking about South Korea, China.
Speaker 1: How come we pay so much?
Speaker 2: There's no good reason. They will suggest that the drug
Speaker 2: companies will suggest. I read them this morning that they said, well,
Speaker 2: it's because we have to pay for the R and D. Well,
Speaker 2: the R and D should be paid for by everyone.
Speaker 2: Spread it across the whole globe. Give Americans a fair
Speaker 2: price on these drugs. I want to continue to support
Speaker 2: research and development, but it shouldn't be completely on the
Speaker 2: backs of the American consumer.
Speaker 1: Now, at some point to five or six drug companies
Speaker 1: there's stocks this money afternoon are quite a bit down
Speaker 1: because they recover all their expenses from the American consumer
Speaker 1: and then they pass on the same drugs in the
Speaker 1: same formula and the same packaging all around the world
Speaker 1: at little or no expense. And it's one thing. If
Speaker 1: it's in the middle of Africa that poor, those people
Speaker 1: need help, but not the EU. There's twenty nine nations
Speaker 1: in the EU that negotiate the price they pay for
Speaker 1: all these miracle drugs that we create, and it's lower,
Speaker 1: lower and lower. And the big farmer can get away
Speaker 1: with it because they think the puts the American consumer
Speaker 1: will pay out landings prices for pharmaceuticals. And then you've
Speaker 1: got Medicare, Medicaid also, and the President said this morning
Speaker 1: he's going to tell the congressional leaders has scored differently
Speaker 1: the prescriptive drug expenses paid for by Medicare and Medicaid. Now,
Speaker 1: this may take three to six months. But for those
Speaker 1: that are somewhat shall we say, not involved in this
Speaker 1: or are thinking about other issues like do we have
Speaker 1: enough Barbie dolls? I mean, if you're a six year
Speaker 1: old girl of Barbie dolls important from China. I guess
Speaker 1: this is a national policy on drug costs with what
Speaker 1: the real confidence do you think this is going to work?
Speaker 2: Well? I think that you know President's trend and executive order.
Speaker 2: If you recall in the past, drug companies have sued
Speaker 2: him when he tried this is his first term, and
Speaker 2: we're successful at stopping him from doing it. But it's look,
Speaker 2: it's an example of leadership calling to attention and America
Speaker 2: first policy. Again, he's talking about giving America as good
Speaker 2: of a deal as Canada and Germany. You know, not
Speaker 2: about as you said, sub Saharan Africa. It's not about
Speaker 2: the lowest price. This is just this is actually we
Speaker 2: want to pay the highest price that everybody else pays.
Speaker 2: That's not exactly a radical, crazy move by the president.
Speaker 2: It is. It is a common sense move by the
Speaker 2: President to say American consumers and taxpayers shouldn't be on
Speaker 2: the hook for R and D for drug companies around
Speaker 2: the globe. And we're going to see a lot of
Speaker 2: pushback from from the companies in the court. But look,
Speaker 2: this is it's time that we healthcare inflation is the
Speaker 2: highest of any sector of the economy in the twenty
Speaker 2: first century, and we've got to start pushing back on it.
Speaker 2: That's what these conversations about medicaid have been about. How
Speaker 2: are we going to control the prices that are un
Speaker 2: consumer and taxpayer.
Speaker 1: No, we can't keep doing this. Since twenty nineteen, uh,
Speaker 1: the cost of medical care to the federal government's gone
Speaker 1: up forty percent, and the last five years forty percent.
Speaker 1: Do that another five years another forty percent. Hell, we're
Speaker 1: out of business. Let's talk about the big bill.
Speaker 2: Yeah, go ahead, thirty seven trillion dollar national debt. We're
Speaker 2: paying over a trillion dollars a year in interest payments
Speaker 2: on it. It's not sustainable. America needs to stop, you know,
Speaker 2: financing the rest of the world. We need to be
Speaker 2: treated fairly and we need to not pass on this
Speaker 2: debt to future generations. That's generational theft bill and we
Speaker 2: shouldn't stand for it.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about the big beautiful bill in a moment.
