In this episode, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) joins us to discuss his experience as a Congressman and his thoughts on the current political climate in Washington, D.C. and what it means to be a backbencher in Congress. He also talks about why he chose to serve in Congress and why he decided to run for re-election this year, and what he's looking forward to in the upcoming mid-term elections. And, as always, thank you for tuning into TALKING HEADED TO PODCASTS. Please don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to our other podcast, Tennessee Talks, wherever you get your podcasts. Enjoy and spread the word to your friends about what's going on in politics! Tim Burchetts is a former mayor of Trousdale County, Tennessee and served as mayor for 16 years. He is a current member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving in the 115th Congress, where he represents a district that includes parts of the Chattanooga area of Tennessee's 6th congressional district, which has a population of just over 300,000 people. Tim has been in Congress for 7 years and is a regular contributor to the Washington Post, the New York Times, NPR, and many other publications. He is also a frequent contributor to NPR and the Atlanta Journal-Huffington Post, and a frequent guest on NPR's "Meet the Press" and NPR's Morning Drive, and hosts the Morning Drive with Alex Castellanos, a regular guest on his own podcast. . Thank you for listening to Tennessee Talks with Tim, Tim, I hope you enjoy this episode of TCHTalks about politics, and remember to share it with your friends and family and family! and tweet us what you think about it! Tim's words of wisdom, Tim's thoughts on politics and what you're listening to it on social media about politics and other things that you think of it. - Tim's views on politics, what you would like to do in the future of politics and social media, and your thoughts on it, and much more! - Tweet me - Tom's tweets: and a shout out to Tim's tweets about this episode: . . - Tim, Tom, Tom and Ginger's tweets from the podcast: - @Tim, Tom & Ginger's tweet: , & Thanks for listening
00:04:44.000Matt Gaetz was one of the very few members in the entire Congress who bothered to stand up against permanent Washington on behalf of his constituents.
00:04:51.000Matt Gaetz right now, he's a problem in the Democratic Party.
00:04:54.000He can cause a lot of hiccups in passing applause.
00:04:57.000So we're going to keep running those stories to get hurt again.
00:05:00.000If you stand for the flag and kneel in prayer, if you want to build America up and not burn her to the ground, then welcome, my fellow patriots!
00:05:41.000He's on the nice list this year and will probably be as long as him and Ginger and she's in his life, I don't see him getting off of that nice list.
00:05:51.000And that really makes me feel good in my heart because when you watch someone for so many years and then you see them turn their life around, that means a lot.
00:06:13.000You're going to want to subscribe and have your notifications on for it.
00:06:16.000He was recently interviewing Santa, and I felt the need to offer my rebuttal.
00:06:21.000First of all, nobody calls me Little Matthew, so I don't know what the deal is there, Santa.
00:06:26.000And then to suggest that I've turned my life around, it's a whole lot of judgment from a guy who lives with elves, abuses animals, and isn't real.
00:06:35.000So I'm glad I got the chance to respond.
00:06:37.000Even more thrilled that I'm here with Tim Burchett.
00:06:39.000Make sure you follow his podcast, Tennessee Talks.
00:06:41.000Tim, there's so much I want to discuss with you.
00:06:44.000We've titled the episode Backbenching with Burchett because you are my seatmate.
00:06:49.000A lot of people know that after the first week of the 118th Congress, but you and I sit together each and every day, share our perspective on the legislation before the floor.
00:06:59.000And it used to be a pejorative to call someone a backbencher.
00:07:06.000It meant you weren't, you know, in the corner office with all the new and exquisite staff telling you, you know, that your jokes are funny and that you've lost weight.
00:07:17.000And yet we sit there perched on the backbench, and I wear it as a badge of honor, my friend, because sometimes...
00:07:24.000The folks have to come to the back bench in order to ensure that we're doing the right thing for the American people.
00:07:31.000So, really wanted to start welcoming you and say, how do you see, you know, you've been in Congress a little bit now.
00:08:02.000If you're from an SEC state, you've got a different standard for barbecue than Washington can usually provide.
00:08:07.000We've got folks watching right now on the live stream from all over the country.
00:08:12.000Indiana, Oklahoma, Ohio, Syracuse, New York, Florida.
