SWAMP RATS： 71 REPUBLICANS VOTED AGAINST THE BIDEN⧸MCCARTHY DEBT CEILING DEAL
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Summary
After over a month of playing politics, FBI Director Christopher Wray finally admitted the existence of a leaked document. Congressman Matt Rosendale and Lou Dobbs discuss how the Freedom Caucus can force a showdown with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the budget and debt ceiling.
Transcript
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Hello, everybody. I'm Lou Dobbs, and this is The Great America Show. Welcome. Good to have you
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with us. After over a month of playing politics, FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted the existence
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of that form Chairman James Comer subpoenaed. The form, an FD-1023, is a formal confidential
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whistleblower complaint made with the FBI, and until yesterday, Director Wray had denied its existence.
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That was when Chairman Comer started introducing legislation to hold Wray in contempt of Congress.
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The form allegedly links President Joe Biden to a $5 million bribery scheme. Comer met with
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Director Wray in a scheduled meeting in which Wray confirmed the FBI had that document in its
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possession but would not turn it over to Congress, as Comer's subpoena would require. Comer released
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the following statement following that meeting, quote, while Director Wray, after a month of
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refusing to even acknowledge the form existed, has offered to allow us to see the documents in
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person at FBI headquarters. We've been clear that anything short of producing these documents to
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the House Oversight Committee is not in compliance with the subpoena. If the FBI fails to hand over the
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form as required by the subpoena, the House Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings.
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Congressman Comer holding the line and holding it strong, and I commend him for his great work so far.
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While Comer is doing the Lord's work, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy seemingly doing the bidding of the
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Marxist Dems. McCarthy yesterday lobbying the votes of 149 rhinos in the House to vote for his backroom
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budget deal with Hakeem Jeffries. The budget bill now sits in the Senate awaiting a vote that is certain
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to pass, and then on to President Biden, where he will, likely with the stroke of a pen, have a blank
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check to spend as he likes. One bill that isn't making it past the Senate this week, part of Biden's
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radical spending agenda. It's the Student Debt Relief Program. The Senate voting yesterday to overturn
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the program with a 52 to 46 vote, with Dem Senators Manchin, Sinema, and Tester all voting in favor of
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shutting down the giveaway. Joining us now is one of my favorite congressmen, and he's doing a lot for
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the great state of Montana and this great country. Congressman Matt Rosendale, welcome back to The Great
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America Show. We appreciate it. The Freedom Caucus promising a reckoning now over the McCarthy deal.
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What does that actually mean? A lot of folks may remember the first week of January when we began
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this congress that there was a big outpouring of opposition to the rules package, and that's what
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caused the big challenge that first week of January. And what we did was make sure that we argued that each
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member of Congress would have an equal say to what was going to take place. And that is called an open
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rule, where the legislation is brought down to the floor. It is debated out in the public square,
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and everybody can propose amendments, and they can have their peace, you know, their moment to speak
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to the bill. And that's the way it is supposed to be handled. Instead of this swampy version, which
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things are decided behind closed doors, and then the legislation is brought out to the floor,
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and you're either given the ability to vote yes or no on it, and that's it. That's your option.
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And that decision, Tom Massey did not go with the other two Freedom Caucus members and the Rules
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Committee in the earlier vote. What do you make of that, and what are the chances that he will side
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with the conservatives? That's why he was put there. McCarthy agreed to put three conservatives on
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that Rules Committee, a nine to five advantage over the Democrats on that committee. But Massey,
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at this point, looks like he's going to stay with the Dems.
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I think everybody really needs to reflect back, though, on the Limit Save and Grow Act, Lou, that we did
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work together on to demonstrate how Congress is supposed to work. And we collaborated, and we created this
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document that froze spending, that clawed back the reckless spending that the Biden administration had put
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forward that hadn't actually been spent yet. It raised the debt ceiling to March 31st or by $1.5
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trillion, and then also had a component that helped expand the economy by developing our domestic
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resources, whether that be our oil and gas or our critical minerals through streamlining and permitting
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to make sure that we had export facilities that were going to be permitted. I mean, it was a really,
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really good package. This package just simply doesn't do that. They're going to tell you, you know,
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oh, it doesn't spend non-discretionary spending, mandatory spending, we've reduced this, we've reduced
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that. You and I both have been around long enough to know that just let's reduce it down to the basic
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elements. The federal government under this package will spend more money next year than it spent this
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year. That's not a freeze in my book. Calling a decrease in the increase, that is not freezing
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spending. It's just not. All of the leverage to be able to pass the appropriation bills in the next 30
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to 60 days will be gone because this package also includes a provision, not for a dollar amount,
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because they know that the dollar amount is so large that people wouldn't support it. So what
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they did is put a date in, Lil, to January of 25 to make sure that nobody has to have a discussion
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about the debt ceiling during an election year. God forbid, okay? But if you push it to January 25,
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we know that it's going to be at a minimal $4 trillion debt increase, piled up on the nearly $32
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trillion that exists right now. And again, this is just completely unacceptable.
