Wednesday Headlines: March 12, 2025
Episode Stats
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176.50612
Summary
A government shutdown is on the horizon. The Marxist Dems in the Senate appear ready to back down in the government shutdown fight. Consumer prices rose less than expected in February, but consumer prices are still up 2.9% from a year ago. The Education Department announced that it would be firing more than 1,300 workers, effectively gutting the Department of Education. Canada and Australia say they won t confront President Trump on tariffs.
Transcript
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Hello everybody, I'm John Fawcett with this Great America Show midday update for Wednesday, March 12th.
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I hope your Wednesdays are off to a great start, or if they started off early, are going absolutely well,
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as I always wish you each and every day here on the Great America Show.
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Folks, the Marxist Dems over in the Senate appear ready to back down in the government shutdown fight.
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Senate Democrats say the six-month government funding resolution that passed the House on Tuesday
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is, quote, a horrible bill, but there's growing sentiment within the Senate Democratic Conference
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that it would be too risky to block the legislation and risk a government shutdown that could drag on for weeks.
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Senate Democrats battled behind closed doors on Tuesday over how to handle the House bill with the number of Democrats,
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especially those in swing states, arguing that a government shutdown must be avoided
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even if it means reluctantly voting for a House GOP-drafted bill.
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Several centrists warned that no clear endgame for the government shutdown if Democrats defeated
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the House bill passed measure, which would increase defense spending by $6 billion,
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boost funding for border security, and cut non-defense programs by $13 billion.
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Now, this bill passed the House by a vote of 217 to 213, with only one Democrat voting in favor.
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But the political calculus is different for the Democrats in the Senate
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because their votes will be needed to avoid the government shutdown.
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Now, the Senate Republicans control 53 seats and would need at least eight Marxist Dems
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to vote in favor to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome the filibuster.
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Now, Senator Rand Paul, who's a staunch fiscal conservative,
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says he will vote against the stopgap measure for not doing enough to cut the deficit.
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Now, on the other side, Senator John Fetterman from the great state of Pennsylvania says
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he will vote to keep the government open, even if he's not a fan of the House-passed funding stopgap.
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The Marxist Dems constantly beat the Republicans over the head when it comes to the budget fight.
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This might be the first time I think I've ever seen the Republicans
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come away with sort of a victory on a budget deal, even if it's a stopgap measure,
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because the Marxist Dems beat them at their own game every single time.
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It's just because the Republicans are a tad bit more feckless.
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This is the thing you often hear me say on this show, and it's President Trump's mantra,
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Before winning the White House back in November,
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President Trump promised he was going to start gutting the Department of Education.
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The Education Department announced on Tuesday that it would be firing more than 1,300 workers,
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These layoffs mean that the department, which started the year with just over 4,000 employees,
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will now have a work source about half the size after less than two months with President Trump in office.
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In addition to the 1,300 workers who were fired this week,
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572 of them, different employees, accepted separation packages offered in the recent weeks,
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and 63 probationary workers were terminated last month.
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Donald Trump told us he was going to do this, and that's exactly what he's doing.
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Britain and Australia says they won't confront President Trump on tariffs.
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of Canada and Mexico coming after President Trump,
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while the likes of Canada and European Union have taken combative paths,
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Australia says they're going to do quite the opposite,
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saying that they have no interest in battling President Trump on tariffs.
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Now, folks, these aren't just unnecessary tariffs.
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We're paying tariffs on things that we send into their country,
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and we're supposed to let them come in here for free.
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but you and I both know that nothing in life is free.
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they're going to continue to import, export for free?
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And U.S. consumers are getting inflation relief
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Americans are getting relief from the inflation numbers in February.
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Consumer prices rose 2.8% in 12 months through February,
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Economists had forecast that the consumer price index
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for a measured approach to independence from Denmark,