Podcasts about Appropriations Committee

Thursday, May 8th, 2025Today, Republican Jefferson Griffin has conceded the North Carolina Supreme Court race to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs; a second US Navy jet has been lost at sea under the watchful eye of Pete Kegstand; the Trump administration has ordered the intelligence community to amp up spying on Greenland; Salt Lake City and Boise have adopted official pride flags in response to state laws banning them; a US appeals court allows Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk to be transferred to Vermont to challenge her immigration detention; lawyers have asked for a restraining order to stop the removal of migrants to Libya; the Abrego Garcia case is delayed again - this time because Trump is invoking privilege over discovery; a woman says a rent a cop at a hotel in Boston confronted her in the bathroom and demanded she prove her gender; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.Thank You, IQBARText DAILYBEANS to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply.MSW Media, Blue Wave California Victory Fund | ActBlueGuest: Rep. Mile Levin (CA 49th)Mike Levin - House.govRep. Mike Levin (@levin.house.gov) - BlueskyMike Levin (@repmikelevin) - InstagramRep. Mike Levin (@RepMikeLevin) - twitterStories:Second US Navy jet is lost at sea from Truman aircraft carrier | CNN PoliticsWoman says security guard at Liberty Hotel in Boston confronted her in bathroom, asked to prove gender | CBS News BostonExclusive | U.S. Orders Intelligence Agencies to Step Up Spying on Greenland | WSJJudge Orders Elections Board to Certify Democrat's Victory in Contested N.C. Race | The New York TimesDetained Tufts student must be transferred to Vermont, appeals court rules | The Washington PostSalt Lake City and Boise Adopt Official Pride Flags in Response to State Laws | The New York Times Good Trouble:Protests are being planned to counter US President Donald Trump's military parade on June 14. The 'No Kings' group is organizing nationwide demonstrations against Trump's policies. These events coincide with the US Army's 250th-anniversary parade. Over 100 'No Kings' events are registered across the US. The group aims to reject authoritarianism. No Kings.orgIndivisible And Partners Announce ‘NO KINGS' Nationwide Day of Defiance on Flag Day, During Trump's Birthday Parade'We Don't Do Kings': Mass Protests Planned to Counter Trump's Birthday Military Parade | Common DreamsFind Upcoming Actions - 50501 MovementFrom The Good NewsAbortion Every Day by Jessica Valenti | SubstackNovaCareStrong Paws RescueReminder - you can see the pod pics if you become a Patron. The good news pics are at the bottom of the show notes of each Patreon episode! That's just one of the perks of subscribing! Federal workers - feel free to email me at fedoath@pm.me and let me know what you're going to do, or just vent. I'm always here to listen.Share your Good News or Good Trouble:https://www.dailybeanspod.com/good/ Check out other MSW Media podcastshttps://mswmedia.com/shows/Subscribe for free to MuellerSheWrote on Substackhttps://muellershewrote.substack.comFollow AG and Dana on Social MediaDr. Allison Gill Substack|Muellershewrote, BlueSky|@muellershewrote , Threads|@muellershewrote, TikTok|@muellershewrote, IG|muellershewrote, Twitter|@MuellerSheWrote,Dana GoldbergTwitter|@DGComedy, IG|dgcomedy, facebook|dgcomedy, IG|dgcomedy, danagoldberg.com, BlueSky|@dgcomedyHave some good news; a confession; or a correction to share?Good News & Confessions - The Daily Beanshttps://www.dailybeanspod.com/confessional/ Listener Survey:http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=shortFollow the Podcast on Apple:The Daily Beans on Apple PodcastsWant to support the show and get it ad-free and early?Supercasthttps://dailybeans.supercast.com/Patreon https://patreon.com/thedailybeansOr subscribe on Apple Podcasts with our affiliate linkThe Daily Beans on Apple Podcasts

Lawmakers began their second day debating how best to make up for a significant shortfall in the state budget. In recent years, the state has been flush with cash, thanks to post-pandemic revenue growth and an influx of federal dollars, but this year's budgeting process has looked a little different. Sen. Myron Dorn, a member of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee serving his seventh year in the Unicameral, said most of the body lacks the institutional knowledge and experience that would be valuable.

Lawmakers began their second day debating how best to make up for a significant shortfall in the state budget. In recent years, the state has been flush with cash, thanks to post-pandemic revenue growth and an influx of federal dollars, but this year's budgeting process has looked a little different. Sen. Myron Dorn, a member of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee serving his seventh year in the Unicameral, said most of the body lacks the institutional knowledge and experience that would be valuable.

The Nebraska Legislature's Appropriations Committee swept more cash from agencies and approved using more of the state's cash reserve to balance the budget.

The Legislature's Appropriations Committee advance a proposed state budget Thursday.

Congress holds the power of the purse. The United States Government is the largest business in the world, but to conduct business - and national security - Congress has to approve the funds and the money. Representative Jake Ellzey is now a 3-term Congressman representing Texas's 6th District. He's a Naval Academy graduate, a helicopter and fighter pilot, and a member of the House Appropriations Committee, where his decisions determine what the government funds and what it doesn't. He's also the co-chair of the bipartisan military Veterans alliance, the For Country Caucus. With the American government changing at lightning pace, Fran Racioppi asked the Congressman how the Appropriations Committee is prioritizing funding, what that means for national defense, rooting out fraud, waste and abuse; and if there's ever a way for America to balance the budget and stop overspending. Representative Ellzey also shares why we need to clearly define America's next battlefield, funding military readiness and innovation to combat both nation-state adversaries and terror groups, and the critical role he sees our Special Operations Forces playing in the grey war the United States is now in. Plus he shares his leadership lessons from the cockpit and the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan to the halls of Congress.Watch, listen or read our conversation from Congressman Ellzey's office. Don't miss our full coverage from Capitol Hill. Special thanks to For Country Caucus for setting up this series. Highlights0:00 Introduction6:20 Veterans in Congress9:12 Why the Navy?10:50 The Appropriations Committee14:45 Funding Executive Orders17:24 DOGE's impact22:41 Funding Military Readiness25:35 Role of SOF in the next conflict27:20 The sentiment of America31:50 Shout out to Green Berets34:08 Defining the Battlefield38:18 Why Was There An Open Border Policy39:44 Can America Balance The Budget?40:42 Is America Ready?42:41 Military Lessons Taken To CongressKey Quotes:“There's a thing about veterans: it really doesn't matter which era, what your uniform, or how well you know somebody who's a veteran…Nobody else gets into that world.”“With SEALS, Green Berets, most pilots; tell me I can't do something, and then watch.”“CR's are bad. Year-long CRs are terrible. Specifically for defense.” “Once we know what the priorities of the President are, we're not going to put something on the floor that ultimately he's not going to sign.”“It's broken. So let's break it. Let's break the whole thing.”“There's not enough money to do everything we need to do to be completely ready.” “It's absolutely essential that our adversaries know that we've got the best in the world.”“The sentiment of Americans is we're strong again, we're not to be trifled with, if you attack us, we're going to hammer you.”“I'm a huge fan of Green Berets.”“I see weapons of mass destruction as the compounds that are making Fentanyl.” “Never pass up the opportunity to shut up.”Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.The Jedburgh Podcast and the Jedburgh Media Channel are an official program of The Green Beret Foundation.The opinions presented on the The Jedburgh Podcast and the Jedburgh Media Channel are the opinions of my guests and myself. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Green Beret Foundation and the Green Beret Foundation assumes no liability for their accuracy, nor does Green Beret Foundation endorse any political candidate or any political party.

Dane DeKrey is a criminal defense attorney with the Moorhead-based lawfirm Ringstrom Dekrey. He recently signed onto an amicus brief in a legal fight over an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which exacts retribution on a law firm Trump feels has wronged him. It does so by, among other punitive measures, revoking the firm's security clearances and prohibiting its personnel from entering government buildings. In his order, Trump accused the law firm WilmerHale of engaging "in obvious partisan representations to achieve political ends" and "the obstruction of efforts to prevent illegal aliens from committing horrific crimes and trafficking deadly drugs within our borders." But from another perspective, that's just engaging in the political process and representing criminal defendants. DeKrey says his support for the law firm isn't about politics. It's about principles. "I couldn't care less that this comes from Donald Trump," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. "I care that the rule of law is being questioned and as lawyers and as my law firm...we defend people who are not sympathetic the vast majority of the time. And if a person who is not sympathetic cannot call out for a lawyer and have someone answer, we are in a dangerous territory and I don't want to be there." Also on this episode, Sen. Kyle Davis, a Republican from Fargo, took a break from his work on the Appropriations Committee to talk to us about the progress toward funding a new state hospital in Jamestown, the challenges the state faces in delivering mental health services, and the debates over school choice policies and property taxes. He also commented on a last-minute amendment to the budget for the Office of Management and Budget to create a "life education committee" that would promote alternatives to abortion. The committee, which would be appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, would have $1.5 million in funding and would be tasked with contracting with a third party entity to provide pro-life education services. "I've always pushed back on bills that get added in the last minute," Davison said of the amendment, adding that he has "a bit of frustration in regards to it not being a standalone bill." "Those standalone bills that make it all the way through have had a minimum of four hearings, two of them in appropriations and they're better pieces of legislation because of it when they pass through like that," he said. "Especially when you're setting something up new and it's a new appropriation." He also said that lawmakers are mindful of last year's state Supreme Court ruling, which struck down the OMB budget from the 2023 session for not complying with the state constitution's single-subject mandate. "There is no question in my mind that we as a legislature are paying attention to that decision made by the Supreme Court in regards to the OMB budget," he said. This episode is brought to you by the North Dakota Petroleum Foundation, providing education and outreach opportunities related to the petroleum industry, advancing quality of life initiatives, and promoting and enhancing the conservation heritage of North Dakota. Learn more at www.NDPetroleumFoundation.org. If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive  

John Maytham is joined by Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader and Appropriations Committee chairperson Mmusi Maimane to unpack the turbulent state of the Government of National Unity. As tensions flare between the ANC and DA over the 2025/26 Budget, especially the controversial VAT hike, Maimane weighs in on whether the DA’s exit signals the rise of a new coalition. With BOSA and ActionSA having helped the ANC pass the fiscal framework, a slimmer GNU 2.0 may be taking shape. Maimane explores what this means for parliamentary accountability, economic reform, and the future of coalition governance in South Africa.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The topic of this episode is, “What does a member of the House of Representatives do all day?”It is not easy for the average voter to imagine how a member of Congress spends each day. We see images of them standing in the ornate chamber, talking with voters, and there's no shortage of videos of them delivering speeches or denunciations of presidents or the other party. Some polling data indicates that many voters think legislators have cushy, part-time jobs and have legion staff doting upon them.But is life in Congress really like that?My guest is Derek Kilmer, who has written a chapter on this subject for Casey Burgat's new edited volume, We Hold These "Truths": How to Spot the Myths that are Holding America Back (Authors Equity, 2025).And who better to talk about this topic than Derek Kilmer. He is a former member of Congress. He represented Washington state's 6th district from 2013 to 2025. Mr. Kilmer served on the House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee, which helps decide where federal spending goes. Listeners may also remember that Mr. Kilmer also co-led the House's Modernization Committee, and he previously was on this podcast to explain the various things that were being done to make Congress work better.Click here to read the full transcript.