Speaker 1: What about the China situation, The President said this morning
Speaker 1: he has an agreement from the communist red Chinese to
Speaker 1: quit killing about one hundred thousand Americans every year through
Speaker 1: the precursors defense Noel itself. They're also to quit ripping
Speaker 1: us off. Our products can't get there, but their products
Speaker 1: get here. What's the key parts of the agreement? Now,
Speaker 1: I suppose with communists right China, who I trust as
Speaker 1: far as I can throw them on the tariff relief
Speaker 1: in order to let our products go into China and
Speaker 1: Chinese products have to pay a price to come into America.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have not had a chance to go through
Speaker 2: all the details yet. Basically, there's a sort of a
Speaker 2: ninety day pause to continue to work on some of
Speaker 2: these agreements. I think the top tariff rates now going
Speaker 2: to be thirty percent for Chinese products coming into America.
Speaker 2: I think it's ten percent for American products going into China.
Speaker 2: But this has been a long time in commune, since
Speaker 2: China entered the World Trade Organization in two thousand and one.
Speaker 2: They've been ripping off not only America but the rest
Speaker 2: of the world through unfair trade practices and stealing our
Speaker 2: technology and American businesses. When I visit with the bill,
Speaker 2: they say, yes, if you don't stand up for US
Speaker 2: federal government, who will Because we have no recourse in
Speaker 2: the Chinese courts the way that a Chinese company would
Speaker 2: in the American courts. They steal our stuff, we can't
Speaker 2: do anything about it. And President Trump has come in
Speaker 2: and said, hey, we're not going to tolerate it anymore.
Speaker 2: No president before him was willing to stand up to them,
Speaker 2: and it's time that we get this accomplished on behalf
Speaker 2: of the American consumer and taxpayer.
Speaker 1: In the Senator used.
Speaker 2: To the American business for that man.
Speaker 1: American business. I watched the performances of Canadian Kevin o'larry
Speaker 1: from Shark Tank about the amount of theft by the
Speaker 1: communist red Chinese of American ideas, American personnel, American it.
Speaker 1: The theft absolutely happening, and there's no recourse. Somebody can't
Speaker 1: go to a court in Beijing and sue for theft
Speaker 1: of IP etc. But in America they're buying up farm
Speaker 1: land all around our air force bases. It's got to stop.
Speaker 1: And I think one thing, Senator is the communist red
Speaker 1: Chinese and the Russians and the North Koreans would like
Speaker 1: to run out the clock. They're kind of hoping that
Speaker 1: the next president is going to be a Pritzer and
Speaker 1: they're just waiting to all right, quiet down, the American
Speaker 1: people are gonna have mid term elections.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: The Chinese don't worry about mid term elections. Are you
Speaker 1: worried about the idea between the media and the democratic
Speaker 1: establishment and the Congress and minority leaders in both being Democrats,
Speaker 1: that they're gonna The Chinese might say, let's run out
Speaker 1: the clock and see what happens.
Speaker 2: Well, I think you're making an excellent point right there.
Speaker 2: There's no doubt that China doesn't have to respond to
Speaker 2: an electorate. They can take as long as they want
Speaker 2: to negotiate. They can drag this out. This has been
Speaker 2: one of the problems that that American presidents have had
Speaker 2: in negotiating with these dictators in authoritarian governments is that
Speaker 2: they can be there as long as they want. They
Speaker 2: don't have to cut a deal. We have to be
Speaker 2: answerable as public officials to the American public, and and
Speaker 2: that happens every two in four years. So we've you know,
Speaker 2: we've got to we've got to go quickly. That's why
Speaker 2: I think President's seeing a sense of urgency on this.
Speaker 2: I want to say just a couple of quick stories.
Speaker 2: I'll use this one example. There was a there was
Speaker 2: a guy in Dover, Ohio who said, Hey, I wanted
Speaker 2: to sell my products to Asia that I wanted to sell.
