Episode 126 - Biden Moves to Force Mask Mandate. Radical Dems Seek Political Domination Through Georgia. Light at the End of the COVID Tunnel？
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Summary
A breakthrough in the fight against coronavirus has been made, and now we can begin to see light at the end of the tunnel in our fight against the virus. Hot takes on the news, the reaction to the announcement, and more.
Transcript
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you ever watch this guy on television you all were not telling the truth and you should not
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be trusted congressman matt gates thank you for what you did for your country today be offended
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with the democratic whip not house republicans like a machine matt gates
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welcome to hot takes i'm congressman matt gates let's talk about the news is there a light at
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the end of the tunnel in our fight against coronavirus pfizer ceo dr albert boulard was
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on cnbc's squawk box with great news about a vaccine take a listen it was exactly what you can
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imagine it is a great day for science it is a great day for humanity when you realize that
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your vaccine has a 90 effectiveness that's overwhelming you understand that the hopes of
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billions of people and millions and businesses and hundreds of governments that were felled on
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our shoulders now we can credibly try them i think we can see light at the end of the time so dr fauci
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originally told us that a 50 to 60 success rate for a vaccine would be a winner i know a lot of these
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drug companies were aiming for that 75 number and so if this vaccine developed by pfizer has a 90
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success rate that's really something that's really something that would be great for our country for
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our businesses for our economy i do note that the cdc is indicating that if you've had the virus and
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get the antibodies you could have an immunity that's three to four times longer than even that
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of the vaccine i recently tested positive for the antibodies some in the washington media put out
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that i had tested positive for coronavirus but i am virus free and antibody full so we will look
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forward to additional news from pfizer i did note that donald trump jr and senator ted cruz took some
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exception with the timing of this announcement you know it is just days after the election and now we get
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this breakthrough news that the coronavirus might not really be the big challenge to our country going
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forward that some had perceived and that some had even messaged during the election the coronavirus was
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central to the biden campaign's message you know donald trump was i think making a broader argument about
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economic success and the need for our country to have higher wages and better jobs things that
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really went beyond just a very narrow focus on coronavirus i certainly uh am hopeful that we
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get a vaccine no matter how no matter when because i know what it will mean to america but if any of
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these companies had good news on the vaccine and they held it for the sake of politics that would be
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despicable and it would also have some pretty serious sec implications if folks were sitting on good
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news because of politics uh that could impact stock prices that could impact the type of information that
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different investor classes had so i certainly hope there were none of those shenanigans i i also noted
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that a dr scott gottlieb former fda official saying that distribution of this vaccine could happen to
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those with the greatest need for it as early as december you know wow i know there are a lot of
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distribution challenges for anything that will be needed to the extent that the coronavirus vaccine
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will be needed but you know you heard a lot of these talking heads and so-called experts saying oh
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you know it won't be until well into 2021 that there's any real availability for the vaccine and
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here now you're starting to see a lot more optimism again i hope that's not a consequence of elections i hope
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it's a consequence of developments and innovation and america rising to the challenge and defeating
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the coronavirus the trump administration operation warp speed they all deserve a lot of credit pfizer
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would not be in the position to give this news to the country if not for the herculean efforts of the
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trump administration and of those involved in operation warp speed so congratulations to those involved in
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this breakthrough development we hope it means a lot of good for a lot of our fellow americans
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georgia georgia that old sweet song keeps georgia on my mind but so does the 2020 election cycle
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georgia's on the minority leader's mind here's chuck schumer talking about his ambitions in the state
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now we take georgia and then we change the world now we take georgia and then we change america if
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president trump ends up losing the state of georgia if we've put ourselves in a posture where a special
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election for the united states senate in georgia is all that stands between our great country and
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socialism then we have georgia governor brian kemp to blame i'll give you the background i'll lay out the
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story but you will see how governor kemp has put us in a position where we've really now got to go
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fight for our country in georgia and i think the outcome could have been very different for the
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president and for the united states senate so it all starts back when georgia u.s senator johnny isaacson
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resigns he leaves the senate that gives governor kemp the ability to make an appointment now president
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trump wanted him to appoint doug collins he made that pretty clear but it is of course the georgia