Show Notes: Patrick Jackson talks about growing up in his great-grandparents' home in an unincorporated area of Shelby County, where he had no indoor plumbing until age 10. That home, where he lived with his mother and three brothers, was his formative space before going to Harvard. Patrick was initially considering medical school. However, he decided to pursue politics, inspired by an experience he had as a junior in high school working as a U.S. House Page on Capitol Hill. Becoming a Page in the U.S. House of Representatives Patrick believes that God opened a door for him to become a Page through his freshman football and track coach, Mac Hawkins, a government  and civics teacher and Bartlett High School, who became like a surrogate father to him. In 1985 Coach Hawkins found out about an opportunity to become a page through then-Congressman Don Sunquist, who was looking to appoint a promising high school student. Patrick's experience with the Page Program highlights the importance of faith, connections, and the support of family and friends. In this conversation, Patrick discusses his experience as a page in the House of Representatives and the impact it had on his life. He recalls the experience as transformative and fueled him to pursue a career in government. Patrick ended up concentrating in Government at Harvard. Working in Politics After graduation from Harvard, Patrick landed an internship with the Small Business Administration, an opportunity that helped him gain experience and broaden his horizons. Patrick also mentions that he had a temporary spot with Congresswoman Barbara Boxer, who was running for the US Senate at the time. He was invited to work as a legislative correspondent in the Senate office, answering constituent letters and handling constituent calls. However, he wanted to move up quickly and take on more responsibility, so he left Senator Boxer's office and worked for Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez from New York. One significant experience he had there was witnessing Congresswoman Velazquez testify during the healthcare debate about privacy. He had to help write her testimony, which was a tough day but a good day because it helped many people. Patrick acknowledges that this incident did not directly lead to the enactment of the HIPAA law, but it helped with the debate about privacy and HIPAA, adding to the chorus of voices calling for the law to be made and enacted. In 1995, Patrick left Congresswoman Velazquez' office and worked for the late Julian Dixon, a California member of Congress who served as a senior Democrat on Appropriations Committee. He learned a lot from his time there, including the importance of strong relationships across the aisle. Dixon was part of a tight California delegation that worked together to get things done for the state, including medical research funding for top universities and public hospital systems. Patrick also owes a lot to Tracy Holmes, his Chief of Staff, who was skilled in working with people and helping them succeed. Law School and Study Abroad Patrick discusses his experiences in law school and his study abroad experience.  Though he initially planned to work for just two years before law school, he did not enter law school until 1998, when he began at the University of Wisconsin law school in Madison.  While in law school Patricj participated in a law school exchange program at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. There Patrick lived in a student house with other international students and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the square area. He learned about European legal systems through the international comparative comparative law program at the University of Wisconsin.  After law school, he was offered a job after graduation in Columbus, Ohio. He worked as a firm there for a few years but realized that it wasn't what he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing and left the firm at the end of 2005. From Law to the Seminary Patrick left Columbus, Ohio, in 2007, returning to his home in Tennessee to work briefly as a substitute teacher in the Shelby County school system. In 2008 he left Tennessee to return to D.C. to work for United Way of America as a federal lobbyist, covering national issues like the 211 information system and the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program. He met his wife in 2006 while still in Columbus, Ohio, and they became friends and stayed in touch even long distance. In 2010, they decided to move their relationship forward and got married. He worked with Senator Sherrod Brown from 2009 to 2011, but they decided to return to Columbus in 2011.  During that time of transition, Patrick sensed a call to fulltime ministry, which was influenced in part by his involvement in the music ministry at a church in Dumfries, Virginia.  He also attended US Senate Chaplain Barry Black's weekly Bible studies and enrolled in his spiritual mentoring classes. During one of these Bible studies, Chaplain Black encouraged him to consider attending seminary. However, Patrick would not attend seminary until 2013, after spending some time working as a contract lawyer in Columbus.  Patrick attended Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Massachusetts, graduating with honors in 2017. Life As a Pastor Patrick shares his experience of applying to American Baptist churches for senior pastor positions after graduation from Andover Newton. In 2018 Patrick accepted a Pastoral Residency at Richmond's First Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia.  It was a tremendously rewarding experience and helped prepare him for his first pastorate at First Baptist Church-Church of the Brethren and Cedar Rapids, a dually-aligned American Baptist and Church of the Brethren congregation. The process of becoming a pastor at the church involved submitting materials, having phone conversations, and attending a candidate weekend. The church then voted on whether to call the applicant. This experience led to his current position. As an African American pastor at a predominantly white congregation.  Patrick shares his experiences of working as a pastor and delivering sermons during Covid. Influential Harvard Courses and Professors Patrick shares his experiences with the late Professor Martin Kilson, a government professor who taught him about African American political development in the south. He took a graduate course from Prof. Kilson on African political systems: Power, and Legitimacy, which provided insights into the history and politics of Nigeria, the Congo, and Kenya. Timestamps: 05:02: The Impact of the Page Program and Early Career  18:18: Transition to Capitol Hill and Early Career Challenges 33:20: Law School and International Experience 40:09: Return to Capitol Hill and Transition to Ministry  53:58: Seminary and Pastoral Career  1:08:19: Transition to Cedar Rapids and Current Role  1:20:25: Reflections on Harvard and Influential Courses  Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-jackson-0489a6/   Patrick's church: https://www.thechurchonnorthland.com/ Featured Non-profit: The featured non-profit of this episode of The 92 Report is recommended by Julie Mallozzi who reports: “Hi, I'm Julie Mallozzi, class of 1992 the featured organization of this episode of The 92 report is New Day Films. New Day Films is a filmmaker-run distributor of educational documentaries, many of them exploring urgent social issues. I have been a member of this amazing co-op for six years, and am proud to be serving my third year on its steering committee. You can learn more about our work@newday.com and now here's Will Bachmann with this week's episode. To learn more about their work visit: https://www.newday.com/

Bills moving through the Nebraska Legislature were temporarily sidetracked by objections to the process Tuesday, while the Appropriations Committee heard proposals to divert money from the Perkins County Canal project.

University of Nebraska officials told the Legislature's Appropriations Committee that proposed budget cuts would hurt their efforts.

GDP Script/ Top Stories for February 11th Publish Date: February 11th From The BG AD Group Studio, Welcome to the Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. Today is Tuesday, February 11th and Happy Birthday to Sheryl Crowe ***02.11.25 - BIRTHDAY – SHERLY CROWE*** I’m Peyton Spurlock and here are your top stories presented by KIA Mall of Georgia Pedestrian dies after Gwinnett police car hit him near Norcross Lawrenceville wants to add 19,000 residents through annexation in 2027 Gwinnett Chamber Promotes Patricia Sledge to Senior Vice President of Accounting & Finance All of this and more is coming up on the Gwinnett Daily Post podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen daily and subscribe! Break 1: Kia MOG (07.14.22 KIA MOG) STORY 1: Pedestrian dies after Gwinnett police car hit him near Norcross The Georgia State Patrol is investigating a fatal accident where a Gwinnett County Police patrol vehicle struck a pedestrian on Beaver Ruin Road near Norcross early Monday morning. The pedestrian, who was crossing outside a crosswalk, was transported by paramedics but later died from his injuries. The victim's identity has not been released. Since a police officer was involved, the State Patrol is leading the investigation, with assistance from Gwinnett County Police as needed. STORY 2: Lawrenceville wants to add 19,000 residents through annexation in 2027 Lawrenceville is planning a major annexation that could make it Gwinnett County's largest city, adding 19,000 residents and 5,700 parcels. The proposal requires Georgia General Assembly approval for a May 2026 referendum, with annexation taking effect in 2027 if voters approve. The plan would increase Lawrenceville's population to over 50,000, consolidating schools and reducing tax-exempt properties. City officials aim to enhance services, strengthen schools, and foster community pride, with outreach planned to explain the benefits to voters. STORY 3: Gwinnett Chamber Promotes Patricia Sledge to Senior Vice President of Accounting & Finance The Gwinnett Chamber has promoted Patricia Sledge to Senior Vice President of Accounting & Finance, effective Jan. 1. Sledge has been pivotal in managing the Chamber’s financial operations, delivering the 2025 budget, and ensuring clean audit results. Beyond finance, she oversaw IT installations and tenant agreements following the Chamber’s renovation. President Nick Masino praised her leadership and contributions, calling her an essential part of the team. Sledge expressed gratitude for the opportunity and commitment to supporting the Chamber’s mission. A Georgia Gwinnett College graduate, she resides in Lawrenceville. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info. We’ll be right back Break 2: Tom Wages (08.05.24 OBITS_FINAL) STORY 4: Chief of Staff for Georgia House Speaker recovering after serious accident at Auburn farm Terry England, former state representative and current chief of staff to Georgia Speaker of the House Jon Burns, sustained a serious spinal cord injury in a farm accident involving heavy machinery in Barrow County. England underwent a successful procedure Saturday night and is recovering in the hospital. Burns expressed gratitude for the prayers and support for England and his wife, Cindy. England, who served 18 years in the Georgia House and chaired the Appropriations Committee, retired in 2022 and was honored for his contributions to agricultural education and programs in Georgia. STORY 5: North Gwinnett Grad C.J. Uzomah Wins Super Bowl with Eagles C.J. Uzomah, a North Gwinnett grad, became a Super Bowl champion despite being sidelined by injury as his Philadelphia Eagles defeated the two-time defending champions 40-22 in Super Bowl LIV. The 32-year-old tight end, in his 10th NFL season, rejoined the Eagles from injured reserve but wasn’t added to the final roster for the game. Uzomah, a former Auburn standout and fifth-round pick by the Bengals in 2015, previously played in a Super Bowl with Cincinnati in 2021, despite a knee injury. Break: Ringling Bros ***Guide Weekly Health Minute*** 10.15.24 GUIDE HEALTH MINUTE_FINAL*** Break 4: Ingles Markets 7 Signoff – Thanks again for hanging out with us on today’s Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at www.gwinnettdailypost.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network Show Sponsors: www.ingles-markets.com  www.wagesfuneralhome.com www.kiamallofga.com Ringling Bros #NewsPodcast #CurrentEvents #TopHeadlines #BreakingNews #PodcastDiscussion #PodcastNews #InDepthAnalysis #NewsAnalysis #PodcastTrending #WorldNews #LocalNews #GlobalNews #PodcastInsights #NewsBrief #PodcastUpdate #NewsRoundup #WeeklyNews #DailyNews #PodcastInterviews #HotTopics #PodcastOpinions #InvestigativeJournalism #BehindTheHeadlines #PodcastMedia #NewsStories #PodcastReports #JournalismMatters #PodcastPerspectives #NewsCommentary #PodcastListeners #NewsPodcastCommunity #NewsSource #PodcastCuration #WorldAffairs #PodcastUpdates #AudioNews #PodcastJournalism #EmergingStories #NewsFlash #PodcastConversations See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former state lawmakers Jean Hunhoff and Linda Duba bring their years on the appropriations committee to analyze what current legislators are up against.

Donald Trump's attempt earlier this week to freeze all federal aid triggered chaos and confusion. As with many of the president's actions so far, it's unclear whether he even had the executive authority to make such an order. Today, the order was abruptly rescinded. But what does this tell us about Trump's strategy? Democratic Senator from Maryland Chris Van Hollen sits on the Appropriations Committee, and joins Christiane from Washington to discuss.   Also on today's show: Oliver McTernan, Co-Founder and Director, Forward Thinking; Chris Whipple, Author, "The Gatekeepers"   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Facing a fiscal crisis, MD Governor Wes Moore has proposed $2 billion dollars in spending cuts in his 2025 budget proposal (as well as taxes and fees). What does that $2 billion look like to legislators beginning to hear from constituents and advocates? Sunil Dasgupta asks Maryland House Majority Leader David Moon and the Appropriations Committee member Emily Shetty to break down the cuts and put them into perspective. Newly in public domain music by Clara Smith and The Troubadours.

