1 00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,640 this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon 3 00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:12,480 to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,719 want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,239 my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, 6 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,600 go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Make sure you hit the 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,160 subscribe button. Get every episode for free, write to your 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,719 smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,479 your support. David Asman is a reporter at Fox, and 10 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,359 he sent out a tweet he says more than two 11 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:39,880 years ago, and he links to this tweet from two 12 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:44,560 years ago talking about one hundred and eighty nine billion 13 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:50,719 dollars in k through twelve COVID spending one hundred eighty 14 00:00:50,799 --> 00:00:55,320 nine billion dollars, and he asked where did that money go? 15 00:00:57,399 --> 00:00:59,320 He says, I never really thought that we would get 16 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:04,359 an answer, but now Doge is giving us a glimpse. 17 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,640 You may want to sit down for some of this. 18 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:19,480 This was Nick literally just sat down. Okay. Three hundred 19 00:01:19,519 --> 00:01:24,760 and ninety three thousand dollars was used to rent out 20 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:30,239 a major League baseball stadium. I don't know which stadium. 21 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,640 I don't know what for, but that's apparently where some 22 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,359 of this money went. And by the way, they are 23 00:01:37,359 --> 00:01:42,560 finding all of this stuff because of AI. Okay, these 24 00:01:42,599 --> 00:01:46,920 guys that went in there, these doge dudes, the Musketeers, 25 00:01:47,359 --> 00:01:51,239 they are in there and they have written AI codes 26 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:56,040 and such and programs to scrape this data and to 27 00:01:56,159 --> 00:02:03,000 connect these the dots for the funding. And that's how 28 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,120 they've been able to track some of this stuff. And 29 00:02:05,159 --> 00:02:07,879 this was the problem with you'll recall some of the 30 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:11,840 other departments where they were not coding things, which makes 31 00:02:11,879 --> 00:02:15,680 the money untraceable and unauditable because you don't know where 32 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:20,240 the money is gone. So three hundred and ninety three 33 00:02:20,319 --> 00:02:23,080 thousand dollars to rent out a Major League Baseball stadium, 34 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:27,599 this was COVID money, remember, And up in Raleigh a 35 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:30,240 couple of weeks ago, they were like, we're going to 36 00:02:30,319 --> 00:02:32,439 have to raise taxes or maybe go for a bond 37 00:02:32,479 --> 00:02:35,000 reference or something. They're like or and they were canceling 38 00:02:35,039 --> 00:02:41,879 classes because their HVAC systems weren't working correctly, so they 39 00:02:41,879 --> 00:02:44,280 couldn't have the kids safely in the schools because the 40 00:02:44,439 --> 00:02:51,360 HVAC systems were broken. But they got millions of dollars 41 00:02:52,319 --> 00:02:58,639 to upgrade their HVAC components in their schools. What do 42 00:02:58,719 --> 00:03:02,199 they do with the money? That's what we were told. Remember, 43 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,159 in fact, I was saying this at the time when 44 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:11,159 Mandy Cohen, who's got it going on? When she I mean, 45 00:03:11,159 --> 00:03:12,919 that was the song that's some nutball made for her. 46 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,120 But anyway, she was talking about the three ws. Remember, 47 00:03:16,199 --> 00:03:18,439 do you remember what the three w's where everybody, let 48 00:03:18,439 --> 00:03:21,400 me talk to you like you're a child, the three ws, 49 00:03:22,599 --> 00:03:26,080 wash your hands, wear a mask, and wait six feet apart. 50 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,360 You know, I said, you're leaving out the most important 51 00:03:29,479 --> 00:03:37,080 W and that is wind, breeze, air circulation, ventilation, windows, 52 00:03:37,159 --> 00:03:39,960 whatever you want to say. But add a fourth W there, right, 53 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,199 because that's the most important thing. It's to open up 54 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:48,879 these spaces. Get your air circulating, to blow the lung 55 00:03:49,039 --> 00:03:53,719 juice out of the air, suck it out and blow 56 00:03:53,759 --> 00:03:57,400 it outside. Because when you speak, you get micro droplets 57 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,199 that come out of your lungs that are expelled into 58 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:01,919 the air. And these things are so small they just 59 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,719 stay suspended in the air, and as you're talking to 60 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,879 somebody then and these go through the masks and so 61 00:04:09,039 --> 00:04:11,280 then other people walk in they can inhale them, which 62 00:04:11,319 --> 00:04:14,319 is really really gross. And that's why I don't talk 63 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,079 to people in person anymore, and I don't listen to 64 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,439 people ever. So you live by your own code. So 65 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,519 three hundred ninety three k for a stadium, eighty six 66 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:30,319 thousand dollars for hotel rooms at Caesar's Palace. Don't know 67 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,560 what this is for. This is just what this reporter 68 00:04:32,639 --> 00:04:38,519 has found through the DOGE receipts. Sixty thousand dollars spent 69 00:04:38,959 --> 00:04:43,399 for swimming pool passes. Again, don't know what that's for. 70 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,720 That's the kind of stuff that they are are finding. 