00:08:16.000Thanks for letting us know you're watching.
00:08:18.000Even some foreign viewers from Ontario and our podcast is actually currently rated in Canadian politics.
00:08:25.000So thank you for watching from Ontario.
00:08:27.000Tim, we have elements of our districts that are rural and there are times in Congress when I really wonder whether or not rural America gets a fair shake because a lot of the folks Who serve with us have spent most of their lives in big cities and live in big cities and have businesses and enterprises in suburban and urban areas.
00:08:51.000What's your assessment of the representation that rural America gets in the Congress?
00:08:55.000Well, it's a lot of times the battles are not Democrats and ours.
00:09:00.000It's rural versus urban areas, it seems to me, if you want to really break it down to that, because it seems to folks of those belief systems matriculate to those areas.
00:09:10.000And I feel like a lot of times the rural folks don't have the representation because, frankly, they're working.
00:09:16.000They don't have time to sit around and watch C-SPAN and get on the Internet and contact their legislators.
00:09:25.000So I feel like they're underrepresented a lot of the times, and I feel like folks like myself and you can kind of voice their opinion.
00:09:32.000The underdog is always, it seems to be, my dog.
00:09:39.000The issue that I think really ripened that dynamic was the issue of rising gas prices.
00:09:44.000Because, you know, a lot of people who live in urban areas that, you know, hop in a taxi or use a metro card, they don't feel the impact of filling up that gas tank like folks in Knox County, like folks in Okaloosa County feel it.
00:09:58.000And oftentimes people in rural America have to drive as a part of work, have to drive to get to work.
00:10:03.000It's a shock to me, a lady that It works up here for me in campaign mode.
00:10:10.000Her husband doesn't even have a dadgum driver's license.
00:10:13.000I mean, you know, I had that learner's permit.
00:10:15.000The day I remember dad getting, it was the only day I got up early at that age, and I got up and we went down the highway patrol office.
00:10:21.000You know, I hopped in a little VW Bug and 4-speed.
00:10:26.000And I drove it through and got my license.
00:10:28.000And, you know, folks up here in big cities, you're right.
00:10:32.000And if I couldn't burn some gasoline, I'd probably go hungry, as a lot of the people in my legislative district would as well.
00:10:41.000And I think a lot did feel that pressure because Joe Biden has no problem playing politics with energy.
00:10:48.000And he really played politics with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
00:10:52.000Now Trump, understanding the value of hard assets as a businessman does, when gas was cheap, when crude was cheap, but he topped off the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
00:11:02.000So if anything happened to our country, we would be secure, we would have a place to go.
00:11:07.000But Joe Biden converted his political emergency into an emergency justification to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
00:11:16.000You and I are just stepping off the House floor where the House of Representatives is working to advance legislation To stop Biden from playing politics with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, are you pleased with the Republican majority's focus on energy policy and what that's going to mean for our constituents in rural areas?
00:11:36.000I would hope, though, in the future that we make sure we let the American public know exactly how important that Strategic Reserve is.
00:11:43.000You know, you have an area that you represent.
00:11:45.000A lot of military folks, a lot of folks in active duty in your area, and a lot of folks in my area, there's some, but mostly retired military.
00:11:53.000And that strategic reserve was something that was designed, I believe, for emergency situations, not for an election, which Joe Biden obviously used it for his election.
00:12:03.000And, you know, and I always say this, too.
00:12:06.000When these hardcore liberals like Biden say, I'm coming after your guns, I'm going to do away with internal combustion engines.
00:12:27.000And Trump understood that, being from a business background, not from a grifter's background, as the occupiers of the White House are now.
00:12:36.000And that's not to say that there aren't issues on energy policy, on waste policy, where we should and can work across the aisle to try to get some things done.
00:12:46.000You've got composting legislation that you've worked on, and you've even had some interesting assistance from across the aisle on that bill.
00:12:57.000Well, Adam Schiff is one of them, and of course AOC. They've got some big issues with it up in D.C. I mean, in New York.
00:13:06.000Is big business comes in and what they'll do is they'll say, oh, we're going to try to say, they use gas stoves.
00:13:11.000They're going to say, it's for the environment, it's for the environment.