10/22/24: Corey Mock represents Grand Fork's District 18 and is a former House Minority Leader and current ranking member of the Appropriations Committee (but is not running for reelection). Representative Mock joins Joel on "News and Views" to go over the statewide measures, specifically hitting on Measure 3. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Congressman Peter Roskam, who leads BakerHostetler's Federal Policy team, provides listeners with a front-row seat to the most important policy and political debates in Congress. In this episode of “The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam,” Peter interviews Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Iowa. First elected to the House in 2020, Hinson is a former television news anchor. Today, she serves on the Appropriations Committee.Peter and Hinson talk about how Congress differs from state legislatures – where Hinson previously served – and how Congress can become more functional. She also forecasts Congress' post-election, year-end spending fight.Questions& Comments: proskam@bakerlaw.com

Former Congressman Peter Roskam, who leads BakerHostetler's Federal Policy team, provides listeners with a front-row seat to the most important policy and political debates in Congress. In this episode of “The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam,” Peter interviews Congressman Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland. First elected to the House in 1981, Hoyer is the former majority leader and today is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee.The discussion spans Hoyer's decades of public service, from a chance encounter with JFK that changed Hoyer's life to his service in the Maryland state Senate and now in Congress. Hoyer has seen it all – he's served with seven presidents and watched the House majority switch parties five times. Peter and Hoyer also talk about how the institution of Congress has changed in recent decades – not always for the better – and how to ease the partisan gridlock that has seized Capitol Hill. Questions & Comments: proskam@bakerlaw.com

Host: Tracy Shuchart for MicDropMarketsGuests: Eric Basmajian and Albert MarkoEric BasmajianEric is an economic cycle analyst and the founder of EPB Research, a firm providing research on the long-term and short-term factors influencing the US Business Cycle. EPB Research primarily works with institutional investors and corporate management teams of cyclical industries, including manufacturing, construction, and residential real estate.Eric is a patient advocate and board member of the FibroFighters Foundation, patient-centric advocacy and education organization dedicated to helping patients and caregivers affected by Fibrolamellar CarcinomaAlbert MarkoAlbert Marko began work in foreign affairs in Europe as a political consultant for multiple political parties. Spending 10 years in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus, including Georgia during the Russia-Georgia war, he was a registered defense broker for the State Department DDTC, specializing in procuring Russian equipment. Since returning from Europe to Washington, he has consulted with many U.S. Members of Congress in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Appropriations Committee and other legislative outfits on Capitol Hill, specifically who deal with international relations along with working groups on geopolitical risk events, campaign strategies. He is currently a political economic consultant for hedge funds financial firms in helping navigate the US political and financial process.DISCLAIMER: This material is presented solely for informational and entertainment purposes and is not to be construed as a recommendation, solicitation, or an offer to buy or sell / long or short any securities, commodities, or any related financial instruments. Please contact a licensed professional before making any investment or trading decisions

This Farm Talk segment is brought to you by North Dakota Corn. Ben Bakko farms south of Fargo near Walcott. Bakko serves on the North Dakota Corn Growers Association's Board of Directors. On Thursday, August 15, Senator John Hoeven hosted a field hearing of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee at Grand Farm's Innovation Campus. Bakko was part of a select panel that met with USDA Deputy Secretary Torres-Small to talk about challenges and opportunities of young ag producers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Guide to SB 1047, published by Zvi on August 20, 2024 on LessWrong. We now likely know the final form of California's SB 1047. There have been many changes to the bill as it worked its way to this point. Many changes, including some that were just announced, I see as strict improvements. Anthropic was behind many of the last set of amendments at the Appropriations Committee. In keeping with their "Support if Amended" letter, there are a few big compromises that weaken the upside protections of the bill somewhat in order to address objections and potential downsides. The primary goal of this post is to answer the question: What would SB 1047 do? I offer two versions: Short and long. The short version summarizes what the bill does, at the cost of being a bit lossy. The long version is based on a full RTFB: I am reading the entire bill, once again. In between those two I will summarize the recent changes to the bill, and provide some practical ways to understand what the bill does. After, I will address various arguments and objections, reasonable and otherwise. My conclusion: This is by far the best light-touch bill we are ever going to get. Short Version (tl;dr): What Does SB 1047 Do in Practical Terms? This section is intentionally simplified, but in practical terms I believe this covers the parts that matter. For full details see later sections. First, I will echo the One Thing To Know. If you do not train either a model that requires $100 million or more in compute, or fine tune such an expensive model using $10 million or more in your own additional compute (or operate and rent out a very large computer cluster)? Then this law does not apply to you, at all. This cannot later be changed without passing another law. (There is a tiny exception: Some whistleblower protections still apply. That's it.) Also the standard required is now reasonable care, the default standard in common law. No one ever has to 'prove' anything, nor need they fully prevent all harms. With that out of the way, here is what the bill does in practical terms. IF AND ONLY IF you wish to train a model using $100 million or more in compute (including your fine-tuning costs): 1. You must create a reasonable safety and security plan (SSP) such that your model does not pose an unreasonable risk of causing or materially enabling critical harm: mass casualties or incidents causing $500 million or more in damages. 2. That SSP must explain what you will do, how you will do it, and why. It must have objective evaluation criteria for determining compliance. It must include cybersecurity protocols to prevent the model from being unintentionally stolen. 3. You must publish a redacted copy of your SSP, an assessment of the risk of catastrophic harms from your model, and get a yearly audit. 4. You must adhere to your own SSP and publish the results of your safety tests. 5. You must be able to shut down all copies under your control, if necessary. 6. The quality of your SSP and whether you followed it will be considered in whether you used reasonable care. 7. If you violate these rules, you do not use reasonable care and harm results, the Attorney General can fine you in proportion to training costs, plus damages for the actual harm. 8. If you fail to take reasonable care, injunctive relief can be sought. The quality of your SSP, and whether or not you complied with it, shall be considered when asking whether you acted reasonably. 9. Fine-tunes that spend $10 million or more are the responsibility of the fine-tuner. 10. Fine-tunes spending less than that are the responsibility of the original developer. Compute clusters need to do standard KYC when renting out tons of compute. Whistleblowers get protections. They will attempt to establish a 'CalCompute' public compute cluster. You can also read this summary of h...

Kamala Harris releases her economic agenda, Paetongtarn Shinawatra becomes Thailand's youngest-ever prime minister, A controversial AI regulation bill passes California's Appropriations Committee, Donald Trump hires five new campaign advisers, Mediators present a new cease-fire proposal to Israel and Hamas, Russia reportedly prioritizes its offensive in eastern Ukraine over its defense of Kursk, The UN reports that 1.4M Afghan girls have been barred from schools under the Taliban, New Zealand agrees to extradite internet mogul Kim Dotcom to the US, A Secret Service agent reportedly leaves her post at a Trump event to breastfeed, and scientists link the dinosaurs' extinction to a carbon-rich ‘C-type' asteroid. Sources: verity.news

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Californians, tell your reps to vote yes on SB 1047!, published by Holly Elmore on August 12, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum. See the event page here. Hello Californians! We need you to help us fight for SB 1047, a landmark bill to help set a benchmark for AI safety, decrease existential risk, and promote safety research. This bill has been supported by some of the world's leading AI scientists and the Center of AI Safety, and is extremely important for us to pass. As Californians, we have a unique opportunity to inspire other states to follow suit. Unfortunately, due to misinformation and lobbying by big tech companies, SB 1047 is currently stalled in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. It may be killed if it does not get advanced by August 19th. This would be a significant blow against safety and would continue the "race to the bottom" in AI capabilities without any guardrails. We need you to do the following to save the bill. This will take no more than 5 minutes: Email the Chair (Buffy Wicks, D) and Vice-Chair (Kate Sanchez, R) of the Appropriations Committee, and ask them to advance the bill without watering it down. Buffy Wicks: assemblymember.wicks@assembly.ca.gov Kate Sanchez: assemblymember.sanchez@assembly.ca.gov Email templates and examples can be found here. Call the offices of the Chair and Vice-Chair in support of the bill. The best day to do this is August 16. Buffy Wicks (D): (916) 319-2014 Kate Sanchez (R): (916) 319-2071 These calls can be very short (~1 minute) and straightforward. See here for more guidance. Here's a Google Calendar event you can use to mark the date on your calendar. This document has additional information about the bill and other ways to help. Please try to get this done as soon as possible, and let us know if you need any help. Your voice matters, and it is urgent that we push this before it's too late. Thank you so much for your support! Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org

Host Intro: The Legislature's Appropriations Committee continued wading through Gov. Jim Pillen's proposed budget cuts today/Tuesday, as the special session on property taxes continues.

Last November, it was announced that Connecticut saw a dramatic population increase between 2021 and 2022. However, U.S. Census numbers reflect that it is more likely there was a net loss of 13,000 people to other states. Senator Eric Berthel, Ranking Senator on the Appropriations Committee, discussed how this inaccuracy could have occurred and the expensive bills sent out by Eversource.  IMAGE CREDIT:  iStock / Getty Images Plus

This week, President Hawkins invited Sen. Lincoln Hough to join him on the podcast. Hailing from Greene County, Hough is a first-generation rancher with the hopes to become the next Missouri Lieutenant Governor. Currently serving in the Missouri Senate and chairing the Appropriations Committee, Hough has used his experience and background to deliver results. As a cattleman, father, and MOFB member, Hough says he will keep rural Missouri values at the front of his mind when making decisions if elected Lieutenant Governor. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts to have Digging In sent directly to your smart device each time it's released! Host: Garrett Hawkins, MOFB President Guest: MO Sen. Lincoln Hough Producer: Natalie Ayers, Missouri Farm Bureau Video & Audio Media Specialist

After a sweeping 34-month investigation, the U.S. Justice Department says it has found severe violations of federal law and the Constitution committed by the Phoenix Police Department. The Appropriations Committee in the Arizona House advanced the 16 bills that make up a new state budget. A neighborhood in Tucson was once the final resting place for thousands of residents. Plus the latest business, education, tribal natural resources and Fronteras Desk news.

Space Money: The Long-Term Strategy Inside The Space Force Budget Numbers While the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee has sent its draft of the FY 2025 defense spending bill to the full Appropriations Committee without drama, a Trump campaign representative is reportedly urging Republican senators to block any spending package from passing until after the presidential inauguration in January. Despite the budgetary fog, the Space Force's strategy, outlined in the Biden Administration's 2025 budget proposal, is becoming clear. Laura Winter speaks with Sam Wilson, a senior policy analyst for the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation, about his latest report: “Fy 2025 Defense Space Budget: Continued Emphasis On Proliferation Under A More Constrained Top-Line”.

In a recent turn of events, Head of the Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan (a respected Republican from Ohio), took a strong stand against what he identified as politically inclined prosecutions or 'lawfare' initiated by liberal prosecutors and Jack Smith, a special counsel appointed by the Biden Justice Department. He affirmed that he will formulate a strategy to counter these tactics, seemingly aimed at presumptive Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump. In Jordan's perspective, there has been a systematically designed attempt by certain prosecutors to manipulate professional conduct rules and their obligations towards delivering justice for the sake of political ambitions. He asserts that these unfair mechanisms are employed as a tool to target opposition parties. Jordan has proposed a radical but necessary action to address these biased prosecutions. He strongly urges the Appropriations Committee to eliminate federal funding for any state prosecutor or attorney general who is partaking in these lawfare tactics. He went further to suggest that funding should also be discontinued for federal prosecutors who exhibit such biased behavior. The Judiciary Committee has already made strides by approving key legislation aimed at curbing these political prosecutions. Of particular note are H.R. 2553, named the 'No More Political Prosecutions Act', and H.R. 2595, also known as 'The Forfeiture Funds Expenditure Transparency Act.' These acts underscore the committee's commitment to fairness and transparency in legal procedures and it is hoped that the Appropriations Committee takes them into consideration.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

State Rep. Alex Andrade was my guest on "Real News with Rick Outzen" this morning. We talked about having the one-two budget punch of Sen. Doug Broxson as the Appropriations Committee chair and him chairing the House Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Tourism Appropriations. We also covered what he sees as his significant accomplishments as a lawmaker.

After months of delay, this week House Speaker Mike Johnson advanced his much awaited version of the Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan foreign aid package. Standing between that legislation and the House floor: two very powerful committees.  First, the House Appropriations Committee, which controls about a third of federal spending. And second, the Rules Committee, which controls access to the House floor, and which has become a problem for GOP leaders in this Congress. Johnson needed to pick the lock on both of these committees. And there is one Member of Congress who has chaired them both. Not just in the past year — but in the past month: Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole. Deep Dive host and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza caught up with Cole on Thursday afternoon after he'd just testified in support of the foreign aid bill in front of his old committee.  They got deep into the weeds of why the Rules Committee has been such a trouble spot for recent GOP speakers; and they discussed Johnson's tenure so far and whether Cole thinks the Speaker can hang on as members threaten to oust him.  Cole also previewed how he will run the Appropriations Committee, including how he'll handle the controversial earmarks process. And Cole answered some prying questions from some of his favorite historians on the subject of Donald Trump. Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO. Tom Cole is the chair of the House Appropriations committee.  Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.  Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.

This Day in Maine for Monday, April 15th, 2024.

US Represenative David Schweikert--the realities of Juan Ciscomani's seat on the Appropriations Committee and the one seat GOP majority in USHR. Also, the United States passed the dubious milestone of borrowing $100K per second over the past year. For national debt daily updates from David, go to his house page, schweikert.house.gov and sign up for daily national debt updates. Laura Conover on Sexual Assault Awareness Month...words don't match her actions on a light sentence last year for a high school guidance counselor who was in a sexual relationship with a student.