71 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,600 Monica says, it's all infuriating, and I completely agree. Last 72 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,759 hour I went over this real clear investigations piece. It 73 00:04:55,839 --> 00:05:01,040 was actually from now almost three years ago Hemingway and 74 00:05:01,079 --> 00:05:07,920 Ben Weingarten of how the Social Security Administration collects data 75 00:05:07,959 --> 00:05:13,399 that could help us identify identity thieves. But because the 76 00:05:13,439 --> 00:05:18,439 thievery is occurring for largely illegal aliens, they don't want 77 00:05:18,439 --> 00:05:19,839 to look at it. They don't want to use the data, 78 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:24,879 they don't want to share the data. Immigration advocates downplay 79 00:05:24,879 --> 00:05:29,759 the criminally the criminality involved. They report most workers are 80 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,040 buying documents they believe to be false. A representative of 81 00:05:34,079 --> 00:05:37,720 the National Immigration Law Center told the LA Times, there 82 00:05:37,759 --> 00:05:42,839 isn't really any intention of stealing somebody's identity when they 83 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,480 intentionally steal an identity. No, No, they think they're getting 84 00:05:46,519 --> 00:05:49,360 fake numbers. See. They don't realize they're buying, you know, 85 00:05:49,399 --> 00:05:53,279 a three year old child's number, or somebody else's number 86 00:05:53,519 --> 00:05:57,519 who you know is then going to get hit with 87 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:02,360 a criminal record. I don't realize that somebody else's numbers. See. 88 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:09,759 So they're kind of victims to the everify system adopted 89 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,800 fifteen years ago, but the program is not mandatory. The 90 00:06:13,879 --> 00:06:18,000 DHS run program compares employment eligibility information from I nine 91 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:24,360 forms to government records. It remains required only of federal contractors. 92 00:06:24,639 --> 00:06:27,879 Only a small minority of states have mandated its use 93 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:34,560 for employee employers. Rather, they conclude their peace. The populist 94 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,480 turn of the post Donald Trump Republican Party is appealing 95 00:06:38,519 --> 00:06:41,680 to working class voters with a strong interest curbing illegal 96 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:46,120 immigration to put upward pressure on wages. Recent elections also 97 00:06:46,199 --> 00:06:50,360 show Hispanics voting for Republicans in significantly higher numbers, in 98 00:06:50,439 --> 00:06:54,560 part because of the democrats more liberal border policies. Again, 99 00:06:54,639 --> 00:07:01,879 this was from June twenty ninth, twoenty twenty two. And 100 00:07:01,879 --> 00:07:10,680 then there's the Department of Education. Shall we let's Donald 101 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:16,720 Trump has said he's gonna either eradicate it or reform 102 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:24,360 it greatly. Christopher Rufo, writing at Cityjournal dot org, says, 103 00:07:24,399 --> 00:07:27,639 while Republican presidents have long promised to reduce the size 104 00:07:27,639 --> 00:07:29,759 of government, they have usually failed to do so. The 105 00:07:29,839 --> 00:07:34,040 bureaucracy always wins. This time, though, might be different. The 106 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,879 second Trump administration has been surprisingly aggressive in its efforts 107 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:43,160 to reform federal agencies, including a controlled demolition of us 108 00:07:43,279 --> 00:07:47,560 AID and an audacious buy out plan for government employees. 109 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,079 And Elon Musk, the leader of the DOGE, has a 110 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:55,399 long track record of successful and sometimes extreme cost cutting. 111 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,079 When Musk took over Twitter, he fired eighty percent of 112 00:07:59,079 --> 00:08:01,920 the employees and at the same time manage to improve 113 00:08:01,959 --> 00:08:07,399 the product and increase its profitability. The next stage of 114 00:08:07,439 --> 00:08:10,839 the conflict between Trump and the bureaucracy looks to be 115 00:08:11,279 --> 00:08:15,639 the Department of Education, which the President has correctly identified 116 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:21,160 as a hotbed of left wing ideologies. And again that 117 00:08:21,279 --> 00:08:25,199 is correct, and that's what makes it so important to 118 00:08:26,199 --> 00:08:31,040 root out because they are training the future generations of America, 119 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:36,240 and when you get this cancer of Marxist ideology into 120 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:42,720 the schools, it will corrode the entire society. It will 121 00:08:42,759 --> 00:08:46,320 take a while, but the Marxists have always known that 122 00:08:46,399 --> 00:08:50,279 it is a long march through the institutions. It is 123 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:55,799 a project that honestly is never, never finally achieved. There's 124 00:08:55,799 --> 00:09:01,159 always the work. Almost every Republican pre residential candidate since 125 00:09:01,279 --> 00:09:04,480 nineteen