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Let me see if you agree with my distillation of all of this. Speaker McCarthy went over to the White
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House and said, we're going to talk about this debt ceiling, and we're going to negotiate this
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strenuously. And we're going to give you a trillion and a half dollars, but you do have to cut some
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spending. And the White House said back, well, you know, one and a half trillion sounds good,
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but $4 trillion is even better. But don't, you can whisper that part. And in fact, it is a debt
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ceiling discussion we're having here. But you know what? Let's just get rid of the debt ceiling for a
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year and a half so we don't have to talk about it. Don't have, either party have to deal with it in
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the 2024 elections. And McCarthy said, you know, is he, and I'm quoting him, the White House,
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the Biden White House is smart. And that was the conclusion. I mean, they wiped the floor.
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I said earlier, well, I said the first of the week. McCarthy did not go to a debt ceiling negotiation.
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He went to a horse whipping. And he's walking around ballyhooing. I understand that a bunch of,
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Republicans applauded him, gave him a standing ovation when he descended down from the mount,
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that is 1600 Pennsylvania. This is ridiculous. And it's, and to see some of the best leaders in
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the Republican conference hailing this, are you, I mean, they're starting to act like Marxist dims.
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They're playing pretend. They're play acting. And it's incredible to watch.
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Yeah. And I will tell you when, when I hear these people reciting, uh, what this piece of
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legislation contains, it's just a complete misrepresentation. It truly is. And then they
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say there's absolutely nothing, nothing in this bill for the Democrats. They didn't get anything
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they wanted to. Lou, how is it that, that, uh, whatever number, 175 Democrats are going to vote
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for this bill. If there's nothing in there for Democrats, if they didn't achieve anything else,
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I will tell you what is in there. $1.2 trillion of spending on new green deal projects, which we know
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are, are owned by huge Democrat donors. That is a very big portion of this. We didn't eliminate that.
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We didn't eliminate the $80 billion for the 87,000 IRS agents. Uh, they're going to talk about all these
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little nibbles and bites that they did on each one of these provisions, but they did not eliminate
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them. And you're still going to have $80 billion for the 87,000 IRS agents. I think they put 1.8
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billion that you can be assured actually came out of that. It's a fraction, 98% of it's still there.
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The, uh, $400 billion that, uh, was put aside for the student loan redistribution program. That's
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going to allow you and I to pay for student loans for who knows who, okay. People that took the loans
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out and don't want to pay them off. All of these provisions were stripped out of this. And by raising
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the debt ceiling by that amount, Lou, what happens is there's, it strips the ability for the appropriations
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committee to do their work and develop those 12 bills and credibly send them over to the Senate
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because there won't be any enforcement mechanism. They have this huge debt ceiling now. And so I would
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ask your viewers to mark this date down and watch because what will happen then is the Senate will
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develop a great big omnibus bill like they did last December. It will be several thousand pages. It will
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contain several thousand earmarks for special projects for them. And that will be sent back
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over to the house. And then we will be told again, oh my gosh, you have to pass this or else the sky is
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going to fall. We're talking with Congressman Matt Rosendale. We're coming right back and we're going to
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go further into what in the world happened in those discussions between the White House and the Speaker.