Sen. Sanders (I-VT) joins President Biden to promote efforts to lower prescription drug costs, interview with CQ/Roll Call's Aidan Quigley on Rep. Aderholt (R-AL) calling for delay in choosing next Appropriations Committee chair to discuss spending bill process reform (7), White House asked about Palestinian-American doctor who walked out of meeting with President Biden, NATO foreign ministers meet to discuss multiyear aid to Ukraine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week is former Assemblymember Mike Gatto, who during his tenure, chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee.  Mike Gatto was an up-and-coming lawmaker when his father was brutally murdered. To try and solve the mystery of his father's murder, Mike journeys through the world of crime investigations, modern law enforcement in Los Angeles, and politics.  He shares his experience and insight against a backdrop of surging violent crime in cities across the state.  His father's case is still unsolved.

As part of the proposed budget in the Nebraska Legislature, $25 million that was originally slated for affordable housing would be used for a different kind of housing. Affordable housing is geared toward lower-income buyers. Under the budget proposed by the Legislature's Appropriations Committee, $20 million would be shifted to rural workforce housing, and $5 million would go to middle income housing.

Welcome to the latest episode of the Lunch with Shelley podcast, featuring this week's special guest Vin Weber, my longtime friend and the second Weber to be on the show! Vin is a Partner at Mercury in Washington, D.C. and is one of the most prominent and successful strategists in the Republican Party, enjoying strong bipartisan relationships across the legislative and executive branches of government. He formerly served in the House of Representatives representing Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District from 1981 to 1993, where he was a member of the Appropriations Committee and an elected member of the House Republican Leadership.Join us over a fun and always delicious lunch at Et Voila for a wide-ranging conversation that includes the importance of leadership, the joys of Leech Lake, Minnesota, international and national politics, AI, and a special recipe! We'd love to dine with you, so listen to this fun, thought-provoking conversation at www.lunchwithshelley.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts, and in the meantime peace, love, and lunch!

Congressman Chris Stewart discusses his experience in Congress and the dynamics of nuclear policy. He highlights the importance of committees and the role they play in shaping policy. He explains the responsibility of different committees for nuclear forces and the challenges of advocating for the nuclear arsenal as well as the debate between defense spending and other budget priorities.Chris Stewart served Utah in Congress for over a decade and became a senior member on both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Appropriations Committee. He is a multiple New York Times best-selling and national award-winning author, world-record-setting Air Force pilot, and the former owner and CEO of a small business.Chris is one of ten children and grew up on a dairy farm in Cache Valley. He graduated from Utah State University, where he earned his degree in economics. Upon graduation, Chris joined the United States Air Force where he was the Distinguished Graduate (top of his class) in both Officer Training School and Undergraduate Pilot Training. He served for fourteen years as a pilot in the Air Force, flying both rescue helicopters and the B-1B bomber. He holds three world speed records, including the world's record for the fastest non-stop flight around the world.Socials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

Jordan Harris is a South Philadelphia native and a living embodiment of dedication and tenacity. That dedication to people, civics and service is what has landed him the role of State Representative since 2012 and Majority Chair of the Appropriations Committee since 2022, overseeing the states $44B budget. On Wednesday, November 15th, TRPE had the pleasure of being Jordan's guest at Pennsylvania's capitol city of Harrisburg to get a first hand look at how government works and experience its inner workings. This day cultivated with an in-depth interview discussing his upbringing in Philadelphia, his life in politics, his historic Clean Slate Act, and landing on the Philly Mag “150 Most Influential People” in Philadelphia list. This is absolutely some of our finest work to date. Thank you to Jordan's entire team for taking immaculate care of us during our visit.  Check out this interview out on video at noon: https://youtu.be/u3mjELvCYoI  For the first time ever we are offering FREE 7 DAY TRIALS OF OUR PATREON!!! Click the link https://patreon.com/officialtrpe to sign up now. For those of your ready to make the big leap… 15% discount applied to all yearly subscriptions at checkout‼️ Stop

Jordan Harris is a South Philadelphia native and a living embodiment of dedication and tenacity. That dedication to people, civics and service is what has landed him the role of State Representative since 2012 and Majority Chair of the Appropriations Committee since 2022, overseeing the states $44B budget. On Wednesday, November 15th, TRPE had the pleasure of being Jordan's guest at Pennsylvania's capitol city of Harrisburg to get a first hand look at how government works and experience its inner workings. This day cultivated with an in-depth interview discussing his upbringing in Philadelphia, his life in politics, his historic Clean Slate Act, and landing on the Philly Mag “150 Most Influential People” in Philadelphia list. This is absolutely some of our finest work to date. Thank you to Jordan's entire team for taking immaculate care of us during our visit.  Check out this interview out on video at noon: https://youtu.be/u3mjELvCYoI  For the first time ever we are offering FREE 7 DAY TRIALS OF OUR PATREON!!! Click the link https://patreon.com/officialtrpe to sign up now. For those of your ready to make the big leap… 15% discount applied to all yearly subscriptions at checkout‼️ Stop

Rep. Andy Harris, of Maryland, is one of the 12 Cardinals on the Appropriations Committee, so he has extensive knowledge and influence when it comes to the Appropriations process, continuing resolutions, and funding the government. Originally, the “laddered CR” was his brainchild because he felt that it would avoid a Christmas omnibus and incentivize the Senate to pass individual bills or smaller groups of bills. His statement after the news that Speaker Johnson adopted this approach is below. He voted against the last CR put forward by McCarthy because he felt it would lead to an omnibus. He is also a Freedom Caucus member. He will vote in favor of this CR because he believes it marks a change to the way Washington does business and will set the Appropriations process back on the right track. He is also the only Republican in Congress representing Maryland.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's episode we hear a rebroadcast of the 2023 UMBC Constitution Day Lecture, sponsored by UMBC's Center for Social Science Scholarship and the Department of Political Science. The lecture, which took place in September of 2023, was given by keynote speaker Delegate Mark S. Chang. Delegate Chang has represented the 32nd District in the Maryland House of Delegates (Anne Arundel County) since 2015, and also serves as the Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee, among a variety of other vital committee positions in our state legislature. Delegate Chang received a B.A. in Psychology from UMBC in 1999, making him a proud UMBC social science alumnus! See the link below for more information about Delegate Chang. Delegate Chang's official website Stay tuned for a special Campus Connection featuring our new Production Assistant, Jean Kim, who details her experience interning in the Maryland General Assembly through the UMBC MGA Internship Program! Check out the following links for more information on UMBC, CS3, and our host: The UMBC Center for the Social Sciences Scholarship The University of Maryland, Baltimore County Ian G. Anson, Ph.D. Retrieving the Social Sciences is a production of the UMBC Center for Social Science Scholarship.  Our podcast host is Dr. Ian Anson, our director is Dr. Christine Mallinson, and our associate director is Dr. Felipe Filomeno. Our theme music was composed and recorded by D'Juan Moreland.  Special thanks to Amy Barnes and Myriam Ralston for production assistance.  Make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, where you can find full video recordings of recent UMBC events.

There is one reason we are stuck in such a perilous situation with little leverage. For years, conservative media focused exclusively on Democrats while Republicans screwed us quietly. Today we have conservatives promoting frauds like Kristi Noem and Ric Grenell because we refuse to actually fight for our stated beliefs when it matters. Later on, we're joined by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), a Freedom Caucus member who sits on the Appropriations Committee, who has the only plan to shut down the prosecutions against Trump. He is proposing amendments to the Justice Department funding bill that will suspend all funding for prosecutions of any presidential candidate until the election is over. It is the best messaging and the only leverage point we have to stop this before it's too late. Why is there no focus on it from the people who are the loudest about decrying the targeting of Trump?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congresswoman Barbara Lee has been representing California's 12th District (formerly 13th) since 1998. She is the highest ranking African American woman appointed to Democratic Leadership, serving as Co-Chair of the Policy and Steering Committee. She also serves on the Budget Committee and the powerful Appropriations Committee, which oversees all federal government spending.

The battle for 2nd place in the Republican presidential campaign gets launched … with nobody winning. While the GOP's Wannabe Eight gathered in Milwaukee, the Defendant in Chief appeared in two new prime time specials, “Live at the Fulton County Booking” and “Conversations with a Fired Talk Show Host on a Failing Website." Representative Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Township) Also this week: the MAGA-inspired effort to recall a half-dozen state House members bogs down; and the UAW negotiations with the Big Three have major implications for the nation and Michigan's economy. We're joined this week by a state legislator at the center of two major issues: gun safety, and added protections for victims of sexual abuse. Representative Julie Brixie's district includes the MSU campus: site of a tragic mass shooting, and the starting point for the nightmare of Larry Nassar. Rep. Brixie has been active in community service for 25 years. With a Master's degree in crop and soil sciences with a specialization in environmental toxicology, Brixie began as a citizen activist on environmental issues in the township. In 1998, she was named to the Meridian Township Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commission.  A year later she was elected to the Meridian Township Board, where she served her community for 18 years – two terms as a Trustee and three terms as Treasurer. She is now in her third term in the state House, where she serves on the Appropriations Committee, chairing the subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development and Natural Resources.  

Rich Patenaude is a first generation American. Born of French-Canadian Immigrants in Northern New Hampshire, he was the only student in his class to get a perfect 800 score on his French SAT. Rich was elected a Representative to the New Hampshire State Legislature at the age of 24 with 70% of the vote. With his Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in Economics from Clark University, Rich was duly assigned to work on the Legislature's critical Appropriations Committee. New Hampshire boasts of having neither a sales tax nor an income tax. Thus, it has a need to be judicious with its financial resources. Rich is the founder of The Student Millionaire Global Community and the host of The Student Millionaire Podcast. He's also the author of The Student Millionaire. His experience includes The World Bank, CitiGroup Financial Services, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), American Politics Magazine, and the U.S. Department of State. He also worked on the Carter/Mondale Presidential Campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrat Barbara Lee has represented Oakland and the East Bay in Congress since 1998, and she's now running to replace U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is not seeking another term. Well known as the sole member of Congress to vote against giving the president unlimited war powers after 9/11, Lee is co-chair of the House Policy and Steering Committee and serves on the Budget Committee and the Appropriations Committee. As a member of the California state legislature, Lee drafted California's first Violence Against Women Act and the California Schools Hate Crimes Reduction Act. We'll talk to Lee about why she wants to represent California in the Senate and hear about her positions on the environment, the war in Ukraine, the economy and more. Guests: Barbara Lee, U.S. congressmember representing California's 13th district

