Verdict with Ted Cruz - Bonus： Daily Review With Clay and Buck

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.540 Guaranteed human.

00:00:04.200 Welcome to today's edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show podcast.

00:00:09.200 Welcome, everybody.

00:00:10.360 Tuesday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show kicks off now.

00:00:15.840 It is big.

00:00:16.780 It is beautiful.

00:00:17.920 And it is now law.

00:00:20.140 The big, beautiful bill has just moments ago passed in the United States Senate.

00:00:26.380 OK, I know Trump has to sign it, but, you know, it's happening.

00:00:28.860 Trump's going to sign his big, beautiful bill.

00:00:31.060 So the big, beautiful bill has gone through.

00:00:34.260 It will be on the president's desk.

00:00:36.500 This is huge.

00:00:39.140 It is huge.

00:00:40.160 We will get into some of the final items that were in this.

00:00:43.960 We will discuss some of the no votes.

00:00:46.300 There were some no votes.

00:00:48.360 We'll also talk about how Elon Musk, formerly of Doge fame, pretty unhappy with the situation here of the $5 trillion debt ceiling.

00:00:59.200 I think there's still potentially, Buck, a little bit of drama because I think the House will now have to come back and agree to some of the changes that were made.

00:01:08.320 Oh, they have to go on the reconciliation side?

00:01:09.940 I got ahead of myself there.

00:01:11.060 Too excited.

00:01:11.740 Too excited.

00:01:12.120 So there will be some drama.

00:01:14.960 That's the reconciling.

00:01:16.020 It's going to go through.

00:01:16.880 The House has already passed it.

00:01:18.060 It's going to go through.

00:01:18.840 But thank you for the, yeah.

00:01:20.420 For the nerdy edition where there will continue to be drama for a short period of time.

00:01:25.700 How long is that going to take, though?

00:01:27.300 I don't know.

00:01:30.240 We have not spent a ton of time on the minute-by-minute because we knew that this was going to pass, and it will pass on some level.

00:01:38.460 But they still have some maneuvering.

00:01:41.400 I think Trump wants it by July 4th, right, is the ideal day that he would sign it, which is Friday.

00:01:47.820 And so I imagine that they are hoping that the House will sign off on the changes made by the Senate at some point in time in the next several days.

00:01:56.560 But that's the time frame.

00:01:58.960 So that is the last drama to be had before this thing is officially signed and underway, which is not going to be.

00:02:05.820 It's not going to be any drama.

00:02:07.020 I mean, they're going to, you know what I mean?

00:02:08.180 Like, come on.

00:02:09.180 What's the drama going to be, Clay?

00:02:10.700 Someone's really, the Republicans aren't going to actually do the thing that they've already said they were going to do.

00:02:15.160 I don't see it.

00:02:16.000 But, yes, procedurally speaking, they have to reconcile it, right?

00:02:20.140 So the House says to the Senate.

00:02:21.360 The Senate says to the House.

00:02:22.320 Okay.

00:02:23.380 So let's get into what is in the big, beautiful bill, which I do believe is its official name.

00:02:32.900 I'm just seeing now.

00:02:33.880 I think it happened so recently, Clay, that all the news sites live and in real time here are still updating.

00:02:40.760 It legitimately passed as we came on the air.

00:02:43.800 Like, that is the absolute latest breaking news.

00:02:47.880 That's why I got all excited.

00:02:49.240 Okay.

00:02:49.500 So it was happening in real time.

00:02:50.960 We got to open the show with, ah, it is past the Senate.

00:02:53.620 51-50.

00:02:55.420 And J.D. Vance had to step in to, right?

00:02:59.980 J.D. Vance.

00:03:00.580 I'm reading this in real time because it just happened.

00:03:02.880 Just so you understand.

00:03:03.480 This wasn't like an hour ago.

00:03:04.480 It happened seconds or minutes ago.

00:03:07.420 Three Republicans.

00:03:08.780 Rand Paul of Kentucky.

00:03:10.720 Tom Tillis of North Carolina not running next year.

00:03:13.120 Susan Collins of Maine joined Democrats to vote against the bill.

00:03:18.300 Paul opposed the legislation's $5 trillion debt limit, et cetera.

00:03:21.780 Okay.

00:03:22.120 So Susan Collins, not a surprise.

00:03:24.340 Rand Paul being Rand Paul.

00:03:26.100 Trump's probably going to have some truths for him that are not very nice.

00:03:31.300 And Tom Tillis here.

00:03:33.640 Lisa Murkowski was the final piece.

00:03:36.260 She backed the bill after discussions with Thune.

00:03:39.420 24 hours of motions and amendments.

00:03:42.040 Senate Republican leaders altered the bill right up to the final moments.

00:03:45.460 So this was down to the wire, everyone, to get the things they wanted to get in here.

00:03:54.040 Hundreds of billions for border security, national defense.

00:03:57.900 Increased budget deficit by about $3.3 trillion through 2034.

00:04:04.440 Yeah, look, I'll tell you, the White House is very excited about this.

00:04:08.720 I think the economy is going to look really good as a result of this.

00:04:13.720 Or rather, there's going to be a lot of good things that happen.

00:04:16.100 Clay, we knew it would get through.

00:04:18.860 Yeah, tie-breaking vote from J.D. Vance.

00:04:21.020 So it was a close-run thing here.

00:04:24.600 We knew it would get through.

00:04:25.800 It's getting through.

00:04:26.560 Now, okay, the House reconciles it on their end.

00:04:30.020 What are your thoughts as we sit here and bask in the glow of MAGA, another win up on the board?

00:04:36.940 So I think the big question is going to be how fast can the economy grow?

00:04:41.540 So now that this bill is done, the ability to grow the economy is how we end up keeping from having to massively increase the overall debt.

00:04:55.260 And so that is my biggest question.

00:04:59.340 Can we get this economy moving at 3% growth?

00:05:03.720 Doesn't sound outrageous to me, but it is better than we have been growing the economy over the past decade or so, 15 years on average.

00:05:13.740 And so, to me, the biggest question out there is how fast can we grow the economy?