eighty has promised to shrink it or abolish the department, 126 00:09:04,519 --> 00:09:07,639 but its budget has only grown. When Trump made the 127 00:09:07,639 --> 00:09:10,519 same promise on the campaign trail last year, Chris Rufo says, 128 00:09:10,519 --> 00:09:15,960 I was skeptical, but Musk changes the calculation. What is 129 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:21,320 the best way to proceed? The administration has to understand 130 00:09:22,279 --> 00:09:28,440 that the DOE administers three primary activities college student student 131 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:35,519 loans and grants K twelve funding and ideological production. Okay, 132 00:09:35,799 --> 00:09:39,519 those are the three things, according to Rufo, the Department 133 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:44,480 of Education administers. And then he offers a blueprint. We'll 134 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:46,759 go over it in a minute. All right, if you're 135 00:09:46,799 --> 00:09:48,559 listening to this show, you know I try to keep 136 00:09:48,639 --> 00:09:50,360 up with all sorts of current events, and I know 137 00:09:50,399 --> 00:09:52,799 you do too, and you've probably heard me say, get 138 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:56,799 your news from multiple sources. Why Well, because it's how 139 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,440 you detect media bias, which is why I've been so 140 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,759 impressed with ground News. It's an app, and it's a website, 141 00:10:03,799 --> 00:10:06,200 and it combines news from around the world in one 142 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:09,720 place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You 143 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,279 can check it out at check dot ground, dot news 144 00:10:13,799 --> 00:10:16,919 slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. 145 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,600 I started using ground News a few months ago and 146 00:10:19,759 --> 00:10:22,320 more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate 147 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,679 because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered 148 00:10:25,759 --> 00:10:28,639 and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which 149 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,559 stories get ignored by the left and the right. See 150 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:36,639 for yourself check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe 151 00:10:36,639 --> 00:10:39,559 through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. 152 00:10:39,879 --> 00:10:42,600 I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to 153 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,120 every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, 154 00:10:46,159 --> 00:10:48,519 but it also supports ground News as they make the 155 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:53,759 media landscape more transparent. Christopher Ruffo, writing at Cityjournal dot 156 00:10:53,879 --> 00:10:59,080 org City dash Journal dot org, he points out the 157 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:03,240 administration to understand right the three primary activities that the 158 00:11:03,279 --> 00:11:10,320 Department of Ed does that they administer student loans K 159 00:11:10,399 --> 00:11:16,000 twel funding ideological production that includes an array of programs, grants, 160 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,440 civil rights initiatives, third party NGOs that create left wing 161 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:26,000 content to push on local schools. Right, it is not 162 00:11:26,399 --> 00:11:31,919 possible or desirable to shut down all three functions at 163 00:11:31,919 --> 00:11:36,279 the same time, he says. Rather, the Secretary of Education, 164 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:41,200 Linda McMahon, in partnership with Musk and Doge, should handle 165 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:47,159 each separately. First, spin off the college loan program. Spin 166 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,279 off the loans and the grants, put them in an 167 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:56,440 independent financial entity. Right. The federal government right now backstops 168 00:11:56,519 --> 00:12:02,600 one point six trillion dollars in student loans owns every year. 169 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:06,919 It issues another one hundred and ten billion in student aid. 170 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:13,000 That is a massive portfolio. Put it aside, get some 171 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:20,519 other group to administer that with risk analysts and cost cutters. 172 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,960 They should reform that portfolio and shift as much of 173 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,720 it as possible back to the private market and restrict 174 00:12:28,759 --> 00:12:32,519 the total number of loans, which is partially responsible for 175 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:37,279 the administrative bloat and the student debt crisis. Okay, that's 176 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,399 what's driving it. Thank you Obamacare, by the way for 177 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:46,480 that number two K twelve. In cooperation with Congress, they 178 00:12:46,519 --> 00:12:50,879 need to block grant the ED Departments, or the ED 179 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,519 as I call it, the K twelve, the ED K 180 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,120 twelve funding programs block grant it. The department sends one 181 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,919 hundred billion dollars to state governments and local school districts 182 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:08,159 every year. They attach restrictions ideological conditions. The Biden administration 183 00:13:08,519 --> 00:13:11,879 tried to use the federal money to push