Podcasts about senate republican caucus

Senate Republican Leader John Braun reacts to Governor Bob Ferguson's bill signings, a surprising veto, and the policies he let stand. From tax hikes to housing studies, police funding to rent control, we break down what made the cut—and what didn't—in his first legislative session as governor. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Gov. Ferguson's First Big Test: What He Signed, Vetoed, and Didn't appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senator John Braun discusses Washington's constitutional duty to fund education, concerns over academic decline, the impact of local levies, and policy shifts shaping schools. Is the legislature delivering on its promise? Listen to find out. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Education—The State's Paramount Duty, A Reality Check with Sen. John Braun appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

With the legislative session officially over, Senate Republican Leader John Braun unpacks the whirlwind of budget debates, tax hikes, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering. From killing harmful proposals to pushing back on rent control, Medicaid cuts, and unemployment benefits for striking workers—and will the new governor whittle down a budget many say is bloated? The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Post-Session Recap: Taxes, Transparency & Tension in Olympia appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

As the Legislative Session ends, Senate Republican Leader John Braun unpacks key issues: tax debates, rent control, unemployment benefits for striking workers, public safety strides, and challenges in education policy. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Session Closes: Taxes, Public Safety, and Education Updates appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun, on “The Elephant in the Dome,” criticized Democrats' $18 billion tax proposals, including property and sales tax hikes. He warned of economic risks, business exodus, and fiscal mismanagement. Braun also discussed rent control and transparency concerns in budgeting. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Democrat Taxes, Taxes, and more Taxes and Rent Control appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun discusses concerns over proposed property tax increases and rent control, featuring voices from homeowners, renters, and landlords. He examines economic impacts, the housing crisis, and the broader effects on businesses and essential services.   The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Property Taxes & Rent Control—The Unintended Consequences appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senator John Braun shares his thoughts on some of Washington's statewide leaders in this episode of “The Elephant in the Dome.” From the Treasurer's warnings about the rainy day fund to the Governor's cautious stance on taxation and spending, the discussion highlights key policy debates. Plus, criticism of the Attorney General's litigious approach and its […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast—State Leadership in Focus—Treasurer, Governor, & Attorney General appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun breaks down Olympia's latest tax proposals, from property tax hikes to new fees on outdoor recreation. With over $20 billion in increases at stake, learn how these changes could hit homeowners, renters, and businesses—and what they mean for Washington's housing crisis. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: The True Cost of Washington's Tax Hikes appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of The Elephant in the Dome, Senate Republican Leader John Braun talks about the impact of proposed tax increases in Washington. He discusses the Republican budget alternative, concerns over new payroll and wealth taxes, and how these policies could affect affordability, job growth, and economic stability in the state. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast—Tax Debate in Olympia—Cost of Living, Innovation & Economic Growth appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of The Elephant in the Dome, the official podcast of the Washington State Senate Republican Caucus, join Senators John Braun and Chris Gildon as they explore the innovative $ave Washington Budget. Discover their “third way” approach to addressing the state's budget challenges—avoiding heavy taxes or harmful cuts—while focusing on priorities like education, […] The post The Elephant in the Dome: Senators Braun and Gildon Discuss the $ave Washington Budget appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

On this episode of The Elephant in the Dome, Senator John Braun is joined by KVI radio host Ari Hoffman for a no-holds-barred conversation about rising anti-Semitism on college campuses, the state of public safety in Washington, and the looming budget crisis. They discuss the University of Washington's handling of campus activism, the challenges of […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Anti-Semitism on Campus, Public Safety, and Washington's Budget Crisis appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Republican Senators John Braun and Chris Gildon break down Washington's budget debate, tackling spending concerns, new taxes, and the state's $6.7B shortfall. Can lawmakers solve it without raising costs for families? Get the inside scoop on fiscal responsibility in Olympia! The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Budget Battles & Big Decisions – Senators Braun & Gildon Weigh In appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of The Elephant in the Dome, Senate Republican Leader John Braun and Senator Keith Goehner discuss Washington's housing crisis and the Senate Republican plan to address affordability. They break down the impact of restrictive regulations, the risks of rent control, and why empowering private sector development is key to increasing supply. Tune […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Washington Senate Republicans Push for Housing Solutions appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of Elephant in the Dome, Washington State Senate Republican Leader John Braun joins Tracy Ellis and Laudan Espinoza to break down the controversial Road Usage Charge proposal. Is this new mileage tax just another burden on hardworking Washingtonians? How will it impact rural communities, low-income drivers, and transportation funding? We also dive […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: The Truth About The Road Usage Tax and New Tax Hikes appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of Elephant in the Dome, hosts Tracy Ellis and Laudan Espinoza sit down with Senate Republican Leader John Braun to discuss the controversial Senate Bill 5181. How does this bill impact parental rights in schools? What key amendments were made, and what were rejected? The growing concerns over public education, declining test […] The post Elephant in the Dome Podcast | The Fight for Parental Rights: Senate Bill 5181 Debate and Failing Schools appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of the Elephant in the Dome, Senator John Braun and hosts Tracy Ellis and Lauden Espinoza dive into the shocking legislation proposed in Washington state that would reduce sentences for violent crimes—including those involving firearms. How does this align with Democrats' push for stricter gun laws? Who's really behind these policies? And […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Reducing Sentences for Violent Crimes? Washington's Shocking New Bills appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of the Elephant in the Dome, Senator John Braun and hosts Tracy Ellis and Lauden Espinoza dive into the shocking legislation proposed in Washington state that would reduce sentences for violent crimes—including those involving firearms. How does this align with Democrats' push for stricter gun laws? Who's really behind these policies? And […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Reducing Sentences for Violent Crimes? Washington's Shocking New Bills appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

My good friend Senator Shelley Hughes with the Alaska Senate Republican Caucus is on the show today. We discuss education funding, defined benefits, election legislation and more. It's always a pleasure chatting with such an engaged, thoughtful and Christ honoring woman. Hope you can tune in.Support the show

In this episode of “The Elephant in the Dome,” the official podcast of the Washington State Senate Republican Caucus, hosts Tracy Ellis and Laudan Espinoza sit down with Senate Republican Leader John Braun. They delve into Democrat efforts affecting parental rights, the challenges and opportunities in education funding, and a vision for reimagining The Evergreen […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: A Better Future for Washington's Children appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of “The Elephant in the Dome,” the official podcast of the Washington State Senate Republican Caucus, hosts Tracy Ellis and Laudan Espinoza are joined by Senate Republican Leader John Braun. They discuss Governor Bob Ferguson's inaugural address and some key issues facing legislators. They also touch on the potential for new taxes […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Governor's Inaugural Address, Budget Insights, and Legislative Updates appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Washington State Association of Broadcasters and Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington legislative session preview Senate Republican Leader John Braun on Senate Republicans' priorities Senator Chris Gildon on the need to identify the actual budget problem Senator Curtis King making more money from transportation taxes and fees available to transportation projects The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Senate Republican Priorities, Budget Challenges and Transportation Funding appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

State Senate Democrats accidentally leak new tax plans. A bill seeks 100 million dollars to help hire more law-enforcement officers. A Senator wants to help illegal immigrants by repealing Washington's sanctuary state status. Guests include: Sen. Chris Gildon, Sen. Jeff Holy, Sen. Phil Fortunato The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: New Democrat taxes, hiring more law enforcement, repealing sanctuary state status appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