00:05:19.080 To me, the secondary question on this is can we get the Fed to lower interest rates?

00:05:26.480 Our interest rates are about 2% above where the EU is right now at 4.25, 4.5.

00:05:33.460 You guys can correct me in the studio if I get the percentages wrong.

00:05:36.680 I think the numbers need to be around 2.5, frankly, where the EU is.

00:05:41.300 If that were to happen, then mortgage rates, in theory, are going to come back.

00:05:46.520 That would unlock the housing market, which is, I think, the most frozen aspect of the American economy right now.

00:05:53.960 So many of you got the 2.5% or 3% 15- and 30-year mortgages.

00:05:58.560 But it's been several years, and we accelerated those so rapidly that lots of people are unwilling to sell their homes or move despite changing life circumstances

00:06:09.660 because the difference between a 2.5% and a 3% and a 7% mortgage rate is so massively substantial.

00:06:16.400 If that starts to get unfrozen, then I think a lot of the other aspects of the economy will start to fire on all cylinders.

00:06:24.100 So the House Freedom Caucus, I was asking who's going to cause drama here.

00:06:28.100 I was all excited.

00:06:29.500 I was like, okay, this is finally happening.

00:06:31.440 We're looking at a holiday coming up here, a great holiday weekend.

00:06:34.080 Country's kicking ass.

00:06:34.940 Things going really well.

00:06:36.280 House Freedom Caucus says, and this is as of the last 24 hours,

00:06:42.040 House budget framework was cleared.

00:06:43.840 No new deficit spending in the one big, beautiful bill.

00:06:47.560 The Senate's version adds $651 billion to the deficit, and that's before interest costs,

00:06:52.460 which nearly double the total.

00:06:54.340 That's not fiscal responsibility.

00:06:55.900 That's not what we agreed to.

00:06:57.560 Two, the Senate must make major changes and should at least be in the ballpark of compliance

00:07:02.220 with the House budget framework.

00:07:05.440 Are they really going to do this?

00:07:09.360 Are they really going to do this?

00:07:10.980 I think there are going to be some drama associated with this,

00:07:14.580 and I think ultimately everybody is going to say...

00:07:17.300 If the drama is just so they get attention and then they let this go through,

00:07:19.640 they're just being annoying.

00:07:20.580 I'm just going to say this because we've already had this discussion.

00:07:23.160 I get it.

00:07:26.440 This is the best you're going to get.

00:07:28.420 And there's people out there who are going to say,

00:07:30.780 look, Rand Paul's right about the deficit.

00:07:32.960 I think he is.

00:07:34.020 Chip Roy is right about the deficit.

00:07:36.700 I think he is.

00:07:38.440 This is the best bill that's going to pass.

00:07:40.260 And you just saw, I have yet to see anyone come up with a bill that could get passage in the Senate

00:07:49.540 and the House and do as much of this bill does.

00:07:52.940 Politics is the art of the possible.

00:07:55.060 I get people out there that are upset about the debt, the deficit.

00:07:58.340 Look, the reality is nobody wants to address the fact that entitlement spending,

00:08:05.360 Social Security and Medicare make it virtually impossible to largely restrict the size of the federal government.

00:08:12.460 And as soon as you mentioned that, we get flooded,

00:08:16.480 and every politician does with, hey, that money is mine.

00:08:20.740 I want it back.

00:08:21.760 And so the structural issues we have at play here, and this is a challenge,

00:08:26.880 and I don't want to be the want-want guy,

00:08:29.620 but the structural issues we have in play is there are way more older people now

00:08:34.780 than there are younger people in many advanced countries in the world,

00:08:38.800 and entitlement programs are predicated on there being way more younger people than there are older people.

00:08:45.060 And if you are around our age,

00:08:47.080 the math doesn't add up for us to get the Social Security dollars back that we put in.

00:08:53.460 And that's just the reality.

00:08:54.920 Without adjusting, based on retirement ages,

00:08:57.540 based on just looking at population tables,

00:09:01.000 I presume that I'm going to get virtually nothing from Social Security.

00:09:04.880 That's me.

00:09:05.960 I'm 46.

00:09:08.080 You know, people can start taking Social Security, I think, at 62.

00:09:11.480 So I'm not that far away.

00:09:13.340 I don't think it's going to be there.

00:09:14.580 This is why I find the whole thing frustrating,

00:09:17.740 and I appreciate that Rand Paul wants to,

00:09:21.080 Senator Paul wants to have his voice heard on this,

00:09:23.620 and mathematically he's right, but politically he's wrong,

00:09:25.680 because no one's going to do anything about this right now.

00:09:28.380 And there's no willingness among the American people,

00:09:31.380 even people who say they want to tackle the debt to do it.

00:09:33.400 It's like having a debt ceiling fight.

00:09:35.500 It's a fake fight, because we always raise the debt ceiling,

00:09:38.640 and then if they default, they don't really,

00:09:40.800 or rather, there's discussion about default,

00:09:42.840 they're not really going to default.

00:09:44.460 So it just becomes tiresome, and you lose,

00:09:46.580 it's the boy who cried wolf, you lose public interest,

00:09:48.560 and I think that, yeah, until people want to talk about entitlements,

00:09:51.960 just to keep spending the money we have to spend

00:09:53.400 to achieve the priorities of the Republican Party.

00:09:55.300 If we don't have a secure border,

00:09:56.720 and we don't deal with the illegal immigration issue,

00:09:59.140 Medicare and Social Security in 30 years

00:10:01.440 is going to be the least of our problems,

00:10:03.080 because we're not going to have a country anymore.

00:10:04.500 So the hundreds of billions of dollars

00:10:06.860 that are going toward border security

00:10:08.600 and the deportation efforts of the illegals

00:10:10.880 who piled in under Biden is absolutely essential.

00:10:14.460 A lot of the things that are covered in the big, beautiful bill

00:10:18.020 are going to be, I believe, rocket fuel for the economy.

00:10:21.200 Growth is also really important.

00:10:23.440 Remember, nobody's factoring in the Trump,

00:10:25.700 it wasn't, I should say, factoring in Trump's tariffs

00:10:28.260 into financial and fiscal matters for the country.