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governor's prerogative to appoint whoever he wants so instead he appoints kelly loeffler who's now the
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current senator from georgia but somewhat surprisingly doug collins runs anyway now governor kemp could have
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set a primary election for republicans between his pick kelly loeffler and doug collins they could have
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had that primary resolved that issue and then there would have been one republican running against
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one democrat that would be rafael warnock in this november election that we just concluded but
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instead governor kemp set this election to be a jungle election between collins and loeffler and
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rafael warnock now what was the practical political impact of brian kemp making that decision well first
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it meant that loeffler didn't have to run against collins facing only republicans and at the time
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senator loeffler and her team believed that they needed every day possible and every million possible
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to beat doug collins among republicans because at the early stage of that race doug collins was
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beating loeffler very handily among republicans so that was one practical impact is that it gave kelly
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the ability to claw back spend a lot of money and then face collins in an electorate that wouldn't
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just be republicans but here's the second and far more significant impact if you go look at the
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messaging in this race collins and loeffler are both just campaigning for their share of the trump vote
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none of the tens of millions of dollars that were spent on the republican side in that u.s senate race
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were at all spent on finding low propensity republicans new voters persuadable democrats
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are in the pendants to come our way the whole deal was that loeffler and collins were trying to appear
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the most loyal to the president and the most capable to execute on his agenda that left rafael
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warnock like on the basketball court scoring uncontested layups throughout the entire election
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it gave rafael warnock the ability to go and register new voters find new voters engage low
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propensity democrat voters and turn them out and in a race that's so close in an election with such
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razor thin margins this is the kind of stuff that can make the difference you know if we had had kemp
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set the collins and loeffler primary for before november and if one of them had come out of that race
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and the entire georgia republican party could have unified behind senator purdue and behind whoever
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the nominee was between collins and loeffler i believe donald trump would have won the state of
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georgia outside the margin of fraud i believe purdue likely would have nudged over 50 percent
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and i believe that you would have likely seen warnock knocked off by either loeffler or collins
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but you see the selfishness of governor kemp the singular focus to help kelly loeffler over president
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trump over the republican party has now put us in a position where quite literally some special
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election that we're going to have in georgia is all that stands between us and socialism
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i can tell you this nothing forges unity like desperation i campaigned for doug collins in this last
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election cycle but i'll do everything possible to endorse and elect senator purdue and kelly loeffler
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because i know what happens if you get joe biden a democrat senate and nancy pelosi or someone even
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more radical even more left-wing as speaker of the united states house of representatives they will use
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the power far more effectively than paul ryan and mitch mcconnell did during the initial years of the
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trump administration if they are given that opportunity now we hope they're not given that
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opportunity we're going to campaign hard to see that it's not the case but we are only in this
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position with our backs against the wall in georgia with the president not so decisively having won the
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state that he's outside the margin of fraud because it was more important for brian kemp to support kelly
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loeffler and to give her the best chance to beat doug collins than it was to actually keep georgia red for
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the president and to keep georgia's senate delegation republican it's very sad that brian kemp was selfish
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and now we've got to go to georgia and we've got to fight and that's exactly what i'm going to do
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if in fact joe biden is inaugurated the 46th president of the united states and i still think
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there are questions before the courts that could impact that potential eventuality what would be joe
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biden's first big move it's a question pondered by foxnews.com's lucas manfredi and i'm reminded
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that when george w bush was initially elected he used that first time period in office to federalize
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education through the no child left behind act and barack obama utilized his initial time in office to
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federalize health care through obamacare and president trump seemed to break the trend of
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wanting to seize power in washington and spend a heck of a lot more money on things he instead
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passed a tax cut to rescue and reinvigorate the american economy and was pretty effective in doing
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just that and so what will joe biden do to potentially grow the power of government if he's
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inaugurated in this fox news article i cited they talk about a national mask mandate as a result of
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coronavirus taking the power away from our local communities and our states to determine when a