race and 184 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,639 gender politics into local school districts. Okay, So instead of 185 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:22,159 legitimizing that kind of coercive power, Rufo says, the administration 186 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,960 should simply tally up all of the K twelve expenditures 187 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:31,240 divided by state population and disperse disperse the result to 188 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:38,960 each state with no strings attached. Just here's your money, done. Done. 189 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:42,159 States can continue to use the funding for meals, low 190 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:46,480 income schools, special education, right whatever, but they will have 191 00:13:46,519 --> 00:13:49,720 the flexibility to do so in a way that meets 192 00:13:49,919 --> 00:13:56,559 their local needs. Third, the ideological production element, They need 193 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,240 to just shut that down and terminate the employment of 194 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:06,879 bureaucrats who run them. This department maintains a sprawling network 195 00:14:07,039 --> 00:14:13,000 of ideological centers through its research programs. Right, the vast 196 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,000 array of non government organizations the NGOs, which survive on 197 00:14:18,399 --> 00:14:22,960 ED funding and promote left wing identity activism. These groups 198 00:14:23,639 --> 00:14:28,200 have become hotbeds of progressive identity politics, promoting theories of 199 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:32,679 systemic racism, right the idea that men can turn into women. 200 00:14:33,879 --> 00:14:37,000 These activities do not serve the public good. They do 201 00:14:37,039 --> 00:14:43,240 not serve public subsidy or deserve public subsidy, especially so 202 00:14:43,519 --> 00:14:48,279 under a conservative government that is now in charge, who 203 00:14:48,399 --> 00:14:51,960 promised to put an end to critical race theory and 204 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,679 gender ideology in the federal government. Also, the Department of 205 00:14:56,759 --> 00:15:00,320 Education has their Office of Civil Rights Office for Civil Rights. 206 00:15:01,519 --> 00:15:06,200 While ostensibly serving a noble purpose, it has been used 207 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:11,200 as a battering ram to promote left wing ideologies. Take 208 00:15:11,799 --> 00:15:16,080 their core functions and move them over to the Department 209 00:15:16,159 --> 00:15:19,440 of Justice. Get it out of the Department of Education, 210 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:24,639 send it over to DOJ, where the administration can provide 211 00:15:24,679 --> 00:15:29,519 the oversight without the Department of Education's left wing idel 212 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,200 logs and civil rights apparatricks. He says it is unlikely 213 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,279 that you can just scrap the Department of Education without 214 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,320 specific legislation or at minimum and agreement by Congress to 215 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:46,960 delegate reorganization authority to the president, as it did regularly 216 00:15:47,279 --> 00:15:50,519 between nineteen thirty two and nineteen eighty four, So you're 217 00:15:50,519 --> 00:15:54,559 going to need Congress to help. 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The total collapse of emotional 246 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:44,079 blackmail as a weapon the media democrats, but I repeat myself, 247 00:17:44,079 --> 00:17:49,480 and elites once wielded it to great effect, but not anymore. 248 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,079 Jd Vance's offhand remark, I don't really care, Margaret. Remember 249 00:17:55,079 --> 00:18:00,279 that it wasn't just a moment. Manky says, it was 250 00:18:00,319 --> 00:18:04,440 the perfect encapsulation of our new reality. The guilt trips, 251 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,000 the manufactured outrage, the pressure campaigns that once dictated the 252 00:18:09,079 --> 00:18:12,599 terms of debate simply do not work anymore, and they're 253 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:17,400 not coming back Democrats, They're not coming back. And this 254 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,000 is something like in my role, in my job and 255 00:18:20,039 --> 00:18:22,000 what I've been doing, you know, for the better part 256 00:18:22,079 --> 00:18:27,640 of now, well over a decade, I've been called all 257 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,400 sorts of names. So this emotional blackmail hasn't worked on 258 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,240 me in a very, very, very long time. But I 259 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:38,440 recognize that it does work on people who are not 260 00:18:38,599 --> 00:18:42,000 in this position. People are trying to keep their jobs 261 00:18:42,079 --> 00:18:44,400 by not talking about certain things, and so they are 262 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,160 very worried about these accusations. People of older generations who 263 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:50,920 are very worried about certain words being used about them 264 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,720 and against them say it's the thing like, I'm with 265 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:57,440 Vance on this. I don't really care, Margaret, I don't care. 266 00:18:58,039 --> 00:19:00,519 You can say whatever you want to say. I'm done 267 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:04,400 playing your emotional blackmail game. He is, And I agree 268 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:08,799 one hundred percent with this. I think this is the difference. 