00:10:31.600 It's already $120 billion, and it's just getting going.

00:10:35.180 So, you know, there are other pathways, maybe,

00:10:37.660 that could be considered here

00:10:38.780 that might make the situation better.

00:10:41.280 Now, I mean, I did, I'll say,

00:10:43.240 I know that Trump had to sign it,

00:10:44.360 so I've forgotten that now the House

00:10:45.460 has to reconcile on their side for a second.

00:10:47.480 I think they're just going to do what they do.

00:10:48.900 We're going to get a bunch of windy speeches

00:10:50.420 about, oh, the debt, the debt, the debt,

00:10:52.520 and then they're going to vote for it.

00:10:55.140 I don't understand.

00:10:56.240 We all get it.

00:10:57.460 We all understand.

00:10:58.860 There's nothing else to be said.

00:11:00.000 Until you want to deal with entitlements, everybody,

00:11:02.180 you don't want to deal with the debt.

00:11:03.220 End of story, full stop, end of conversation.

00:11:05.740 And nobody wants to deal with entitlements,

00:11:07.100 so let's just do what we can

00:11:08.940 to achieve the agenda we've got

00:11:10.280 while Trump's running things.

00:11:11.540 I think that there's going to be a recognition

00:11:15.340 that entitlement spending is out of control,

00:11:19.640 and everybody's going to have to get their benefits cut.

00:11:22.480 And we should have a real conversation

00:11:28.360 about Social Security

00:11:30.260 and the fact that it's actually not a very good deal,

00:11:33.820 and most Americans just don't really look into it

00:11:36.580 because it's been established for a long time.

00:11:39.260 The government takes your money.

00:11:41.380 They give you a 3% return roughly on it,

00:11:44.500 and if you die, if you die, you never get it.

00:11:49.140 You know that.

00:11:49.600 This is all falling on deaf ears.

00:11:50.900 People love Social Security.

00:11:52.860 You know what the problem is, Clay?

00:11:54.340 The lunatic communists,

00:11:55.620 who are certainly right now sitting around,

00:11:57.720 a lot of them praising the Mom Donnie wing

00:11:59.880 of the Democrat Party,

00:12:01.200 they're not going to get into what you're talking about.

00:12:03.340 They're just going to tell people,

00:12:04.980 they're taking your Social Security,

00:12:06.540 and then they lose.

00:12:07.700 And then the communists are in charge,

00:12:09.060 and then they ruin everything.

00:12:10.540 So this is the political reality of America right now,

00:12:13.540 and Trump sees it.

00:12:14.580 And that's why I have my patience for this thing

00:12:18.060 and my patience even for beyond,

00:12:20.860 yeah, of course, hear it out,

00:12:21.980 make the case, tell everybody the numbers,

00:12:23.680 but standing in the way of the Trump agenda

00:12:25.380 because you say that you're not getting the cuts you want,

00:12:27.260 you're not getting the cuts, okay?

00:12:28.400 It's not happening.

00:12:29.480 You're not actually going to deal with the debt.

00:12:31.640 It's $37 trillion.

00:12:32.620 It's not happening.

00:12:33.620 How many people do you think even understand Social Security?

00:12:36.660 What percentage of the American population?

00:12:40.000 I mean, they know that they get money

00:12:41.300 when they're older and they need it.

00:12:42.880 I mean, that's all they care to know.

00:12:44.280 But the fact that it's an awful deal,

00:12:47.100 and if you got to keep your own money

00:12:49.460 and you just put it in index funds,

00:12:52.000 you would like...

00:12:52.500 People don't trust themselves.

00:12:53.820 People don't...

00:12:54.160 10%?

00:12:54.460 They would spend it.

00:12:55.540 People would spend it on a jet ski,

00:12:57.420 and then they'd say,

00:12:58.200 oh, but I need help now.

00:12:59.440 And, you know, this is the problem.

00:13:01.620 People want...

00:13:02.180 Everybody wants somebody else to pay for their stuff,

00:13:04.280 not realizing that they're the ones paying for the stuff

00:13:06.220 they think is coming from other people.

00:13:07.500 I think the biggest challenge is

00:13:09.940 it's so embedded now

00:13:11.440 that most people don't even examine

00:13:14.420 the underlying concept,

00:13:16.520 which is basically a big pyramid scheme.

00:13:20.140 And it's predicated on there always being

00:13:23.900 way more young people than there are old people,

00:13:26.900 and we're not in that era anymore.

00:13:28.840 Clay, the average person pays into Medicare

00:13:31.860 less than half of what they take out of Medicare

00:13:34.580 in terms of the actual cost of their care.

00:13:37.180 But if you tell anybody

00:13:38.120 that you're going to change Medicare,

00:13:39.160 you know what they say?

00:13:39.700 I paid for that.

00:13:40.800 It's not welfare.

00:13:41.700 It's an entitlement.

00:13:42.360 I've paid for it.

00:13:43.060 I deserve it.

00:13:44.080 Okay, well, if I give you money

00:13:46.300 for one ice cream cone,

00:13:47.880 but you keep giving me two ice cream cones,

00:13:49.760 you're going to run out of ice cream cones.

00:13:51.740 Nobody wants to hear it.

00:13:53.020 And honestly, that's not a...

00:13:54.160 I'm excited about the border.

00:13:55.520 I'm excited about saving the country.

00:13:56.920 I'm excited about the Trump agenda being funded.

00:13:59.840 You know, I...

00:14:00.580 I'm with Stephen Miller on this stuff, man.

00:14:02.800 Like, we've got to save the country now,

00:14:04.760 and we'll figure out the debt later

00:14:06.180 when people want to have big boy conversations about it.

00:14:08.360 They don't, actually.

00:14:09.480 The American people do not want to have the conversation.

00:14:11.740 The answer then becomes

00:14:13.800 the growth rate is everything.

00:14:16.200 Yep.

00:14:16.440 Because the growth rate of the country

00:14:18.680 is what can turn this into a net positive bill.