As Democrats prepare for unilateral, supermajority control in Olympia, Republicans recall a more bipartisan era – 12 years ago, when the Majority Coalition Caucus, an historic alliance that ushered in a wave of critical reforms, came into existence. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Majority Coalition Caucus versus single-party rule appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Tens-of-millions of dollars set aside to protect schools from earthquakes is not getting spent, and state Senator Judy Warnick wants something done about it. The Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction is supposed to be distributing the money. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Senator frustrated about bureaucratic delay of school earthquake protections appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Washington's criminal justice system has a big problem – a shortage of public defenders and prosecutors. Senator Mike Padden, a former judge and the Ranking Republican on the Senate Law and Justice Committee is the featured guest. Washington Supreme Court justices take testimony on proposed changes to public defender standards – Learn you how you […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Shortage of public defenders and prosecutors – a criminal justice crisis appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senator Matt Boehnke says State Department of Children, Youth, and Families mismanagement is leading to dangerous conditions at juvenile detention centers. Juvenile detention center overcrowding led to the transfer of dozens of men to adult prisons, but a judge ruled the move was illegal. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Senator Blindsided by Department of Children, Youth, and Families mismanagement and transfer and return of inmates appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Join America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy with Chairman Doug Lamborn, Strategic Forces Subcommittee, U.S. House Committee on Armed Services discussing the policy issues impacting America's national defense and the nation's security partnership with trusted allies. Today, we are experiencing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East with rising tensions in Southeast Asia. The time-tested policy of "peace through strength" has been weakened by lack of American leadership on the world stage. The conversation also addresses the concern of America's isolationism and the principled message articulated by one of America's greatest presidents: "We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent." — President Ronald Reagan The conversation with Congressman Lamborn also focuses on the promise of a new era in the Middle East with the proposed US-Saudi Arabia Economic and Security Alliance which could transform the region and benefit both nations on the economic and trade fronts. Saudi Arabia could become a major hub for trade and tourism and a gateway to over 400 million consumers in Arab countries. Bio | Congressman Doug Lamborn In Colorado, Doug was called to public office and served in the Colorado General Assembly from 1995 to 2006, in both the State House and State Senate. During his time in the Colorado Legislature, Doug was elected Senate President Pro-Tem, served as Chairman of the Senate State Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, and House Majority Whip. Doug was then elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006 to represent Colorado's Fifth District. Colorado's Fifth District, based in Colorado Springs, is one of our nation's most military-intensive congressional districts and the home to more than 100,000 veterans who have served our country with distinction and honor. Because of the district's military and veteran concentration, Doug serves as a high-ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee and a former member for ten years of the Veterans Affairs Committee. In these roles, he has protected important national defense funding, programs, and missions and has fought hard for the right of veterans to receive the healthcare they have earned. Additionally, the Congressman has worked since his first day in office to bring about a dignified and fitting National Veterans Cemetery to the Pikes Peak Region, which is now completed. Additionally, Doug currently serves as the Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee has jurisdiction over Department of Defense and Department of Energy policy related to strategic deterrence, strategic stability, nuclear weapons, strategic and nuclear arms control, nonproliferation, nuclear safety, missile defense, and space; Department of Defense programs and accounts related to nuclear weapons, strategic missiles, nuclear command and control systems, Department of Defense intelligence space, space systems and services of the military departments, and intermediate and long-range missile defense systems; and Department of Energy national security programs and accounts. Doug also serves on the House Natural Resources Committee and its subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, and the Energy and Mineral Resources subcommittee. The Subcommittee on Federal Lands is responsible for all matters related to the National Park System, U.S. Forests, public lands, and national monuments. The Energy and Mineral Resources subcommittee oversees public resources on public lands, including offshore energy development. Throughout his time in public service, Doug has been a leader on pro-family and small business issues, a strong advocate for our veterans and our military, and a supporter of lower taxes, immigration reform, less government spending, and protection of the Second Amendment. Doug is married to Jeanie, his wife of 47 years and an accomplished artist and former teacher at the Bemis School of Art in Colorado Springs. The Lamborn's have also raised five extremely successful children. Their four sons were Eagle Scouts and, among them, have served as a doctor, in the military, as an attorney, and as a member of the film industry in Los Angeles. americasrt.com (https://americasrt.com/) https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/ America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472 Twitter: @RepDLamborn @ileaderssummit @AmericasRT @NatashaSrdoc @JoelAnandUSA @supertalk America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit. America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America's economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world. Tune into America's Roundtable Radio program from Washington, DC via live streaming on Saturday mornings via 65 radio stations at 7:30 A.M. (ET) on Lanser Broadcasting Corporation covering the Michigan and the Midwest market, and at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk Mississippi — SuperTalk.FM reaching listeners in every county within the State of Mississippi, and neighboring states in the South including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. Listen to America's Roundtable on digital platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, Google and other key online platforms. Listen live, Saturdays at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk | https://www.supertalk.fm

A shortage of public defenders is leading to the release of people charged with serious crimes. Senator Nikki Torres is working to address the crisis. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: The public defender shortage crisis appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

New laws are going into effect that impact police pursuits, parental rights, and income taxes in Washington. The legislature passed three initiatives related to those issues. Senators Mike Padden, Shelly Short, and Matt Boehnke talk about them.   The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: New laws on police pursuits, parental rights, income taxes go into effect appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Washington is grappling with a surge in deadly and serious injury car crashes. The Traffic Safety Commission says Washington hit a 33-year high in traffic deaths. Nearly half of those deaths involved drivers impaired by drugs or alcohol. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Sen. Mike Padden on increase in fatal car wrecks appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Republican senators applaud the opening of the center, stressing its importance amid the opioid crisis. Senator Lynda Wilson highlights the need for both treatment and accountability. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Republicans applaud Center For Behavioral Health and Learning opening appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

What makes Senate Republicans tick? How do they come up with their priorities? What are they doing to tackle those priorities? Sen. John Braun talks public safety, affordability, education, and abortion in this episode of the Elephant in the Dome Podcast. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: What's important to Senate Republicans? appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

A recent Seattle Times Op-Ed asks: Washington is losing farms and food-producing land – does anyone care? Senator Ron Muzzall, a farmer, and the ranking Republican on the Senate Ag Committee explains why people should care. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Will the last one on the farm please close the gate? appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

A Seattle teacher makes blatantly antisemitic comments. An illegal antisemitic protest blocks airport access. What's going on? Senate Republican Leader John Braun joins host Tracy Ellis. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Antisemitic rhetoric from teacher, and during dangerous illegal protest, Braun reacts appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Governor Inslee signed a Democrat bill that he says creates the roadmap and tools for Puget Sound Energy to get out of the natural gas business. What does that mean? Senator Chris Gildon provides a comprehensive explanation of this controversial new law. The post Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Inslee signs Democrat bill to transition largest utility away from natural gas – Gildon breaks down implications appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

After four decades of public service, state Senator Mike Padden is calling it a career. The Spokane Valley Republican will not seek reelection to the Senate. The post Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Senator Mike Padden will not seek reelection to the state Senate appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun says the three new laws on police pursuits, parental rights and income taxes that came from the citizens of the state highlight the session. He also talks about tax increase proposals, homelessness and rent control. Senator Lynda Wilson announced that she would not be returning to the Senate after ten […] The post Elephant in the Dome Podcast: A look back at the Legislative Session and a senator says goodbye appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Democrats in the state Legislature passed a bill requested by Puget Sound Energy that insulates PSE from paying for state-mandated carbon-reduction goals by cutting off gas natural service to its customers. Listen to what Republican Senators John Braun, Chris Gildon, Drew MacEwen, Perry Dozier, Shelly Short and Matt Boehnke have to say about it. The post Elephant in the Dome Podcast: The natural gas ban – HB 1589 – selling out Washington families for corporate interests appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Citizens collected more than 2.3 million signatures to put six initiatives before the Legislature. Three of the initiatives received a hearing and a vote. All three passed with bipartisan support. Majority Democrats refused to give hearings to the remaining three initiatives, so they will go to the ballot in November. Sens. John Braun and Mark […] The post Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Initiatives to the Legislature: Three pass, three go to the ballot in November appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Many small Washington stores may be forced out of business by a bill passed by legislative Democrats. The legislation calls for employee background checks and several very expensive security requirements. It forces businesses to buy and maintain costly audio/video surveillance systems with months of data storage and carry one million dollars of liability insurance. Senators […] The post Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Democrat bill expected to put stores out of business appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Legislative Democrats are allowing hearings on some of the six initiatives to the Legislature. Senate Republican Leader John Braun and Senator Matt Boehnke react to the Democrats' decision to hold the hearings and their outspoken opposition to the three initiatives that essentially provide tax relief to Washingtonians. The post Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Legislative Democrats holding hearings on some of the initiatives to the Legislature appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Bills that passed in the House are now in the Senate and Senator John Braun has some concerns about the ones related to rent control, the availability of natural gas to people and businesses who need it, and allowing striking workers to collect unemployment insurance. Senator Chris Gildon has some insights on how the initiatives […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Rent control, natural gas restrictions, striking worker unemployment, and initiatives' impact on state budget appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