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mask might be appropriate taking that power away from the individual utilizing the central authority
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of washington dc to tell everyone to wear a mask but i actually believe that the biden ambitions
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would be far more expansive than what this fox news piece contemplates there's no question that
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in you know the initial hours of a potential biden administration they're focusing heavily on
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coronavirus i mean it's really what he's talking about it's what his campaign focused on and the
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initial meetings joe biden seems to be in seem to be all about coronavirus i believe joe biden would use
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coronavirus as a veneer to enact a lot of the very socialist policies that the left has been pushing
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for universal basic income i could very easily see a joe biden and the democrats getting maybe enough
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republicans to support the notion of a coronavirus relief package that makes permanent the stimulus checks
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depleting ambition in our country reducing the incentive for work making our money
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less sound making our debt less affordable but they could do it they could say coronavirus is the
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reason that we now need permanent stimulus checks to people at all times now i supported stimulus checks
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where they were appropriate to bridge the gap for our fellow americans whose jobs had been deemed illegal
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but making them permanent doesn't make them a bridge to a brighter future i think that would be an anchor
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around our country it would drag us down to just take the position that everyone here whether they're
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legal or illegal would get a check and by the way that is the incarnation of the stimulus as per the
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nancy pelosi heroes act passed out of the house of representatives that i voted against i cannot support
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any system that gives stimulus payments to people who are not here legally that cheapens the rule of law
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in our country it creates an incentive for people to violate our laws and come here illegally and it's
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unfair to americans who are following the rules working hard trying to get through this pandemic to force them
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to pay for stimulus checks for people who are not in our country legally is the coronavirus going to be
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the trojan horse vehicle for joe biden to get his public option right now i see that there are a lot of
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private health care entities that have really risen to the occasion i mean there's a reason in america
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the death rate was pretty low relative to the rest of the world in dealing with coronavirus there's a
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reason why no one who needed a ventilator didn't get a ventilator in this country there was historic
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cooperation and mobilization between the trump administration and the private sector to meet the
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needs of our country a public option could be devastating to the private sector health care
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system in america that has innovated that has developed solutions and that has worked to ensure that where
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americans needed emergent care they got that care so the public option could be not a standalone bill it could
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be something that isn't given its own dignity it could be tucked into a potential coronavirus relief package it is my
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expectation that the very first legislative push from joe biden if in fact he is sworn in as president will be
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coronavirus but it will be coronavirus with a lot of ornaments a lot of bells and whistles and they could sound a lot
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the huskies of the university of connecticut are hunkering down as a result of coronavirus sending their students home
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the university of connecticut is suspending their in-person academic instruction at their main campus
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and telling students they'll see them in the spring semester and the rationale does seem a little strange
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listen to the justification for this shut down the rationale to suspend the in-person instruction from the university
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we know that when people leave and come back they usually bring the virus with them
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so by having students go home for thanksgiving and remain home
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we'll be able to contain them within their own families and not risk spreading the disease through travel
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this seems a bit odd because no matter when the students are coming back they're going to have to travel
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so if they come back in the spring they're going to be engaged in precisely the same travel that they would have been engaged in
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had they come back for finals at the end of the fall semester so it seems
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bizarre that with a positivity rate on the campus that is less than one percent that you would have this type of
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there's tremendous value in the college and university setting
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just from being around your fellow students being around your professors being around teachers assistants
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engaging in the extracurricular activities that universities offer
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i don't believe the scientific evidence justifies the shutting down of universities
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where young people need to be developing and learning and preparing for their next stage in life
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so let's hope that what we see from the university of connecticut does not become a national trend
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after talking to the governor of florida i'm pretty sure our students here are going to have the option to be in class
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to learn to develop and to grow as the next great generation of americans
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america must keep our eye on china as they potentially prepare for war
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and major power projection nationalinterest.org's chris osborne has the story
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china wants four aircraft carriers armed with stealth fighters