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How did a debt ceiling discussion end up in dismissal of the debt ceiling? Is that negotiating or is that
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capitulating? We'll take that up with Matt Rosendale, Congressman, great representative of the great
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state of Montana. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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We're back talking with Congressman Matt Rosendale. We're talking about what this country has come to
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and just exactly how politics operate in the swamp. This debt ceiling deal, I hesitate to call it that,
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Congressman, because they suspended the debt ceiling. We'll call it the spending bill because that's what
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they're doing. How will the Republicans even campaign? They've been talking about 87,000 new IRS agents
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that Biden got, $80 billion for the IRS. And Lord, look at what happened. They're further weaponizing the
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IRS. How could this be? They absolutely are. And look, that's why I have dubbed this the Fiscal
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Irresponsibility Act. Okay. That's what it is. The Fiscal Irresponsibility Act. And quite frankly,
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Lou, this is an insult to the American people. To go in and try and say that this is a good deal for
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the American people is disingenuous as both at best and very dishonest at worst. It truly is.
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This is not a good deal. As you said, it raises the cap to a date certain. We know that that's
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going to be about $4 trillion. All of the provisions that we fought so hard for to make sure that we
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were able to get inserted into the Limit Save and Grow Act, they've all been removed from it. And any of the
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implementation tools that were there to make sure that we could force any kind of curb in spending
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to change the trajectory for the deficit, which then continues to add to the debt, all of those tools,
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enforcement tools and mechanisms were all removed. So again, when you hear about PAYGO, oh my gosh,
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we've got these PAYGO provisions in there, but it gives the authority to the Biden administration or
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the OMB that's been appointed under the Biden administration. So all of those things are going
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to be waived and allow the spending to continue. This is the swamp at its worst. This is the swamp
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on full display. It's just incredible to watch this process and to watch this result. Congressman Nancy
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Mace, I think I've got this right. She's the one who said that McCarthy got whipped by a fellow who
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can't even find his pants. Talking about Joe Biden, of course. I can't find a thing wrong with her
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No. And you know something, the process was flawed from the beginning. This is going back
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to the old way of doing business here in the swamp. And that is what we have been fighting against this
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Congress saying, no, we are not going to accept business as usual. We're not going to just kick
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the can down the road. We want to see regular order in Congress. We want to have the members
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participate. I sat down with a lot of the members on the other side of the aisle and said, look,
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I am more than glad to openly debate you on any of these issues because I know that when we do that,
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that free markets win. Personal responsibility wins. Limited government wins. I want to empower the
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people. And so I know that my arguments absolutely will win out. And that's all we want to have.
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Let's work these things out on the floor instead of having some transaction, some deal that has been
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negotiated behind closed doors without the participation of Congress and then brought to us
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on a platter and say, you need to vote up or down on this transaction. We are not going to accept
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business as usual. This is not what the people of Montana sent me up here to do. And when we get to
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the discussion about how long this debt ceiling has been extended out to, Lou,
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oh my gosh, there are so many people that are horrified to have this discussion during the election
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year. So it's basically like you can only work in Washington on odd numbered years and on even
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numbered years where there's elections, they don't want to take difficult votes. Every vote that we take
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up here is substantive. It's difficult or it wouldn't have risen to this level. And I am tired of hearing
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discussions about protecting people during election years. Do what you promised to your voters that you
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were going to do. Yeah, without question. And I commend you highly for that viewpoint. I wish that
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were shared by all of the, every rhino in Congress. And by the way, that's a very large number I should point out
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as well. You know, Russ Boat, he is the former OMB director who worked very hard on much of the, of this
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proposal for the Limit, Save and Grow legislation, as you well know. The previous legislation, not the one we're
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looking at now. Right. I'm sure Russ, Russ wants somebody to clarify that so he doesn't get tagged
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with this monstrosity. Well, he's helping himself because he took Thomas Massey to the, you know,
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to the woodshed. Inexplicably, Massey going with the Democrats and then having the temerity to say
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that he didn't feel he should vote his ideology, but some rather larger issue scope ideal that
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sounded awfully like a Marxist dim talking. This is craziness. How in the world, and I have to ask you
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this because he was supposed to be there representing the conservatives. And that was the deal that
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Speaker McCarthy made. This man wants to call himself a libertarian. I think he is absolutely
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abjectly vacant. He is missing an action and coming up with nonsense and nonsense and gibberish
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to rationalize it. So I learned a long time ago, Lou, that I can control one vote. And that's what
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I'm responsible for. And I talk to people, but I just share the facts as I see them. And everybody has
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to own their own vote. I will own my votes. I know what I promised the people. What I will tell you is
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that folks that are here too long, and they make this job their career, it is my opinion that their votes
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become tainted. This is not my career. I had a highly successful career before I ran for public office. And
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this is my turn to do public service. No different than just a week ago when I stood up at a press
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conference for my stock act. Okay. That's a piece of legislation that bans members of Congress and their
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spouses from buying individual stocks. And I said very clearly then, and I'll say it again, when you run
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for public office, you need to make a decision if you're going to be a public servant or a profiteer.