In this week's episode of Breaking Battlegrounds, we are honored to welcome a lineup of exceptional guests, each bringing their unique perspectives on pressing issues that matter most to our nation.Our first guest needs no introduction, as he is a dear friend of the show and a prominent figure in the political landscape. Matt Lewis, the acclaimed columnist at The Daily Beast and the author of "Too Dumb to Fail: How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections (and How It Can Reclaim Its Conservative Roots)," graces our platform once again. Today, Matt joins us to share insights from his newly-released book, "Filthy Rich Politicians: The Swamp Creatures, Latte Liberals, and Ruling-Class Elites Cashing in on America." Next on our show is Congressman James Moylan, representing Guam. As Guam Liberation Day approaches on July 21, Congressman Moylan joins us to shed light on this historic event and its profound significance to the people of Guam. We explore the remarkable journey of resilience and freedom, honoring the spirit of those who have shaped Guam's vibrant history.Our final guest, California State Senator Shannon Grove, enters the conversation with an urgent and compelling topic. She discusses her crucial bill that aims to designate human trafficking as a serious and violent felony. Despite the importance of this legislation, California democrats voted it down. Tune in to learn more about this critical issue and the efforts to combat human trafficking in the Golden State.Subscribe now and stay informed on the latest developments, only on Breaking Battlegrounds!-Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegroundsCalled a “first-rate talent” in The Washington Post and “super-smart” by John Heilemann, Matt K. Lewis is a center-right critic of American politics and pop culture.As a journalist, Lewis has earned a reputation as an “independently minded” (Columbia Journalism Review) and “intellectually honest” commentator (Ben Adler, Newsweek). He is a senior columnist for The Daily Beast, and his work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, GQ, The Washington Post, The Week, Roll Call, Politico, The Telegraph, The Independent, and The Guardian. He previously served as senior contributor for The Daily Caller, and before that, as a columnist for AOL's Politics Daily.Lewis dissects the day's issues in conversation with other thinkers, authors, and newsmakers on his podcast Matt Lewis and the News, and co-hosts The DMZ Show with liberal pundit Bill Scher. He has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS NewsHour, ABC's “Nightline,” HBO's “Real Time with Bill Maher,” and CBS News' “Face The Nation,” and has contributed to radio outlets including NPR and the BBC.Kirsten Powers described Lewis's 2016 book, Too Dumb to Fail: How the GOP Went From the Party of Reagan to the Party of Trump, as “a lively and fascinating read for any person confounded by the state of today's Republican Party.” In 2011, Lewis released The Quotable Rogue: The Ideals of Sarah Palin in Her Own Words, an edited compilation of the Alaska governor's much-discussed public utterances.-Congressman James Moylan proudly serves as Guam's congressional delegate to the 118th United States Congress. As the first Republican to win the seat on Guam in nearly 30 years, Moylan's victory was historic. He is a strong and trustworthy leader who's focused on issues that affect Guamanians most. Moylan believes island residents have a right to know what's happening in their governing offices. Therefore, he has created an open door policy allowing constituents to have their concerns addressed. Moylan's history of service includes his time as a senator in the 35th and 36th Guam Legislature, a Veteran of the United States army and a parole officer at the Department of Corrections. Additionally, Moylan has more than two decades of experience working in the private sector, including healthcare, financial services, and insurance.In his current position, Moylan serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee.  Both Committees address issues that are vital to Guam.Additionally, Moylan is a native of Guam and is from the village of Tumon. He graduated from John F Kennedy High School and continued to the University of Guam where he obtained a  bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice.  Most of all, Moylan is a proud father to Abby and Krissy Moylan.-Senator Shannon Grove was born and raised in Kern County.After graduating from high school, Senator Grove served in the United States Army. While stationed in Frankfurt, Germany she witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.Following her service to our nation, she established a staffing company with her sister-in-law called Continental Labor and Staffing Resources. Senator Grove currently serves as the CEO.Prior to her election to the State Senate, Senator Grove was the first woman veteran elected to the California Legislature as she served the 34th Assembly District from 2010 to 2016.Senator Grove was elected to represent the 16th Senate District in November 2018, which includes portions of Kern, Tulare, and San Bernardino counties. In January 2019, she was elected Leader of the Senate Republican Caucus where she served in that capacity for two years. As the Republican Leader-Emeritus, Grove remains a committed representative working with legislators to advance policies that benefit the constituents, businesses, and communities within Senate District 16.Senator Grove is an advocate for small business, school choice, the developmentally disabled, farmers, and families. She currently lives in Kern County with her husband, Rick. They are the proud parents of five children and eight grandchildren.Transcription:Sam Stone: Welcome to another episode of Breaking Battlegrounds with your host, Sam Stone and Chuck Warren on the line with us right now. Fantastic new book out came out on the 18th. Matt Lewis. He is a friend of the program, columnist for The Daily Beast, author of Too Dumb to Fail How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections. Yeah, we are not too dumb to fail. That's been proven many, many times. And today he's joining us to discuss his new book, Filthy Rich Politicians The Swamp Creatures, Latte Liberals and Ruling Class Elites Cashing In on America. Matt, thank you for joining us and welcome to the show.Matt Lewis: Well, thanks for having me back.Chuck Warren: So what gave you the idea to write a book about this issue about filthy rich politicians?Matt Lewis: Well, to be honest, it was because I'm a capitalist. And I was I was actually approached by a book agent, believe it or not, who had this idea to rank the 100 richest politicians in America.Chuck Warren: Interesting.Matt Lewis: That was the original idea of the book. It was 100 chapters. Each chapter was just going to be on. Wow. The 100 richest politicians in just how they made their money. And that's how it started. And it evolved, I think, into a much deeper, more important topic, which includes, you know, the original idea, but but goes so much deeper into like, what it all means. And so it was one of those just the stars aligned and I think we ended up writing a great book.Sam Stone: We got the book a few days ago. I've gone through most of it, I admit, to skimming a few portions. Who is the richest politician in America?Matt Lewis: The richest politician in America is JB Pritzker, who's the governor of Illinois. He is an heir to the Hyatt fortune. There are 11 billionaires in his family and interestingly, when he was running for governor in Illinois, there were three billionaires running for the seat last year in 2022.Sam Stone: Well, amazing. You know what I love about Pritzker? I don't know if you've ever read the book Super Mob, but that family got its start with mob financing.Matt Lewis: Well, you know, it's like the Kennedys, you know, I mean, you go back far enough.Chuck Warren: I think we just call those hard money loans today.Matt Lewis: But in in Congress, it would be Rick Scott. Most people and by the way, it's impossible to know the actual net wealth of most politicians because the range have ways of hiding it. And it's reported in broad ranges. But it used to be Darrell Issa. Right now we believe it is Rick Scott, senator from Florida, who's the richest in Congress.Chuck Warren: Well, so why should this matter to the average voter? I mean, so, for example, you know, as a 2020, I believe about half the members of Congress had a median net worth of $1 million. Okay. And there's almost 22 million people in the United States that have that net worth now. Now, most of that's probably in their home, right. Something they've lived in 20, 30 years. And a couple other things.Sam Stone: I mean, half of California has, but it's.Chuck Warren: Still a lot of money. I mean, you know, a population of 350 million, 21, 21, 22 million people are worth $1 million. And, you know, and that seems like a lot of money. But we also realize that's a lot. And it's not in a lot of ways, right? I mean, you can't retire on that per se and just live on it. But why is this important for Americans and why should they demand some reforms on this?Matt Lewis: Well, so the book is about two things. It's about how the rich get elected and how the elected get rich. And I think both things are important. So right now, the average member of Congress is about 12 times richer than the median American household. And so I think you know, look, I don't begrudge rich people from, you know, for running for office. And in fact, there's some ways that I even admire that. But I do think it's it seems likely to me that when and by the way, I should say that this this phenomenon where the average member of Congress is 12 times richer than the rest of us is kind of new. It's been going on for about three decades now. The gap has dramatically widened. And it just stands to reason, to me that when our elected officials are that much richer than the rest of us, there would be some sort of a disconnect or just a worldview difference in terms of connecting with working class Americans. But that doesn't bother me near as much as the second half of the story, which is the fact that once people get elected, they tend to get richer. And I think that is much more corrosive and damaging than just having rich politicians.Chuck Warren: Well, it's true, though. If you have a certain amount of wealth, you have different concerns than somebody who's making 15, $20 an hour. I mean, that's fair, right? And so how can you really relate if you're all full of people who are highly successful financially?Matt Lewis: Totally. I mean, you know, because of, you know, I'm from a very kind of middle class, working class background. My dad was a prison guard in Hagerstown, Maryland, for 30 years. And that's kind of how I grew up. And I live in West Virginia. I went to a little a little college in West Virginia, but I've been blessed to get to, you know, also know some, you know, folks in journalism who come from maybe more privileged backgrounds than me. And there are some of the nicest, kindest, best people. But I'm telling you, they see they see the world differently than I do. And who could blame them? I mean, they've come from wealth, right? They grew up. And I just think we're all formed by our experience. And and it's impossible not to be at some level.Chuck Warren: Absolutely. We're with Matt Lewis. He is a columnist for The Daily Beast. He has come out with a new book that was released this Tuesday. You can get it at at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble wherever you find your books. Filthy rich politicians, the Swamp Creatures, latte liberals and ruling class elites cashed in on America came out this Tuesday, July 18th. All right. So I want to ask a couple of questions, because your book covers many topics, but who are some of the politicians that we have that are married into money or inherited great wealth?Matt Lewis: So you're the first person to ask me this question. I have a whole chapter or a whole section on this. So thank you. Because this is so I ranked well Business Insider ranked the they have a ranking of the 100 richest politicians in America. And so when the appendix of my book I took the richest 25 and then I personally did kind of a deep dive into them how they made their money. And of the richest 25 members of Congress, more than half, 13 of them made their money through inheritance or marriage the.Sam Stone: Really old fashioned way.Matt Lewis: Yes. And I'll give you a few examples. Richard Blumenthal, his father in law, and by the way, it's usually fathers in law for what that's worth. Interesting.Chuck Warren: Interesting.Matt Lewis: Yeah. Richard Blumenthal's father in law is Peter Malkin, who basically owned the Empire State Building. In fact, he was involved in a in a fight with Donald Trump at some point over control of that.Sam Stone: There was a long time when he was the developer in New York, the real estate guy. Yeah.Matt Lewis: Indeed. There's a Texas congressman named Michael McCaul. His father in law runs Clear Channel Communications.Chuck Warren: Oh, wow.Matt Lewis: Rokana, who's a congressman out of California who's starting to really make a name for himself. His father in law owns a trans max or started trans max and also runs Mara Holdings. Wow. And Mitch McConnell, a lot of people were like, how did Mitch McConnell all of a sudden get all this money? And there are like conspiracy theories about.Chuck Warren: That cocaine.Matt Lewis: Mitch And and and by the way, who knows, right? I mean, maybe there's some secret, But but basically what happened is that, you know, Mitch McConnell is married to Elaine Chao and her mom. When her mom died, you know, she inherited a ton of money. And how much how.Chuck Warren: Much she did inherit, how much did she inherit?Matt Lewis: Oh, we're talking you definitely were talking tens of millions of dollars. Yeah. I mean, he became incredibly wealthy overnight and it looks super suspicious, but it's a matter of public record directly correlates to when her you know, it's money from her her father but but she inherited it when when the mother died.Sam Stone: Andy Biggs is a $10 Billion publisher clearinghouse sweepstakes win is starting to look more and more legitimate.Chuck Warren: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You know.Matt Lewis: You know, what's you know, what's interesting is, is Kevin McCarthy, the current speaker of the House, won the lottery.Chuck Warren: Oh, really? I thought he did the sandwich shops. Did he really?Matt Lewis: Well, what happened is when he was very young, he won $5,000 in the lottery and he used that money to buy like a deli. And that is what led him to Congress. So.Chuck Warren: Oh, that's fascinating. Yeah, but see, that's that's a little more of a that's more of an all-American story. I got $5,000.Sam Stone: Yeah, that's a great story. Yeah.Chuck Warren: Yeah, it is a great story. It's sort of like, um. Oh, what's it what's that movie? Will Ferrell, where he gets sent to prison for insider trading and he's talking to us. He's talking to his father in law and said, I started this business all of myself with this computer and a $9 million loan from my father. And, you know, there's a lot of people like that. Um, so next to insider trading and I want to get into that probably the next segment. How do certain members benefit their family members, either via their connections or congressional campaigns? That happens a lot more than people think. And it always seems like a surprise to people that some kids on the payroll and we've got two minutes here, but can you give a couple of examples how that's happening?Matt Lewis: Totally. I'll give you it's a by the way, it's a bipartisan book. Um, both pretty much everyone's equally guilty of this. And so we'll start with Ilhan Omar, you know, a member of the squad on the left. She has directed millions of dollars, millions of campaign dollars to her husband's consulting firm. Likewise, Bernie Sanders, who, by the way, he became a millionaire from a book deal, but his wife, Jane, he has paid a lot of money to her over the years, including hiring her to be his media ad buyer when she had zero experience doing that. So she's basically getting a cut or a percentage of the money his campaign spends buying TV