First: The panel discusses the comments from the special counsel report and how they will affect Biden's 2024 presidential re-election campaign.   Plus: Trumps campaign is not setting off as smoothly as he would like as he is called out for making controversial comments around not defending NATO allies and encouraging Russia to “do whatever they want” as well as negative comments questioning Governor Haley's husband who is out serving his country in Africa.   And: Concerns about Mitch McConnell permeate Senate Republican Caucus after he champions bill concerning sending support to Ukraine and Israel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Democrat legislation that could have led to the largest property tax increase in state history is dead. The Democrat sponsor of the bill that would have allowed annual property tax growth to triple announced that it will not be brought up for a vote this year. That decision followed a Senate Republican news conference on […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Democrat property tax increase bill dies after Senate Republican news conference appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senate Republican Floor Leader Shelly Short explains why she's excited about the six initiatives to the Legislature and Senate Republican Leader John Braun talks about his concerns with the Green Hill School in his district and the agency that runs it, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families The post Excitement over 6 Initiatives and concerns about the Department of Children, Youth, and Families appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

The Senate Republican Caucus is well known as a well-oiled, disciplined machine known for recruiting top-shelf candidates, methodically executing campaign plans, and winning majorities (sometimes supermajorities) since 2010.   Political operative Dylan Watts runs that machine and he sits down to talk about his life and work, which sometimes is a blur except when he's playing golf.  The Cary native also discusses candidate recruiting, ideological diversity in districts, polling, and his thoughts about the 2024 election.   Skye and Brian also unpack a trio of legal issues, campaign fundraising, Race of the Week, #TOTW, and the problem with YMCA locker rooms.   The Do Politics Better podcast is sponsored by New Frame, the NC Travel Industry Association, the NC Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association, the NC Pork Council, and the NC Healthcare Association.   

Senate Republicans are calling for a stronger response to Washington's opioid crisis with a package of bills aimed at preventing overdoses, coordinating state efforts to promote treatment and recovery, and restoring funding for multijurisdictional law enforcement drug task forces. The bills give the state new tools to lead the fight against opioid addiction and overdose […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Recovery Washington appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of the Elephant in the Dome, Senators John Braun, Drew MacEwen, and Shelly Short talk about the initiatives related to police pursuits, cap-and-trade, and parents' rights. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Three initiatives to the Legislature are certified appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

In this episode of the Elephant in the Dome, Sen. Shelly Short talks about a Democrat bill that could cause property taxes to increase, Sen. Keith Wagoner introduces legislation in response to Attorney General Bob Ferguson's “chicken checks” and Senate Republican Leader John Braun outlines Senate Republican priorities for the legislative session. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: property tax hikes, chicken checks, and Senate Republican priorities appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Tracy Ellis and Laudan Espinoza host the Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Sen John Braun and Rep. Drew Stokesbary talk initiatives, Brandi Kruse challenges Gov. Inslee on gas prices, and Sen. Curtis King proposes using cap-and-tax money on ferries. The post Initiatives, Gov. Inslee and gas prices, cap-and-trade money for ferries, and more appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

