WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.799 Ah, It's the breakup of the century, the breakup that 2 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:09.039 maybe we all should have seen coming, given that they 3 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:16.280 both seemed interested in different things. Elon and Donald Trump 4 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:21.399 a brief flash in the pan romance, Like most of 5 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:26.399 Elon's and romances, come to think of it, it gave 6 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:30.160 birth as also Elon romances tend to do to the 7 00:00:30.199 --> 00:00:33.359 whole Doge idea, which is now kind of a little 8 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:37.079 bit of a kind of petering out. And I want 9 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:39.079 to talk about sort of what this breakup means now. 10 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:42.320 I talked a lot during the campaign and shortly after 11 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:48.039 the election about how Elon Musk engaging with the conservative 12 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:53.280 movement could have been maybe still will be to some extent, 13 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:56.359 but doesn't seem like it's going to be. Musk had 14 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:58.840 said even like a week or two ago that he 15 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:01.399 was not going to be as involved in politics as 16 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:04.599 he was this time around, and it seems like some 17 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:09.480 people have tweeted that he basically did a speed run, 18 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:13.480 so went through the whole thing very quickly of the 19 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:18.920 entire Republican experience in a matter of approximately one year, 20 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:26.959 less than a year, going from you know, delirious optimism, 21 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:36.280 thrilling victory and then inevitable embitterment and disappointment at the 22 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:41.719 mediocre results of those Republican victories. As the inevitable compromises 23 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:47.079 have to come about. Republicans go through that experience. Usually 24 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:49.319 it takes them, you know, a decade or two before 25 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:52.560 they get to that full circle of embitterment. Elon went 26 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:56.000 through that whole experience in less than a year. Now. 27 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:03.359 I had said during campaign that Musk's, you know, engagement 28 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:07.760 with Republican politics could be transformative to the entire American 29 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:10.639 political scene. Here is literally the richest man in the 30 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:19.919 world highly engaged with the Republican Party, and in the 31 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:27.159 twenty twenty four cycle, huge donations to Trump, to Republican 32 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:33.080 House candidates, to Republican Senate candidates, huge engagement, huge levels 33 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:41.000 of engagement. And my thought had been, well, look at 34 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:45.360 all of the ways in which let's say, George sorows okay, 35 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:49.199 George Soros like him or not, and I very much 36 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:53.000 do not like him. George Soros has undeniably had a 37 00:02:53.360 --> 00:03:02.639 massive impact on American politics. He has reshaped American criminal 38 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:10.120 law in horrible ways through his brilliant strategy of flooding 39 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:14.639 local district attorney races with huge amounts of huge amounts 40 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:21.280 of cash to back horrible, extremely left wing district attorney 41 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:26.199 candidates for races that usually don't you know, don't involve 42 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:27.960 that much money, and all of a sudden, he's just 43 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:29.960 going to drop, you know, two hundred thousand and five 44 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.879 hundred thousand, two million dollars. He's going to drop two 45 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:35.400 million dollars on a race where all the candidates combined 46 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:38.199 or narrowly wouldn't spend more than two hundred thousand dollars. 47 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:43.879 And by electing an ultra progressive district attorney, he can 48 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:47.159 utilize the power of what's called prosecutorial discretion to basically 49 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:52.680 just reshape American criminal law within that city. You know, 50 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:55.680 the chase of Boudin types who basically were like, I'm 51 00:03:55.719 --> 00:04:01.719 just not going to prosecute any thing short of felony, 52 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:07.159 you know, grand larceny, you know people, So the spectacle 53 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:11.719 of people walking into cvs with their iPhone calculator in 54 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:15.319 hand and stealing, adding up the value of the things 55 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:18.560 they are stealing, just in broad daylight, just to make 56 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:21.879 sure that it's one dollar less than the dividing line 57 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:27.839 between felony theft and misdemeanor theft. And just walking right out. 58 