00:14:22.880 So if you are optimistic on AI,

00:14:24.760 if you want to unleash individual American meritocracy,

00:14:28.720 if we ever got the country growing at 4% again,

00:14:32.800 all of these issues vanish, basically.

00:14:35.420 Right?

00:14:35.940 4% a year, 4% a year, 4% a year.

00:14:38.720 We're growing at like 1.5% a year, 1.8% a year.

00:14:43.540 The overall growth rate of the American economy

00:14:46.240 is the key.

00:14:47.620 If overall spending is not going to be addressed,

00:14:50.900 and there doesn't seem to be a political will,

00:14:53.120 unfortunately, as you and I believe there should be,

00:14:55.640 if you look at just the basic books,

00:14:57.320 the political will isn't there to address the spending.

00:15:01.580 And so we live in a magical world.

00:15:04.060 We have to understand.

00:15:04.860 It's not convincing Republicans to tackle the debt.

00:15:08.460 It's dealing with the fact that Democrats will call you

00:15:11.420 heartless, ruthless, throwing old ladies off their Medicare

00:15:17.420 and taking away Social Security from hardworking Americans

00:15:20.200 so they can seize power and act like communist maniacs.

00:15:23.200 That's the problem.

00:15:23.940 So this is, it's not just like we're having a talk on our side.

00:15:27.280 And also the concept of cut,

00:15:29.800 which the media, I think, does a poor job of.

00:15:32.420 Slowing the rate of growth is not a cut.

00:15:35.180 It's still a growth, but they have managed to create this idea,

00:15:38.840 well, we're going to dial back the growth of the overall spending,

00:15:43.660 and that is seen as a cut.

00:15:45.080 Oh, you're cutting spending.

00:15:46.260 No, spending is still growing.

00:15:47.960 It's just not growing at the same rate.

00:15:49.800 And honestly, I think a lot of this is just communication failure.

00:15:53.080 I don't think people know the details.

00:15:55.420 I think a lot of people don't care to know the details.

00:15:57.800 Spoiler alert.

00:15:58.460 It's going to pass, and Trump's going to end up signing it,

00:16:00.540 and everyone who's chirping about this from the Congress in the meantime

00:16:03.080 is going to go along with what's basically there.

00:16:05.620 Just throwing it out there for everybody.

00:16:07.840 But the debt is not being dealt with, that is for sure.

00:16:10.520 And that is why the BRICS conference is so interesting.

00:16:14.260 It's going on next week right around this time.

00:16:16.860 Brazil, Russia, India, China.

00:16:18.000 You know what they're trying to do?

00:16:19.220 Get off the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

00:16:21.280 Why does that matter?

00:16:22.240 Well, that would be a huge lifestyle change for all Americans if that happens.

00:16:26.460 And as it happens over time, it means that we can't fund the things that we fund right now

00:16:31.680 with money printing the same way, because other countries aren't going to buy our debt,

00:16:34.780 and we can't just print our way out of whatever our problems are.

00:16:39.220 This is why you need to take action now.

00:16:41.300 And not everything can be solved by this Trump administration.

00:16:43.520 The debt is not going to go away in the next four years.

00:16:46.240 Try gold, my friends.

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00:16:53.720 from the inflation that's going to continue.

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00:17:57.040 Hey, Buck, one of my kids called me an unk the other day.

00:18:01.140 An unk?

00:18:01.900 Yep.

00:18:02.520 Slaying evidently for not being hip, being an old dude.

00:18:05.200 So, how do we un-unk you?

00:18:07.500 Get more people to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

00:18:10.640 At least that's what my kids tell me.

00:18:12.200 That's simple enough.

00:18:13.060 Just search The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show and hit the subscribe button.

00:18:16.900 Takes less than five seconds to help un-unk me.

00:18:19.860 Do it for Clay, do it for freedom, and get great content while you're there.

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00:18:26.040 The Senate has passed the big, beautiful bill that happened right at the start of the first hour of today's program.

00:18:33.640 It will now go back to the House.

00:18:36.060 End result is going to be passage.

00:18:39.500 Seems to be, I would say, general happiness over this passing.

00:18:45.980 But also a, I don't know that I've picked up on this before,

00:18:49.920 or a demand for perfection in bills the likes of which I have not seen in the past.

00:18:57.360 All bills passed by Congress are imperfect.

00:19:01.860 Many of them are unfortunately awful,

00:19:05.540 which is why, in many ways, I would just like less government.

00:19:09.220 I think most of you out there would like less government.

00:19:11.840 Just get out of the way and let individual excellence triumph,

00:19:16.060 which is how you get the economy growing.

00:19:19.920 But, this bill, I think, will aid substantially in getting the economy growing.

00:19:26.600 It will provide certainty on tax rates.

00:19:31.380 It will further shut down the southern border.

00:19:35.400 It is imperfect, as all acts of Congress are,

00:19:39.120 but I believe the net benefits are very much in a positive direction.

00:19:43.420 Now, for those of you out there that are concerned about government spending, you're right.

00:19:48.480 The government spending is out of control.

00:19:51.960 There is not, however, the political will to address government spending,

00:19:56.960 either on the Democrat or the Republican side.

00:19:59.640 It doesn't exist.

00:20:01.400 If you argue for it,

00:20:03.720 in cutting government spending,

00:20:06.700 cutting entitlements, all these things,

00:20:08.580 you don't get elected.

00:20:09.620 And, to Buck's point, eventually communists take power and they spend more money

00:20:14.380 and they tax you at a higher rate.

00:20:16.840 So, I don't know who the great communicator is going to be that can actually sit down.

00:20:23.520 I feel like, in many ways, back in the day, some of you will remember this,

00:20:27.420 Ross Perot used to just buy commercial time in 1992.

00:20:31.880 And he had his lectern.

00:20:33.860 Can it finish?

00:20:35.040 He had his lectern and he had his, like, pointer.

00:20:38.760 And he would stand there and just make the case,

00:20:41.400 as an executive would,

00:20:43.640 about how government spending was out of control.

00:20:46.000 I think Ron Johnson is right on this.

00:20:47.980 I think Rand Paul is right on this.