00:13:13.000And really what it is, is big business is going to put some crazy regulations, like they did in the meat industry, in the meat processing, where the only people that can do it are the big multinational corporations, which you and I would have little or no control or say over.
00:13:57.000Instead of educating the public that say, hey, when you wash off your fork, you know, don't Wipe it off with a napkin and throw that in the trash instead of wiping it down the sink.
00:14:06.000So they said, all the big businesses said, we're going to put these grease traps in to stop...
00:14:11.000We're going to mandate that everybody put them in.
00:14:22.000It drove the little man out of business.
00:14:24.000We lost three businesses in my area when I was mayor when they started enforcing this grease trap law.
00:14:29.000And as it turned out, it was a big EPA law, and that's exactly what they're going to do with composting, I'm afraid.
00:14:36.000I would abolish the EPA and devolve that authority to our states.
00:14:39.000I mean, when the EPA was established in the 1960s, there was this belief that all human talent that was valuable and smart would be assembled in Washington, D.C., and the enlightened people could then make decisions for everyone else.
00:14:51.000And the reality is we've got sensor technology now.
00:14:54.000That where folks in county government and state government are able to really protect the environment that is around them.
00:15:01.000And we're not for letting every business pollute our beautiful waters and air and land.
00:15:06.000You and I think that, you know, part of being America first is keeping America splendid and lovely.
00:15:23.000So in the comments on the live stream on Rumble, they are loving the use of dad gum.
00:15:27.000Dad gum has been democratized out of the country and they're digging that.
00:15:31.000Catherine on Facebook made an interesting point.
00:15:33.000Christine also making the point on Facebook about the help farmers need.
00:15:36.000But Catherine made the point That the intention of some of these policies that the left pushes is actually to drive people off of the farm.
00:15:44.000And they believe that our wilderness areas, our wild areas, our farm areas should really not be occupied by humans and that all humans should be forced into the city.
00:15:54.000Do you think, do you agree with Catherine on Facebook that the policy's goals are that depraved?
00:16:55.000You know, I've seen it in a lot of these road projects that are coming down the pike now, no pun intended.
00:17:00.000It's primarily for mass transit and not for somebody like me who wants to ride his dadgum motorcycle down the middle of the street because I'm an American and I want to do that.
00:17:10.000Or I ride my little Volkswagen Carmen Ghia convertible, which was my graduation present from high school.
00:17:49.000And frankly, you know, there are a lot of folks chiming in right now saying that they think that the government is being weaponized against a way of life.
00:17:57.000And what I think the left needs to realize is it was farmers and small merchants who built this country, who created a value system, a connection to faith, a connection to the land, a connection to family, to one another, to community.
00:18:10.000And those are uniquely American values.
00:18:14.000He's got a great podcast called Tennessee Talks.
00:18:17.000I'm a regular listener, so you'll see his episodes posted on my feed as well.
00:18:21.000But you also serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
00:18:23.000And I want to get into some of your work there because as we approach these budgeting questions, a lot of people wonder why we borrow money from one country to give it to another country.
00:18:34.000And you have had a chance to observe the And even kill some pretty frivolous spending in the foreign affairs space.
00:18:42.000Talk about what you see in terms of how we spend money abroad.
00:18:47.000Well, it's virtue signaling with your money.
00:18:51.000When Trump was trying to build the wall, I remember they said $4 billion.
00:19:54.000And I think about that, and I think about when we start down this path of fighting these wars, We're good to go.
00:20:13.000And I was sitting there, when everybody was cheering for the, and I was sitting beside you, we were on Senators Row back there, although a Democrat took my seat, which I wasn't sure about.
00:21:07.000And what people need to realize is this is not like an Ikea delivery.
00:21:12.000We don't just like pack up an M1 Abrams in a shipping container and send it over.
00:21:17.000It takes a logistics package to go along with it.
00:21:20.000There is a maintenance supply chain that has to exist for those tanks that Americans have to be involved in.
00:21:27.000And you see Russia's response to that decision saying that they view this as direct involvement in the conflict.
00:21:33.000And while we don't let them set terms, it also seems like we have to think about where in this fight the tanks are going to be used.
00:21:41.000And it's not going to be to defend Kharkiv and Kiev and these urban centers.