Speaker 2: I'm selling them, I'm making them in America, but I
Speaker 2: wanted to sell into Asia, and I had to produce
Speaker 2: it in Asia. China had me produce it there, Uh,
Speaker 2: to sell into China. And then the next thing, I know,
Speaker 2: a product that's exactly like mine has been copied and
Speaker 2: it's being selled and sold in China and across Asia.
Speaker 2: He says, I have no recourse. They just stole my
Speaker 2: product and now they're making it there. Somebody needs to
Speaker 2: stand up for me. That's the kind of stuff that
Speaker 2: this is about protecting American businesses. UH, standing up to
Speaker 2: the bullies who basically China has said, hey, we're gonna
Speaker 2: we're gonna give we want access to your markets. We're
Speaker 2: not going to give you access to our markets. We're
Speaker 2: going to steal your technology when we can uh, and
Speaker 2: it's got to stop. And you're right, we can't let
Speaker 2: him run out the clock, though, We've got to be
Speaker 2: forceful and get this done quickly.
Speaker 1: Senator, this is an important point that I think that
Speaker 1: Trump's to address this morning. I had a friend of
Speaker 1: mine who developed a new way to put water into
Speaker 1: a mop and it was I forget the name of
Speaker 1: the product. Six or seven years ago. He was able
Speaker 1: to make this product in America for about twenty two
Speaker 1: dollars a mop and sell it for forty nine to
Speaker 1: ninety five at Target and some of the other stores,
Speaker 1: and Chinese came to him. Instead of you spending twenty
Speaker 1: two dollars, how about you spending two dollars and we'll
Speaker 1: produce the mop for two dollars and you still sell
Speaker 1: it for forty nine to ninety five, and we will
Speaker 1: finance a lot of your activities. My friend said, you
Speaker 1: know what, that's a great idea. Instead of producing it
Speaker 1: here at ten times the expense, I'll produce it in
Speaker 1: China and then one day after about six months, and
Speaker 1: then producing it China went directly to the customers of
Speaker 1: my friend to sell them the mop and it got
Speaker 1: my buddy out of the business completely, had a foul bankruptcy.
Speaker 1: They stole the intellectual property. There was no way that
Speaker 1: he could go to a Chinese court for redress. And
Speaker 1: that's a small example what the communist red Chinese are doing.
Speaker 1: And they do it to millions of products every day.
Speaker 1: The undercut the market, capture it and then raise up
Speaker 1: the price to benefit them and not us. Is that
Speaker 1: a good example.
Speaker 2: That is a perfect example, and it's unfortunately it's not
Speaker 2: a rare example. This happens to people with ideas and manufacture,
Speaker 2: small business owners. It has for twenty five years. It's
Speaker 2: time for it to stop.
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about the big beautiful bill that's going
Speaker 1: to hopefully be passed. I know even John Fetterman has
Speaker 1: a few lucid moments recently. Tell the American people. Senator
Speaker 1: John houstaid, what's the two or three elements and the
Speaker 1: big beautiful bill that you're going to vote for?
Speaker 2: I hope, Well, I'm hopeful that we're going to get
Speaker 2: it done. And why do we need to get it done?
Speaker 2: Because it'll be over a four trillion dollar tax increase
Speaker 2: on the American public. If we don't get it done,
Speaker 2: that's number one. Number two, I'm hopeful that we're going
Speaker 2: to restore some fiscal sanity to the spending problem that
Speaker 2: America has and begin to move toward a more balanced budget.
Speaker 2: And then I hope to do some good thing for
Speaker 2: Ohio in there, like changing the way that our welfare
Speaker 2: system works to require people to work in exchange for
Speaker 2: public benefits. I hope that we can end sugary snacks
Speaker 2: and drinks in our SNAP program that's leading to obesity
Speaker 2: and higher health care costs, particularly among the people who
Speaker 2: can lease afford it. So those are the things that
Speaker 2: we need to do in the big beautiful bill that
Speaker 2: I hope we can get past and on the President's
Speaker 2: desk sometime soon.