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:32.279 The employee at CVS is not supposed to stop them 59 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:36.959 with physical force. A CVS, you know, understandably, CVS is like, well, no, 60 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:39.399 we don't want our employees to be superheroes. We have 61 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:41.600 insurance to help cover this, you know, we don't want 62 00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:44.360 one of our employees getting hurt or something. We're trying to, 63 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:50.560 you know, physically restrain someone who's just stealing stuff. That 64 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:52.480 was because of Chase A Budin. That was because of 65 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:59.319 Chase A Budin enacting the Soros ideology that African Americans 66 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:03.800 are incarcerat at disproportionate rates and therefore the enforcement of 67 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:09.160 criminal law for things like petty theft is just punishing 68 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:13.319 people for being poor, punishing persons of color and communities 69 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:17.079 of color for their poverty, the result of systemic racism, 70 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:20.279 et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So George Soros has 71 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:24.920 this massive impact on America. Elon Musk has way more 72 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:31.639 money than George Soros, unfathomably more. And the thought was, well, 73 00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:37.079 if Donald Trump can reel in this fish and have 74 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:42.639 him be part of the conservative coalition going forward, Holy smokes, 75 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:46.079 you think George Soros was influential, you think the Koch 76 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:50.439 brothers were influential, All these different figures on the left 77 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:53.160 and the right that have set up enormous networks of 78 00:05:53.639 --> 00:05:56.959 super packs five on C four's five on C three's 79 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:01.959 interconnected webs of different kinds of organizations that influence policy 80 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:05.439 with think tanks, influence issue advocacy with five oh one 81 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:13.399 C four's issue they impact political campaigns through super pac spending. 82 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:20.519 If you think Leonard Leo is influential, if you think 83 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.120 the Koch brothers are influential, if you think George Soros 84 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:28.000 is influential, if you think Bill Gates is influential, Elon's 85 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:35.240 got more money than all of them. And I had 86 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:39.480 thought that this could be the most significant. One of 87 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:45.399 the most significant outcomes of the twenty twenty four election 88 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:53.160 was Elon Musk becoming a major political player, a major 89 00:06:53.199 --> 00:07:00.639 player in American politics. Well, maybe he still will be, 90 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:03.680 but he's not going to be that for this iteration 91 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:10.600 of Trump and this iteration of the Republican Congress, Trump 92 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:14.040 and Elon engaged in a bitter war of words based 93 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:18.959 on Elon's distaste with the OBBB as I call it, 94 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:22.199 the One Big Beautiful Bill Elon thinks it's adding to 95 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:27.560 the deficits, adding to the debt, it's financially irresponsible. He 96 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.680 thinks it's I mean, the way he characterized it was 97 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:35.000 that it's revolting, it's horrible, and he then proceeds to 98 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:44.800 jump into bitter, vindictive blasting of Trump, you know, saying 99 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:46.879 that Trump is in the Epstein files and that's why 100 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:52.680 the Epstein files weren't fully released. Now. In fairness, Trump 101 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:59.759 is mentioned in the publicly known Epstein files as having 102 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.279 had had some kind of interaction with Epstein way in 103 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:09.199 the past. It wasn't particularly damning. But you know, it's 104 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.720 Elon kind of saying, well, I mean, Elon is very 105 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:17.519 much implying that Donald Trump is involved in the Epstein 106 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.480 stuff in a way that's much more insidious than what 107 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:26.040 is publicly known, which I doubt is true. I feel 108 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:29.240 like Elon is kind of making that up. I mean, 109 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:35.759 I guess I'm open to believe whatever, but I just don't. 110 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.799 I mean, this is part of my skepticism about the 111 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:42.360 Epstein files in general. I just don't think there's any 112 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:44.480 there there with the Epstein files. I think we're gonna 113 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:46.919 keep talking about the Epstein file that reluse to Epstein files. 114 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:49.639 I just don't think there is any smoking gun within 115 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:52.480 the Epstein files, let alone a smoking gun about Donald Trump. 116 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:55.320 And I think Elon is just going off of the 117 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:59.440 fact that Trump is mentioned in the publicly known Epstein 118 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:02.360 files and just wants to say something mean to Trump 119 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:16.559 because he's upset. Now the the what is the dispute? 120 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:18.879 The problem is I kind of see both sides of 121 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:25.039 the dispute, and I can see the reason behind both sides, 122 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:35.080 But the divorce is bad, and it's clear that I honestly, 123 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:37.919 I think Trump is probably the more reasonable person in 124 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:43.240 this whole dispute. Elon's not wrong. Yeah, it's fiscally irresponsible, 125 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:46.600 and there are aspects of the OBBB, as I call it, 126 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:55.519 that I think are terribly financially irresponsible. I think extending 127 00:09:55.600 --> 00:10:01.440 the salt deductions, increasing the amount of state and local 128 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:08.240 taxes that people can deduct is unbelievably stupid. It is 129 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:12.759 a tax cut for rich people in blue states. That's 130 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:17.240 what it is. It is a tax cut for rich 131 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:23.159 people in New York and California. If you increase the 132 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:25.559 amount of state and local taxes that you're able to 133 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:31.720 deduct from your federal income tax burden. What you're basically 134 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.840 saying is that the stuff the federal government pays for 135 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:38.879 should be shouldered more so by people who live in red, 136 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:42.120 low tax states who don't have a very high state 137 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:44.919 and local tax deduction a burden, so they won't be 138 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:50.120 able to take advantage of any salt deduction because they 139 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:53.159 don't have income taxes. If you're if you live in Florida, 140 00:10:53.879 --> 00:10:56.879 you know, okay, I have to pay my federal income taxes. Well, 141 00:10:56.919 --> 00:10:59.480 I don't have much in state and local taxes to deduct. 142 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:05.919 Florida doesn't have an income tax. Florida's thinking about eliminating 143 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:14.879 property taxes. So it's basically the salt deduction is we're 144 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:20.360 gonna gather less revenue, which increases the deficit, and it's 145 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:25.399 basically shifting the burden of the federal budget onto red 146 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:33.879 states away from blue states. It's idiotic. There's way more 147 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:37.360 that we need to do to medicare, and the fundamental 148 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:41.279 problem this is the fundamental problem. The fundamental problem with 149 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:47.120 the One Big Beautiful Bill is it's not really touching 150 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:52.279 entitlement programs, and at some point someone needs to do 151 00:11:52.360 --> 00:12:01.600 something to address entitlement programs. Medicare, Social Security, Medicare. It 152 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:06.440 does a little bit to means test Medicaid, maybe to 153 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:09.679 limit Medicaid eligibility for able bodied people who aren't working 154 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.080 other than the and the left is going to have 155 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:16.720 an absolute cow over it. And there are Republicans in 156 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:20.039 the House who may very well lose their seats because 157 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:22.840 they vote for it, like David Valadeo, because they have 158 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:26.799 a high number of medical beneficiaries. And you're already starting 159 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:31.240 to see political advertising against Valadeo for voting for this. 160 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:38.840 So they barely do anything to touch Medicaid, and people 161 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:40.960 are going to lose their seats, and the Left's gonna 162 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:47.240 have a cow. So I'm not disagreeing with Elon. I'm 163 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:53.440 not disagreeing with Thomas Massey that this is a problematic 164 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:57.759 piece of legislation fiscally in a number of respects. And 165 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:00.360 I also think it's the best thing they could possibly 166 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.399 you do at the moment given the makeup of Congress 167 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:09.120 right now. And that's the problem. Their majority in the 168 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:14.519 House is so so narrow. They passed the OBBB by 169 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:17.600 like two votes. It was like two fifteen to two 170 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:24.360 thirteen or some ridiculously narrow margin like that. They have 171 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:27.960 no wiggle room in the House. They have to listen 172 00:13:28.039 --> 00:13:35.279 to practically everybody. And it's Thomas Massey, the Republican House 173 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:38.080 member from Kentucky who's kind of out on his own, 174 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.080 who's a real fiscal the only like real fiscal hawk 175 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:47.240 who's like, I will not vote for this. And Massy's 176 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:54.320 not wrong, it's it's irresponsible. But also, I mean, if 177 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:56.799 we want to enact any other part of Trump's agenda, 178 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:00.399 especially funding for border security measures and things like that, 179 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:10.559 this is the best we can do. It just is like, 180 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:14.080 why do we have the salt deduction because a bunch 181 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:18.039 of Republicans from New York, the few Republican House members 182 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:20.679 from New York who could sink the whole bill if 183 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:24.080 they jump ship, the bill's not passing again because they 184 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:29.200 have a two vote narrow majority. If Republicans had a 185 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:31.600 twenty vote majority in the House, if they had a 186 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:34.200 thirty vote majority in the House, which they have had 187 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:38.600 at different points in the not so distant past, then 188 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:43.360 sure they wouldn't have to listen to them. They could 189 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.000 pass something that didn't include the salt deduction, which is 190 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:49.200 what they did in twenty seventeen. They limited the salt deduction, 191 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:52.480 and Republicans from New York have been bellyaching about it 192 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:57.519 ever since, as have been Democrats from New York like 193 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:02.120 Chuck Schumer. Chuck Schumer well to the epitome of the 194 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:07.039 phony Bologney liberal who really likes money and being comfortable, 195 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:12.120 you know, Chuck Schumer. Yes, Liberalism, the political movement of 196 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:16.879 the little guy Schumer who's made reinstating the salt deduction, 197 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:24.639 you know, the great civil rights movement of our time. Anyway, 198 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.519 But we have to listen to those Republicans because the 199 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:32.000 majority is so narrow, we have to listen to them. 200 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:36.960 So in short, I mean I just think I definitely 201 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:40.200 I can see both sides, all right. I see Trump's 202 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:45.240 perspective that listen, I have a two year window where 203 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:46.960 I'm going to have a Republican majority in the House 204 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.679 and a Republican majority in the Senate. It is almost 205 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:52.159 certain that Republicans are going to lose the House in 206 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:56.720 twenty twenty six. I mean there's you know, every off 207 00:15:56.840 --> 00:16:01.159 year cycle, usually it winds up bad for the party 208 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.720 that's in power. And even if Republicans only lose two 209 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:07.279 or three seats, which would be a massive upset for 210 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:09.559 the Republicans, they're going to lose the House. They probably 211 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:12.639 won't lose the Senate, but they're definitely losing the House. Guaranteed, 212 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.120 if they lose the House, they won't be able to 213 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:20.720 pass another reconciliation bill. And you know, really, so they 214 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:23.639 have one shot at this. They can do one reconciliation 215 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:28.120 bill this one time when they have a majority in 216 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:29.679 the Senate. They have a majority in the House, the 217 00:16:29.720 --> 00:16:32.000 reconciliation bill. The benefit of it is you don't need 218 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.840 the sixty vote threshold in the Senate. They have one 219 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:39.679 shot at this, and that's it. So I you know, 220 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:47.519 I completely see both sides perspectives. And I mean, Trump's 221 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:51.000 certainly not going to back down. And Elon has enough money. 222 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:53.960 He's got you know what some people call screw you 223 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:57.960 money where he's so rich he has the ability to 224 00:16:58.000 --> 00:16:59.799 tell even the President of the United States to go 225 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:04.400 sc through himself, because but yeah, what's gonna happen to me. 226 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:06.200 I'm still gonna be a billionaire the next morning when 227 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:12.359 I wake up when we return. One comment Elon made 228 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:16.759 that I thought was very interesting about whom Republicans should 229 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:19.720 want to please. That is next on the John Girardi Show. 230 00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:25.319 In the Trump and Elon Holy War debate that took 231 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:29.960 place on Twitter and truth Social yesterday, which this is 232 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.640 why Trump needs to come back to Twitter. It's like 233 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:38.000 they're communicating from competing social media platforms, which has been ridiculous. 234 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.839 Elon made one point that I thought was very significant 235 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:48.920 and deserves some notice. One of the things he made 236 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:53.079 was Trump's gonna be around for only the next four years. 237 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:57.839 I'm gonna be around for the next forty years. Choose wisely. 238 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:03.599 It's a thing to think about. As I said in 239 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:07.759 the first segment, I had believed prior to the breakup 240 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:12.000 we're now seeing, I had believed that one of the 241 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:15.119 most significant outcomes of the twenty twenty four election, beyond 242 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:21.000 Trump's victory itself, was Elon Musk entering the arena of 243 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:29.000 American politics. If Elon becomes this mainstay, I mean, he 244 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:34.839 has the money and thereby the potential to have as 245 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:38.079 much of an impact on American politics as George Soros, 246 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:42.240 as the Koch Brothers, as Leonard Leo is having as anybody. 247 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:46.599 I mean, the ways in which entities like the Koch 248 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:53.759 Brothers or George Soros set up enormous interconnected networks of 249 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:55.759 different kinds of five to one C three five one 250 00:18:55.880 --> 00:19:02.839 C four and pack organizations. Pack organisations to directly influence elections, 251 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:06.599 five on one C four's to directly influence legislation, and 252 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:08.960 then five on one C three is to develop policy, 253 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:17.079 think tanks, education movements, et cetera. Elon has the capacity 254 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:22.720 to fund stuff like that, you know, ten times greater 255 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:25.160 than anything Charles Koch ever did, ten times greater than 256 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.799 anything George Soros ever did, because he's got ten times 257 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:34.359 more money. And it makes me wonder. You know, Elon 258 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.519 had this one tweet where he said, you know, people 259 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:38.759 should remember Trump's only going to be around for four years. 260 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:45.839 I'm going to be around for another forty. And I 261 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:49.480 wonder about this, Like I have not been an unqualified 262 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:54.599 fanboy of Elon Musk. I think there's stuff he likes 263 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:59.599 and believes in, stuff that he's pushed Trump towards that 264 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.920 I am not as crazy about. And I think we 265 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:06.440 have to take his sort of advocacy always with a 266 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:13.319 bit of a grain of salt. But it seems to 267 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:16.559 me that he still wants to be some kind of 268 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:19.559 a player, and I think he has realized that Trump 269 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.519 is not going to be quite the vehicle for his 270 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:27.839 viewpoints that he thought. And it makes me wonder, is 271 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:33.119 there going to arise maybe in twenty twenty eight a 272 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:38.240 candidate who will be the Elon candidate? Is it JD Vance? 273 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:42.000 I mean, Elon tweeted the thing saying he wanted Trump 274 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.880 to be impeached and removed and for Jadvance to become president, 275 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:52.160 which is kind of ridiculous. You know, we've been down 276 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:56.759 the impeachment road before. Maybe that person is JD Vance. 277 00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:00.960 I don't know. Vance was clearly sort of the darling 278 00:21:01.160 --> 00:21:06.640 of Peter Thiel and some of the tech crypto guys. 279 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:10.640 He clearly is very interested in AI questions, and I'm 280 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:14.759 sure Elon has interested in Maybe maybe he's the guy 281 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:21.759 come twenty twenty eight, and maybe, you know, maybe Vance 282 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:23.839 is able behind the scenes to kind of patch things 283 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:26.839 up with Musk in time for the twenty twenty eight elections. 