00:21:44.000You're talking about the Donbass region, and that is an area where Even the Ukrainians called it the ungoverned region prior to the February invasion.
00:21:56.000And so you're not supportive of the M1 Abrams tank.
00:21:59.000But you know, as we look at budgetary issues, do you think we could save money by sending less abroad?
00:23:00.000You know, welding, if you want me to burn your house down, I could probably do that because I don't know how to do the wiring very well, but I can weld pretty well.
00:23:08.000I can rebuild carburetors and work on internal combustion engines, cars, motorcycles, you know, cool stuff like that, occasional lawnmower.
00:23:17.000But when we sent those tanks over there...
00:23:21.000We're not just going to send a manual.
00:23:22.000At some point, are we going to have somebody on one side of the border that's telling them how to do this?
00:23:28.000And at what point do we say are Americans over there?
00:23:32.000I mean, when you send the tanks, the Americans are over there.
00:24:20.000And everybody's saying, well, this country's going to fall if we don't.
00:24:24.000So, what about all the other countries in the world that we're ignoring right now because of this This thing that the media and the national media, this is our moment.
00:24:39.000And by the way, I hope they coalesce and are successful in stopping this carnage.
00:24:44.000There's not a single American, not a single member of Congress whose heart doesn't break when observing this terrible carnage in Ukraine.
00:24:53.000At the same time, why do we have to act like it's just as big an issue to us as it is to Europe and Germany?
00:25:00.000Why isn't it okay to say, you know what, if Germany sends the tanks, that's okay?
00:25:04.000And by the way, if some of our allies that have purchased F-16s want to give them to Ukraine and want to be there in theater to provide logistical assistance to training and joint operations, let them do that.
00:25:23.000But I'm just saying, the point is that they were so far ahead of Germany and the rest of Europe, it's just ridiculous to me, and I don't see the need.
00:25:31.000Our Facebook is going off with the farm talk still.
00:25:48.000They drove it out of the hands of the mom and pop meat processors, and now it's controlled by...
00:25:55.000Two big companies, one's owned by China, one's owned out of Brazil, I believe.
00:25:59.000We have got to get back control of that because our states are regulating this to, at Tennessee, for instance, I mean, they had some of the, had some pretty strict regulations that put some of my farmers out of business to the point where they have to, you have to, When you take a cow to get processed or slaughtered, what we used to call it, but that's not politically correct.
00:26:17.000When you get one processed, sometimes, dadgum, you've got to wait six months.
00:26:49.000But I am glad that the people watching understand and appreciate this, and it's just a classic example of how issues that affect the quality of life of our constituents Often get ignored in this place.
00:27:01.000We shouldn't have foreign countries and foreign entities and foreign businesses owning what is essential to the food supply chain of our country.
00:27:24.000I don't know now if they do, but back then, because radio was such a vital part of our communication structure, And when I was in the state legislature, I put an amendment in that said that the toll roads, because they were trying to do some toll roads, and the company was out of Belgium, as I found out.
00:28:16.000So Joe Biden has come out and said, we're $32 trillion in debt, but I will not negotiate with House Republicans for any, for one penny of spending reduction in You just have to increase the spending limit on the national credit card past this $32 trillion.
00:30:33.000And, you know, the magnitude of it is remarkable.
00:30:37.000So one of our colleagues, Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska, said on Meet the Press recently that it's a non-starter to have any reduction in entitlement spending.
00:30:46.000That whatever clawbacks or reductions we do cannot touch any entitlement that anyone has.
00:30:53.000Do you agree that that's a good frame for negotiation?
00:30:56.000Or are you more open-minded than that?
00:30:58.000That's a terrible thing to say, I think.
00:31:01.000We're going to have to reduce, you know, entitlements are just that.
00:31:07.000In Tennessee, I remembered when I was trying to do some welfare reform, I said, unspeakable, I said, well, some of these folks need to work, you know?
00:31:22.000I mean, pre-911, I was saying these countries that are terrorist countries, When they send people over here, they need to register when they go to colleges at their college police stations.
00:31:33.000About six weeks before 9-11, and then I was a racist, and then Bush did it automatically.
00:31:38.000But going back to your point, yeah, they need to work.
00:31:41.000Okay, so let's go into this specifically because a lot of folks don't realize how these work requirements get flushed out.