advertisements.Chuck Warren: Does she do that during the presidential, too?Matt Lewis: That is a good question. I think most of this happened in the his congressional races, like in Vermont senatorial races. But, you know, we're talking about a lot of money. And this one.Sam Stone: There's a lot of money when there's no risk, because he was never in doubt for any of those re-elections. Right. I mean, that's really kind of a.Matt Lewis: And Bernie. Bernie didn't just pay Jane. I mean, he paid her like her children, too. Which brings me to Ron Paul, a Republican who has employed six. In 2012, when he was running for president, he employed six family members, but he was a piker. He paid them a grand total of $300,000. So, you know.Chuck Warren: That's that's that's literally not surprising, though, right?Sam Stone: That that's chintzy, cheap. He's hosing his family.Chuck Warren: Do you think that do you think Congress should crack down on this and just not allow you in campaigns to hire family members?Sam Stone: We got 30s. We're going to. Okay. Going to head to break here in just a moment.Chuck Warren: We're with Matt Lewis. He is the author of a great new book came out this week, Filthy Rich Politicians The Swamp Creatures, Latte Liberals and Ruling Class Elites Cashing In on America. You can find this at Amazon, Barnes and Noble. Wherever you get your book, go buy it. This is a very important. We're going to come back and talk to Matt a little bit about what reforms he thinks need to be done so we can clean this up. This is Chuck and Sam breaking battlegrounds. You can find us at breaking battlegrounds vote. We'll be right back.Advertisement: At Overstock. We know home is a pretty important place and that's why we believe everyone deserves a home that makes them happy. Whether you're furnishing a new house or apartment or simply looking to update and refresh a few rooms, Overstock has every day free shipping and amazing deals on the beautiful, high quality furniture and decor. You need to transform any home into the home of your dreams. Overstock Making dream Homes Come True.Sam Stone: Welcome back to Breaking battlegrounds with your host, Chuck Warrem. I'm Sam Stone. We're continuing on here in just a moment with Matt Lewis, columnist of The Daily Beast, author of Too Dumb to Fail, and his newest book, Filthy Rich Politicians. We're talking about that one today. But folks, if you're looking to get filthy rich, maybe you should give our call. Our friends at Invest Y refy a call, go to their website, invest y refy.com that's invest the letter Y, then refy.com and learn how you can earn up to a 10.25% fixed rate of return on your money. That's right. 10.25% Phenomenal rate of return not correlated to the stock market. The stock market goes up. The stock market goes down, your investment continues, racking up the great interest and great returns for you. So give them give our friends there a call. You can do that at 888 y refy 24 and tell them Chuck and Sam sent you Matt.Chuck Warren: All right. So, so much to cover in your book, but tell us what are reforms of your king for the day? And they said, Matt, you make these changes and we start building a little trust back up in Congress again. What would you do?Matt Lewis: Okay. So the first couple we've talked about, I would the most important is to ban individual stock trading for members of Congress and their family. That is by far the most important thing we can do, because.Chuck Warren: Certainly I want to make one appearance.Matt Lewis: Of insider.Chuck Warren: Trading. Right. I don't want to hurt you, but you made a good point. I listened to on a fellow podcast, which you made this point. It's not even so much about them increasing their wealth. Sometimes it's that they prevent the loss of wealth. So let's use, for example, Senator Barr in North Carolina as an example, if you can share that with our audience.Matt Lewis: Yeah, this is really corrosive. So Senator Senator Richard Burr, he just retired, but he was chairman of the Intel Committee. So like in that capacity, you know, he had access to all sorts of of kind of classified briefings, classified information. And you might remember back in early 2020, like before most Americans realized how damaging Covid 19 was going to be like in terms of shutting down businesses and the economy. Um, Richard Burr dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock in things like Wyndham Hotels, the kinds of things that would be damaged in a global pandemic shutdown. But making matters even worse. Then he picks up the phone and calls his brother in law and within one minute of hanging up with Richard Burr, his brother in law calls his broker and dumps his stock. And so that is the thing. It's it's not just that politicians are able to make money by virtue of what certainly looks like insider trading, but it's it avoids the downfall. And certainly during times of change and crisis, that's when they can really use information to dump stock and avoid like a major catastrophic loss.Sam Stone: Well, and that has the the so as someone who does trade stock issues, the other side of that is if you dump at the start of something like that on an industry like hotels, like airlines, all of that, you're going to get that going two ways. You're going to avoid the loss and then you're going to be able to buy back in at a low point and you're going to know when that low point is hit.Matt Lewis: Absolutely. And and again, think of it. I mean, the average American at this point doesn't know how bad Covid 19 is going to be. We're being told it'll disappear. It'll be, you know, like a miracle. It'll disappear or, you know, two weeks to slow the spread or whatever.Sam Stone: This is when you had De Blasio telling folks, go out in the streets and celebrate the Chinese New Year. Right. I mean, it's literally coinciding with that moment.Matt Lewis: And so that's a classic example, right? Our politicians are telling the public, don't worry, everything's fine. And yet what are they doing? What are they doing with their money? And so I think that is super corrosive. And that's by far, I would say, the most important reform in the book.Chuck Warren: Let me ask you this. I'm a follow up two questions real quick. How many members have siblings or family members that are in the brokerage business or selling and trading stocks? Do you know that you were you able to find that out?Matt Lewis: I it's in the book. I don't recall offhand. Okay. I do know it is in the book. And I will I will say this. I mean, in 20 so in 2012, up until 2012, it wasn't even illegal to engage in insider trading in Congress. It's only been the last decade when that was illegal. Now the problem is policing. And I can tell you that the law it's called the Stock Act that made it illegal has has done very little to alleviate. The problem.Chuck Warren: There's always a loophole, right? There's always some loophole they'll find. All right, what else would you do? What else would you reform?Matt Lewis: Well, we've talked about family. I would I would ban the practice of hiring family for campaigns or official congressional offices. If you want to volunteer on a campaign, by all means. I just. We just wouldn't pay you. I would have a ten year moratorium on lobbying so that after serving in Congress, you can't go out and just start lobbying your former colleagues immediately. You would have a ten year basically ban on that. Some people like Ted Cruz and AOC want a lifetime ban. I don't even know if that would be constitutional right now. It's, I think, two years in the Senate, one year in the House. But like you said, Chuck, I mean, there are ways around it. There's this thing called the Daschle loophole where politicians immediately start lobbying. They just don't register as lobbyists.Chuck Warren: They're consultants. They're consultants.Matt Lewis: Yes. They're yeah, exactly.Chuck Warren: You know, and you know what? You see this a lot, too. I mean, take Congress out of the equation. You see this a lot in legislatures. Legislatures. You know, you see people who couldn't rub two nickels together for their elected to the legislature, which doesn't take as much money. And now they're lobbying and making six high, six digits a year.Sam Stone: Watch every governor's staff, if they've just won their second term, they get into year five. Right. And that whole staff disappears into the lobbying land and they're all rich by year eight.Chuck Warren: Is that something that you think we should push also on the state level? And hopefully, you know, I find out a lot of times if states start pushing something, various states, then it goes to the national level is that's something that people should be pushing their state legislatures to pass?Matt Lewis: I would say definitely I would I would strongly encourage that. And, you know, sometimes states can be the laboratories of democracy. And if these reforms can begin there, that would be very healthy.Chuck Warren: What else? Okay. Lobbying, banning stock, hiring kids and family on campaigns. Those are three great things. What else could be done?Matt Lewis: One of them this is one that is not sexy, but it's book deals, believe it or not. You know, Bernie Sanders, who's a socialist, was asked, how did you become a millionaire? And he said, and I'm paraphrasing, but this is pretty close to the real quote. He said, I wrote a best selling book. If you write a best selling book, you could be a millionaire, too. But but the book deals are really I mean, people are using their their perch, their position to become millionaires. But the worst part of it is the bulk orders, right? So you write a book, but instead of real people buying the book, it's like the National Republican Senatorial Committee buys like 50,000 copies of it. And some of that money very well could trickle back into your pocket. Well, for example.Chuck Warren: For example, Bernie Sanders, I just looked it up, made $170,000 in book royalties in 2022, which almost matches his $174,000 congressional salary.Matt Lewis: There you go. There you go. And I don't think you wrote a book in 2022. No, he's still making royalties.Sam Stone: Well, and you know, the quality of most of these books, you know, they're ghost written or co-written, and most of them are just garbage. And you see these huge payouts, you know, it's not for their incredible insight in that in that no tome.Matt Lewis: Totally. Yeah. These are not this is not Hemingway you know.Chuck Warren: Well with Matt Lewis good friend of the show, daily columnist at The Daily Beast. He has come out with a new book. You can buy It now, Filthy Rich Politicians, the Swamp Creatures, Latte, Liberals and Ruling Class Elites. When we come back, we're going to talk about the latte liberals and what Matt dug in about that. I'm going to.Sam Stone: Bring up Joe Biden also. You can do.Chuck Warren: That as well. That's right. This is breaking battlegrounds. Find us are breaking battlegrounds vote. We'll be right back.Sam Stone: Welcome back to Breaking battlegrounds with your host, Chuck Warren. I'm Sam Stone, continuing on right now with Matt Lewis, friend of the program, columnist for The Daily Beast and author of the new book Filthy Rich Politicians, Swamp Creatures, Latte Liberals and Ruling Class Elites Cashing In on America, available right now at Amazon or your favorite bookseller? Matt As I read it, I did get to the section on the Bidens. And two things I think stand out is, one, they're cashing in less than most of of a lot of these other political families are. But two quite frankly, Matt, the stupidity of their schemes with Hunter Biden and all this stuff when there are so many ways that they could I don't want to say legitimately, but at least entirely legally make huge amounts of money. Did nobody in that family take notes from the Clinton Global Initiative?Matt Lewis: Well, I think if you've seen the pictures of Hunter Biden recently, you know that at least some members of his family are not operating based on reason and logic. Um, Joe Biden kind of has, it seems like I mean, who knows? I mean, I don't know if he's, quote, the big guy who's getting a cut from the Burisma money or whatever, from Hunter. But Joe, according to his actual, you know, disclosure reports, really wasn't all that wealthy compared to most of these politicians until he left the vice presidency. And then he had about three years where he really cashed in. He made about $15 million off of, you know, the usual boring stuff, speeches, book deals, being a adjunct professor, that kind of thing. But the one thing that is clear is that Biden has a long history of his family cashing in on on his name. And it's not just Hunter, it's James and Frank, I think it is, who've been doing this. And, you know, I found that way back in 1988, the first time Biden ran for president. He raised about $11 million. There's a lot of money. In 1988, he raised $11 million, and 20% of that money went to the Biden family or companies that employed the Biden family. So this thing of him spreading the money around to his family has been going on for 25 or 30, I guess 35 years something.Chuck Warren: Yeah. So in 1988, if you go and say, what's the dollar value, then that's worth about 5.1 million today. Yeah, I mean, it's real money. Sam, what are your what's your family doing for you?Sam Stone: I I've got to run for something more significant than city council is what you're saying. Chuck Yeah.Chuck Warren: Matt Let me ask you a question and Sam Biden Biden stuff, but I want to ask you a question. I, I heard you on an interview and I thought this was really interesting. And folks, Matt has just a wonderful wife. And the thing I love about Erin is she is so dang blunt. And you were talking to her about maybe on a walk running for Congress. Would you tell I want to understand really how hard this is to do, first of all, and why there is a certain wealth factor involved with it. I don't think they quite understand. You know, I have a congressional candidate friend who's running right now. He's put 300 grand on his race and just he just said it doesn't seem like it's enough. And that's what I have. That's what it is. Right. Would you explain your conversation and why this is so hard and why we are getting a certain amount of people in office?Matt Lewis: Totally. And this was eye opening for me as someone who's been, you know, in politics for decades, even for me, I had to kind of grapple with this realization. So but so my wife, as you know, Chuck, my wife is a Republican political fundraiser. And while I was writing this book, you know, we went out for a walk and we were talking and I was you know, I live in West Virginia and my congressman is running for Senate against Joe Manchin. And so we were walking. I said, you know, if things were a little different, maybe I someday I could run for Congress. And she's like, oh, you don't have enough money. And I said like, well, what are you talking about? Like, number one, I've been in you know, I know a lot of people. I've been in journalism for a couple of decades and I've got a good network and I'm like, number two, I'm married to a professional Republican fundraiser. Surely I could run for Congress in West Virginia. And she was like, Well, let me put it to you this way. If I didn't know you and you approached me and you wanted to hire me, I would say, come back to me. When you've either donated $300,000 or raise $300,000 from your personal Christmas card list, and then and only then would I introduce you to political action committees and high dollar donors. And that's when it hit me that even I who wrote on the Straight Talk Express with John McCain could not win a congressional seat in West Virginia because I'm not rich enough.Chuck Warren: Well, you need better friends. Yeah.Sam Stone: Yeah. Chuck and I are not going to be able to help you that much there. Matt Lewis, we want to thank you again for joining us. We have just about 30s before we end the segment here, we really appreciate having you on. How do folks stay in touch with all of your work?Matt Lewis: Oh, awesome. Well, first, get filthy rich politicians. Follow me on Twitter at Matt K Lewis and check me out at The Daily Beast.Sam Stone: Perfect. Thank you so much. Once again, Matt, we always love having you on the program. Looking forward to the next round breaking