An economist and top staffer at the State Department of Transportation says he was pressured to lie about how much gas prices would increase because of cap-and-trade. The post Economist says he was told to lie about projected gas price increase appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Michelle Meyer, Mastercard Economics Institute North America Chief Economist, says October's slight drop in US retail sales doesn't take away from overall robust consumer spending. Diane Swonk, KPMG Chief Economist, details how the Fed will look to navigate a potential successful soft landing. Anastasia Amoroso, iCapital Chief Investment Strategist, says corporations could look to cut costs in 2024 if the Fed doesn't cut rates. Henrietta Treyz, Veda Partners Economic Policy Director, discusses an increasingly dysfunctional environment on Capitol Hill despite the passage of a stopgap funding bill. Jennifer Bartashus, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Analyst, breaks down Target's better-than-expected 3Q earnings.    Get the Bloomberg Surveillance newsletter, delivered every weekday. 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transcript: This is the Bloomberg Surveillance Podcast. I'm Tom Keene, along with Jonathan Farrow and Lisa Abramowitz. Join us each day for insight from the best and economics, geopolitics, finance and investment. Subscribe to Bloomberg Surveillance on demand on Apple, Spotify and anywhere you get your podcasts, and always on Bloomberg dot Com, the Bloomberg Terminal, and the Bloomberg Business app. This is a joy what happens with young economists as you read their research and you go, oh, they're quite competent. Not long ago and far away, but a few years ago. That was Michelle Meyer absolutely owning the parsing of the American consumer. She worked for a small bank in Manhattan and is now Chief Economists North America from MasterCard Economics. You own the analysis I put you and Allen Zetner together. You own the analysis of the American consumer. Have we stopped spending? We clearly have not stop spending. Far from it, and think about the data this morning. It was an incredible combination of continued strength and retail spend, of rebound in Empire State manufacturing, which shows that there's still a need for more goods production, which is because consumers are still spending, and on top of that, you're getting some relief on the pricing side. So it's a really nice combination. I hate asking this question, and I'm stunned. It's my first time I've asked it. On November fifteenth, what's back to what's a holiday season look like? What's Black Friday? And then Black Monday and this and that? What does this retail madness did January look like? Well, it is a longer holiday season. We've learned that over the last few years, and it's a heavily promotional based holiday season, and part of that is because of the fact that there's so much demand out there to buy online. I mean, think about the numbers we just saw this morning. Our spending post numbers saw just over eight percent year of your growth in e commerce sales. So you know, you're seeing a consumer that is certainly exploring many different channels of spending, including online, and that creates a lot more opportunities for them to get products, and it also creates a lot more need for retailers to compete with these big moments in time where they offer promotions, and I think that's what's going to be indicative. So we'll learn a lot from the Black Friday period, and it's approaching very quickly. How sustainable is this combination of both robust retail sales and disinflation or even outright goods deflation. So I think you have to consider the different categories. I mean, when you looked at CPI yesterday, you certainly saw some categories like these big durable goods like your refrigerators back seeing some price declines. But for many other things, like many services, for example, you are still seeing some price increases. So part of the drop in prices for some of these goods simply reflects the fact that prices increased too much out of a pandemic because of supply chain issues, because of higher costs, and now it's reverting a bit more to something more normal, right, So that means in real terms you will see some support in terms of some of these items moving through. In nominal terms, you could see some move down in terms of overall spend. So it really depends on why inflation is moving, and that is a function of the type of product and how things evolved coming out of the pandemic. When you put it together, does this seem like a recipe for this goldilocks soft landing, or does this seem to paint the picture of a federal reserve that needs to do more and of an economy that has way too much momentum to really achieve the disinflation that a lot of people are baking into market evaluations. I think the data is shaping up in a way that's really favorable at the moment because you continue to have economic growth. Look at the third quarter GDP numbers, that was fairly broad based economic activity, not just consumers but also businesses investing inventories getting much more manageable and in stock So you know, things have been evolving remarkably well in terms of the real economy, taking out some of the excesses, labor market coasting into a litt bit of a slower trajectory for job growth, but still expansionary, while you get this relief on the inflation front. So how much of that is because of monetary policy, how much of that is because of the nature of the shock that we had initially, We'll see it's probably a bit of both. But it's evolving really quite quite nicely, and obviously exceeding many people's expectations. Out there. We talked about the interest expense and the debt and the deficit earlier with Mia mcguinnis. Let's talk about the average charge card is twenty five twenty six percent interest, migrating up now to twenty eight twenty nine percent interest. I find thirty percent to be almost criminal. But you people look at this daily, is that interest rate goes up, do we spend less? So what we're looking at overall is how monetary policy is transmitting into the economy broadly. So when you think about who's borrowing out there, there's companies that are borrowing in terms of the expansionary needs. There's consumers that are borrowing in terms of whether or not they want to buy a home or a big ticket item that might require some leverage. So higher interest rates are certainly transmitting into the economy. You can see it today with the retail sales number that's Mike just my friends. Around housing related items, furniture, some of these bigger ticket items that require debt. You are seeing some hit to those types suspending. So I think the high level of interest rates goes back to Lisa's point around how the FED is trying to calibrate this economy with some easing of real growth but still allowing inflation to come down. Okay, you're out of the game, but I'm going to ask you the game question here, which is what is your twelve months for to real GDP? Like, what's your twenty twenty You're talking to fancy people at MasterCard, and you know they don't want to charge cards. They want to know what Michelle Meyer thinks about the economy. What's your twenty twenty four real GDP call? So the good news is that we are I'm still in the game, and that we are still running at still absolutely that is who I am as a person, as an economist. When I look ahead, I mean this year we had an economy that ran above its underlying trend. So we're trending right now, given where GDP is for real growth somewhere between two point four percent right now in twenty twenty three. As we look ahead to twenty twenty four, we're probably going to see some moderation closer to the underlying trend growth rate of the economy closer to trend. Didn't answer, Ye's still in the game. I'm still I got to total go away. Michelle Meyer's MasterCard. There somewhere in the blur of the last four or five days through my small little brain, would somebody get Diane SWUNKA You know, I just said she has such a perspective different from three zip codes in New York, And I guess all of this is her academic work at the University of Michigan Longo. She's putting a penalty box there. At one point she was stealing signs from the Federal Reserve. Is I think it's a football joke there, Yeah, dian Swank understands Michigan's I guess in the penalty box, Diane Swank, is it free and clear? Is your own Powell not in the penalty box. I've asked this question four times, but with immense respect to your work and your holistic look at business data. Is it mission accomplished? Finally, for the FED, it's not mission accomplished because if that is still going to hold rates higher for longer. But we're done with right hikes and that's what we've been saying, and that's what we believe. That's the good news out there is that it does look like the soft landing is not only possible but probable. But the journey is not yet over, and the endurance part comes next, and that's what the FED is watching closely. They still expect to see growth below potential in order to have that soft landing occur. That's one of those technical things that consumers don't really like, because growth below potential is a rise in unemployment, which in fact we've already seen. Most of that rise we saw over the summer was because more people were looking for jobs, not because of mass layoffs than in October when we saw unemployment move up to three point nine percent, it was because we also saw the spillover effects of strikes as well. When I look at this economy and all the different narratives that are out there right now, the heart of the matter for me is fully employed America. Butter stop with what Austin Goolsby brilliantly said yesterday. Is a believer in a new productivity, a new regime of productivity that's going to make the job for everybody out there easier. Do you buy it? Well, we are seeing a major increase in productivity, and I think during the frenzy, the hiring frenzy that we saw, we know from ADP data that's locked at this more closely, many firms stopped hiring people. Then add on top of it the loss and hiring an educational attainment due to the pivot online itself. And now we're unwinding that and people are actually learning the jobs they have. Overlay that with innovation and technology and leveraging the technologies we were forced to use as we moved online, and you do get higher productivity growth, and that is helping to bring down inflation as well. The problem for most consumers, of course, is that the level of prices are still very high. And let's face it, you know, consumer sentiment hit its record high for University of Michigan Centiment Index in Chau two thousand. Yeah, I threw that in. Although I did go to Chicago too. They won the first Heisman Trophy right now with a lack of scandals, which a little better. Did you go to the Goldsby speech? I mean, you're such a hitter out there in Chicago? Did you darken the door for the Golsby speech? I wasn't at this one. I've been at many of them, and I'll be at one on December first with them. What about Hey, Dana speaking as well, what do you feel how do you kind of view the consumer here? We got some retail sales data today that came in a little bit better than expected, yet target, you know, still seeing some some challenges out there with the reported numbers, and of course we'll hear from Walmart tomorrow. What's what's your sense of the consumer out there? This is a consumer that shown remarkable endurance. Remember October is when the first student loans for about twenty three million student borrowers were due. Of course, they started paying those loans already in August while ahead of time, front running the interest accruing on those loans. But we know that student loan, your payments are going to crimp consumer spending. And I think what's also important is we're seeing the biggest trade offs everything within grocery stores. They're spending more at grocery stores than at restaurants during the month, and after adjusting for inflation, they're still spending more at grocery stores because it's really expensive after adjusting for inflation to go out to restaurants. That said, there's a lot of trade offs within that as well. Beef prices hit a record high during the month of October in that's due to the fact that we had all these droughts. That's in the herds, and I think, you know, the effects of those kinds of shocks are what really matter to consumers. And even as the FED is combating inflation the pace at which prices increase, many consumers who finally saw their wages level up only got to spend a moment in the sun before they were burned by inflation, and they're still playing catchup from those earlier increases exactly. So, you know, in terms of the consumer here we have the unemployment rate officially at three point nine percent. What do you think the FED would like to see that rate? Do they feel like it needs to drift a little bit higher before they get a sense that this economy really is cooling? Well, I hate to use the word like, because I think that's a little pejorative in this context. I think they think it needs to go a little above four percent in order to get the full derailing of inflation and to be able to really cut rates as we move into twenty twenty five. I think we're going to see rate cuts by the middle of twenty twenty four, but the descent on rates is going to be much less graduate much slower than the acent on rates, and I think that's very important to remember as well. The Center Reserve is really pretty pleased with the fact that so far until we had that October blip, which was by an external shock the strikes, that we were able to really see more people looking for jobs rather than layoffs contributing to unemployment, more data checks and all this turmoil, the vix goes to constructively bullish. We are higher above fourteen and now at fourteen point eight, a better VIX number off of yesterday. Dow up one hundred, SPX up sixteen points, doing better than call it nine o'clock, futures up four tenths of a percent, NASDAK up half a percent as well. We're with Diane's swank this morning of KPMG. Diane, my great theory is corporations are going to adapt and adjust. How do they adapt and adjust? Is it just going to be one expense reduction? You know, that's going to be a series of I think we're already seeing the adaption occur, and it's evolution more of a revolution than an evolution, and that is that after more than a decade of ulter low rates and some business models that were built entirely on ultra low rates still adapt to a more normal economy that has higher rates to it, and they have to deal with the higher wage levels that they leveled up to, and that means they got to make their workers more productive to be able to continue paying those wages without mass layoffs. And that's where I think we're going. I think we are going to see productivity growth continue to be elevated. That's the good news. I think also it's important to remember the tire meets the road on productivity growth when you combine innovation and technology with our human capital, and how valuable it is. When you really level the boats together two together, that's when you get the big benefits. Sure theory there is how the Cubs stole the Milwaukee Brewer's managers. I mean you get that. She's like consulting the Chicago Cubs. How do we jump started Creid Council bring them down to Chicago? Paul slip in one more? All right, So, Diane, I mean we have our President Biden in San Francisco meeting with President she. How do you figure China into your economic outlook here? What do you what do you what would you like to see. What do you think we're going to see. I think it's important that you know we can't deglobalization is a bit of a myth. We're seeing trading blocks that have moved, and more training within blocks rather than across blocks, which is actually boosting global trade. That's more friction in the global economy and ultimately more risk of supply chocks and more fragile supply chains. So I think the concept of de risking is something that is a relative concept. I understand there's geopolitical and strategic issues we need to deal with with China, but these are the two largest economies in the world. We're talking about China and the US, and it's better to have better relations than intense relations and intensifying geopol tensions between the two. Dane swanp KPMG. They're chief economists, thank you. The grace of Bloomberg's surveillance is we don't throw up films of people being wrong or people being right. This is a tough, tough business gaming out equities, bonds, currencies, commodities. If we tossed up a video John and Lisa Anastasia Amroso on the market a number of months ago. She held Lisa's hand and said, Lisa, It'll be okay. A chief investor strategist and what and correct bull joins us. Now, is this the second Is this the second bull market off the October lows thirteen months ago? Are we clicking in with a new bullmarket lift? I mean, I think this is giving investors a lot of faith and hope into the year end. You know, Tom, It's amazing how quickly things shift, And just in the last couple of weeks we went from really bad technicals to really a great technical setup. And I think what's likely to happen now is the chase into your end is on and it's going to involve a lot of stakeholders, whether it's this systematic traders, whether hedge funds that were called too short, whether it's all the cash eight trillion of it on the sideline. So I do think that we well, I was initially going to say drift higher into your end based on yesterday. We might rip higher into your end, but I do think we'll finish higher. Let's discuss what worked yesterday. Small caps, discretionary real a state. Is that what you think works going into your end? Well, I think tech is going to continue to work into your end because if you look at unprofitable tech, for example, it also rallied pretty massively yesterday as well. You know the reason I hesitate when it comes to consumer discretionary. You know, I love the target beat this morning, but it does feel like a bit of a one off. And you know, if we look at some of the surveys of consumer spending consumer spending intentions, consumers are likely to be slower and likely to be more discerning and the I want to look for promotions. So you know, maybe this everything rally does take consumer dis questioningly higher with it, but from a quality perspective, and where I have the most convictions on margins, on growth, on secular opportunity, John, I think it's still tech. Okay, So how much is this baking in both the ongoing profits and also yields going lower given that valuations are already pretty high considering how high the alternative is. Yeah, I mean everything is working in the right direction right now. Clearly this is a huge yield story. But when it comes to big tech, for example, you know, yes, yields help from the valuation perspective, But what I also like about big tech for example, is that earnings growth is there over and above the S and P. For example, for the next year or two, the average earnings growth is about sixteen percent. So and by the way, valuations, I know people say big tech or tech generally is expensive, but when you adjust for that earnings growth, it's actually not that expensive. And when you start looking at individual stocks, maybe forty times forward earnings on Nvidia, maybe that seems expensive, but when you expand the chart, it's not actually off the chart, so to speak. So everything is relative. What's the balance of risks? We've been talking about that throughout the morning for next year, as people get enthusiastic into year end, is it a better than an expected economic picture or is it some sort of recession that really feeds into a profit recession as well. Yeah, so we have to decouple the view into your end versus what might happen in twenty twenty four. And I think the reason for this optimist for twenty twenty three has been this is a soft landing year. This has proven to be a soft landing year. Now I think something harder may have to happen in twenty twenty four. And here's really the big question. Which is going to determine the direction of the markets in twenty twenty four is how quickly does the FED cut or do they cut? If they cut, then I think we're off to the races, and this is they go in all on risk moment. But if they don't cut, if they stay persistent, then I think some of the bold may be disappointed. Do we underestimate the ability of corporations to adjust? Twenty four months ago of screaming about that we saw Target. Today they've had a real, real post pandemic challenge. I guess, John, what's it up right now? Forty two? It's twenty five? Okay, who's keeping count? But the answer is I still think it's underestimated in FED centric, rate centric New York City that I'm sorry, each and every corporation out there is going to adapt and adjust. What are they going to do next year? Yes, corporations are adjusting, and the case of Target, it took them a while, but those inventories were eventually paired back. I think what corporations may struggle with next year until and unless the FED pivots is the refinancing bill of some of their corporate debt. And by the way, This goes across the spectrum. It's the US government which has to refinance about thirty five percent of the debt between now and the end of next year, is the commercial real estate operators that have to refile a lot of the debt, and then it's corporate. So you know, the reason, Tom, why I think we haven't seen more of an adverse impact is because the percentage of floating rate has been low and companies have not had a lot of fixed rate maturities that needed to be refinanced. That does start to change next year. So if the FED doesn't cut, I think it does become harder for corporates and how do they adjust well, if margins get squeezed, I think cost cutting is the next measure. Does that make life difficult for certain parts of the equity market given the nature of high yield issuers, Yeah, it does. The parts of the market that I worry about, or leverage loans for example, which have already had a full year of rates around five percent. And if you look at the net interst coverage ratios, there were about three and a half times going into the year for a lot of those issues. There are one times today, maybe one point three, So how does that picture change next year, especially if you have some slow down in the top line for high yield. I'm a little bit less worried because you do have generally higher quality and better fundamentals, and there's a small portion of high yield that needs to be rolled over next year. But from a broader economic perspective, and especially when I think about the banking sector, if you start to have more charge offs, incrementally more delinquencies, some default and by the way, venture capital bankruptcies have been on the rise, so all of that does start to impact some sector of the economy, which I think is the bank. Can we finish on the banks kind of left for dead at times this year and for good reason earlier in spring. What's your view on them into twenty four? A very mixed view on them into twenty twenty four, because in earlier on the show, I did say that, you know, I was kind of warming up to the bank sector because we were expecting the capital market activity to pick up. That really didn't pan out so far in the fall of this year, and I'm not sure that it does in twenty twenty four. So if you have lackluster capital market activity, in twenty twenty four, and then on top of that you do have those higher delinquencies, defaults, and charge offs. That comes back to roots for the banking sector. So I appreciate the rally that they're participating in, but that would not be my top pic today. You sound actually less optimistic than you did a bunch of months ago, quite a bit less optimistic. Can you frame that out just how much you think some of the gains have already been paked in. Yeah, I definitely sound less optimistic your end rally nowithstanding. And the reason for that is because a lot of investors coming into the year expected this to be maybe even a recession a year, or at least very lackluster economic growth, and instead we got close to five percent GDP in the third quarter. So a lot of people are now in the soft landing camp and are not even talking about recession. But if you think about this, you know, the longer rates stayed at the current levels, and by the way, if inflation falls and real rates start to pick up the relationship we also talked about previously, then we are going to get in restrictive territory relative to the neutral rate, and that's when you start to worry about the FED stays therefore too long, then that's what caused historically a recession. Well, I do worry about that, and I don't think it's in people's consensus numbers right now. Is my takeaway here that Amoroso is on the edge of bramo ye and it gets maybe less constructive gone into twenty five to be a long year of twenty four. So we can't just you know, prepare for the whole thing. That's the joy that I hurt six months ago. Oh, the joy is here. The joy is into your end and you know, you know, I do think that. Look, the FED for now seems to be behind us until mid December. You know, I think some of the worst Fed Treasury auctions are behind us. Okay, So that's the joy. The conversation. The joy was on the screen over the last twenty four and made away and I say, you're constructive so many times right to be and stay camo. So if I capital it the Henrietta Trace joins US now economic policy research director at Vada Partners. Henrietta, with all your years of experience in Washington, and how polarized is the polarity right now? I mean, they are just at each other's throats, almost literally. Certainly, the stories out of DC yesterday were just shocking. Frankly, they have to go on recess. I am so thankful that they have agreed to this kick the can approach. As you mentioned before, I think we're just going to be doing this again, and I'm not optimistic that it's going to stop in January or in February when the two current deadlines exist. We're going to be doing this every couple of months for the rest of twenty twenty four. So we should get used to this kind of acrimony government shutdown risks. Those headlines should just be permanently emblazoned every couple of months in the newsreel. We've got those headlines ready to go hendriady through the whole at twenty twenty four. Can you just frame how big this fight over spending might be just next year. You know, it's just loud. It's not a big fight. It's just a loud fight. They are not getting any reductions in federal spending. This is a clean cr There will be a minimum of about one hundred billion dollars an additional aid that goes out across domestic and international priorities. We are not fighting about spending cuts. We are fighting about the process. The Freedom Caucus came up with the idea of doing this laddered approach. It was rejected, resuscitated, and then finally included in part in this deal. But it contains no spending cuts, and there's no scenario where the second tranche, which includes defense and foreign operations spending, is going to expire after they reach a deal on the first couple of appropriations bills. So this is a lot of sound, This is a lot of bark very little bite. Given the fact that there was not Israel or Ukraine funding in this current bill, how likely do you think that will get done by January? By February? Does it even matter considering the spending that's coming out of different pockets. That's a really important question. And I think a lot of this is tied up with Minoriti leader maccaddeal and how much cloud he continues to have with the party. I think we can't underestimate the impact of the loss in Kentucky for the governor's race that materially acted his standing with his own conference in the Senate Republican Caucus. And I think that's a big problem for Ukraine AID. I was surprised in my last round of meetings in DC how little support there is for Ukraine versus what there has been from the United States for the last year and eight months. It is really a iffy question on whether Ukraine aid gets provided at all. I do think that keeping Israel aid off of the cr that they're passing now creates at least a pathway. But when you tie Ukraine to the border and recognize that we haven't had border security legislation pass in a decade or more, you really have a problem. So I think that it is good news that we don't have a bill yet. It keeps soap alive. But I would dim my expectations for robust aid to Ukraine and Israel. Obviously is another problem that is splitting the Democratic Party just in half, just ripping it apart. So those packages are going to be really hard to come by, and I wouldn't be surprised that they didn't get it till January. You know, it's getting harder and harder to parse through the signal from the noise in Washington, d C. We have all these real, tangible, important issues and yet we are focusing on scuffles both in the Senate that Bernie Sanders had to and with a wooden gavel, and then this the accusation that Kevin McCarthy elbowed fellow Republican Congress member Tim Burchett during some of the contentious negotiations. Are any of these important to you on a policy or just functional level? There is no policy, So I think Tom, you actually just made a statement about how if you don't have your fiscal house in order, you can enact policy. That's exactly what's happening. There is no policy, so we're only talking about fiscal austerity. There's no discussion about passing a year in tax build that's of any kind of merit. They're running around punching each other in the back because they have gripes and qualms with who's a liar, who has trustworthiness. There is no policy, there's no uniting policy that drives the House of publican conference, which is in control, and that means that the Senate can't get their act together or get their work done. And it's really been a darth of leadership that I think is exacerbated by Mitch McConnell being on the way out, and a speaker that is untested with no real leadership mandate to work with on the Republican side. So I think there is no policy. I don't think we will be voting on any meaningful legislation next year. They cannot move forward on impeachment. They can't move forward on you know, impeaching even the Homeland Security secretary. They don't have a plan for the border that is comprehensive or can pass with the Republican conference. When you have these type majorities and a lack of leadership, this is where you land. So we just have these short term fights about federal spending. Thankfully we don't have to deal with the debt ceiling next year. That would have been a real problem. Well, Henry Ti, given everything you've just said, doesn't that make it all the more amazing that we managed to find an agreement in the House yesterday. I mean, you know, yes, and I don't want to be just contrarian, but they're up. The scenario where we shut down is even worse because there's no path to reopen. So if you shut down the government, we will be shut down for quite some time. People talk about, oh, we couldn't possibly go past two weeks because you'd missed a pay cycle. The last time we did this, for no good reason, with no end in sight, we shut down for thirty five days, right over the Christmas holidays. I think the one thing that's kept my optimism alive contrary to a lot of popular opinion, with you know, twenty percent or less odds that we'd shut down all year, is basically that the alternative is worse. Shutting down means we stay shut down for quite some time. Everybody looks incompetent, and you can't have these fights about fiscal austerity and spending. If you're shut down, it starts to have a material negative impact. So I mean they're both bad options, but shutting down is the worst one, with lots of them looking competent when it's open. Henritta, trace their evade partners, Henritta, thank you. I don't talk to Jim Bartak ahead. Let us get briefs here to say the marriage Jennifer Bartash's marriage counselor joins us with Bloomberg Intelligence. Jen thank you so much for joining. I want you to explain what falls to the bottom line. Home depot has a net income margin of nine is tennis cents. Target I was shocked is three or a moldy four cents on the dollar. Is anybody making money in this business? Good morning, Tom. It's a good question, and it's definitely one of the challenges that we always see in this retail sector. But I have to say, Targets results today we're very encouraging, you know, and it does give a little bit of optimism for the fourth quarter. So when they beat across the board with revenue same store sales, you know, we did see a great increase in margin. That's all really because some of the productivity initiatives that they put in place are starting to really help take cost out of the business. Willmont anst on this news as well. It's up in a free market, buying more than one point two percent. Jen, will hear from that company tomorrow. What is the read across from that company to the other. Well, I think that Target having better than expected results really only means good things for Walmart. Walmart does tend to outperform in environments where people are pulling back or being very careful with their spending, and so I think that a better than expected result today may lead to a very good outlook for tomorrow as well. But Jen, how do you parse through just the management side of things versus the macro call on a management side of saying Target seemed to work down fourteen percent of some of its excess inventory, leading to some of this boost. Does that really cross over to some sort of read through in the broader consumer. Well, I think that what we've seen is across a lot of retailers, they've had to figure out their inventory in kind of this post pandemic world. We went through a phase where everybody was stockpiling inventory so that they've had stuff available, then they had too much and they had to clear it out, and now they're trying to find the right equal librium. And being down versus last year where there were still concerns about supply chain constraints just shows that we're really getting back to that equilibrium and we're seeing it across multiple retailers, and so I think what's important is that inventory is down that much, but they are already stock for holiday, So to us, that also means that they should be able to sell through a good portion of their inventory over the holiday season and not end up in the same position they were in where they had to have a lot of Markdown's post holiday jen Yesterday we were talking about drug stores in certain cities that are putting pictures of toilet paper behind the shelves and then having people ask request for it to be delivered to them from the back of this store. Target did talk about theft to our shrink as they call it, and saying it's still weighing on their margins in a material way. What do you make of this? How long are we going to hear about this in earnings and is this just simply an excuse for margin pressure or is this something that is going to become increasingly concerning for both investors as well as the corporate executives. What we usually see in longer term cycles is that theft escalates whenever the consumer is under pressure, and as inflation is coming down, that actually should be a little bit of a release on that pressure. With regards to theft and the losses that retailers are having. You know, people generally want to do the right thing, and Target in particular has been very vocal about theft levels. We've saw some store closures where they said it was just not profitable to operate, but We do think that as inflation comes down, that should easy get a little bit easier going forward. John, you don't you bihold cell, but I want you to note a four percent dividend, an eleven percent five year dividend growth. I got a multiple of fifteen, which is what one third of the high flyers one fifth of Nvidia. In that can Brian Cornell and his team say we're back on plan the pandemics beyond us and we will have the glide pass of the TAJE we knew years ago. I think we might be at a turning point. It might be a little early to say that we're already there, but I think that today's results definitely indicate that a lot of the strategies that they're retrenching, that they're putting back into place, do put target back on that right trajectory. Jennifer, thanks for the update. Let's cat cheup against tomorrow when we get numbers from Wolmont. Jennifer Pontanshestan of Bloomberg Intetogen's Subscribe to the Bloomberg Surveillance podcast on Apple, Spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Listen live every weekday starting at seven am Eastern I'm Bloomberg dot com, the iHeartRadio app tune In, and the Bloomberg Business App. You can watch us live on Bloomberg Television and always I'm the Bloomberg Terminal. Thanks for listening. I'm Tom Keen, and this is BloombergSee 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11/14/2023… Senators Ron Muzzall, Judy Warnick, Shelly Short and Perry Dozier on “Cultivate Washington,” Senate Republicans' 2024 agenda to protect agriculture. The goal is to address overregulation, farm closures, water-rights, and other issues that threaten Washington's agricultural industry, the heritage of rural communities and our food supply. Tracy Ellis and Laudan Espinoza host this episode, […] The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Cultivate Washington appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