269 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:13,880 So the time is now to start ripping out this 270 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:19,240 insanity in the Department of Education is just the latest 271 00:19:19,279 --> 00:19:23,759 target here. If you're going to do any kind of 272 00:19:23,759 --> 00:19:28,279 bold reform, public support is crucial, okay, to maintain American's approval, 273 00:19:28,279 --> 00:19:31,759 the Trump administration, according to Chris Ruffo, has to explain 274 00:19:32,079 --> 00:19:33,839 that college students are still going to be able to 275 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,200 get loans. K twelve will still get their money, civil 276 00:19:37,279 --> 00:19:40,839 rights will still be protected under the DOJ. This ensures 277 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,839 that the argument can be focused on eliminating deeply unpopular 278 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:49,039 and divisive left wing ideologies, just like Musk has already 279 00:19:49,039 --> 00:19:52,960 done at USAID. The time is now, the president is 280 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,079 in his first one hundred days, and major change is 281 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,440 best enacted when an administration enjoys high public app approval. 282 00:20:01,079 --> 00:20:07,279 Musk understands also that hesitation signals weakness. Now, Rufo in 283 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:11,559 another piece over at his own website, Christopher Rufo dot com, 284 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,599 he adds to this. He says, over the first thirty days, 285 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,680 the DOGE method has come to resemble a seek and 286 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:25,200 destroy mission. Musk dispatched small teams of lawyers, engineers, and 287 00:20:25,319 --> 00:20:29,079 human resource specialists to government agencies told them to cut 288 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:33,599 wasteful spending and needless ideological programs. Musk seems to have 289 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:40,039 identified two switches, payments and personnel, and these provide the 290 00:20:40,079 --> 00:20:45,119 greatest leverage. The DOGE teams have quickly organized a reduction 291 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,680 in force and canceled billions of dollars in government contracts, 292 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,680 two steps that reduce spending and reverse the process of 293 00:20:52,839 --> 00:20:58,759 left wing capture. This reflects a number of important developments. First, 294 00:20:59,039 --> 00:21:03,359 national politics is highly online. Now, people, it's like, oh, 295 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,319 Twitter is not real life. Hmmm ah. I don't know. 296 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:10,240 Maybe we're getting to a point of singularity here. But 297 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:16,079 Musk's Twitter or x shaping the discourse. Now, journalists circulate 298 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,440 ideas on social media government officials and put them into action, 299 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:28,920 sometimes within hours. The process creates a virtuous circle, with journalists, policymakers, 300 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:33,720 and technologists making information public and taking corrective action as necessary. 301 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,880 The other notable development is the speed. Unlike government bureaucrats, 302 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,200 Musk and the Doge team operate at a lightning fast tempo. 303 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:45,440 Their stated admission is to cancel billions of dollars in 304 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:49,880 government contracts every day. These initial strikes at the Department 305 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,839 of Education could be the opening for a broader fight. 306 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,839 The public can now see that the department functions in 307 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:02,279 part as a patronage scheme for left wing ideologies. That 308 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:08,880 is correct, It is a patronage program. In all of 309 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,200 the reporting that I have been covering over the last 310 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:16,559 three weeks here right, I keep hammering away at that 311 00:22:17,039 --> 00:22:21,160 this is a shadow government it is a jobs program. 312 00:22:21,279 --> 00:22:26,119 It is a patronage system. People move in and out 313 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,839 into the NGO that gets the government money. And then 314 00:22:28,839 --> 00:22:31,640 when their party, the Democrats, assume control again of the 315 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,680 government levers of power, they then move back into the government. 316 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,640 They enriched their friends, they enrich their NGOs, They promote 317 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:43,160 their agenda, their shared ideology. Then if they lose and 318 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,799 they're out, they move back to the NGO circuit and 319 00:22:46,839 --> 00:22:51,000 they reap those rewards. And there was a perfect example 320 00:22:51,039 --> 00:22:55,960 of it with the Green New Deal. In our old 321 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:02,119 pal Stacey Abrams. Remember her two billion dollars in taxpayer 322 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:07,759 funds got set aside for a nonprofit linked to her, 323 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:14,200 the former perennial Georgia Democrats candidate for governor. Right, Stacy 324 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,960 Abrams or I guess she ran for she ran for senator. 