battlegrounds. Back in just a moment.Advertisement: At Overstock. We know home is a pretty important place and that's why we believe everyone deserves a home that makes them happy. Whether you're furnishing a new house or apartment or simply looking to update and refresh a few rooms. Overstock has every day free shipping and amazing deals on the beautiful high quality furniture and decor. You need to transform any home into the home of your dreams. Overstock Making Dream homes Come True.Sam Stone: Welcome back to Breaking Battlegrounds with your host, Sam Stone in studio with me today. Kiley Kipper dragged reluctantly onto the mic once again back.Kiley Kipper: By popular demand. I'm just.Sam Stone: Kidding. People love you, Kiley. They are always happy to talk to you. And you know what else makes people happy? Earning a really high rate of return on their investments. That makes almost everybody I know happy. And folks, if you haven't checked out our friends at Invest Refy.com, you need to do that right now. Go to invest the letter Y then refy.com you can earn up to a 10.25% fixed rate of return. The market goes up, the market goes down, your rate of return stays the same. It is a tremendous opportunity and we highly encourage you to check it out. So again, go on their website, invest y refy.com or give them a call at 888 y refy 24 and tell them Chuck and Sam sent you. Now, our next segment up, we have a returning guest, someone we really enjoyed having on the program last time, Congressman James Moylan of Guam. And we have something actually this is coming out on Saturday, the 22nd. We record on the 21st. And folks, the 21st is a very special day. July 21st is a special day in Guam. Congressman, tell us what's going on.Congressman James Moylan: Sure. I'll be happy to. Hi there, Sam. And hi, Kiley. And we as we greet folks from Guam, we say half a day. So half a day to you both.Sam Stone: And half a day to you as well, sir.Congressman James Moylan: Thank you. So we I was just on the floor today and gave a five minute speech for Congressional Record announcing the celebration of Guam's 79th Liberation Day 79 years ago. Guam was liberated and from during World War two. We also had a ceremony at the war. Let me see. World War II Memorial on July. July 13th here, where we had a wreath laying presentation on the monument at the War Memorial with Guam on it. This is a tradition that has been long ongoing for for quite some time. And we've joined in with our Guam Society of America, the oldest tomorrow group in the nation. We have so many different tomorrow groups throughout the nation, but this is the first and the oldest. We also had other members of Congress that were present. We had the undersecretary of the United States Air Force, Christine Christine Jones, and we also had the commandant of the United States Marine Corps, General Eric Smith, also do a presentation. So what's really happening is to remember this day for celebration. 79 years ago, on July 21st, 19, 1944, Guam, after two years of occupation by the Japanese Imperial Army military, the United States service members landed on our south west part of Guam, to liberate over 20,000 tomorrows and Americans from the occupation of Guam.Congressman James Moylan: The actual the war in World War II were not. Many people know that Guam was actually occupied by the Japanese soldiers, and that day came as an invasion on December 8th of 1941. This is a special day for Guam because we were celebrating the feast of Santa Maria Kamalen, and that's Guam's patron saint. And after people were coming out of church, the sounds of bombs were just dropping and planes flying overhead. And and it drowned out what was a peaceful neighborhood and a great celebration of of of our services there. And that's what started the occupation on Guam. So we're very thankful 79 years later for the liberation Day of Guam, when the Marines came on back on July 21st, 1944. So that's our celebration. And we we're very patriotic and we're we're rededicating ourselves to chorus. And Guam is even even just as important then as it is even more so now with the Indopacom situation and the Communist Chinese party threat for national security and our sister nations out there who are supporting us as well, with the U.S taking the.Sam Stone: Lead that has I mean, that is something that I think is so almost incomprehensible, Congressman, to any American right to you're stepping out of out of a services or a celebration in your country is being bombed around you. And there have to be people there who who lived through that experience, who still have that direct memory. Yes. And that has.Congressman James Moylan: In fact.Sam Stone: Never leave you.Congressman James Moylan: Right. And many of war survivors still tell the stories. And we did have a war survivor here for a celebration here in Washington, DC at the Pacific Memorial. So but my mother was also one. So my mother had told me this story and she was 12 years old at the time. She was coming out of the cathedral with her grandfather. And she she explained the story in this way, that as they were exiting and they see the Japanese zeros flying over and the bombs were coming on down and she's yelling at her grandfather, too, Grandpa, we got to go. We got to go. Let's run, run, run. As an older man, he said, No, just leave me here. And she started she had to pull him so they can run, run for protection and run and hide and get back home to their family. So them with my mother's explanation. And and by the way, my father was in Pearl Harbor at the time of the bombing in Pearl Harbor, too. So every everybody's generations and generations, families have been affected. And the war stories continue to the brutality that was taken against forced labor, forced marches, beheadings, stabbings, grenades and and caves where where locals were were killed and massacred. And it was it was tremendous loss of innocent lives. But that's why we celebrate the. With the Liberation Day coming out, with the Marines, coming out back with US soldiers, with the United States Navy there to re reclaim Guam and give us our freedom back.Congressman James Moylan: And my mother was part of that as well. There was what they called the Bennington Force march, where the Japanese troops used the local residents as a shield, As the Americans were coming onto the shore and coming inland, the Japanese were marching that direction, but using the local folks as a barrier. But of course, you know, the US is not going to kill innocent citizens. And my mom would explain to me as she's climbing up the hills in Menningen when they see the star on on the army, I believe it was an army tank or an army jeep. Then the soldiers would call them over and tell them to keep quiet, keep quiet, just come this way, come this way. And they felt so, so relieved to see the US, see Americans, see the military there. And it was a joyful celebration. And that's why this this has continued in celebrating and remembering in memory of this throughout the nation. We have Guam societies that we have calendars of events for just about every state where there's Guam residents. And they establish their organization and they celebrate to to remember those that have died, that have sacrificed. And if there are survivors to celebrate their lives as well for what we consider the greatest generation.Sam Stone: Congressman, one of the things I think people know from, you know, books and movies like Unbroken a little bit, some of the experience that, for instance, American POWs went through. But I don't think they know enough about what the people of the occupied islands of the Pacific, including Guam, went through. You were just, you know, referencing some of it right there. But that occupation was just absolutely brutal in every regard and with with really little consideration for the humanity of the people of Guam or any of the other islands of the Pacific.Congressman James Moylan: Very true. And and not all were able to talk about it some more. Chose to to forget my my mother's father was imprisoned in Japanese in Japan as well. And then when he came back to the to Guam after the war was over, he died shortly thereafter just from lack of lack of nutrition. So it was very it was it was brutal. And and the rules of war and Geneva Convention, there was there's nothing like that. The forced labor that was placed upon the people, the beheading of of local folks and the fights that went on and and what they had to endure. And you had to bow also to the imperial Japanese Army. And if you didn't, you're whipped and beaten. It was it was a sad day for those almost two and a half years of occupation. And that's why when the Americans came back, it was a great celebration. And since that time, of course, we've grown and we had we're considered per capita, the highest enlistment in the nation, where people joining the military, because of our commitment and the happiness and the joy that the United States came back to claim that U.S territory, which was the U.S territory at the time.Sam Stone: So there are few, few populations on the planet that love America and the ideals of America like the people of Guam.Congressman James Moylan: Yes. And I'm happy to represent as the delegate here. And there's a couple of committees that we were able to get ourselves on. And one is the House Armed Services Committee, which I play a great role in the readiness and also the personnel part. And I focus on on Guam and the Northern Marianas and and the Indopacom region. So we've had also we're able to have within the first quarter, a congressional delegation come through Guam. Second quarter, we just had another one, the House committee, House Armed Services Committee, to include the chairman and several other members of the House to come on up over an experience of what Guam is and what the role was and what it is now for the Indopacom region to defend against communist Chinese threat. And then we're going to have another one through the Natural Resources Committee, Department of Interior Affairs, which I'm a part of also, and the subcommittee specifically regarding our nation's Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Marshall Islands as well. All these nations joining in so we can protect freedom and democracy. Right. And we are against the Communist Chinese party. So I'm very fortunate to represent Guam in these two committees that have a great impact in the Indopacom region. And we're I believe the United States will be here for a long, long time to ensure that the Chinese threat is is deterred by our show of strength with all our other countries that are involved with our democracy.Sam Stone: And people folks out there may not realize that as a territory. Guam, obviously, we're talking to their congressman member right now. Congressman, you don't have a vote on the House floor, but you do have a vote on committee. And I think most people don't recognize that what happens on the House floor is often kind of a dog and pony show, that the actual sausage gets made in those committees that dictates what's actually going to be voted on and how those bills, you know, interact with with the intent of the authors.Congressman James Moylan: Exactly. And we just were discussing the National Defense Authorization Act, the NDAA, which is the one of the biggest budget for the defense of the nation, and so much billions of dollars going into the Indo-Pacific region. Our influence there, we were able to double what we received last last fiscal year for for the island defense. So that's a great influence there. So in committee, yes, we do this and pardon me.Sam Stone: Sorry, we had a little technical glitch right there. Apologize for that. Let's just keep going here. I want to switch up topics just a little bit. We have only two minutes left. Are there any traditional celebrations, the traditional foods like here, obviously July 4th, Independence Day, it's hot dogs, hamburgers, fireworks. Are there celebratory traditions around Guam's Independence Day, their liberation day?Congressman James Moylan: Yes. Unfortunately, this year we didn't have it because we were hit with Super Typhoon Marwar. So we're still recovering from that. However, we'll we get back to our traditions. We usually have a parade with all the branches of the military, all our department agencies and a lot of villages are also represented with floats. It's it's it's a beautiful parade that goes down what's known as Marine Corps Drive. That's our main road on Guam. In addition, people overnight on the sides of the roads and they picnic because it's right next to the beach and they barbecue. We love our fiesta. We call it Fiesta food. We have what's called red rice barbecue chicken, barbecue ribs. And our marinade is delicious. We have a sauce called Vinodhini, which is our hot sauce. And we have something special called Chicken Kelaguen that everybody loves. So.Sam Stone: Congressman, I think we I think we need to check the weather and make some plans for next year to come. There.Congressman James Moylan: There you go. You're more than welcome and you're invited. Please come on down. It's going to be the 80th. And that's where you should have your show coming out of. That'd be great.Sam Stone: I think that sounds like an absolutely fantastic plan. Congressman James Moylan of Guam, thank you so much for joining us once again. We really appreciate having you on the program, folks. Stay tuned for our podcast only segment. You're not going to want to miss this one. Breaking battlegrounds. Back in just a moment.Speaker1: The 2022 political field was intense, so don't get left behind in 2024. If you're running for political office, the first thing on your to do list needs to be securing your name on the web with a your name Web domain from GoDaddy.com. Get yours now.Sam Stone: Welcome to the podcast. Only segment of breaking battlegrounds. In studio with me today the irrepressible haven't broken that out in a while the irrepressible Kiley Kipper. She remains irrepressible folks. She is our producer. She does a fantastic job. We've got Jeremy in the booth, as always, doing a beautiful job on all our audio and on the line. Now, I saw this come out a little while ago and it kind of blew me away. We have Senator Shannon Grove from California's 12th Senate District. Senator Grove has served in the US Army and had the amazing. It had to be amazing. Senator, the experience in Frankfurt, Germany, of watching the fall of the Berlin Wall. She's an advocate for small business school choice, the developmentally disabled farmers and families, and we're having her on today to discuss her proposed amendment to Assembly Bill 2167. Senator, thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate having you on the program. Tell us what this amendment was. First, I think this is news that was so much going on in the country, escaped a lot of people, but it really blew me away when I heard about your bill. I'm shocked California didn't have something like this already on the books and then shocked and disheartened at the Democrats response to it.Senator Shannon Grove: No.Senator Shannon Grove: And I appreciate you guys covering this subject matter. I really do. And thank you for having me on. Sb 14 was a simple solution that would just allow us individuals who sell children for sex, sex trafficking, minor children, 0 to 17in age group. It would make it a serious felony in the state of California right now, there's two subsections that deal with this subject matter. And selling a child for sex does not automatically make it a serious felony unless there's coercion, torture, violence, you know, all these different things that go along with it, then it can be considered serious. But I want the actual act of selling the child to be a serious felony.Sam Stone: And it shocks I mean, honestly, it we're sitting here in Arizona, obviously, we've had Republican leadership for a long time. So it's a very different environment. Obviously, every state is different. But this should be a no brainer, right? I mean, so much of the problem and we've dealt with the issue of sex trafficking and child sex trafficking here quite a bit. Obviously, with the border. Arizona is also another hub of that activity, just like California is, unfortunately. But a lot of times it's very difficult to prove those if you can prove any element of it at all. It's really difficult to prove those other elements. This has got to be just hamstringing prosecutors, this current law.Senator Shannon Grove: It really is hamstringing prosecutors. And that's why we work together with our district attorneys, including all the statewide district attorneys, with the exception of 3 or 4. But specifically Nancy O'Malley, the former district attorney of Alameda County, who established the heat unit, the human trafficking exploitation unit. And what happened is, is that that was the first unit set up like that in the nation that was victim centered. She's prosecuted over 850 cases of human trafficking. And one of the big issues that she has is that you can't convict these individuals because this particular bill, SB 14, the language is not on the books. When we first introduced the language, we wanted to make sure everybody was encompassed, that everybody in sex trafficking, labor trafficking were all included. But to get it out of the Senate, we had to narrow it to minors only. So we moved the football a little bit. We got a unanimous vote in the Senate. 