11/8/2023… The biannual changing of the clocks will be a thing of the past in Washington and Oregon if two state Senators get their way. Republican Senators Mike Padden of Washington and Kim Thatcher of Oregon are introducing bills that would keep the Pacific Northwest states on standard time. Sen. Padden talks about it in […] The post Sen. Mike Padden to offer bill creating year-round standard time appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

10/23/2023… Three Latina leaders, Sen. Niki Torres; Deputy Mayor of Moses Lake, Deanna Martinez; and Executive Director of the Center for Latino Leadership, Maia Espinoza discuss Democrat-fueled misconceptions about Eastern Washington Latino communities. The post Latina leaders on Democrat-fueled misconceptions about Latino communities appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Join America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy with U.S. Congressman Doug Lamborn, chairman, Strategic Forces Subcommittee, member, House Armed Services Committee and co-chair, The Congressional Israel Allies Caucus. The conversation focuses on the terrorist attacks carried out by Iranian-backed Hamas killing over 1,400 Israelis including 31 Americans. Over 4,500 Israelis have been wounded, and more than 200 Israeli hostages including Americans have been taken from Israel by Hamas into Gaza. Congressman Lamborn provides an update on the realities on the ground, the difficult road ahead, and the significance of the US-Israel partnership in confronting terrorism and instability in the Middle East. The discussion also focuses on Iran, the state sponsor of terrorism, and how the rogue nation's ambition in acquiring nuclear weapons may adversely impact the region and the world. This past week, Reuters reported, “Russia said it need no longer obey U.N. Security Council restrictions on giving missile technology to its ally Iran once they expire…without saying whether it now planned to support Tehran's missile development.” The Abraham Accords are brought to the forefront as the potential Saudi Arabia - Israel normalization of relations could usher in a historic transformation in the Middle East. America's leadership is vital in advancing peace through strength. On America's Roundtable, Congressman Doug Lamborn also addresses serious concerns about the national security crisis at the US southern border. Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO) In Colorado, Doug Lamborn was called to public office and served in the Colorado General Assembly from 1995 to 2006, in both the State House and State Senate. During his time in the Colorado Legislature, Doug was elected Senate President Pro-Tem, served as Chairman of the Senate State Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, and House Majority Whip. Doug Lamborn was the lead sponsor of the largest tax cut in Colorado history. Doug Lamborn was then elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006 to represent Colorado's Fifth District which is based in Colorado Springs. It is one of our nation's most military-intensive congressional districts and the home to more than 100,000 veterans who have served our country with distinction and honor. Because of the district's military and veteran concentration, Doug serves as a high-ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee and a former member for ten years of the Veterans Affairs Committee. americasrt.com (https://americasrt.com/) https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/ America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472 Twitter: @RepDLamborn @ileaderssummit @AmericasRT @NatashaSrdoc @JoelAnandUSA @supertalk America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit. America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America's economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world. Tune into America's Roundtable Radio program from Washington, DC via live streaming on Saturday mornings via 65 radio stations at 7:30 A.M. (ET) on Lanser Broadcasting Corporation covering the Michigan and the Midwest market, and at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk Mississippi — SuperTalk.FM reaching listeners in every county within the State of Mississippi, and neighboring states in the South including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. Listen to America's Roundtable on digital platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, Google and other key online platforms. Listen live, Saturdays at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk | https://www.supertalk.fm

10/16/2023… MacEwen says there needs to be more government transparency about high gas prices caused by cap-and-tax. He also says the program is hurting working Washingtonians. You can watch the entire interview here: https://ow.ly/LVUB50PXpni   The post Senator Drew MacEwen featured on program about Cap-and-Tax appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

10/9/2023… Recent cases of children overdosing on their parents' fentanyl has Senator Lynda Wilson again pushing her bill to strengthen the penalties for childhood fentanyl exposure. The post Making childhood fentanyl exposure a felony appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

9/25/2023… A court says Latino representation in the 15th Legislative District in Eastern Washington is insufficient to satisfy the federal Voting Rights Act. While Senate Republican Leader John Braun disagrees with that decision, he says the Legislature needs to call itself into session and reconvene the State Redistricting Commission to redraw the map. If the […] The post Legislature should reconvene Redistricting Commission to redraw 15th District map appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

9/19/2023… Should Proceeds from the Democrat's cap-and-tax scheme that's causing gas prices to soar be used to help people struggling with high housing and car-tab costs? Senate Republican Leader John Braun thinks so. The post Use cap-and-tax financial windfall to address affordability crisis appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

9/11/2023… Gas-price hikes from the latest cap-and-trade auctions are sure to hurt drivers and all consumers even more. Senator Curtis King, the Republican leader on the Senate Transportation Committee, talks about it. The post Latest carbon-pricing auctions will cause gasoline prices to continue to rise appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

8/28/2023… The homeless population has exploded in recent years. At the same time, housing prices have skyrocketed. Senator Phil Fortunato is the Ranking Republican on the Senate Housing Committee. He has a plan to tackle both that he calls Homelessness to Housing. The post Homelessness to Housing with Senator Phil Fortunato appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

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

The Senate Republican Caucus needs to see a GOP Nominee in Ohio against incumbent Sherrod Brown who can win along the northern border as well as in Cinncy. State Senator Matt Dolan joined Hugh today to make his case after Bernie Moreno made his earlier in the week and on an earlier pod. Plus, Morgan Ortagus and Sarah Bedford.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How does a Democrat bill now in the legislature go after firearms manufacturers in the state? Cracking down on organized retail theft is the aim of a bill in the state Senate. The future of farming is the focus of a Senator Torres' first bill to pass out of the state Senate. Sen Shelly Short […] The post Sen. Braun on 2nd Amendment, Sen. Torres is busy, Sen. Short on housing appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

State Senate and House Republican leaders are panning the Democrats' new ‘wealth tax' proposal. The post The Democrat Wealth Tax appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senate Republican Leader John Braun explains why “Rebooting Education” is a top priority for Senate Republicans this legislative session. The post Reboot Education appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Republican state Senators John Braun and Lynda Wilson speak about restoring public safety, returning affordability, and rebooting education at a 2023 legislative session preview sponsored by the Association of Broadcasters and Allied Daily Newspapers. The post 2023 Legislative Session Preview appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

State Senate Republicans unveil a trio of bills to improve public safety. Senator Mike Padden, the ranking Republican on the Senate Law and Justice committee talks about them. The post Senate Republicans file bills to reverse criminal friendly Democrat laws appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Republican state Senator Phil Fortunato says Washington State Democrats are switching course and adopting a Republican-led homeless approach. He says much of what Democrats are now proposing was covered under his “Shelter Act,” which Democrats opposed. The post New Democrat homelessness policies originally part of Republican package that Democratic lawmakers sought to kill appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senator Ron Muzzall, who serves on the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee, explains that care providers are facing many urgent challenges. The post Health care challenges in Washington appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Homes in Washington are expensive. Why? Senator Lynda Wilson tries to answer that question. The post What makes Washington homes so expensive appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Senate Republicans have a new affordable and comprehensive energy plan that they believe offers fair and reliable solutions to benefit all Washingtonians. The post The Power Washington energy plan appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

The results of the 2022 midterm election have changed the power dynamics of the Minnesota Senate. Senator Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, was selected by her Senate DFL colleagues as the next Majority Leader. In the role, she will navigate the caucus' priorities in setting the agenda for the entire Senate. Senator Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, will head the Senate Republican Caucus as the next Minority Leader. The new leaders join moderator Shannon Loehrke to talk about their new responsibilities.Twenty-four freshman Senators-elect spent two days at the State Capitol for new member orientation sessions, which included learning about Senate customs and procedures. Shannon spoke with some of the newly-elected members about their initial impressions.

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver is our guest on this episode of ITR Live. As Majority Leader, Whitver leads the Senate Republican caucus, not just through the legislative session, but during campaign season as well. Senator Whitver discusses the importance of tax policy to the future of our state and why it remains a top issue for the Senate Republican Caucus. With just four weeks left until Election Day, Senator Whitver previews the upcoming Iowa Senate elections and what tax issues could be in play when the legislature comes back in January 2023.

Restoring public safety is a top priority for state Senate Republicans. This podcast features the Ranking Republican on the Senate Law and Justice Committee – Senator Mike Padden, Chelan County Sheriff – Brian Burnett, Snohomish County Sheriff – Adam Fortney, and Seattle City Attorney – Ann Davison. The post The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Senate Republicans Want to Restore Public Safety appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

A series of new and higher taxes on income, property, sales, and driving are set to take effect beginning in January 2023, thanks to actions in the past two Democrat-controlled legislative sessions. Senator Lynda Wilson, the Senate Republican budget lead, detailed these looming tax hikes in the latest edition of her Rational Steps policy paper. The post Looming 2023 Tax Hikes Will Exacerbate the Affordability Crisis appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Mitch McConnell, the perpetually sour old goose who heads the Senate Republican Caucus, had a hissy fit when the news leaked out that American women are about to have their most fundamental constitutional right taken from them by a cabal of Supreme Court judges. What made Mitch twitch, of course, was not the bad news for women… but the leak. He huffed that revealing the right-wing Court's scheme to the public was a “stunning breach,” spewing that it's “an attack on the independence of the Supreme Court.” Uh, Mitch… the so-called Supremes have been meeting behind closed doors specifically to plot an all-out attack on the independence of some 170 million women to control their own bodies. Why aren't you opposing the secrecy, rather than supporting the Court's subversion of women's liberty? Perversely, the entire Republican leadership is outraged by the leak, rather than the attack on women. Right-wing blowhard Ted Cruz, for example, yapped that informing the public “will do lasting damage to the integrity of the Court.” Uh, Ted… you and your ideological ilk annihilated the Court's integrity – and its legitimacy – when you stacked it with a covey of corporate-coddling partisan hacks like Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Thomas. Then came Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a Trump acolyte, ludicrously blathering that the leak of the judicial plan is “despicable.” Why? Well, he explained to us commoners, the Court “is not a political body.” If ignorance is bliss, Mike must be ecstatic! The GOP majority on this court is so immersed in its own partisan biases that it is routinely ruling against workers, the environment, women, voting rights, local communities… and democracy itself. No surprise then that public trust in the integrity of these “arbiters of justice” is crashing. If the Court won't respect our democratic ideals, the people won't respect the Court.

Homegrown extremism in America.   This week marks the ten-year anniversary of the Facebook corporation going public on Wall Street. We examine that story from two different angles: The growing income inequality in America, which has often been fueled by Silicon Valley bubbles and the financialization of our economy, and the way Big Tech has helped stoke right-wing rhetoric—and even violence.   Ron Formisano Distinguished historian Ron Formisano has written a book about plutocracy and says we are in a new “gilded age” when the state and federal governments are up for sale. Brian Levin Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino, is one of the most trusted voices on hate and extremism in America. We discuss how the landscape of political violence has changed under the Trump administration. Jim Hightower   Why Should We the People Respect a Court That Disrespects the People?   Mitch McConnell, the perpetually sour old goose who heads the Senate Republican Caucus, had a hissy fit when the news leaked out that American women are about to have their most fundamental constitutional right taken from them by a cabal of Supreme Court judges.   What made Mitch twitch, of course, was not the bad news for women… but the leak. Bill Press Midterm Ground Zero.   Former Progressive Caucus Co-chair Mark Pocan and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin are at the center of the 2022 midterms. Ron Johnson is up for reelection and control of the Senate may hinge on that race. There are competitive House seats that may determine control in that chamber. In Wisconsin the legislature is so gerrymandered, it is almost impossible for the Democrats to gain control. So having a Democratic governor is the one check on the extremist Wisconsin Republican Party.   If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.  

Majority Democrats in the state Legislature pushed through a transportation package during the session that raises some fees drivers must pay by as much as 400-percent. It also doesn't include needed projects in several parts of the state outside of the Central Puget Sound region. Senator Curtis King,  the ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation […] The post Transportation for Washington appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Tracy Ellis takes a look at some of the things that happened this week in Olympia. The post This Week In Olympia Mar. 6 – Mar. 12 appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Tracy Ellis takes a look at some of the things that happened this week in Olympia. The post This Week In Olympia Feb. 27 – Mar. 4 appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Tracy Ellis takes a look at some of the things that happened this week in Olympia. The post This Week In Olympia Feb. 20 – Feb. 25 appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Tracy Ellis takes a look at some of the things that happened this week in Olympia. The post This Week In Olympia Feb. 13 – Feb. 18 appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Tracy Ellis takes a look at some of the things that happened this week in Olympia. The post This Week In Olympia Feb. 05 – Feb. 12 appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Tracy Ellis takes a look at some of the things that happened this week in Olympia. The post This Week In Olympia Jan. 31 – Feb. 04 appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

The Elephant in the Dome Podcast: Tracy Ellis takes a look at some of the things that happened this week in Olympia. The post This Week In Olympia Jan. 24 – Jan. 28 appeared first on Senate Republican Caucus.

Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen, a Whatcom County Republican, has died, according to an announcement from the Senate Republican Caucus on Saturday. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Minnesota is in the midst of uncertain times – with ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and an emerging variant, plus congestion in the supply chain and a labor shortage. There also are positive signs, including better-than-projected revenues for the current fiscal year and economic opportunities overseas for Minnesota businesses . Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joins moderator Shannon Loehrke to talk about the status of Minnesota's economy, the recent trade mission, the grading of his COVID-19 response, leveraging federal infrastructure funds and tackling the workforce shortage.Senator Jeremy Miller's recent elevation to Senate Majority Leader left a vacancy in the role of Senate President. At a mid-October meeting, members of the Senate Republican Caucus elected Senator David Osmek, R-Mound, as the next President of the Senate. He talks with Shannon about his new role.Former Senate Secretary Pat Flahaven passed away recently at the age of 78. He had retired from the Minnesota Senate in 2009, having served as the chief parliamentarian for 36 years. He was a pivotal figure in the modernization and professionalization of the Minnesota Senate's operations. Shannon provides a brief look at some of his lasting contributions.

Senator Jeremy Miller's recent elevation to Senate Majority Leader left a vacancy in the role of Senate President. At a mid-October meeting, members of the Senate Republican Caucus elected Senator David Osmek, R-Mound, as the next President of the Senate. He joins Capitol Report moderator Shannon Loehrke to talk about his new role.  The Office of the Legislative Auditor was established in 1973 to provide nonpartisan and independent examinations of spending, resources and programs throughout state government.  Jim Nobles has been at the helm of this work as Minnesota's Legislative Auditor for the past 38 years.  He talks with Shannon about his years of state service, which began with an internship for the Research Department in the House of Representatives in 1972.Also in the program, details about the contrasting legislative proposals resulting from the Frontline Worker Pay Working Group and highlights from a joint meeting of the Senate Judiciary and Transportation committees on the increase in criminal activities in and around the metro area.

Today, I speak with Justin Brecht. He is the Senior Policy Analyst for the Senate Republican Caucus. He oversees the following Committees: Judiciary, Finance and Revenue, Veteran and Emergency Preparedness and Rules. We talk about which bills he thinks have a chance of passing for this legislative session that started on January 19th. This recording was made on January 22nd, 2021. If you have questions about the legislative session, please email Justin at brechtjustin@yahoo.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/youngrepublicansoforegon/message

We are so honored to have Senator Shannon Grove and CEO of Continental Labor on our show today. Senator Shannon Grove was born and raised in Kern County and is thankful for the  sacrifices her single mother made to ensure she grew up in a loving environment. 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 and Leader of the Senate Republican Caucus in January 2019. She is the first  female veteran and third female to serve in the top leadership post of the Senate  Republican Caucus. Senator Grove currently lives in Kern County with her husband, Rick. They are the  proud parents of five children and six grandchildren. Check out Senator Grove! @shannongroveca https://www.clsri.com/ Follow Us: @bossladyduo @the.ellie.way @jessicakim75 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bosschats/support

Today on Educate For Life, Kevin has as his guest, Congressman Brian Jones. Brian W. Jones was elected in 2018 to serve California's 38th Senate district. He is Chair of the Senate Republican Caucus. Prior to serving in the Senate, Jones was a Santee City Council Member for eight years from 2001 to 2010 then again from 2017 to 2018. Jones was the representative for the 71st Assembly District from 2010 to 2016. Jones grew up in the district and attended Santee Elementary, Cajon Park Middle School, and Santana High School. He continued his education at Grossmont College before earning a bachelor's degree in business administration at San Diego State University. Some of his legislative priorities during his Assembly years were lowering taxes, creating an economic environment for small businesses to thrive, supporting our Armed Forces and our veterans, and protecting our Second Amendment rights. Jones' legislative achievements include the introduction and co-authorship of “Made in America” legislation, which makes it easier for manufacturers to do business in California, legislation to support the growing craft beverage industry in California, and legislation allowing non-motorized vehicles such as scooters, bicycles, and wheelchairs in skate parks. He became well known for his annual Second Amendment Awareness event, which educated his constituents on their Second Amendment rights and helped attendees learn how to control a firearm safely. Jones' commitment to improving the lives of all Californians resulted in many awards including California Rifle and Pistol Association Outstanding Leader (2016), the Civil Justice Association of California Civil Justice Leadership Award (2015), the California Society for Respiratory Care Legislator of the Year (2015), the California Chiropractor Association Chiropractic Champion Award (2014), Lakeside Chamber of Commerce Legislator of the Year (2014), and Tech America's “Tech Champion” (2012). Brian Jones is now running for the 50th congressional district in the U.S. Senate. To learn more about Brian Jones, check out https://www.electbrianjones.com/about-brian This episode first aired on Jan 11, 2020 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.