284 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:30.839 I don't know, but I thought that was just the 285 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:37.680 most interesting comment from Musk, because again, nobody has more potential, 286 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:44.160 because nobody has more money to influence American politics like 287 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:50.160 Elon does. So I'm gonna follow that aspect of things 288 00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:55.319 very carefully, all Right, when we return. President Trump's plans 289 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.640 to pull funding for high speed rail hits Fresno. That's 290 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:04.039 next on the John Girardi Show. So the Trump administration 291 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:09.559 under Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that basically, we are 292 00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:12.240 threatening to pull four billion dollars in federal funds that 293 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:16.839 are earmarked for the California High Speed Rail project. And 294 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:20.759 Secretary Duffy said the state quote has no viable path 295 00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:23.680 to complete this project on time or on budget. And 296 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:25.880 Wednesday letter to the California High Speed Rail Authority. The 297 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:28.400 lengthy reports of the rail project has been rife with 298 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:34.920 quote delays, mismanagement, waste, and skyrocketing costs. Check check, check, 299 00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:38.480 and check President Donald Trump. This is from the president 300 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:40.880 b story about it. President Donald Trump had signaled he 301 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:43.359 would attempt to pull back financial support from the federal 302 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:46.119 government toward the project, as he did during his first term, 303 00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:49.519 but the region's officials said the federal money is urgently 304 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:53.000 needed to finish construction in the Central Valley. Yeah, of 305 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:56.680 course it is. They don't want it to be finished 306 00:22:56.920 --> 00:23:00.480 because the whole thing is a black hole. They don't 307 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:03.119 have the money to finish even the portion they're working 308 00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:07.559 on anyway without those funds. Officials expressed concern about more 309 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:10.359 delays as the project lumbers towards its anticipated launch in 310 00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:13.400 the Central Value by twenty thirty three. Good lord, twenty 311 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:19.039 thirty three. Oh my gosh, we voted for the thing 312 00:23:19.079 --> 00:23:22.079 in two thousand and eight. I don't think we thought 313 00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:26.720 it was a twenty five year timeline, and god knows, 314 00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:28.400 it's probably not going to be ready by twenty thirty 315 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:32.119 three either. He doesn't understand the San Joaquin Valley or 316 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:35.000 the legal challenges that have delayed this project. Instead, he 317 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:37.920 is stalling progress and killing good paying jobs to score 318 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:43.920 political points, said Representative Jim Costa. This is such an 319 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:48.240 absurd talking point that liberals, it's the only thing they 320 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:51.400 have left for defending the high speed rail is that 321 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:58.680 it creates jobs. Okay. I could start a government program 322 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:02.880 of ditch digging, where you dig ditches and then you 323 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:05.680 get the dirt and you refill the holes again, and 324 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:10.039 I could create a ton of jobs with it. You know, 325 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:13.960 we could give gameful employment. Every homeless person on the street. 326 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:16.799 Will give them a job diging the ditch, and they 327 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:20.119 spend you know, the first four hours of the day digging. 328 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:24.119 Then they take take an hour lunch break if you want. 329 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:27.440 And then they spend four hours filling the hole again. 330 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:31.359 And then they go home. Hey, what a wonderful government. 331 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:33.279 And then we give them a salary, a forty hour 332 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:41.279 work week, two weeks paid vacation, one week sick benefits. Hey, 333 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:45.559 we've created jobs. Baby, This is a job creation machine, 334 00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:49.799 my government program, the ditch digging and ditch filling program. 335 00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:54.440 What a wonderful idea, What a wonderful use of your 336 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:59.039 taxpayer dollars to help, you know, help create jobs. This 337 00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:05.319 is great. Okay, job creation for public works programs is 338 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:10.720 wealth redistribution. It is an inefficient form of wealth redistribution 339 00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:13.200 that is not actually helping anything in the long term. 340 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:18.240 It's a waste of government money propping up the high 341 00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:23.160 speed rail project on the basis of, oh, it's creating jobs. 342 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:27.319 That's pointless. It's pointless if the end result is not 343 00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:30.039 going to actually benefit the state in some way, shape 344 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:32.400 or form. And the case for how high speed rail 345 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:36.480 is actually going to benefit anything is terribly weak and 346 00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:41.839 getting weaker every year as more and more electric cars 347 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:48.400 get on the road, As air travel develops more and 348 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.480 more and more. Okay, airports in California. Don't get smaller. 349 00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:58.480 It's pretty quick and easy and cheap to fly from 350 00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:04.200 LA to Sanfordsco. They're not making it more expend I mean, 351 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:07.759 they're not making it more difficult. All right. Fresno's adding 352 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:11.519 on another big old terminal. It's probably gonna expand our 353 00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:15.759 ability to move around in the state. I doubt it. 354 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:18.720 It'll lead to fewer flights to Los Angeles, or to 355 00:26:19.240 --> 00:26:22.519 San Francisco, or to San Jose or to San Diego. 356 00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:28.960 And again, with the proliferation of electric cars, here's California 357 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:31.559 trying to do an electric vehicles mandate all electric cars 358 00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:37.240 by twenty thirty five. Illough the federal government has mixed up, 359 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:41.880 but still that's what California wants. If all new car 360 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:46.200 sales are electric by twenty thirty five, then where what 361 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:50.200 do we do about the whole environmental motive behind the 362 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:53.480 high speed rail. The environmental motive was the big motive. 363 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:56.039 One of the big pushing motives behind the high speed 364 00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:59.480 rail project was the environment The idea that if we 365 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:03.079 have a high spa, fewer people will drive cars to 366 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:05.480 get from LA to San Francisco or Fresno to LA 367 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:09.599 or President to San Francisco, or or the highly trafficked 368 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:19.519 route of Merced to Bakersfield. So that's the problem. All 369 00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:22.359 the Democrats who keep supporting the high speed rail to 370 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:25.240 the bitter end to this day, in spite of everything, 371 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:28.960 in spite of cost overruns and corruption. And by the way, 372 00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:33.839 it's not just Republicans who have pointed out corruption, waste, 373 00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:38.960 overinflated costs, wasted money, poor planning, poor management, et cetera. 374 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:44.119 The Los Angeles Times has covered it extensively. It's not 375 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:48.839 just right wing nut jobs, you know, parroting talking points 376 00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:52.039 that they heard on I don't know, on Alex Jones 377 00:27:52.119 --> 00:27:58.960 or something. Okay, mainstream reporting from very liberal, ordinarily liberal 378 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:03.319 leaning outlets who've talked about these problems that the high 379 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:10.119 speed rail has had. And for Jim Consert, well, Trump 380 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:15.599 doesn't understand. Of course, he understands. He just disagrees with you. 381 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:18.759 He doesn't think that. And by the way, the number 382 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:22.160 of jobs that allegedly the high speed rail has created, 383 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:25.160 let's understand what it is. When they throw out a number, 384 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:27.359 If it's something like I think it's around ten thousand 385 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:30.119 or fifteen thousand, something like that, what they mean is 386 00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:40.680 it's workers for a year, a worker for a year, 387 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:44.920 So if the same worker is still working on the 388 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:48.559 high speed rail, a worker who is part of a 389 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:55.079 construction entity that is contracted with who has a contract 390 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:57.319 with the state for helping build a section of the 391 00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:00.920 high speed rail. If that worker works on the high 392 00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:03.319 speed rail in twenty twenty four and then works on 393 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:05.759 the high speed rail in twenty twenty five, the state 394 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:10.599 then runs with, we created two jobs. Well, okay, First 395 00:29:10.599 --> 00:29:16.200 of all, these are contractors, not necessarily state employees, so 396 00:29:16.279 --> 00:29:20.240 the guy might have had a job already. Secondly, it's 397 00:29:20.279 --> 00:29:22.759 not like a new job is created every year, but 398 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:27.160 they're sort of cumulatively stacking up those jobs year over 399 00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:29.400 year over year. That's how they get to. 400 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:32.640 This, Oh, we created ten thousand job fifty thousand jobs, which, 401 00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:36.200