40 senators in the state of California, all 40 voted I no abstentions and no no's. Fast forward to the Assembly Public Safety Committee, where the bill dies.Sam Stone: Oh.Sam Stone: I it stuns me. What was to hear that? I mean, it's sort of it's just gross. I mean, quite frankly, it's just gross. They clearly killed it when they they figured it wouldn't draw much attention by killing it in committee. But, my goodness, how how did what did they what did they say? How did these Democrats look at themselves in the mirror?Kiley Kipper: That's what I want to know, is what is their response when you're trying to have these conversations with the people that you work with?Senator Shannon Grove: So, yeah, no. So I did I was, you know, they requested me leadership, requested me to meet with the chair of the committee after it was killed and he wanted me to take an amendment. So let me explain the bill just a little bit more so people get a full grasp of it. If you sex trafficking a minor child in the state of California and you get caught and you get prosecuted, you get sentenced to either four, 8 or 12 years, let's just take the maximum 12 years with California's criminal justice reform laws. You go to school, you go to classes, you're a good behavior in prison. You can get out in less than four years. So let's just take that scenario, which happens quite often. You get out in four years and then you go back to sex trafficking a minor. That's when my bill kicks in and creates a strike offense that when you get busted on your second offense for selling a child for sex, then you have to serve your full 12 years and you have a strike against you, which could, if you continue your bad behavior, you could end up with life in prison. The chair wants me to take an amendment to allow the second offense of sex trafficking, not the first one. When you get convicted, you go to prison. You get out in four years, but then you get out again and you sex trafficker minor do or do another bad felony, something that's listed as a serious or violent felony. He wants me to take an amendment to allow the perpetrator to plea bargain down. I said no. So that's why the bill died.Sam Stone: That that is that is Kiley. That is stunning to me.Kiley Kipper: Just sitting here shaking our heads.Sam Stone: Yeah, My mouth is my mouth is on the bottom of this table right now because can you even.Senator Shannon Grove: Believe we're having this conversation?Sam Stone: No, no, no. Senator, we're talking to Senator Shannon Grove of California's 12th Senate District. She proposed this bill that would have made it a serious and violent felony to traffic minor children for the purposes of sex. That's a really narrow thing. I mean, trafficking any person should be a serious and violent felony. I like your original intent, but I understand cutting it back. You have to make a deal. I cannot comprehend the inhumanity that it takes to not move this out of committee.Senator Shannon Grove: Well, I think it just, you know, with the the media engaging the way they did and Californians raising up their voices and, you know, with the the the exposure that the bill got from dying caused the Public Safety Committee to reverse their decision, you know, 24 hours later. So it still is moving through the building. They are still pushing for amendments. You know, the public safety chair voted for the bill. We got it out of public safety. And now he's on, you know, TV. Every time he turns around going the bill is still flawed. I have to fix this bill. There's nothing wrong with my bill. It says that if you it just simply says you can't. It's a serious felony to to sex traffickers sell a child for sex. It's just ridiculous that you wouldn't be able to get this passed with flying colors. And what's interesting is, is that, like I said, every senator voted for it, including Scott Wiener out of San Francisco, The San Francisco Chronicle, and I'm talking about San Francisco, not normal California, but San Francisco. The San Francisco Chronicle even did an article, you know, against the chair's arguments like like you mean sex trafficking. The minor isn't enough like that. They have to brutalize them. You know, there's a whole list of things that they have to do in order to make it a strike or a default to life in prison. But I mean, branding them with a branding iron instead of tattooing all these different things in the details that will allow you to make it a fallback for the strike able offense. I just want to make it a strike able offense for sex trafficking. A minor like you shouldn't need all these other things. I think sex trafficking, a minor like my witness said it and it's kind of gross, but you have to get this vision in your head. Grown men all over a ten year old child, that in itself should be a serious felony.Sam Stone: Okay. I'm glad to be here. We are, folks, we are recording this just before lunchtime and I started the intermittent fasting thing. And I'm right now really glad that I don't start eating anything till noon because I think I would have thrown up right there. I mean, that's just.Senator Shannon Grove: This is disgusting. It's the hardest bill I've ever. I met parents that whose daughter was trafficked. And I said, How did you find out? You know, you know, tell me your story. She got a text message, a video. She clicked on the video and it was five guys gang raping her daughter. I met a and it's it's disproportionately does affect black women and people of color. If you look at Figueroa Street, the National Coalition of Human Trafficking down there says that 70% of the women that are in their shelters are are black or brown. And then also 55% of them on the streets are black or brown. So for them to say that this disproportionately affects black people, I agree with them in that portion only. They are concerned about the black people that could possibly go to prison for perpetrating these crimes against black women. And I to me, I don't care what color your skin is, I, I don't care what I was in the military. Everybody's green, but I don't care what color your skin is. If you're sex trafficking minors, I do want you to go to prison for a long time. Yeah.Sam Stone: I mean, this this hesitation on their part, it's protecting the evil people and not protecting the innocent ones. And who gives a darn about skin color? That just makes no sense at all.Senator Shannon Grove: But when they can't make an argument on the substance, they always throw in race. And they always do that. They always throw in race. And then you've got these people out there doing the q-anon thing. If they can't make an argument on the substance, they try to distract from the substance. And I keep saying the bill is very simple. If you sex trafficking a minor 0 to 17, you should go to prison.Sam Stone: Well, and part of the backstory behind some of their opposition, I imagine, is what they've been trying to do to essentially legalize or decriminalize however you want to put it, prostitution. But they present it as as a choice for the people that are engaging in that activity. This is not a choice. I mean, this is not somebody. Yeah. Who's who's making a decision about their own life. This is somebody who's being abused in the worst way possible.Senator Shannon Grove: You're exactly right. But when you get into the details, I guess you'd say the the the serious felony doesn't kick in when you traffic a minor because, you know, you just you have to imagine somebody's going, come on, you know, like a family member or do this for dad, do this for mom. You know, whatever a neighbor come on, just do this one time. Well, they're not they're not beating her into submission. They're not. So it doesn't count, right? It just doesn't count. So there are there are it is very, very hard to prosecute a serious felony in the state of California for this because the girls are scared. They're young. They they they're afraid to turn someone in. And so basically, they have to have all these additional things that happen once you sex traffic the minor. And that's why I was trying to make it simple that that selling the child or sex trafficking the child should be enough alone by itself as a serious felony.Sam Stone: I, I.Sam Stone: Would agree, Kylie, in part because when you talk to experts about this, about sex trafficking, particularly a minor, children, you know, even regardless of the physical abuse, what they're using is mental abuse and mental torture to to keep these these young people in a position where they can continue to be exploited. They're tearing their mind apart. Yeah.Kiley Kipper: And it'll never be recovered. Obviously, their life will never be the same.Senator Shannon Grove: I mean, Kiley, you're absolutely right when you think about it. You know, even my survivors that have gone on to have families and you know that I have Odessa Perkins, if you haven't watched her testimony, she really nailed them with her responses. But she was she was trafficked as a minor and went through the anger stage, the criminal stage, the whole bit where she was, you know, didn't function right in society because of the trauma in her. And then you become a survivor versus a victim. Right. And now she's an interventionist. She's a speaker and author. She has a nonprofit where she rescues at risk kids and deters at risk kids and rescues people out of human trafficking. So there is a is a road to recovery. But that doesn't mean that she doesn't deal with this trauma that affected her as a child all of her life, every single day. And the same with Jenna McKay, who does the Jenna McKay Foundation. And you know what's interesting about these two individuals, Odessa is a black a black woman trafficked as a child in a in a poor socioeconomic disadvantaged neighborhood. But Jenna McKay came from a Christian home, no divorce, got a full ride scholarship to Vanguard University and was lured out of that by someone who said they loved her. She fell in love. She thought she they'd been dating for a few months. He asked her to go to Vegas, knock on the door. When they get to Vegas, they exchanged money and men came in and raped her.Kiley Kipper: Wow.Senator Shannon Grove: So there's different stories in this human trafficking realm.Sam Stone: And it takes an enormous amount of courage to be able to come out and tell those stories. But it takes as much courage in the moment to be able to go and tell that story to police. And it just sounds like this, you know, anything you do that adds barriers, that makes it more difficult for them to have the the the resolution in part, I guess, of having their assailant be actually placed in bars and behind bars and face real penalties. That has to be part of the healing process for a lot of them. Right. Is is seeing justice actually happen. And this is this this hesitation by some California Democrats is really denying that.Senator Shannon Grove: It really is. And that's a perfect way to explain it, too. So we're trying to remove barriers. There's barriers now to testimony which you just said. So this bill would remove barriers. It just the act of selling the child for sex would be a serious felony. So there wouldn't be any barriers where you have to meet a certain level or did they beat you? Did they sodomise you? Did they I mean, all these crazy things, right? So just the act. So we're trying to remove the barriers for these these kids to testify. So that's a very good way to put it. Thank you for phrasing it that way.Sam Stone: Fantastic. Senator, anything else that we should be focusing, you know, people should be paying attention to around this upcoming hearings or anything like that. And then secondly, how can they support you in the work you're doing? Because I got to say, especially in California, you're you're swimming upstream in a big way. But they need more voices like yours who provide some balance.Senator Shannon Grove: I appreciate that. So the bill did get out of public safety. It quieted the media down a little bit. So now everybody's off on their what they call summer break. We come back on August 14th and the bill will go before the Appropriations Committee in order to get through one more committee, the opposition, the Democrats that killed the bill originally in public safety and then re voted for the bill two days later or a day and a half later. They are still saying that I they are going to fix this bill and they're going to make me take amendments. There is nothing to fix in this bill, so please stay engaged in the process. You can follow me at Shannon Grove, CA on Instagram, Shannon Grove, CA on Twitter, Shannon Grove, CA on Facebook, or Senator Shannon Grove on Facebook. But and we'll post the, you know, the day that the hearing is going to take place. We'll keep everybody updated on social media. So please stay engaged and to pray for this process because it really is just just a mess the way that the California state legislature operates. And then also, you know, participate in the hearing process. They still allow call ins. You can call in, you can write in, you can you can just participate to support the bill. So thank you, folks.Sam Stone: We have a lot of listeners out there right now who are listening to this who are in California. Make your voice heard. You know, make stand up, exercise your right as a citizen. I think that's incredibly important in this case. They need to hear from voices outside the political process and where people really stand, because I don't see. Senator, thank you so much for joining us. Senator Shannon Grove. I don't see anything at all that needs to be amended in this bill. This needs to pass.Senator Shannon Grove: I agree. Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me and get the message out there. I really appreciate it.Sam Stone: All right. Fantastic. Folks, remember to tune in every week to Breaking Battlegrounds. We're on all your favorite Salem network stations. And you can also download us wherever you find your podcasts, Substack, Spotify. Apple Podcasts. I think we still even post to YouTube, although I've never I've never actually been on our YouTube site. Kiley To find out what's up. It's up. Okay, folks, make sure you're tuning in. That's how we keep the lights on here in this studio. That's how we pay the bills and that's how we continue to bring you stories about what's going on around the country that maybe aren't getting enough coverage like this one. Again, thank you to all of our guests today and particular thanks to our final guest, Senator Shannon Grove of California. It is, as always, been an enlightening and and not always easy journey here with breaking battlegrou

Sen. Manchin of the Appropriations Committee joins to discuss the fight over raising the debt limit and the Washington D.C. criminal justice bill which has Democrats divided. Plus, fighting rages in eastern Ukraine as Russian forces are close to encircling Bakhmut. Also, Republicans are presented with the sharpest contrast yet between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. We break down the dueling speeches by the former president and the current Florida governor as they gear up for a potential 2024 primary showdown.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy