Bannon's War Room - January 16, 2025


Episode 4199： Scott Bessent Hearing： Financially Rescuing America


Episode Stats

Length

1 hour and 2 minutes

Words per Minute

160.09006

Word Count

10,002

Sentence Count

744

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

6


Summary

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, D-N.Y., are joined by Sen. Scott Ayotte (R-SC), who is the chairman of the Banking Committee, to introduce Scott Besson, who is nominated to be the next Treasury secretary.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Thank you.
00:00:01.660 Thank you, Senator Graham.
00:00:04.460 We appreciate you giving this introduction, and you are now excused, as is our practice.
00:00:12.360 And, Mr. Besant, before we turn it over to you for your opening statement,
00:00:16.820 I have four questions that we ask all nominees who come before this committee.
00:00:22.920 The first is, is there anything that you are aware of in your background that might present a conflict of interest with—
00:00:29.360 As soon as Scott goes, we're going to go back.
00:00:31.400 That's Lindsey Graham teeing him up as a South Carolinian.
00:00:34.640 Scott's going to give an opening statement that I think outlines President Trump's thinking about the economy and about how we finance it.
00:00:45.460 And then he's going to take questions, and I think this is going to get a little rough today.
00:00:50.060 They are—look, their angle of attack is on Pam Bondi and on Lee Zeldin and on Scott.
00:00:54.720 Maybe not as personal, right, as they attacked some of the other people, but I think it's going to be pretty intense,
00:01:02.080 and we want to make sure we get all of them.
00:01:04.820 Scott, once again, once again, the economic team of President Trump will be Russ Vogt at OMB,
00:01:11.120 Scott Besson at Treasury, Howard Lutkin, who they have not scheduled yet at Commerce.
00:01:16.280 Commerce is going to have a lot to say about the tariffs and the whole external revenue service,
00:01:20.400 although I think it's going to be housed at Treasury.
00:01:23.840 And, of course, Peter Navarro is not.
00:01:25.740 Okay, Scott Besson, let's go back and hear Scott's opening statement.
00:01:29.380 The Treasury.
00:01:30.700 I want to thank all of you who took the time to meet with me over the past few weeks.
00:01:35.600 I want to thank my spouse, John Freeman, who is here today, and my wonderful children, Cole and Caroline,
00:01:41.660 who are sitting behind me.
00:01:44.320 Mr. Besson, could you pull the microphone a little closer to you, who are sitting behind me for the ultimate civics lesson?
00:01:54.160 I want to acknowledge three people who couldn't be here today.
00:01:57.980 My 98-year-old mother-in-law, Selene Freeman, a World War II French war bride of an American soldier
00:02:05.240 who lives with us in Charleston, South Carolina, making for a three-generation household.
00:02:10.180 My sister, Paige McLeod-Besson, who doesn't like crowds and prefers the mountains of South Carolina to large cities.
00:02:17.320 And my recently deceased sister, Wynne-Besson, who worked tirelessly as a public defender in one of South Carolina's poorest counties.
00:02:26.120 I also want to thank President Donald Trump for having placed his trust and competence in me for such an important role in his administration.
00:02:34.700 While I have met with many of you, most Americans watching at home will be unfamiliar with my background.
00:02:42.780 I have been blessed with a fulfilling and successful career, but my presence here today was far from predetermined.
00:02:50.440 I was born and raised in the South Carolina little country.
00:02:53.940 My father fell into extreme financial difficulty when I was young.
00:02:57.700 When I was nine years old, I started working two summer jobs, and I haven't stopped working since.
00:03:04.220 I eventually made my way to Yale.
00:03:07.480 I accepted my first internship in finance because the job came with a pull-out sofa in the office to sleep on,
00:03:14.960 which allowed me to live in New York City rent-free.
00:03:19.260 I've been involved in the financial markets ever since.
00:03:22.500 I've been fortunate enough to work with some of the world's greatest investors in a career that has taken me to almost 60 countries over 40 years.
00:03:33.260 My life has been the only in America story that I am determined to preserve for future generations.
00:03:40.180 Today, I believe that President Trump has a generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age
00:03:50.300 that will create more jobs, wealth, and prosperity for all Americans.
00:03:56.520 My life's work in the private sector has given me a deep understanding of the economy and markets.
00:04:02.520 And while this experience will be invaluable in crafting economic policy,
00:04:07.260 I have long adhered to the principle that you should know what you don't know and lean on those who do.
00:04:13.400 Having never served in government, I intend, if confirmed, to be in close contact with each of you in your offices and seek your counsel.
00:04:23.560 The Treasury Department plays a critical role in protecting American national security.
00:04:28.760 We must secure supply chains that are vulnerable to strategic competitors,
00:04:34.260 and we must carefully deploy sanctions as part of a whole-of-government approach to address our national security requirements.
00:04:43.240 And critically, we must ensure that the U.S. dollar remains the world's reserve currency.
00:04:49.980 Today, Americans face significant challenges in an economy that has not created enough opportunities for working men and women.
00:05:00.020 We have an affordability crisis, a housing shortage, and for the first time in my lifetime,
00:05:05.740 parents feel as though the American dream is slipping away from their children.
00:05:09.060 The federal government has a significant spending problem driving deficits that have averaged an historically high 7% of GDP during the past four years.
00:05:21.000 We must work to get our fiscal house in order and adjust federal domestic discretionary spending
00:05:27.580 that has grown by an astonishing 40% over the past four years.
00:05:32.960 Productive investment that grows the economy must be prioritized over wasteful spending that drives inflation.
00:05:41.940 As we begin 2025, Americans are barreling towards an economic crisis a year-end.
00:05:47.940 If Congress fails to act, Americans will face the largest tax increase in history, a crushing $4 trillion tax hike.
00:05:57.280 We must make permanent the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and implement new pro-growth policies to reduce the tax burden
00:06:08.580 on American manufacturers, service workers, and seniors.
00:06:13.080 I've already spoken with several members of the committee, as well as leaders of the House,
00:06:18.000 about the best approach to achieving these important goals together.
00:06:21.680 As President Trump has said, we will unleash the American economy by implementing pro-growth regulatory policies,
00:06:29.880 reducing taxes, and unleashing American energy production.
00:06:33.480 The breadth and depth of our capital markets, along with predictable pro-growth tax policy,
00:06:39.700 and smart, updated regulation, will continue to make America the most popular destination in the world
00:06:46.540 for starting, growing, and taking public a business.
00:06:49.680 And as we rebuild our economy and lay the foundation for the next generation of American competitiveness,
00:06:56.640 we must use all the tools available to realign the economic system to better serve the interests of working Americans.
00:07:06.120 For too long, our nation has allowed unfair distortions in the international trading system.
00:07:11.920 President Trump was the first president in modern times to recognize the need to change our trade policy
00:07:20.000 and stand up for American workers.
00:07:22.380 If confirmed, I look forward to working with President Trump and members of this committee to do just that.
00:07:29.880 Members of the committee, these are just some of many important goals that President Trump has laid out for me
00:07:35.580 and others on his economic team.
00:07:38.540 I firmly believe that if confirmed, and with your counsel and support,
00:07:42.660 we can usher in a new, more balanced era of prosperity
00:07:45.980 that will lift up all Americans and rebuild communities and families across the country.
00:07:51.540 I humbly thank you for your consideration, and am eager to take your questions.
00:07:56.180 Thank you, Mr. Besson.
00:07:59.680 Before I begin my questions, I want to reemphasize how appreciative I am of your diligence
00:08:05.120 in the process that we've gone through vetting here in this Senate.
00:08:09.120 I appreciate the more than 3,000 pages of supporting material you've provided,
00:08:13.900 as well as the countless hours you and your staff have offered to respond to questions from members of this committee.
00:08:20.060 Let me be clear, you followed all of the applicable law
00:08:25.760 and met the committee's long-standing diligence standard.
00:08:29.260 Your process matched that which has applied to nominees in every previous administration.
00:08:36.020 And I want to go in my first question to you to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,
00:08:42.920 which Senator Wyden and I have both mentioned already and you've mentioned in your remarks.
00:08:47.640 The attack on this statute, this law, which is law, I remind everybody, it is the law now.
00:08:55.520 It was passed in 2017, is that it was a tax cut for the wealthy.
00:09:01.040 I appreciate you, Mr. Besson, noting that it will be a $4-plus trillion tax increase if we do not extend this law.
00:09:09.480 And a point that I would remind all of my colleagues is that if that $4-plus trillion tax increase happens,
00:09:18.460 it's not just going to be something that impacts the wealthy.
00:09:22.960 It is $2.6 trillion of it.
00:09:25.880 The majority of it falls on people who make less $400,000 for a family with two taxpayers for under $400,000 per year.
00:09:41.100 That's the number that President Biden chose to say he wanted to protect it.
00:09:45.760 $2.6 trillion of this tax cut hits those making less than $400,000.
00:09:50.300 Moreover, massive amounts of it hit pass-through entities, small businesses across this country.
00:09:58.740 This is not a tax cut for the wealthy that we are talking about.
00:10:02.020 It is a tax increase on all Americans, the majority of whom are in the lower and middle income categories.
00:10:09.740 My question to you is, one of our pivotal tax is to make sure that this tax increase does not happen.
00:10:18.260 Can you give us your perspective on the impact that would occur in this country if we allowed this $4 trillion tax increase to happen?
00:10:31.500 Senator Crapo, thank you for this, and thank you for the meetings over the past few weeks.
00:10:39.440 I've enjoyed working with your staff.
00:10:41.760 And this is the single most important economic issue of the day.
00:10:45.900 This is pass-fail, that if we do not fix these tax cuts, if we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity.
00:11:03.500 And as always, with financial instability, that falls on the middle and working class people.
00:11:11.220 We will see a gigantic middle-class tax increase.
00:11:16.820 We will see the child tax credit halved.
00:11:20.140 We will see the deductions halved.
00:11:23.980 So it will be what we call in economics, it has the potential for a sudden stop.
00:11:30.960 And as I said, traditionally with these sudden stops, it falls on working Americans.
00:11:37.940 Thank you, and I would just say to you, you may be aware of this, but the Tax Foundation has indicated that if we do sustain these tax cuts and protect them from expiring and stop this tax increase,
00:11:55.460 that the extension of this policy would increase the growth of the GDP in the United States by 1.1% over time.
00:12:04.420 Similarly, and I don't know how they came up with the same number, but the National Association of Manufacturers indicates that if we don't extend this tax relief,
00:12:14.980 that there will be a 1.1% reduction in growth of jobs and development in our economy.
00:12:26.760 It seems to me that as we are talking about what to do for America, that protecting America from a 1% reduction versus a 1% growth in GDP is a critical objective.
00:12:44.740 Could you just give a little bit of perspective?
00:12:46.600 I know you just answered this question in another context, but could you just give a little bit more perspective on those kinds of dynamics?
00:12:54.300 And I'm sorry, I'm going to try to keep to five minutes, and we've only got about 15 seconds left of mine, and I want to be sure everybody else stays on time, so I will, too.
00:13:02.320 Could you quickly respond?
00:13:03.540 Well, Senator, I would just say that we saw the power of these tax cuts in 18, 19, and going into January of 20,
00:13:13.160 before they were interrupted by COVID and the great success that we had.
00:13:18.520 Thank you.
00:13:20.500 Senator Wyden.
00:13:21.220 Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
00:13:22.900 Let me say to the nominee, I've got four questions that I'm going to ask, and if we both can keep it brief,
00:13:28.260 I think we can get to all of them, because I think it really frames for us what the debate is all about.
00:13:33.340 I'm going to start by talking about the future of direct file.
00:13:39.100 This is the program that helps our people who choose it to save hundreds of dollars when they file their tax return.
00:13:47.840 Last year, the IRS launched it.
00:13:50.780 It was enormously popular among taxpayers.
00:13:54.460 But, of course, the tax software giants in their big lobby just hate it.
00:13:59.400 They want to shut it down.
00:14:01.460 Now, the filing season starts January 27, so it opens in 10 days, and millions of taxpayers around the country have already been notified that they are going to be eligible to use direct file this year.
00:14:16.060 So, I won't do this for every question, but I'd really like a yes or no on this one.
00:14:23.680 Will you commit to keeping direct file up and running if you're confirmed?
00:14:30.920 I will commit that for this tax season, the direct file will be operative, and the American taxpayers who choose to use it will.
00:14:44.580 And if confirmed, I will consult and study the program and understand it better and make sure that it works to serve the IRS's three goals of collections, customer service, and privacy.
00:15:01.800 I appreciate the answer.
00:15:04.900 It means that taxpayers are going to save who choose to use it because it's voluntary hundreds of dollars, and we'll have a chance to see once again how popular it is with practically everybody except the tax prep software crowd.
00:15:18.780 On to tariffs, Donald Trump, with no plan and no strategy, says he's going to put across-the-board tariffs, blanket tariffs on all important goods, which means that our workers and our small businesses are going to get clobbered with additional taxes on practically everything they buy from other countries.
00:15:41.600 My question here is, who would pay these tariffs, Americans or foreign countries?
00:15:50.840 So, Senator Wyden, just to understand, so I can frame the answer correctly, do you believe that these tariffs are a consumption tax increase?
00:16:05.300 I believe these tariffs, you can call it whatever you want in terms of trying to gussy it up, they're going to be paid for by our workers and small businesses.
00:16:16.480 And all through the campaign, we heard they weren't, that foreign countries were going to pay it.
00:16:20.040 I think that's baloney.
00:16:21.360 It's going to be paid for by workers and small businesses.
00:16:24.420 So, your response?
00:16:26.340 Yes, Senator, I would respectfully disagree.
00:16:29.720 And the history of tariffs and tariff theory, optimal tariff theory, does not support what you're saying.
00:16:38.480 Traditionally, we see that the current, if we were to say use a number that has been thrown around in the press of 10%, then traditionally the currency appreciates by 4%.
00:16:52.000 So, the 10% is not passed through.
00:16:54.860 Then we have various elasticities, consumer preferences may change.
00:17:01.300 And finally, foreign manufacturers, especially China, especially China, which is trying to export their way out of their current economic malaise, they will continue cutting prices to maintain market share.
00:17:17.300 Okay.
00:17:18.100 That's an academic view of it.
00:17:20.780 But what I know is the history of this is it clobbers people of modest means.
00:17:27.480 They're the people who are going to get hit.
00:17:29.220 And all through the campaign, there was a big show that was going to be paid for by foreigners, not so.
00:17:34.460 Two other questions I want to get in.
00:17:37.560 And I already made it clear, and you and I talked about this.
00:17:42.820 I'm for a tax code that gives everybody the opportunity to get ahead.
00:17:47.460 You and I talked about my friend Bill Bradley.
00:17:49.760 He and I have been working for this for years.
00:17:52.600 Do you believe the tax code should treat wages differently than it treats wealth?
00:17:58.380 Look, in any tax system that advantages and creates distortions, it is a change that, Senator, it is a decision that was made when the tax codes were written.
00:18:16.660 And so every tax code involves the tradeoffs and distortions in favor of other gains.
00:18:31.320 It sounds to me like you do believe that it's fine to treat wealth more favorably.
00:18:38.440 I couldn't disagree more.
00:18:40.300 The idea that a dollar earned by a hedge fund manager has more value than a dollar earned by a teacher or a factory worker, I just think it's a disconnect with the American people.
00:18:50.320 One last question, and that is about the legislation that was written in this room that was the biggest transformation on clean energy in American history.
00:19:00.180 That is our package that basically said the tax code as it relates to energy is a broken down mess.
00:19:06.140 And we basically said we're going to have a technology neutral system.
00:19:10.220 The more you reduce carbon, the bigger your tax savings.
00:19:13.820 Now there is a big effort in the Trump administration to reverse it.
00:19:18.400 I think that's going to be bad for the economy, but it is going to be damn good for China because we are in an arms race on clean energy with them.
00:19:25.820 Are you going to be on the side of people who want to unravel this?
00:19:28.860 Senator Wyden, just so we can frame this for everyone in the room, China will build a hundred new coal plants this year.
00:19:41.920 There is not a clean energy race.
00:19:44.620 There is an energy race.
00:19:46.340 China will build 10 nuclear plants this year.
00:19:49.520 That is not solar.
00:19:50.620 I am in favor of more nuclear plants.
00:19:56.140 And I would note that the IRA, as scored by the CBO, is wildly out of control in terms of spending on the upside.
00:20:06.720 Well, first of all, the clean energy package does protect nuclear because members on both sides of the aisle in this room wanted it to be that way.
00:20:14.500 But if you're going to talk about fossils, the United States has achieved a greater level of energy security than we've had in generations.
00:20:21.820 Oil and gas production is at record highs.
00:20:24.240 And it's not just that, but it's about clean energy.
00:20:27.320 And I'm very troubled by your position denying that we're in an arms race with China on clean energy because we definitely are.
00:20:34.840 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:20:35.540 We do need to move on.
00:20:37.200 I told Senator Wyden he could have those four questions, but I want to remind everybody else we've got a five-minute time.
00:20:43.240 He deserved those extra questions.
00:20:46.380 Senator Grassley.
00:20:47.780 Mr. President, congratulations.
00:20:50.920 I want to start out with where you and I talked about something in my office.
00:20:56.140 And you remember that tongue-in-cheek comment I made to you that you're going to be asked by the chairman, will you answer all of our letters?
00:21:04.440 And everybody that comes to the Hill says, yes, they're going to.
00:21:08.440 And I said, maybe you better say maybe, because most people don't keep that promise.
00:21:15.980 So I just want to remind you, if I write you a letter on my oversight responsibilities, I'd appreciate it if you'd answer it.
00:21:23.060 Now to my first question.
00:21:24.440 My Democrat colleagues believe—you're going to put that up.
00:21:29.220 My Democrat colleagues believe the only solution to our unsustainable debt and deficit is higher tax rates, and that ends up being on job creators and families alike.
00:21:42.700 However, history proves that high tax rates fail to raise significant revenues.
00:21:49.880 Taxpayers, workers, and investors are smarter than that.
00:21:53.520 In other words, they're smarter than we in Congress that thinks that at one time a 93 percent marginal tax rate would bring in more revenue than a 70 percent tax rate or a 50 percent tax rate or a 30 percent tax rate or a 40 percent tax rate and so on.
00:22:14.000 But as you can see from this card, Congress isn't too smart, because the taxpayers decide how much money they're going to bring into the federal treasury.
00:22:24.980 Now on the other side of the ledger, federal spending is at levels we've never seen outside of war and recession and still growing.
00:22:33.760 So I'm making a statement to you, but if you'd like to comment on whether or not we have a fiscal imbalance primarily or a spending problem rather than a revenue problem.
00:22:50.180 Senator Grassley, I enjoyed visiting you in your office and will remind you that when we were talking about the American agriculture,
00:23:01.020 that I may be the first Treasury Secretary nominee in a long time who knows what a section is, 642 acres, and involved in the farming business.
00:23:12.020 And yes, we do not have a revenue problem in the United States of America.
00:23:16.420 We have a spending problem that historically, for the past 40 or 50 years, revenues, federal government revenues, have averaged about 17 to 17 and a half percent of GDP.
00:23:31.020 And spending has been slightly over that, leading us to a three and a half percent budget deficit,
00:23:38.520 which is manageable because we have roughly 3.8 percent nominal growth, 1.8 percent real growth, 2 percent inflation.
00:23:47.720 Today, as you stated, and to be clear, this is one of the things that got me out from behind my desk and my quiet life in this campaign was the thought that this spending is out of control.
00:24:04.040 For example, we are spending about 24 to 25 percent of GDP, so as you said, 6.8 to 7 percent deficit.
00:24:12.980 We have never seen this before when it is not a recession or not a war.
00:24:17.920 And I am concerned because several times the Treasury of the United States has been called upon to save the nation.
00:24:26.080 Whether it was the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II, or the recent COVID epidemic,
00:24:35.020 Treasury, along with full government and Congress, has used its borrowing capacity to save the Union, to save the world, and to save the American people.
00:24:50.080 And what we currently have now, we would be hard-pressed to do the same.
00:24:55.620 My last question is one I ask a lot of people that come from Treasury.
00:25:03.100 While I oppose tax hikes on individuals, families, and small businesses,
00:25:08.720 I've long championed sensible policies geared towards shutting down tax loopholes and providing tools to IRS to detect tax cheats.
00:25:18.920 A primary example is my legislation that I authored in 2006,
00:25:25.020 the IRS whistleblower law has brought $6 billion back into the Federal Treasury.
00:25:31.700 This program could raise billions more if the IRS would use it to its full potential.
00:25:37.960 So I hope I can count on you if you're confirmed, and I think you'll be confirmed,
00:25:42.560 to be supportive of this whistleblower program and work to ensure its full use to its full potential.
00:25:50.800 Senator Grassley, we are in complete alignment on this program.
00:25:59.900 Thank you.
00:26:00.620 Next would be Senator Cornyn.
00:26:05.480 Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:26:07.000 Mr. Benson, welcome to Washington, D.C.
00:26:09.760 You're getting a taste of what it's like here, which is an out-of-body experience for most people who are not acquainted with it.
00:26:18.020 I happen to represent a state that has the eighth largest economy in the world.
00:26:23.720 We think we understand the formula for economic growth and prosperity and opportunity,
00:26:29.480 which are low taxes, a reasonable and modest regulatory footprint,
00:26:35.460 and opportunities for people to prosper,
00:26:39.560 and by prospering, invest and create opportunities for other people to pursue their dreams.
00:26:45.000 We think there's a lot Washington can learn from that formula,
00:26:48.760 and it sounds to me like you agree.
00:26:53.300 One of the strange experiences I've had here is that so many of our colleagues,
00:26:59.480 principally on the other side, think that the money that you earn is not actually yours.
00:27:04.420 It's the federal government's.
00:27:06.120 Okay.
00:27:06.620 John Cornyn right there with Scott Besson.
00:27:09.100 Some of the responses to Scott Besson, I think his response has been absolutely fantastic.
00:27:15.000 We do want to get, in the limited time we've got, we're going to get some of the Democrats that are going to come hard at Scott.
00:27:20.100 But he said right there, if we do not pass the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017,
00:27:29.560 which we worked so hard on in the Trump first term, that we're going to have economic calamity.
00:27:36.940 He also says something I think is very important.
00:27:38.480 We say it all the time, is that we don't have a revenue problem.
00:27:42.180 Roughly between 17% and 17.5% of GDP has been the revenue.
00:27:47.700 Pretty solid.
00:27:48.560 We have a spending problem.
00:27:50.420 And this gets back to the House Freedom Caucus just gave this proposal.
00:27:56.700 And I think they're tipping their hand.
00:27:58.280 They're saying, hey, they want a four, for the debt ceiling, want a $4 trillion lift for two years.
00:28:05.320 Well, hey, I'm just a simple guy.
00:28:06.940 I do the math, it looks to me like $2 trillion a year in deficits.
00:28:10.500 They also lay out a whole host of cuts that have got to come.
00:28:13.880 But once again, it's getting to this 10-year program.
00:28:16.380 I said at Politico the other day, I want to stop the 10-year.
00:28:19.340 It's not that I don't like planning downrange, but we're in a crisis.
00:28:23.720 You can see this in the bond market today.
00:28:25.480 It made the questions of Scott Besson.
00:28:27.140 Scott Besson just said right there, because I know Scott very well.
00:28:29.580 He came back.
00:28:30.400 He left the hedge fund business to come and take a salary, I don't know,
00:28:33.220 of $190,000 a year or $200,000 a year to serve as country during a time of a crisis.
00:28:40.140 We're in a crisis.
00:28:41.540 And finally, the political class is waking up here.
00:28:43.700 Why?
00:28:44.000 Because the Democrats just had an orgy of spending with the Republican establishment
00:28:48.160 that backed them up over the last four years,
00:28:49.980 and they created the oligarchs that they whine about now in his farewell address.
00:28:56.580 It was fine when the oligarchs and the platforms worked to suppress MAGA
00:29:01.140 and the MAGA movement and President Trump, okay?
00:29:04.620 But now that you guys have been tossed from office,
00:29:06.920 one of the reasons people were tired of that and hated that,
00:29:10.820 all of a sudden it's bad.
00:29:13.240 Scott said we have a spending problem.
00:29:15.300 Here is what I think everybody has to reorient themselves to,
00:29:18.080 and I'm going to be adamant about this.
00:29:19.980 I don't care about 10 years.
00:29:21.920 I don't care about five years right now.
00:29:24.060 I care about this year and next year.
00:29:27.240 This is essentially what you have to do is you're an investment banker
00:29:29.640 and you go in to help a company finance,
00:29:31.820 particularly companies that turn around
00:29:33.540 or somebody that could go into bankruptcy.
00:29:37.280 You have to do a restructuring or a turnaround.
00:29:39.560 You've got to be very hard.
00:29:41.020 You say, I can't hear a happy talk.
00:29:42.300 Don't give me a three-year projection.
00:29:43.560 Don't give me a five-year projection.
00:29:44.600 I need the next 100 days, the next six months, the next year.
00:29:47.980 And what you do is you go back and look at the trailing 12 months.
00:29:51.860 Let me see what you just did, not even over the last year,
00:29:55.060 just the last 12 months.
00:29:56.400 So it's not even your fiscal year or your economic year,
00:29:59.140 just the 12 months.
00:30:00.540 And I want to monitor that and see how it's doing.
00:30:02.420 We just announced yesterday the record deficit, record in history deficit for,
00:30:11.160 I think it's up to December now, for the first launch to a fiscal year.
00:30:14.320 Fiscal year launch is October 1st.
00:30:16.060 We're in a crisis and people have to start thinking of this as a crisis.
00:30:19.940 By that, I don't need cuts and I don't need conservative wins over 10 years.
00:30:24.580 They're selling you something.
00:30:26.560 And this is even for the Freedom Caucus.
00:30:28.260 We have to get focused.
00:30:28.920 Don't give me a 10-year doom.
00:30:30.520 Give me, I want to know now what it's going to be this year, next year.
00:30:34.040 You're signaling to me already, and you're the hardest core budget hawks,
00:30:37.280 that it's two train a year in deficits.
00:30:41.480 Am I supposed to think anything differently?
00:30:44.420 Want my Freedom Caucus guys to call me?
00:30:46.440 I'll reach out to you guys.
00:30:47.440 But is that a solution at $2 trillion per year?
00:30:52.700 And where's Doge?
00:30:55.080 Elon and these guys have got to step into the plate with Russ Vogt.
00:31:00.880 I'm not saying even the cuts are going to take place.
00:31:03.380 But I'd like to see, if you're talking about $2 trillion at one time and now it's $1 trillion,
00:31:07.040 give it to me, baby.
00:31:08.220 We need it now.
00:31:10.220 If that's $1 trillion, it's not over 10 years.
00:31:12.580 We need to know where these cuts are going to come now because anything that's not now is happy talk.
00:31:19.640 Reality.
00:31:20.840 And the Hill said we're going to have these calamitous – but we need to have that.
00:31:27.200 That is healthy.
00:31:28.100 It's not unhealthy.
00:31:29.140 What is unhealthy is to avoid this.
00:31:33.500 You notice this in your own personal life.
00:31:36.540 And people do it.
00:31:37.180 We talk about the credit cards.
00:31:38.200 We talk about the taxes you put in the drawer.
00:31:40.440 People have a tendency – I can't deal with them.
00:31:42.160 I'm too overwhelmed.
00:31:43.120 I put away – it's, you know, what is Scarlett O'Hara?
00:31:46.360 I worry about that tomorrow.
00:31:47.580 That's for another day.
00:31:49.280 We don't have another day.
00:31:51.320 We have today and tomorrow.
00:31:53.980 They have to be addressed.
00:31:56.620 Paradigm Press, if you like Global Capital Markets strategy, geostrategy, Jim Rickards has been fantastic.
00:32:04.060 Go to Rickards War Room.
00:32:05.960 Rickards with an S.
00:32:07.500 RickardsWarRoom.com.
00:32:09.360 You get access to his newsletter.
00:32:10.840 You get access to his books.
00:32:13.140 It's one of the great things because we're really proud.
00:32:15.940 What a high-level contributor.
00:32:17.480 And somebody that's not going in the Treasury Department so we get to keep him.
00:32:21.600 RickardsWarRoom.com.
00:32:23.380 We're going to take a short commercial break.
00:32:24.800 When we return, we've got Pam Bondi, Lee Zeldin, Scott Besson, all in the hot seat.
00:32:31.680 Today, day three.
00:32:33.840 Big victory on 5 November.
00:32:36.220 Now the work can finally start on the big issues facing the country.
00:32:39.720 One of the biggest is the national debt and the deficits that drive it.
00:32:44.740 Hey, you think the country's broke?
00:32:46.300 The country is broke.
00:32:47.320 We're just printing money to keep this house of cards going.
00:32:51.060 The strategy remains the same for you.
00:32:53.680 You've got to diversify.
00:32:54.760 Diversify your savings.
00:32:56.060 That's why buy gold from Birch Gold.
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00:33:13.860 Let me repeat that.
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00:33:45.160 Text BANNAN to 989898.
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00:33:53.940 You owe back taxes, right?
00:33:56.580 Here's the question.
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00:35:06.140 Call 1-800-958-1000 or visit TNUSA.com slash Bannon.
00:35:16.440 TNUSA.com slash Bannon.
00:35:19.680 Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon.
00:35:24.960 Hey, I got Mike Lindell.
00:35:27.200 We're going to get back to Scott Besson in a minute.
00:35:28.960 The reason I have Lindell, he's about to go on David Pakman.
00:35:32.180 And David Pakman is the guy that came after my beloved kid sister.
00:35:36.140 So I wanted to get you on.
00:35:37.520 What time are you on Pakman?
00:35:38.620 Because I'm going to get my kid sister.
00:35:40.100 That guy's a demon.
00:35:41.780 He attacked my poor kid sister who's the sweetest of the sweetest until you get her mad, hit her tripwire, and then she gets to be right.
00:35:48.440 But he went after this.
00:35:50.360 She's a southern man.
00:35:52.340 He is the biggest demon of them all.
00:35:54.840 I really believe that.
00:35:55.820 He's attacked me.
00:35:56.520 I've been on the show a couple other times.
00:35:58.160 We're taping right here in about.
00:35:59.460 I guess it's a tape show live, but he's never cut anything out of it, everybody.
00:36:03.060 But also, I wanted to tell you all, this is my 16-year anniversary of quitting all my addictions.
00:36:09.640 I think we got a picture there.
00:36:11.940 There it is, everybody.
00:36:13.900 That picture was taken when drug dealers actually did an intervention on me.
00:36:18.800 And if I'd have thought years later what that was going to become, I mean, it's just been a miracle.
00:36:25.020 It's been God's miracle.
00:36:25.920 I set up the LindellRecoveryNetwork.org, everybody, if you know anybody in addiction, LindellRecoveryNetwork.org.
00:36:33.580 That's the one that Keith Ellison is attacking here in Minnesota.
00:36:37.240 Every day he ties me up.
00:36:39.060 Today, though, we're actually doing a commercial for the crosses that you all got exclusively at the War Room Posse, the one I wear every day.
00:36:47.580 And you guys get, I believe it's, if we put that up, I think it's 30% off at the War Room Posse.
00:36:55.900 There it is right there.
00:36:57.140 You guys say 30%.
00:36:58.820 It's a War Room exclusive right now.
00:37:01.880 And you guys, it's been amazing.
00:37:04.340 It's been an amazing journey, I'll tell you.
00:37:06.160 I also have my book, my book on the available today at the website for the War Room Posse.
00:37:12.380 You can get it autographed if you want to check that out.
00:37:15.620 But go to War Room.
00:37:17.360 I mean, go to MyPillow, go down to you, Steve, Steve, click on it.
00:37:20.600 There's all the towels we put on sale yesterday, $29.98.
00:37:24.400 All the $20, $25 towels came in.
00:37:26.820 And here's a big surprise for the War Room Posse.
00:37:29.600 Everything you get today in celebration is ships for free.
00:37:33.740 The shipping is on me and my employees.
00:37:37.320 And I just want to say, Steve, you guys, the War Room Posse and the War Room, you guys have been a blessing to me.
00:37:44.680 I would have never thought 16 years ago what was to come years later, helping Steve Bannon help save the country.
00:37:54.620 Steve, you've been a very blessed.
00:37:56.380 Hang on, put that.
00:37:58.040 You're very blessed.
00:37:59.320 And we're selling the crosses.
00:38:00.300 That's what Pac-Man's on you.
00:38:01.420 I'm going to let you go.
00:38:02.120 I want to make sure people go to the crosses, go to MyPillow.com, promo code War Room, get the discount, get the crosses.
00:38:08.320 Let's get that photo up before we go.
00:38:11.180 Those are like the guys.
00:38:12.180 You look like the guys I was in prison with.
00:38:14.040 You're a real convict, Lindell.
00:38:16.760 No, you cleaned up.
00:38:17.760 You can see the Holy Spirit coming to you of how nice you look today versus your convict look.
00:38:24.740 Exactly.
00:38:25.140 Well, the dealers actually took that picture.
00:38:28.040 One of the dealers, when they did an intervention on me, I had been up for like 12 to 14 days back then and with no sleep.
00:38:34.760 And they took that picture.
00:38:35.820 He says, he goes, you know, you've been telling us for years you're going to come back and help us out of addiction.
00:38:41.040 He said he took that picture.
00:38:42.660 He says, you're going to need that for that book you keep telling us you're going to write.
00:38:45.940 And that is the picture on the book that I have.
00:38:49.220 So it's all come to fruition.
00:38:52.100 Big miracles, everybody.
00:38:54.780 Big miracles.
00:38:55.700 Big miracles to come.
00:38:56.800 Mike Lindell, thank you very much.
00:38:57.980 We'll see you in the afternoon show, brother.
00:38:59.480 Go wrestle with Pacman.
00:39:01.660 Yep.
00:39:02.500 This David Pacman's a demon.
00:39:04.800 Picked on my kid sister.
00:39:06.160 And she was trying to get the Satan clubs out of the schools.
00:39:08.860 Remember that?
00:39:09.740 Let's go back to Scott Besant.
00:39:11.340 Let's go back to the Treasury grilling of the potential of the future Treasury Secretary, Scott Besant.
00:39:17.460 I'll try.
00:39:18.800 Let me compliment you on substantive answers.
00:39:21.000 Sometimes we get people here who just rope-a-dope and they'll have a set of statements such as
00:39:25.260 has been just delivered, in all due respect to my colleague, and they just rope-a-dope
00:39:29.020 and you actually give substantive answers.
00:39:30.560 I thank you for that.
00:39:31.920 By the way, I also, Lindsey Graham alluded to it, going back to tariffs, which Senator Wyden spoke of.
00:39:37.540 I've been very concerned that countries like China manipulate environmental regulations.
00:39:43.080 You point out that they're building 100 coal-fired plants over a period of time.
00:39:47.780 And whatever we do will not have an impact on global greenhouse gas emissions because
00:39:51.860 China's putting up so many.
00:39:53.520 I believe I've learned that that is called an externality in economics.
00:39:57.300 When we met, we discussed the foreign pollution fee, which would put a levy, a tariff, on those
00:40:03.900 carbon-intensive products coming from countries like China, roughly commensurate with their
00:40:08.860 avoided cost of not controlling it.
00:40:12.660 Now, I would think that my Democratic colleagues would like that because that's clearly a way
00:40:20.040 that they are manipulating the world economy to steal jobs from the United States and simultaneously
00:40:25.280 increase global greenhouse gas emissions.
00:40:28.440 Any comments on such a foreign pollution fee?
00:40:31.100 Senator Cassidy, I greatly enjoyed our discussion and the extensive presentation you gave me when
00:40:40.880 I visited with you.
00:40:42.580 And this is a very good question because—and I believe it is one for your Democratic colleagues
00:40:49.700 to understand whether they would be in favor of the equivalent of a carbon tariff, that Senator
00:40:56.940 Graham is in favor of it.
00:40:58.320 And I think this is a very interesting idea that it could be part of an entire tariff program because,
00:41:11.100 you know, I think President Trump hasn't taken office yet.
00:41:16.460 But if confirmed, I look forward to working with him on various strategies, some that could
00:41:24.580 be specifically aimed toward carbon, as you say, others that could be aimed toward unfair
00:41:32.100 trade practices, unfair financing practices.
00:41:35.280 So if you will, there's externalities that a tariff can address.
00:41:39.040 Those externalities in and of themselves hurt the pocketbook or the job prospects of an average
00:41:43.360 American.
00:41:44.360 Let me move on.
00:41:45.360 I think you would agree with that.
00:41:47.840 I applaud your goal to get our debt-to-GDP ratio down to 3 percent or percent of our GDP
00:41:54.860 down to 3 percent, but you studiously say that we can't talk about things like Social
00:42:01.360 Security.
00:42:02.360 And I think that's because, routinely, if we talk about Social Security, we presume that
00:42:06.260 there's going to be a cut in benefits or a raise in taxes.
00:42:09.840 I think we spoke when we met, I and others have a bipartisan plan that would create a
00:42:15.560 pension investment fund separate from the Social Security Trust Fund, and that, just
00:42:21.080 like we do with our 401Ks, invested in the broader economy and use the proceeds from that
00:42:26.700 to offset the upcoming 25 percent cut in Social Security benefits that will occur if we don't
00:42:35.040 address this problem.
00:42:35.840 And just so folks get that, under current law, when the Social Security program goes
00:42:40.360 insolvent in eight years, per CBO, there will be a 25 percent cut in benefits.
00:42:45.180 Under the plan I and others have endorsed, it's a pension investment fund in which we, again,
00:42:50.600 would invest in the broader economy with all the safeguards to keep the government from
00:42:54.380 interfering.
00:42:55.240 I mention that because it seems that other advisors to the incoming president have spoken
00:43:00.800 of creating an investment fund to benefit.
00:43:02.780 Mr. Lutnick, I think, has.
00:43:04.720 Mr. Paulson did on the campaign trail.
00:43:07.540 What are your thoughts about that concept?
00:43:10.280 I think they spoke about it as sovereign wealth.
00:43:12.240 I'm speaking about it as a fund to bail out social.
00:43:16.240 Not, by the way, all risk borne by the fund, none of the risk borne by the beneficiary.
00:43:20.980 She would get her scheduled benefits.
00:43:22.720 What are your thoughts on that?
00:43:23.660 So, Senator Cassidy, first of all, I want to emphasize that President Trump has said that
00:43:31.000 Social Security and Medicare will not be touched.
00:43:35.320 And I believe—
00:43:36.440 But I'm saying touch in a positive way.
00:43:38.520 Not cut benefits, not raise taxes, indeed increase benefits, and take that 25 percent cut
00:43:44.420 off the table, just to make that clear.
00:43:45.780 No, no, I understand.
00:43:48.580 And so those would not be touched.
00:43:52.640 One of the tragedies of this blowout in the budget deficit is that we have to get our short-term
00:43:58.760 house in order to start—before we can start implementing the smart plans such as yours.
00:44:07.700 I do believe that there is discussion to leverage the asset side of the U.S. balance sheet, as we discussed
00:44:19.540 in your office, in favor of a fund, whether it's a sovereign wealth fund, something, as you
00:44:27.460 discussed, a supplemental fund.
00:44:31.380 So, that is very much in the mix.
00:44:37.960 I look forward to getting back to you on it.
00:44:41.060 President Trump hasn't taken office yet.
00:44:44.600 If confirmed, this is something that I think could be very exciting, because we always look
00:44:52.840 at the debt of the United States, and we have fantastic assets that could be earning, leveraged,
00:45:01.420 or used for multiple revenue-generating opportunities.
00:45:07.200 Thank you.
00:45:07.540 Thank you.
00:45:08.420 Senator Warner.
00:45:09.980 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:45:11.240 Congratulations.
00:45:12.600 Mr. Besson, it's good to see you and enjoyed our meeting.
00:45:16.060 I've got some specific questions I want to ask, but I just—and I don't want to litigate this now.
00:45:19.960 But I do feel, as someone working with Senator Crapo and others, when we took on, I still
00:45:29.980 think, the most comprehensive Pope Simpson-Bowles, and we took arrows from each side.
00:45:36.700 And I'm looking at any kind of pro-growth policies possible, but I just respectfully want to say
00:45:42.000 there is not an industrial nation—first-world industrial nation in the world that gets anywhere
00:45:48.240 close to meeting their revenue needs, and I'm not proposing that America spend anywhere like
00:45:51.940 the Europeans at 17 to 18 percent of GDP.
00:45:54.680 It's never happened historically.
00:45:56.320 It's not going to happen in a Trump administration or future Democratic administrations.
00:46:01.020 So I just—we'll have time to talk back and forth on this, but I just—I can't let
00:46:06.140 some of this go without at least offering something that there's not an economist around
00:46:12.640 that wouldn't concur.
00:46:14.460 We've got to bring down—we've got to bring down spend, but the revenue side alone is not—excluding
00:46:20.600 that, we're never going to get to a balance.
00:46:22.780 I do want to raise on a more positive note—again, something I worked closely with the chairman
00:46:27.080 on and actually worked with your predecessor on and was very proud of that relationship.
00:46:32.760 I disagreed with Secretary Mnuchin on a lot of things, but I found a lot of things to agree
00:46:36.000 with him, and one was a relatively narrow part of the financial sector called Community Development
00:46:41.480 Financial Institutions, CDFIs.
00:46:44.440 Under the previous Trump administration, we put about $12 billion in.
00:46:48.600 This serves access to capital for underserved communities.
00:46:52.840 Under Senator Crapo's leadership, we built a bipartisan CDFI caucus, 12Ds, 12Rs.
00:46:57.740 It's tough to get 24 bipartisan senators to agree on anything.
00:47:02.000 It's kind of low-hanging fruit.
00:47:03.200 There are things we can do to continue to expand this area, creating a secondary market.
00:47:09.300 We've got some bipartisan legislation there, trying to reward patient capital.
00:47:13.580 A lot of these institutions now have Tier 1 equity, but they've got to get patient capital.
00:47:17.860 And again, Senator Crapo and I have worked with the current administration, would want
00:47:20.820 to work with yours on something called the Economic Opportunity Coalition.
00:47:24.400 But can you say a word or two about how you view—
00:47:27.660 What you're seeing already is that they're disagreeing on some of the tax policy, but
00:47:32.560 at least with Warner and some of the more sophisticated financial guys, I think they're engaging,
00:47:37.020 Scott, in the types of discussions we want to have about using the balance sheet of the
00:47:41.000 United States.
00:47:41.560 We talk about the debt all the time.
00:47:43.060 It's—the assets of this country are, you know, enormous.
00:47:47.760 And are we using those in the smartest way possible to create maybe funds and invest in the United
00:47:53.580 States?
00:47:54.020 You know, the balance sheet just kind of sits there.
00:47:56.940 So I think you're going to have some very sophisticated people look at that.
00:48:00.960 Warner right there disagrees.
00:48:02.340 Remember, Scott's saying, hey, we got enough revenue at, you know, four and a half, five
00:48:06.820 trillion dollars.
00:48:07.420 Enough's coming in.
00:48:08.000 You got to cut spending.
00:48:09.020 We're going to cut spending to get that six and a half or six down to five.
00:48:13.520 Somewhere you got to cut a trillion dollars.
00:48:15.300 If you're not going to touch entitlements, which I agree right now, you cannot touch them because
00:48:18.900 the American people are not convinced that you would do anything but screw them over,
00:48:24.180 you're going to have to look at discretionary.
00:48:25.540 If you're going to look at discretionary, you got to look at defense and the social programs.
00:48:28.400 That's what it is.
00:48:29.920 It's not simply bodies.
00:48:31.260 It's also programmatically.
00:48:33.120 And somebody's got to take a hard look at this.
00:48:34.700 I'm going to be harping on this because we're just kidding ourselves and having a fantasy
00:48:37.840 talk.
00:48:38.560 I consider this a turnaround.
00:48:40.860 It is a turnaround.
00:48:41.860 Some tough decisions got to be made.
00:48:43.280 You got to go with the mentality.
00:48:44.640 It's a turnaround.
00:48:45.960 President Trump's coming back.
00:48:47.020 The American people said, hey, we can't take any more Biden.
00:48:49.720 We got to turn this thing around.
00:48:50.820 President Trump's the guy.
00:48:53.380 But we have to have a meaningful discussion about the finances of this and the economics
00:48:57.460 of it, how it's going to be financed.
00:48:58.560 It's not sustainable where we're not close to being sustainable.
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00:50:42.520 Take action today.
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00:50:46.900 That after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, now we've had several years to be able to see
00:50:51.720 what happens, and now I believe the statistic you gave is the top 50% of earners in America
00:50:56.700 now pay 98% of the taxes.
00:50:59.180 Did I hear that correctly?
00:51:00.600 Because I've heard over and over again that it's only the wealthy, only the big companies
00:51:05.080 that get it.
00:51:05.860 I would encourage, quite frankly, every Oklahoma company that's a small business to ask their
00:51:11.700 CPA this year when they're filing their taxes, what if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires
00:51:17.200 next year, what would my taxes be next year?
00:51:20.660 And have small business owners ask that question of their CPA, and I think they will be quite
00:51:25.560 surprised, based on all the rhetoric, to say this is only about big companies and wealthy
00:51:29.560 people, that every small business will quickly find out.
00:51:32.720 Oh, it's them.
00:51:33.140 With Scott Besson, we've been following Treasury all morning.
00:51:36.100 We're going to continue on our Rumble channel and on Getter.
00:51:39.020 Is that correct?
00:51:40.380 Both of those will continue on with the testimony of Scott Besson.
00:51:43.840 I may be jumping in there on both of those to give some commentary.
00:51:47.660 We're going to be back at 5.
00:51:48.600 Charlie Kirk's going to pick up at noon.
00:51:50.580 We'll be back at 5.
00:51:51.740 Update on Pam Bondi's day two of confirmation.
00:51:55.080 How Lee Zeldin did at EPA and, of course, Scott Besson at Treasury.
00:51:59.140 Right there, you see a lot of the discussion we're having about spending, taxes, all of it.
00:52:03.800 We're going to get a lot more of that.
00:52:04.880 Like I said, one more time, this is a restructuring.
00:52:07.680 This is a turnaround.
00:52:08.380 You have to be very tough, tough but fair.
00:52:11.680 We've got to stop this happy talk about 10 years this, 10 years that.
00:52:15.180 It's what this budget, what this deficit is, and the next deficit.
00:52:19.360 Right now, if we can't get those to under $1 trillion in both years, we're kidding ourselves.
00:52:25.180 It has to happen.
00:52:26.720 You can't continue to add this.
00:52:28.760 Besson's got $7 trillion of Treasuries.
00:52:30.580 He's got to sell in this current year.
00:52:32.380 Inflation's not going to go away.
00:52:33.560 It's only going to get worse.
00:52:34.380 Look at the 10-year bond markets we've trained you to look at.
00:52:36.780 10-year bond markets telling you right there, it's going to get more expensive.
00:52:40.800 Inflation's not going to go away.
00:52:42.060 It has nothing to do with President Trump's economic plan, right?
00:52:45.960 Right now, the financing part of it is going to drive inflation.
00:52:49.680 Shemaine Nugent joins us.
00:52:55.000 Ma'am, you're a health expert.
00:52:56.680 You're a best-selling author.
00:52:58.300 You're a podcaster.
00:52:59.600 All of it.
00:53:01.420 All of us need tips on how to get in better shape, how to deliver a healthier lifestyle,
00:53:06.600 myself included.
00:53:07.460 I know that comes as a shock to the audience.
00:53:09.580 What is your number one recommendation, ma'am?
00:53:13.180 Hey, Steve.
00:53:14.600 Well, thanks for having me.
00:53:16.060 Yeah, I've been in the health and fitness industry for 44 years.
00:53:19.440 And I always see people making the same bad choices and they want to start a New Year's
00:53:24.920 resolution.
00:53:25.620 But it doesn't stick because they're trying to make big changes fast.
00:53:30.600 My number one advice is start small.
00:53:33.060 And it's way easier to stick with it that way.
00:53:35.400 And the first thing I'd look at is your diet.
00:53:37.660 But it's tough to overhaul the whole diet overnight.
00:53:41.740 I mean, I like chocolate chip cookies.
00:53:44.280 I'm not going to give those up.
00:53:46.080 But starting with one simple change, like swapping out one bad habit, like drinking sodas,
00:53:52.800 for one scoop of Field of Greens in your water.
00:53:56.340 And believe it or not, Steve, that one little tweak is going to help you start feeling better
00:54:00.900 and noticing the difference.
00:54:02.460 So what would be the difference?
00:54:07.980 You're an expert at this.
00:54:09.220 If you stop the Diet Cokes or you stop the Cokes worse, or the Mountain Dews, and you go
00:54:16.000 to a scoop of Field of Greens, what is it first that you're going to feel?
00:54:19.660 And why is it better?
00:54:21.620 Well, for me, I go off how I feel.
00:54:25.500 I'm 62 now.