325 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:18,319 Something to do. I don't know. She's run for a lot. 326 00:23:19,319 --> 00:23:23,680 The Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration awarded a 327 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:28,440 two billion dollar grant to a group called Power Forward Communities. 328 00:23:29,279 --> 00:23:33,880 This was part of the agency's greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program. 329 00:23:34,519 --> 00:23:39,240 Power Forward Communities got the grant despite the fact that 330 00:23:39,279 --> 00:23:42,759 it was founded just four months before it got the grant, 331 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:50,079 and they never managed any amount of money anywhere close 332 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:55,839 to two billion dollars. In fact, total revenue generated by 333 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,519 the Power Forward Communities group, you know how much it was, 334 00:23:59,559 --> 00:24:04,960 total revenue one hundred dollars, one hundred dollars. I started 335 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:11,880 my podcast with more capital investment than that. Okay, Powered Forward. 336 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:16,000 Power Forward Communities grant was one of eight and now 337 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:17,680 we're learning more by the way, about some of these 338 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:22,519 other eight. But the eight grants under the Greenhouse Gas 339 00:24:22,559 --> 00:24:27,799 Reduction Fund that all together total twenty billion dollars. Twenty 340 00:24:27,839 --> 00:24:33,759 billion went out the door. EPA administrator Lee Zelden announced 341 00:24:34,839 --> 00:24:39,720 last week that the administration, the former administration, the Biden administration, 342 00:24:40,319 --> 00:24:44,920 took the twenty billion dollars and parked it in an 343 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,640 outside bank, in city bank. Actually they took twenty billion dollars. 344 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,839 They put it in a bank, and that limits the 345 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,839 federal government's oversight of the program. They parked it there 346 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:05,079 to protect the money from Trump so they could push 347 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:11,720 the money out the door to these eight organizations. They 348 00:25:11,759 --> 00:25:17,359 propped up organizations that were specifically designed to get the 349 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:22,440 money under this program, which was in fact created to 350 00:25:22,559 --> 00:25:26,880 operate as a green bank, they called it. This was 351 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:31,599 all done under the Inflation Creation Act sorry Inflation Reduction 352 00:25:31,759 --> 00:25:35,240 Act of twenty twenty two. Leise Elden, the new head 353 00:25:35,279 --> 00:25:38,720 of the EPA, told the Washington Freebeacon where this story 354 00:25:38,759 --> 00:25:41,000 I'm reading two comes from. When we learned about the 355 00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:44,880 Biden administration scheme to park twenty billion outside the agency, 356 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,480 we suspected some organizations were created out of thin air 357 00:25:49,039 --> 00:25:53,079 just to take advantage of this, and we were right. 358 00:25:55,359 --> 00:26:00,599 Power Forward Communities or PFC, was created October twenty twenty three. 359 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:05,039 It's a coalition of groups led by Rewiring America. That is, 360 00:26:05,079 --> 00:26:08,880 a left wing group that advocates for electrification policies and 361 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:14,759 a transition away from fossil fuel dependence. Abrams serves as 362 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:20,440 Rewiring America's senior council and she said she was thrilled 363 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:25,559 to be part of the Powered Forward Communities coalition. Power 364 00:26:25,559 --> 00:26:30,359 Forward Communities has a large number of partners on its website. 365 00:26:30,559 --> 00:26:35,400 Among its partners are the Southern Economic Advancement Project. Another 366 00:26:35,519 --> 00:26:40,759 is called Fair count. These are left wing nonprofits founded 367 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:46,400 by Abrams in the wake of her electoral victory sorry 368 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,319 defeat in twenty eighteen. The Southern Economic Advancement Project seeks 369 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:55,000 to boost racial equity and economic power in the South, 370 00:26:55,880 --> 00:27:00,480 and it is fiscally sponsored as a project of the 371 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:08,200 Tides Center, which is connected to George Soros. Surprise, surprise, 372 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,160 All right, I hope you had a happy holiday season. 373 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,720 But tell me if something like this happened at your house. 374 00:27:15,039 --> 00:27:17,599 Your family and friends are gathered around, maybe y'all are 375 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,200 in the living room, You're laughing, swapping stories, reminiscing, and 376 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:25,039 then somebody says, hey, Dad, remember those old VHS tapes? 377 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,720 Did you ever get them transferred? And then the room 378 00:27:27,759 --> 00:27:31,559 gets all quiet. All eyes are on Dad, who says, oh, 379 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,680 you know, well, I've been meaning to but I just 380 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,680 having gotten around to it. Look, don't let those priceless 381 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,640 memories sit in a box for another year. All right. 382 00:27:39,759 --> 00:27:42,599 Create a Video has been helping families in the Charlotte 383 00:27:42,599 --> 00:27:46,440 area preserve their history since nineteen ninety seven. Simply bring 384 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,400 in your old camp quarter tapes and Creative Video will 385 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,799 transfer them to a USB flash drive for just fourteen 386 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,359 ninety five per tape. You have a big collection. They've 387 00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:58,160 got a discount for you. And next year, instead of 388 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:02,640 talking about those memories, imagine gathering the family to watch 389 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,880 them together. Talk about a memorable gift. So do what 390 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,880 I did. Trust the experts at Creative Video, conveniently located 391 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,160 in mint Hill right off I four eighty five and 392 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:18,119 online at create a Video dot Com. Power Forward Communities 393 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,079 has a list of partners that also includes the American 394 00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:28,920 Federation of Teachers the AFL CIO as well. Shortly before 395 00:28:29,039 --> 00:28:34,519 leaving office, Biden's EPA parked twenty billion dollars in City 396 00:28:34,599 --> 00:28:38,799 Bank and an account at Citibank. It has been located 397 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,839 by Lee Zelden and the new leadership at the EPA. 398 00:28:44,759 --> 00:28:49,720 This is a patronage scandal of a size never witnessed 399 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:55,400 in American history. The dollar figures alone, this twenty billion 400 00:28:55,640 --> 00:29:00,920 is you know, tip of the Iceberg type stuff. The arrangement, 401 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,400 because it's in a City Bank account, means the Trump 402 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:08,359 administration cannot claw it back. They can't. They can't. They're 403 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,519 trying to retrieve the funds, but it's going to be problematic. 404 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:17,079 But wait, there's more. The senior Biden Administration official tasked 405 00:29:17,079 --> 00:29:22,039 with directing former President Joe Biden's twenty seven billion dollar 406 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:27,559 climate grant program. Okay, this GGRF, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction 407 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:32,119 Fund Right, twenty seven billion dollar program oversaw a five 408 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:37,400 billion dollar grant from the program to his former employer, 409 00:29:39,119 --> 00:29:45,160 same fund, a guy by the name of Jahi Wise 410 00:29:46,039 --> 00:29:50,079 joined the EPA in December of twenty twenty two as 411 00:29:50,119 --> 00:29:55,240 the founding director of the newly created GGRF. In April, 412 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,400 so like four months later, while Wise served in that role, 413 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:01,680 the EPA anounced it was going to be giving GGRF 414 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:07,200 grants totally twenty billion dollars to eight nonprofits, including one 415 00:30:07,279 --> 00:30:13,440 called the Coalition for Green Capital CGC that is a Washington, 416 00:30:13,519 --> 00:30:16,680 DC based group. It got five billion dollars. I mean, 417 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,200 that's no Stacy Abrams linked, you know, twenty billion, but 418 00:30:19,279 --> 00:30:24,000 still five billion. As part of the announcement, it's also 419 00:30:24,039 --> 00:30:27,720 the place where green or sorry, where Wise previously worked. 420 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:31,000 He was the director of policy there and there's no 421 00:30:31,079 --> 00:30:34,559 indication that he recused himself from the grant giving process. 422 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,640 He left that gig at the Coalition for Green Capital 423 00:30:39,799 --> 00:30:44,119 to join the Biden Whitehouse in twenty twenty one, then 424 00:30:44,759 --> 00:30:47,599 he joined the EPA less than two years later. They 425 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,039 just move them around, just move them around. The grant 426 00:30:51,119 --> 00:30:56,599 that went to CGC and Wyse's involvement is also notable 427 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:02,319 because former Biden administration David Hayes served on the CGC board. 428 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:08,240 Hayes rejoined the group's board in October of twenty twenty two, 429 00:31:08,279 --> 00:31:12,039 so before Wyse went over to work at the EPA. 430 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:18,440 Hayes joined the board after he had served as a 431 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,359 Special Assistant to the President in the White House Climate 432 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:25,599 Policy Office for about a year and a half, meaning 433 00:31:26,319 --> 00:31:31,400 Hayes and Wise were close colleagues at the White House 434 00:31:32,039 --> 00:31:38,039 for just about two years. On Tuesday, Denise Chung, the 435 00:31:38,119 --> 00:31:42,680 top criminal prosecutor in the Washington DCUs Attorney's office, was 436 00:31:42,759 --> 00:31:46,880 forced to resign after she declined to open a grand 437 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:52,839 jury investigation into this program's funding. Quote. The story of 438 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:57,559 the Biden's EPA gold bars never stops, said Lee Zelden. 439 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,039 The waste and abuse was so deep deeply interwoven in 440 00:32:01,079 --> 00:32:04,039 the last administration that not only did the leaders who 441 00:32:04,119 --> 00:32:07,400 oversaw this not bad and eye at billions of taxpayer 442 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:11,279 dollars going towards partisan pet projects, but serious conflicts of 443 00:32:11,319 --> 00:32:14,279 interest were also ignored and that should have raised red flags. 444 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:17,920 And again this all went to that private account and 445 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:23,960 that limits the federal oversight. This was a first of 446 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,799 its kind arrangement. By the way, this parking of money 447 00:32:26,839 --> 00:32:31,920 like this. Shortly before Wise departed the agency is when 448 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:37,039 he did it. September twenty twenty four, Wise joined the 449 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:46,319 nonprofit Open Society Institute. That's George Soros's institute. That's his nonprofit. 450 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,559 He's a leadership in Government fellow. He's got an eighteen 451 00:32:51,559 --> 00:32:55,799 month fellowship. They just keep moving them around, keeping them paid, 452 00:32:56,279 --> 00:32:58,319 keeping them paid, keeping him in the mix, keeping him 453 00:32:58,319 --> 00:33:01,960 in the flow, and then he'll be ready to transfer 454 00:33:02,039 --> 00:33:06,559 back into a government role or a nonprofit role in 455 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:12,559 order to continue the ideological spread. Overall. And by the way, 456 00:33:12,559 --> 00:33:15,519 this is a report from the Washington Freebeacon, which is 457 00:33:15,559 --> 00:33:22,079 a national treasure Freebeacon dot com. Overall, the GGRF is 458 00:33:22,119 --> 00:33:26,319 the single largest non tax investment within the twenty twenty 459 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:30,359 two Inflation Reduction Act. The program was created by Democrats 460 00:33:30,519 --> 00:33:34,000 to act as a green bank, directing billions of dollars 461 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,559 in taxpayer funds to intermediaries which then finance green energy 462 00:33:38,759 --> 00:33:43,519 and environmental justice projects across America. It was criticized when 463 00:33:43,519 --> 00:33:47,599 it was made by Republicans and energy experts. They said, 464 00:33:47,839 --> 00:33:51,640 its size, its scope, it's going to lead to government 465 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,559 waste and abuse. And they said that while massive, the 466 00:33:54,599 --> 00:33:58,079 program would actually have very little impact on climate change. 467 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:02,839 A senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Benjamin Zeiker, said, quote, 468 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:06,720 it really has nothing to do with climate The obvious 469 00:34:06,759 --> 00:34:11,599 objective of the program is the provision of large subsidies 470 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:20,239 to favored interest groups. Let me see here, Thomas says, 471 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:24,039 please stop, Pete. My wife is screaming at the radio 472 00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:26,920 because of your reporting on Doge. We have been reading 473 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,000 about all the fraud, waste and abuse Elon and the 474 00:34:29,079 --> 00:34:32,360 Musketeers have been finding, but hearing your report it on 475 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:36,239 air makes the corruption even more real. Now, at thirty 476 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:39,320 days in, I believe she has become maxed out on 477 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,880 all of the winning. Not me, but I am afraid 478 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:45,320 she and others maybe showing the initial symptoms of Doge 479 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:51,280 derangement syndrome. Great reporting, Kevin says, you may have already 480 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:55,719 said this, but I just had an epiphany. Finding socials 481 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:57,719 in the system that have paid into the system for 482 00:34:57,800 --> 00:34:59,880 years but of not fatal tax return is an e 483 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,360 the way to find socials that are being used fraudulently. 484 00:35:02,559 --> 00:35:04,920 Anybody in their right mind that is a genuine social 485 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:06,719 is definitely going to file a tax return to get 486 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:10,840 a refund. Yeah they Yeah, Kevin, You're right. They can 487 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:15,239 find this stuff if they want to. They are choosing 488 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:20,519 not to the bureaucracy and the people that are in 489 00:35:20,599 --> 00:35:25,159 control of it through whatever administration takes over. Right, they 490 00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:29,400 do not want to find this stuff, and that's why 491 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,239 the work that the DOGE people are doing is so 492 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:39,800 important to our Dare I say democracy? All right, that'll 493 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,480 do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. 494 00:35:42,559 --> 00:35:44,719 I could not do the show without your support and 495 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:47,480 the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, 496 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:49,920 so if you'd like, please support them too and tell 497 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:51,679 them you heard it here. You can also become a 498 00:35:51,679 --> 00:35:56,360 patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, 499 00:35:56,599 --> 00:35:59,159 thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything 500 00:35:59,159 --> 00:36:04,400 while I'm gone.