00:20:50.020 We have allowed embedded spending excess

00:20:53.580 to be continued from COVID.

00:20:56.940 I agree with all of it.

00:20:57.920 The political will to address it isn't there.

00:21:01.100 And Democrats, this is where they win a lot of these arguments

00:21:05.220 because they have established the definition of a cut

00:21:08.580 is actually slowing the rate of growth.

00:21:11.760 I've never heard of this being applied anywhere else.

00:21:14.140 This is really one we lost.

00:21:15.120 This was true of Republicans in the Tea Party era

00:21:18.540 trying with, there was that, there was a huge fight

00:21:22.460 and it was about slowing the rate of the increase of spending.

00:21:25.960 It was about spending less of a, of a, you know,

00:21:30.840 bringing the trajectory of increased spending down

00:21:33.400 just a little bit and a decrease in the,

00:21:35.960 a decrease in the increase.

00:21:37.880 Yes.

00:21:38.340 And this was a huge political fight

00:21:39.960 back in the Tea Party days a decade ago.

00:21:42.360 So, yeah, I, you know, I don't want to be,

00:21:45.960 I don't want to be dismissive or cynical about it,

00:21:48.280 but usually when I say that it's because I'm about to be.

00:21:50.760 We just haven't suffered enough.

00:21:52.240 People haven't spent enough.

00:21:53.600 They haven't seen enough of their grandchildren

00:21:56.340 not living up to the, you know,

00:21:59.020 the quality of life that they themselves had,

00:22:02.160 or we haven't seen enough money going to paying interest

00:22:05.480 and having that crowd out, private spending.

00:22:08.160 We haven't seen enough of the tax raises

00:22:10.020 that eventually are going to be a part

00:22:11.840 of trying to stabilize this.

00:22:13.520 Like, you know, that's, or, or, or happiness

00:22:16.440 because we're going into a holiday weekend

00:22:18.000 and I already have holiday brand going on here a little bit.

00:22:20.080 Or, Clay, we find ways that AI and productivity

00:22:24.500 and growth are so profound

00:22:26.960 that it's, it's a, something of a fiscal miracle, right?

00:22:31.500 I mean, we, we become so productive

00:22:33.060 and so efficient as an economy

00:22:34.700 that we're able to grow our way,

00:22:37.440 if not out of it, grow our way

00:22:39.160 to a, to continued stability with it.

00:22:41.400 That's a possibility as well.

00:22:43.180 I don't think that that's,

00:22:45.120 there are people who believe that AI

00:22:46.520 is going to be more transformational

00:22:47.900 than even the internet has been.

00:22:48.920 We'll think about that for a second.

00:22:50.540 So no one really knows what that means

00:22:53.340 in terms of how much wealth, you know,

00:22:57.600 people think of wealth as zero sum and it's not.

00:22:59.880 Now I'm borrowing from Naval Ravikant.

00:23:01.440 He's a very smart guy.

00:23:03.220 Status is zero sum.

00:23:04.640 Wealth can actually be something that is real

00:23:07.840 and that is broadly shared.

00:23:09.840 We are all a lot richer

00:23:11.020 than the richest people were in the 1500s.

00:23:13.140 Why is that, right?

00:23:14.660 The world has gotten a lot wealthier,

00:23:16.540 not just individuals.

00:23:17.460 Status is a different thing.

00:23:19.200 That's zero sum.

00:23:20.560 So I just don't know if we've,

00:23:21.820 we've reached the point.

00:23:22.880 I don't think we have reached the point

00:23:23.860 as a country where we want to tackle the problem.

00:23:25.940 Maybe we want to see if we can grow our way out of it

00:23:27.720 and that's where we are.

00:23:28.600 So any, any noise to the contrary right now

00:23:31.080 is unfortunately just that noise.

00:23:33.080 I think the argument that might cut through

00:23:36.860 from a communication perspective is

00:23:39.140 if you put on 10 pounds of weight every year

00:23:43.040 and then suddenly you only put on three,

00:23:46.480 you're getting fat slower,

00:23:48.620 but you're still getting fatter.

00:23:50.820 And the whole idea that slowing the rate of an increase

00:23:55.360 or slowing the rate of growth as a cut

00:23:57.540 is one of the most pernicious,

00:23:59.400 I think, realities that has been allowed

00:24:02.240 to exist in the way we even have conversation.

00:24:04.980 This is where the left does a better job with language

00:24:07.220 because defining a cut as something

00:24:10.020 that actually leads to something being greater

00:24:12.540 is really what they do in essence.

00:24:15.840 Because what it means is

00:24:17.080 once they get the money spent,

00:24:19.100 they never dial back from the money

00:24:21.660 that has been spent.

00:24:22.980 They embed it.

00:24:23.820 It's also, it's like revenue versus taxes.

00:24:26.240 They don't use the word tax, really.

00:24:28.520 If they can avoid it, they'll say revenue.

00:24:30.240 Because revenue is just money the government has,

00:24:32.620 which is good and goes to investing.

00:24:34.920 That's what the laws will say.

00:24:36.320 We need to invest more in the following programs

00:24:39.860 because investing sounds good.

00:24:41.460 What they mean is take your money

00:24:42.760 under the threat of fines and or imprisonment

00:24:45.260 and put it into things that the government decides

00:24:47.800 are payoffs for the constituents

00:24:49.240 that they need to pay off.

00:24:51.060 That's what it actually is.

00:24:52.800 But they play games with the language.

00:24:54.360 I said this to Clay off air.

00:24:57.600 I'll say it to all of you.

00:24:58.280 It's the same thing when you talk about minimum wage.

00:25:01.080 Minimum wage is economically a flawed concept.

00:25:04.320 It does not work the way it is intended to work.

00:25:06.320 It never has.

00:25:06.920 It never will.

00:25:07.800 It doesn't matter.

00:25:08.400 People like it.

00:25:09.580 And if you say don't pay minimum wage,

00:25:11.000 you know what happens?

00:25:11.620 You lose.

00:25:12.840 So it's very hard.

00:25:14.200 And you could say,

00:25:14.880 well, I'll just convince people,

00:25:16.620 make a better argument.