00:31:47.000In state legislatures, there are a lot of people who say that they want work requirements not even because it's their state budget that is strained by it because so much of the money comes down as a drawdown from the federal government, but they want the policy of Of getting people who are on welfare off of welfare into the workforce.
00:32:06.000The problem is when states have applied for waivers to go from welfare to work, the federal government doesn't grant those waivers.
00:32:51.000When Obamacare was expanded, there was a massive Obamacare expansion for able-bodied, working-age people.
00:33:00.000Now, I mean, should the rest of our constituents pay for the healthcare of able-bodied working-age people?
00:33:09.000You know, because to me, when you tie healthcare to your job or to the government, you're not able to ever drive down the cost of care because people aren't able to have a cafeteria plan.
00:33:19.000To select the coverage that is relevant to their family and their circumstances.
00:33:24.000So if you just did that, if you just eliminated Obamacare for able-bodied working-age people, $1.1 trillion in savings over a 10-year budget window, is that something you think all Republicans should support?
00:34:02.000We have to show people that savings are real and not imagined.
00:34:05.000We have to talk about the policies that we would change that would result in better quality of life for people in a more fair and just society while at the same time not bankrupting our nation and indebting our entire future to China.
00:35:40.000And so our appeal here is not just to the Firebrand audience, it's to our colleagues to embrace some of these policy reforms that I know you would campaign on in your elections.
00:35:50.000And now that you're here, you got a chance to do something about it and something to fight for.
00:35:54.000I want to move on to sort of the bicameral system here because I really admire the Senate delegation from Tennessee.
00:36:01.000I would suggest, I'd make this argument, that Tennessee and Florida have to be number one and number two, top to bottom, on the Senate delegation.
00:36:11.000Because there are other states that have got great Senators.
00:36:37.000The only one I could think I would trade mine for would be Tennessee.
00:36:40.000I like Rubio and Scott, but Tennessee, you've got a very special breed of conservative that you guys have sent to the Senate, and I think that that's to be celebrated.
00:36:51.000I was in the state Senate with Marsha, Senator Blackburn, and we had great times back then.
00:38:28.000I'm at the Intelligence Committee meeting, and this was one that was open to the public, so I'm not telling any double secrets, you know, no X-files stuff.
00:38:34.000So I'm told I'm going to get to ask a question, right?
00:38:38.000And then I'm going to ask a question, because I know something about this issue.
00:38:42.000I know about issues where there's been unidentified flying objects that have flown over nuclear plants, and they've had issues.
00:40:22.000And I said, no, baby, it's Tick Tac like the candy.
00:40:25.00060 Minutes did an expose, and the only reason we're talking about this is because it was leaked.
00:40:29.000Some very brave Navy pilots were following a UFO, and it had no vapor trail, and I've been briefed on it by people that are not in the government but that are associated that know this.
00:42:14.000Read your dadgum Bible, first chapter of Ezekiel.
00:42:17.000Ezekiel saw the wheel, although it's translated from King James Version, and it describes basically a UFO. We have Apollo astronauts who describe at A training facility out in the desert somewhere.
00:44:29.000People will send me pictures of UFOs and things.
00:44:33.000I have access to some folks who have analyzed several of these.
00:44:39.000On one thing, there was three different.
00:44:43.000Two of them, one of them they said was not, but two of them they said were definitely not.
00:44:54.000Tim Burchett thinks your government is lying to you.
00:44:57.000He doesn't want them to send your money to Ukraine.
00:44:59.000And he wants you to be able to live a rural life and to be able to fill up your car with gas and maybe go get some protein that was processed in the United States by a company that is owned in the United States.
00:45:11.000That's the kind of life I want to live, Tim.
00:45:15.000On the back row in the House of Representatives, we'll be backbenching as long as these good folks keep sending us and we're able to give them high-quality representation.
00:45:23.000Tell folks where they can follow your content on Twitter.
00:45:26.000I know you do a lot of live videos and also where they can get your podcast.
00:45:30.000Yeah, at Tim Burchett is, you know, the little squiggly thing, and then Tim, T-I-M-B-U-R-C-H-E-T-T. And my podcast are Tim Talks, and I'm looking over at Rachel.