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china is sending a fighter jet and helicopter armed aircraft carrier to the south china sea
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as part of an overt demonstration to show that its first indigenously built aircraft carrier
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while there are still many unknowns with china's first home-built carrier
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it does appear to massively increase the country's power projection possibilities
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bringing new pacific area and international threat possibilities to the united states navy
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one of these threat possibilities includes the possibility that china is now building a new
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threat carrier launched variant of its fifth generation j31 stealth fighter to rival the united states
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marine corps f-35b and the navy's f-35c china is getting very aggressive in the south china sea
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it's important that the united states fund and support taiwan that we encourage our allies in the region
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to push back against chinese hegemony this is the fight that matters for who will win the 21st century
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usa today's wayne washington and chris prasad have a story out about the florida democratic flop
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i talked earlier in the podcast about what was going on in the state of georgia
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and really florida and georgia are the tale of two trajectories and the tale of two leaders
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in the 2018 election cycle both ron de santis and brian kemp started in their republican primaries
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well behind more established political figures in their states both ron de santis and brian kemp
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earned the endorsement of president trump in their primaries both then went on to win their primaries
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by very large margins and then both ron de santis and brian kemp went on to win general elections
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by very very slim margins since that time where really the paths were quite similar the paths have
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deviated substantially ron de santis has unified the republican party in florida there aren't any
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anti-de santis republicans in this state he went to build a party that registered a ton of new voters
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that built big margins that made broad appeal to hispanics african americans asian americans
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and ron de santis then saw florida have a real turn to the red column not only going the president's
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direction by almost three times the margin it went by the president's direction in the last election
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but also we picked up two congressional seats we picked up seats in the state legislature and it
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really has been a successful party building enterprise meanwhile in the state of georgia
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they're having these other problems now in the usa today piece there are a few specific reasons
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why florida seems to be doing particularly well under the de santis leadership hispanics new residents
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you know a lot of the new residents that are moving into florida are escaping democrat run states with
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poor economic policies with high taxes with high cost of living and so because we've had almost unified
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republican control of the government in florida for a political generation now the red policies low taxes
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good investment in education right-sized regulation pro-business climate easy to start a business easy
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to run a business you see those things have then attracted people who are more likely to vote republican
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now they're not all republicans matter of fact a lot of them are not registered with any major party
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but they're voting red another factor in the usa today piece is just enthusiasm you know the republican
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party was a more joyous experience during this last election cycle flags rallies camaraderie you know
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the democrats were walking around all the time talking about a deadly virus and while you know
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obviously we need a strong approach to that and we certainly see it through the advancements we've seen
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through project warp speed you could talk about something other than the virus to try to provide vision
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to the country and to give people a sense of hope that better days are ahead and republicans seem
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to do that better than democrats according to this piece and it concludes with the question as to
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whether or not florida is a bellwether anymore we have a republican governor very popular we have two
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republican senators we have a republican legislature and the only democrat elected to statewide office is the
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agriculture commissioner she's a good friend of mine matter of fact i think she does a decent job as the
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agriculture commissioner in specific areas of helping our farmers but i don't believe that there is a
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strong robust democratic party in florida making a compelling case to people particularly because so
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many floridians are just a generation or two removed from the type of socialism that we see espoused by the
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squad and other national democratic leaders so i'm proud to be a florida man glad to be representing this
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great state in the united states congress i'm proud of the work i did in the state legislature as the
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ways and means chairman to really build out an economic strategy that put our state on a path to success
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and in florida no matter what happens with the rest of the country we're going to do all we can
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to embrace economic freedom to embrace the power of our citizens to be able to live their own lives
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and we're going to keep the good times rolling in the sunshine state thanks for listening to hot takes
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i'm congressman matt gates make sure to subscribe to our podcast so that you're updated with each of
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