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And once you make a decision that this is your career, then your votes become tainted because
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you then start making considerations about how it is going to impact your longevity, your tenure,
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how long you get to stay here. Mine doesn't. One of the highest compliments that I received
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recently was from the political science professor in one of the colleges back in Montana. And he meant
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it as a, quite frankly, as an insult. He said, Rosendale's problem is that he votes his
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convictions without regard for the political fallout. Thank you very much.
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And thank you indeed for voting your convictions, despite what that fool of a professor had to say
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about it. We appreciate it. It's good to know that university professors in Montana are about the same
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as the university professors in New York state. Unfortunately. Exactly. We're coming right back
00:20:03.660
with Congressman Matt Rosendale. Stay with us right after these messages. We return.
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We're back with Congressman Matt Rosendale. And Congressman, I want to take up something you
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said about restoring regular order. I was among, and I suppose most people who pay, most Americans who pay
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some attention to Congress and the Senate, our government in particular, of course, everybody
00:21:53.000
pays attention to the White House because it's led by such dynamic and extraordinarily talented
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individuals. It's, you talked about restoring regular order. And I really thought that that was
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going to be almost automatic, given the reforms that the Freedom Caucus and the Brave 20,
00:22:10.660
including yourself, of course, set up. Regular order hasn't been restored, I noticed. Your thoughts?
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So that is why leadership makes such a big difference, Lou. And this is what I've been proclaiming for
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quite some time. You can lay the rules package out, but if leadership wants to step in and they want to
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suspend the rules, then it doesn't matter what the rules actually say. And if you have enough people
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that are willing to go along with leadership because they are in fear of their position, their
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chairmanship, their committee that they're serving on are willing to go along with that. Again, this is a
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majority body. And when you get the majority to vote, that's where it lands. And so it makes a really,
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really big difference on who is in those positions of leadership. And that's, again, why we worked so
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hard to try and make these changes. While everything's going good, we empowered Kevin.
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We basically put him in a position to say that he could negotiate stronger because you have strong
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voices that were demanding some of these elements to be put in different pieces of legislation.
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But at the end of the day, when it has to come to negotiating with the White House,
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the speaker is the person who is going to make that final call. And then it's up to us if we have
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regular order restored to make the modifications. But if the rules get suspended and the body goes along
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with those rules being suspended, then shame on them.
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Congressman Rosendale, Speaker McCarthy says he's not worried about any threat whatsoever,
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despite the motion to vacate, despite all of the opposition to the deal that he and Biden
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incurred on. And I had to think cynically, I suppose, but I had to think that he got a commitment
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from the president and from Schumer and from Jeffries that whatever he needed, he would get.
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I think that we may have just seen a bust, the busting of the Republican conference itself.
00:24:36.940
Well, we shall see. I think that a lot of us has gone out for the last 72 hours,
00:24:43.980
and we have tried to deliver the message to as many voters and constituents as we possibly can
00:24:50.860
across the country. Because if there is a loud enough cry to different representatives across
00:24:57.980
the nation, then we can change this. They have to contact their representative and say,
00:25:06.300
vote against the rule, vote against this piece of legislation. We have already delivered something
00:25:11.440
that was acceptable, that everyone participated in, that's going to fund government reasonably and
00:25:18.080
to reduce our spending, to save this nation. And we can still get back to that spot, Lou,
00:25:24.580
but I need your viewers to contact their representatives and demand that they vote against
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You heard the man. Congressman Matt Rosendale, thanks so much for being with us.
00:25:38.480
We appreciate your service to the nation and the great state of Montana. Thank you, sir.
00:25:42.660
Thank you for all your work, Lou. Thanks for having me on.
00:25:45.700
That's all for us this week. Have a great weekend. Our guest here Monday will be the War Room,
00:25:51.380
Steve Bannon. We hope you will join us for that. You don't want to miss it. Until then,
00:25:56.040
thank you. God bless, and may God bless America.