00:54:26.960 And certain things don't work for me anymore.
00:54:29.000 Ted and I are both hunters.
00:54:30.860 And we pretty much live off the land.
00:54:32.940 But especially during the winter, we can't always find fruits and veggies.
00:54:36.760 And quite honestly, I don't trust the grocery stores.
00:54:39.520 So to feel better, I like Field of Greens.
00:54:42.800 I get more energy.
00:54:44.160 And you and I were talking.
00:54:45.300 You said, boy, you're going to have to have a lot of energy to be married to Ted Nugent.
00:54:49.220 That's why I take Field of Greens, Steve.
00:54:53.640 I didn't want to say you're the parental supervision, but you're the parental supervision.
00:54:58.020 That's full time.
00:54:58.840 Does Field of Greens give you an energy boost?
00:55:01.340 I know it's good for diet.
00:55:02.220 It's good for health because they're not, you know, they don't have the powders.
00:55:05.260 They're not artificial.
00:55:06.540 It's organic.
00:55:07.500 But do you get an energy boost also?
00:55:09.720 I am at times kind of the parent in the room.
00:55:12.540 I do.
00:55:13.060 I will put a scoop of Field of Greens in water and hand it to him.
00:55:16.300 And I'll just say, drink this.
00:55:17.680 And he doesn't question me, which is great.
00:55:19.320 But the reason I like it is I have done my research.
00:55:24.320 Doctors develop Field of Greens carefully.
00:55:27.240 And every fruit and every vegetable has a specific health benefit like heart, liver, lungs, metabolism, and even healthy weight.
00:55:35.420 But, you know, what I really love about it, yeah, it gives me all the energy.
00:55:41.000 My stomach feels flatter.
00:55:43.080 But they've got this better health promise where if you start taking it, you go to your doctor, and your doctor doesn't notice the difference in your blood work and in your overall health.
00:55:52.720 You get all your money back.
00:55:55.200 Like, who does that?
00:55:56.520 For me, it's great.
00:55:59.620 What is it?
00:56:00.420 People come to you, I'm sure, all the time because you're one of the biggest names in the business.
00:56:05.020 Why is it Field of Greens versus other things that you've seen?
00:56:09.080 Again, for me, I have to – I've had a lot of sponsors.
00:56:12.580 People request to be a sponsor.
00:56:14.700 And my number one thing is send me the product.
00:56:17.200 I have to try it first.
00:56:18.380 I have to make sure I like it.
00:56:19.720 And both Ted and I do, and that's the number one reason.
00:56:23.900 Again, as we age, it's all about when you wake up in the morning like Ted and I will – the number one question is, how do you sleep?
00:56:31.140 How do you feel?
00:56:32.240 And overall, I know that Field of Greens is working because when I don't take it, when I'm traveling and I miss it, I don't feel as good.
00:56:44.040 Go to fieldofgreens.com right now.
00:56:46.020 You get a 20% discount.
00:56:47.220 Put in promo code Bannon.
00:56:48.520 That's Field of Greens.
00:56:49.240 You guys are used to this, fieldofgreens.com, promo code Bannon, 20% discount.
00:56:53.360 Shemay, do you have social media, or is there any way people can also follow you?
00:56:58.940 Yeah, absolutely.
00:56:59.940 I'm all over social media.
00:57:01.200 I have a show right here on Real America's Voice called Faith and Freedom.
00:57:05.580 I do have a new book out called Abundantly Well, and I talk about all of these different things that you can do.
00:57:11.120 But, yeah, I'm all over social media.
00:57:12.820 Shemayne Nugent, thank you very much for doing this, and thank you very much for keeping Ted healthy.
00:57:21.440 He's a patriot and a hero.
00:57:23.560 And as are you, and we thank you for what you're doing, Steve.
00:57:28.120 God bless.
00:57:28.580 Thank you, man.
00:57:30.920 Appreciate you.
00:57:33.320 Okay.
00:57:33.880 Charlie Kirk's up next.
00:57:35.780 We're going to be back 5 to 7 tonight.
00:57:39.180 If anybody is in the general area, I think Mo and Gracie can put up the—we're having an event tonight.
00:57:46.360 We'd love to see as many as possible.
00:57:47.820 I think it's sold out earlier.
00:57:50.060 I think we've tried to increase the capacity.
00:57:52.140 If Raheem will let us, we're going to try to do that, so make sure you go check it out.
00:57:57.060 Charlie Kirk next.
00:57:58.720 Jack Posobiec after that.
00:58:00.040 We're going to continue to stream.
00:58:01.860 I guess Grace and Mo will fold this off.
00:58:04.160 Continue to stream on Rumble.
00:58:06.500 And on Getter, Scott Besson's testimony, going to be a lot of very interesting—he's going to be one of the key people in the cabinet for President Trump.
00:58:14.560 Like I said, this financial and economic—remember, you have an economics piece, and then you get the financial.
00:58:18.980 How are you going to actually finance it?
00:58:20.740 Right now, we have a financial problem.
00:58:22.640 That financial problem is going to drive inflation.
00:58:25.200 We've spent too much money.
00:58:26.480 I'm not so sure we spent it wisely.
00:58:28.580 I keep saying the use of proceeds, where is it?
00:58:31.380 Where's the 36 train?
00:58:32.520 We'll get to tonight, 5 o'clock.
00:58:33.880 A lot going on today, Pam Bondi.
00:58:36.420 We're going to have updates on vote, on all the cabinet confirmations.
00:58:40.940 We'll see you back here, 5 p.m.
00:58:43.220 Eastern Standard Time, back in the world.
00:58:44.760 My other top priorities is working on a bipartisan basis to lower costs for families.
00:58:50.420 Under President-elect Trump's policies, do you believe that prices for families will go up or down?
00:58:55.600 I believe that inflation will be much closer to the Federal Reserve's target.
00:59:04.540 I want to warn you of a huge change that could be coming to our money and our bank accounts.
00:59:09.820 First, think back to 9-11, shortly after the government pushed through the Patriot Act.
00:59:14.320 This gave the government power to spy on innocent Americans by monitoring our phone and email and tracking our movement across the Internet.
00:59:21.820 Now, Jim Rickards, editor of the independent financial newsletter Strategic Intelligence and New York Times bestselling author, is warning about a coming event that could elevate this governmental surveillance to a terrifying new level.
00:59:35.520 In fact, some of the guests I've had on The War Room believe that the government will soon expand their powers to track our every move.
00:59:43.420 If we say the wrong things on social media, donate to the wrong causes, buy firearms, or even vote MAGA, the government may be able to shut us out of our bank accounts.
00:59:54.300 I can't say for sure if this will happen, but it's an interesting and dire warning.
00:59:59.720 Fortunately, Jim Rickards, an American patriot and friend of mine, has made it his mission to educate us on what he believes is coming and how to protect yourself from the possibility of programmable money.
01:00:12.320 Watch Jim's warning video now, before it's censored like I've been in the past.
01:00:17.940 Go to RickardsWarRoom.com.
01:00:19.940 That's RickardsWarRoom.com now to see the video.
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01:00:52.740 So, we have some other amazing products, but if you'd like to check us out, you can go to SacredHumanHealth.com and cheers to your health.
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