00:25:17.940 You can convince some people.

00:25:19.280 Can you convince enough people

00:25:20.480 that the communists who are just going to shout,

00:25:22.320 you're a fat cat,

00:25:23.560 they play the politics of envy,

00:25:24.960 the Mom Donnie routine.

00:25:26.060 Look, this Mom Donnie stuff is,

00:25:27.580 none of this is new.

00:25:29.060 It's the same thing with Bernie Sanders.

00:25:30.340 Did you see Bernie Sanders sitting down

00:25:32.160 with Joe Rogan recently, I might add,

00:25:34.200 talking about the lawsuits that Trump is filing?

00:25:38.880 You know what Bernie Sanders does

00:25:40.100 whenever he's cornered with a stupid argument?

00:25:42.440 He pretends he doesn't know the details.

00:25:45.060 This is what he does.

00:25:45.840 He does this with economics too, I might add.

00:25:47.620 Well, you know what,

00:25:48.500 I don't have the facts and the figures on that,

00:25:50.720 so I can't get into it.

00:25:52.560 No, it's because his arguments are trash, Clay.

00:25:55.240 But Bernie Sanders, Mom Donnie, AOC,

00:25:57.180 they're all doing the same thing,

00:25:58.620 which is ignoring history,

00:26:00.220 ignoring math,

00:26:01.380 and telling people

00:26:02.300 they have a secret sauce,

00:26:04.140 a secret formula

00:26:04.940 that's going to make everybody feel

00:26:06.680 like they're getting enough

00:26:08.280 and they're good enough

00:26:09.260 and everything is fine.

00:26:10.580 It is always a lie.

00:26:11.880 But it's a very appealing lie.

00:26:13.480 Something that Trump is going to focus on, Buck,

00:26:18.360 that I'm starting to see attention on

00:26:20.800 that I think could be transformative.

00:26:23.200 Okay, we've talked,

00:26:24.020 now the big beautiful bill

00:26:25.060 is eventually going to pass in some fashions.

00:26:27.480 Pass the Senate, pass the House,

00:26:28.800 they have to reconcile them,

00:26:30.420 but I don't think it's going to suddenly blow up.

00:26:32.540 There's going to be some form of a bill that passes.

00:26:35.140 Okay, so that is now moving forward in the agenda.

00:26:39.800 There is now,

00:26:40.900 and I think this is going to be

00:26:42.440 potentially transformative,

00:26:44.920 momentum to not count illegal immigrants

00:26:49.420 for purposes of the House seats.

00:26:52.380 Have you seen this?

00:26:53.640 This could be hugely important

00:26:56.400 and it's structural and it's massive.

00:26:59.880 First of all, we need a new census

00:27:01.340 because I think they screwed it up

00:27:02.780 and it would change the way

00:27:05.240 that the 2028 election map is set up

00:27:08.000 because it would mean that

00:27:09.920 even if Democrats won Michigan,

00:27:12.640 Wisconsin, Pennsylvania,

00:27:14.240 the electoral votes are not there

00:27:16.400 to allow them to be able to win 270 to 268.

00:27:21.720 Unfortunately, the electoral college

00:27:24.820 is not going to be shifted.

00:27:25.760 It doesn't appear until after 2030.

00:27:27.720 But what no one talks about

00:27:29.300 that I think Trump could get behind,

00:27:30.900 and this could be really important too,

00:27:32.940 is they count illegal immigrants

00:27:35.960 for purposes of House seats.

00:27:39.780 And the number is roughly 730

00:27:42.620 or 740,000 congressmen represent individuals.

00:27:48.360 If you said,

00:27:49.920 hey, we're not counting illegal immigrants at all

00:27:52.960 for purposes of House seats,

00:27:54.600 this would mean that the House

00:27:57.540 was not winnable for Democrats.

00:27:59.680 They may win the House back in 2026,

00:28:02.440 but structurally if I were now the Trump team

00:28:06.940 and I were giving them advice

00:28:08.120 on something that I think would be transformative

00:28:10.760 in the illegal immigrant space,

00:28:13.180 it would be let's make it clear

00:28:16.200 that you cannot count illegal immigrants

00:28:18.880 for purposes of redistricting House seats

00:28:21.440 and districting House seats.

00:28:23.920 And this would probably knock

00:28:25.800 at least 10 Democrat seats out of control.

00:28:29.400 Why in the world should these people be counted

00:28:32.660 and it be the case

00:28:34.020 that Democrats benefit overwhelmingly

00:28:36.520 off of people that are not citizens?

00:28:38.780 Not them voting,

00:28:40.260 but just them being counted for census purposes.

00:28:43.500 This means that big cities

00:28:46.000 and blue states

00:28:48.360 that have encouraged illegal immigrants

00:28:50.160 to come into their locations

00:28:51.520 would be dialed back in their impact,

00:28:54.100 and this would have a substantial impact going forward.

00:28:56.860 I think it's one of the big things

00:28:58.300 that I would say,

00:28:59.340 hey, now that we got this done,

00:29:00.680 let's focus on that.

00:29:01.840 Well, it also goes to the perception

00:29:03.920 people have,

00:29:05.260 which I think is in this case correct,

00:29:07.680 which is that the system is rigged.

00:29:10.260 Because if you're a political party

00:29:11.640 that is benefiting from violations of law,

00:29:14.300 you are benefiting in terms of,

00:29:16.560 you know, cold, hard facts of power

00:29:19.000 when it comes to leveraging something

00:29:22.520 that is the mass violation,

00:29:24.440 the zero violation of American law.

00:29:26.160 That's not the way the game

00:29:27.820 is supposed to be played, all right?

00:29:29.540 The refs have been paid off.

00:29:30.720 This is a problem.

00:29:32.200 And it's, as you point out,

00:29:33.740 a substantial one,

00:29:34.960 a big one by the numbers.

00:29:37.400 So, yeah, this is why I keep saying,

00:29:39.220 though, with the big, beautiful bill,

00:29:41.320 the illegals situation,

00:29:43.060 this is why Trump,

00:29:43.860 this is the number one reason in my mind

00:29:45.700 that Trump won the election

00:29:46.820 as convincingly as he did.

00:29:48.600 I know there's other stuff.

00:29:49.900 There's a million things, okay?

00:29:51.000 It's always, you're taking a snapshot

00:29:52.360 of the way that 150 million people

00:29:55.080 decided to, you know,

00:29:56.880 click one box or the other.

00:29:58.280 But immigration is the single issue

00:30:00.340 that I think motivated more people

00:30:02.120 to get behind Trump.

00:30:03.680 And this has to start getting fixed right now.

00:30:07.080 Because what we saw under Joe Biden,

00:30:09.120 that is truly unsustainable

00:30:10.720 if you want to consider this

00:30:12.320 to be America going forward.

00:30:14.380 Not in 50 years, in five years.

00:30:16.700 You can't have another 10 million illegals

00:30:18.460 pile into this country

00:30:19.520 on top of the illegals

00:30:21.120 that are already here

00:30:21.940 and think that this is still

00:30:23.360 going to be what we've thought it is.

00:30:25.940 And, Clay,

00:30:26.880 it's already having a huge political effect,

00:30:28.940 as we see.

00:30:29.760 You have all these cities

00:30:30.660 that are trying to thwart

00:30:33.360 federal law enforcement.

00:30:34.880 Well, that's because

00:30:35.480 the political power

00:30:36.480 of the illegal constituents

00:30:37.600 in those cities is huge.

00:30:40.680 And they know

00:30:41.700 that they have to try and preserve it.

00:30:43.700 We'll take some calls on this.

00:30:45.220 And we'll take some of your calls.

00:30:46.260 We don't have any guests scheduled today.

00:30:47.360 800-282-2882.

00:30:49.220 You can always talk back.

00:30:50.780 Lots of emails rolling in.

00:30:52.100 We'll dive into some of those

00:30:53.160 because a lot of you have

00:30:54.180 big takes on all of that as well.

00:30:57.140 Clay wants to cut your Social Security,

00:30:58.960 so call in and yell at him.

00:31:02.580 This is why I don't have to run

00:31:05.320 for elective office.

00:31:06.440 I can actually tell you the truth

00:31:08.360 as opposed to having to lie to everybody

00:31:10.580 and be like,

00:31:11.840 hey, it's a magical world.

00:31:13.300 Everybody's going to get more money

00:31:14.540 than you ever put in.

00:31:15.660 And there's not going to be

00:31:16.420 any consequences.

00:31:17.580 Hey, yay.

00:31:19.140 Everybody gets ice cream

00:31:20.260 every day for meals.

00:31:21.640 Let's eat birthday cake

00:31:22.700 every day for breakfast

00:31:24.480 and you're not going to get fat.

00:31:27.060 Decisions about health care coverage

00:31:28.580 and which plan's right for you

00:31:29.800 don't come easy.

00:31:30.660 In most cases,

00:31:31.380 like choosing the best of the worst

00:31:33.080 on something as important

00:31:34.120 as your health care insurance.

00:31:35.600 You want to feel good

00:31:36.420 about the decisions you make.

00:31:37.580 Why settle for a government plan

00:31:39.140 like the Affordable Care Act,

00:31:41.240 a.k.a. Obamacare,

00:31:42.560 when there's a better option out there?

00:31:43.960 It's called Ease for Everyone.

00:31:45.740 It offers affordable health care

00:31:47.240 for as low as $262 a month.

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00:31:51.040 never pay a deductible,

00:31:52.240 access over 400 prescription drugs

00:31:54.220 for free.

00:31:55.100 Go online to the website,

00:31:56.400 see what plan is right for you

00:31:57.700 and your family.

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00:31:59.440 developed by forward-thinking experts

00:32:01.720 located in Nashville, Tennessee.

00:32:03.760 Visit easeforeveryone.com

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00:32:06.960 That's easeforeveryone.com

00:32:09.920 slash clay.

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00:32:14.560 slash clay.

00:32:23.420 The big news of the day

00:32:24.520 at the top of the show.

00:32:25.540 Just to recap,

00:32:26.560 right as we came on air,

00:32:28.460 I mean, within moments,

00:32:29.700 the Senate had passed

00:32:31.840 on a 51-50 vote.

00:32:33.080 The big, beautiful bill,

00:32:34.360 J.D. Vance had to be the tie-break

00:32:37.360 on that one.

00:32:38.620 Tom Tillis, Rand Paul,

00:32:41.660 who's the third?

00:32:42.400 Somebody else didn't get,

00:32:43.600 oh, Collins didn't vote for it.

00:32:47.380 So, yep, that was what happened there.

00:32:49.680 Now, thank you, Clay, for the catch.

00:32:51.960 It goes back to the House side

00:32:54.600 before it goes to the President's desk

00:32:56.980 for signature.

00:32:58.680 The House is gonna,

00:32:59.800 there's gonna be some squawking

00:33:01.300 from the Freedom Caucus about it.

00:33:03.680 I don't think they're going to

00:33:05.940 sabotage the Trump agenda

00:33:08.080 at this late moment

00:33:09.400 on the big, beautiful bill.

00:33:11.220 But they're gonna,

00:33:12.060 they're gonna, you know,

00:33:12.820 look, they're allowed

00:33:13.500 to have their say on it,

00:33:14.580 and they will.

00:33:15.760 So, that will be a thing

00:33:17.340 that occurs in the next few days,

00:33:18.440 and we're probably gonna get

00:33:19.560 to a signature before the holiday.

00:33:22.580 Hopefully, that is how this will go.

00:33:24.160 So, that's the big news.

00:33:25.700 And then we had the

00:33:26.660 most interesting visit of the day,

00:33:29.760 was Donald Trump going down

00:33:31.340 to Alligator Alcatraz,

00:33:35.320 which is in O'Choppe,

00:33:38.500 O'Choppe, Florida,

00:33:40.980 which is near Everglades City,

00:33:44.100 which I can tell you

00:33:45.320 is not really much of a city.

00:33:47.960 It is really middle-of-nowheresville.