Speaker 1: What if you don't, But what if somehow the red
Speaker 1: Republican congressman went more salt state and local taxes deductions.
Speaker 1: What if other Republicans say, well, we're not going to
Speaker 1: increase the deficit borrowing by another five trillion dollars. There's
Speaker 1: reasons to do it. You have a very thin majority
Speaker 1: in both chambers. What happens to the taxpayer if it
Speaker 1: isn't passed.
Speaker 2: The taxes will go up on the American taxpayer by
Speaker 2: four trillion dollars. That's why I think it'll get done. Look,
Speaker 2: there will be plenty of things in this bill I
Speaker 2: won't like, but you know that you've got to look
Speaker 2: at the big you know, the big picture here. Is
Speaker 2: there going to be a lot more in it that
Speaker 2: I liked and not like? Yes, of course there will be.
Speaker 2: We can't let taxes go up on the American taxpayer
Speaker 2: by four trillion dollars. We can't make American business less competitive,
Speaker 2: we can't tax working families more. And so that's why
Speaker 2: we got to get it done. And people will grumble
Speaker 2: and mumble, and they'll complain about this or that and
Speaker 2: the other thing. But in the end, you got to
Speaker 2: get the job done. And that means sometimes you're going
Speaker 2: to have to swallow some vinegar with your wine.
Speaker 1: Are you endorsing on different matter? Are you endorsing viveg
Speaker 1: Ramaswami for governor? You might know that on Friday you
Speaker 1: received one hundred percent of the vote of the Ohio
Speaker 1: Republican Executive Committee as an endorsement, and so did viveg Ramaswami.
Speaker 1: I think got ninety five percent of the votes. Are
Speaker 1: you now going to support foreg Ramaswami.
Speaker 2: The BAK and I have been working together very closely.
Speaker 2: I look forward to running on the same ticket with him.
Speaker 2: I want him to be very successful, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: that over the course of the next few months we'll
Speaker 2: have some things to team up on and talk to
Speaker 2: the Ohio voters about. So I'm excited to be on
Speaker 2: the same ticket with him, hopefully driving for more Republican
Speaker 2: victories in twenty twenty six to keep this state on track,
Speaker 2: and to also make you know, make sure that Donald
Speaker 2: Trump has a Republican team to work with as we
Speaker 2: had beyond the twenty twenty sixth elections.
Speaker 1: And last, Lady Senator John Houstead of the Great State
Speaker 1: of Ohio. Do you see this as a rebuke to
Speaker 1: Governor Mike DeWine, who told his own executive committee not
Speaker 1: to do this because his looks on take no explainers.
Speaker 2: Look a people, this is we have disagreements. When you
Speaker 2: are part of the majority, it's hard to keep everybody
Speaker 2: at the same page. I would say a majority is
Speaker 2: made up of many voices. If we want to be
Speaker 2: a minority, we can all get along and never disagree.
Speaker 2: But if we want to be in a majority. Sometimes
Speaker 2: we will disagree, but in the end we will come together,
Speaker 2: we will unite, and we will win in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: All right, once again, the junior center from Ohio is
Speaker 1: Senator John Houston. I'm glad you're with the President on
Speaker 1: Friday because we can have to stop bearing all the
Speaker 1: costs of prescriptive drugs and give it, give it away
Speaker 1: to the rest of the world, and Trumpster can get
Speaker 1: it done. Once again, Senator John Houston, welcome, Thank you
Speaker 1: for coming on the Bill Cunningham Bill Cunningham Show, and John,
Speaker 1: you're a great American.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Thanks Bill.
Speaker 1: Let's continue with more coming up my comments about the
Speaker 1: new Pope and also about the big beautiful Bill, and
Speaker 1: also the fact that if you buy prescriptive drugs and
Speaker 1: great pharmacies like Adrian Pharmacy, the best in Madeira, that
Speaker 1: somehow in the future you may pay less if the
Speaker 1: Democratic Party and the court system allow it. Bill cunning
Speaker 1: m NewsRadio seven hundred WW