00:33:50.460 Well, I think O'Choppe

00:33:52.580 is, it has a hundred people,

00:33:56.880 something like that,

00:33:57.540 lives in the,

00:33:58.800 it is unincorporated territory,

00:34:00.500 so it's not even,

00:34:02.100 I think, a township, per se.

00:34:05.100 It's quite small.

00:34:06.060 But that was the one,

00:34:07.780 if you were wondering,

00:34:08.420 it wasn't Lake Okeechobee.

00:34:10.000 I know Lake Okeechobee.

00:34:11.800 O'Choppe was the new place.

00:34:13.840 So, that's where they have

00:34:16.020 this airstrip

00:34:17.000 that is a place

00:34:19.740 to put illegal migrants,

00:34:21.760 illegal aliens

00:34:22.600 before they are deported.

00:34:24.800 And Trump is saying,

00:34:26.100 if you try to run from the gators

00:34:27.560 or swim from the gators,

00:34:28.700 it's going to be a bad day for you.

00:34:30.560 So, there's all that going on.

00:34:31.740 And then he got into

00:34:32.360 Kami Momdani.

00:34:33.360 Do you have anything

00:34:33.920 in the Alligator Alcatraz?

00:34:36.400 The team is saying that

00:34:37.660 all you have to do

00:34:38.860 is be able to,

00:34:39.840 not zigzag,

00:34:40.800 but outrun the nearest person to you,

00:34:42.820 which they're suggesting

00:34:44.200 might be mean.

00:34:45.660 And that is mean.

00:34:46.600 That's very mean.

00:34:47.580 Clay would not leave me behind

00:34:49.480 to get eaten by gators.

00:34:51.420 Right, Clay?

00:34:52.600 Correct.

00:34:53.920 Whenever I would be,

00:34:56.940 again,

00:34:57.540 I've said on this program before,

00:34:59.220 I am prepared to save anyone

00:35:01.480 from an alligator attack.

00:35:03.080 If you see me near a swamp,

00:35:05.660 I've got your back.

00:35:06.900 So, just don't go in the water.

00:35:09.620 But if they come out of the water,

00:35:11.360 like in Crocodile Dundee,

00:35:12.820 I know that's Crocodile

00:35:13.580 versus an alligator,

00:35:15.100 then I'll be like Mick Dundee

00:35:17.340 right there to protect you.

00:35:19.860 By the way,

00:35:20.520 that movie also is still a lot of fun

00:35:22.340 if you've got kids

00:35:23.240 and you want to watch some movies

00:35:25.520 during the July 4th holiday.

00:35:27.620 Weather's not great.

00:35:28.580 Maybe you're sitting around.

00:35:29.960 We've been watching

00:35:30.580 all the Harry Potter movies

00:35:32.180 in the Travis household.

00:35:34.060 And they're still really good.

00:35:35.800 So, props J.K. Rowling.

00:35:37.060 I think she may have a future

00:35:37.920 in this creative industry space.

00:35:40.580 But that alligator Alcatraz thing,

00:35:42.880 and I think,

00:35:43.360 I know we said it last hour,

00:35:44.640 but I do think it's so important.

00:35:48.220 Trump and DeSantis

00:35:49.320 are a whale of a team.

00:35:52.260 And I know Ron DeSantis

00:35:53.700 only has,

00:35:54.840 whatever it is,

00:35:55.460 a year and a half left,

00:35:56.920 basically,

00:35:58.040 as the governor of Florida.

00:35:59.500 But I would not be surprised

00:36:02.760 if DeSantis ends up

00:36:05.300 in some form or fashion

00:36:08.100 as a part of Trump 2.0 cabinet.

00:36:11.680 And what I mean by that is

00:36:13.140 there's constant,

00:36:15.480 doing these jobs takes a lot.

00:36:17.700 So, so far we have had

00:36:19.740 pretty great stability

00:36:21.240 in Trump 2.0 cabinet universe.

00:36:23.880 But at some point,

00:36:25.300 some of these guys,

00:36:26.100 probably after NGALs,

00:36:27.760 after the midterms,

00:36:29.160 are going to start to say,

00:36:30.780 hey, I want to do

00:36:31.420 something different.

00:36:32.360 I'm burned out.

00:36:33.300 Two years of going full speed,

00:36:34.960 doing X, Y, or Z.

00:36:36.180 There's something else

00:36:36.740 that I want to do.

00:36:37.800 It wouldn't shock me

00:36:38.920 if Trump comes back

00:36:40.940 to DeSantis.

00:36:41.540 Remember,

00:36:41.880 there was some talk

00:36:42.740 about DeSantis

00:36:44.720 potentially being

00:36:45.640 the Secretary of Defense

00:36:46.940 when it was uncertain

00:36:48.000 about whether Hegseth

00:36:48.960 was going to be confirmed.

00:36:50.540 And that's another example

00:36:52.260 of J.D. Vance

00:36:53.620 breaking a tie

00:36:54.560 50-50 in the Senate.

00:36:55.980 J.D. Vance gets the vote

00:36:57.760 to get Hegseth in.

00:36:59.140 And Pete has done

00:36:59.660 a very, very good job since.

00:37:01.680 This is also an example

00:37:02.980 on the big, beautiful bill.

00:37:04.600 You've got J.D. Vance

00:37:05.820 breaking the tie.

00:37:07.560 This is why having

00:37:09.120 a little bit of a buffer

00:37:10.520 in the Senate,

00:37:11.680 53-47,

00:37:13.800 man, it would be great

00:37:15.020 to be up to 54

00:37:16.560 or 55 or 56

00:37:18.580 as it pertains

00:37:20.900 to where we're headed on next.

00:37:24.020 But the Trump-DeSantis

00:37:26.300 relationship is very strong

00:37:27.640 and I think it's important

00:37:28.520 to point out

00:37:29.220 that by and large

00:37:30.840 most of you out there

00:37:32.800 who voted Trump,

00:37:34.220 I really can't hardly

00:37:35.860 point to anything

00:37:36.840 in the first six months

00:37:38.020 and say,

00:37:39.140 hey, I think Trump

00:37:40.300 could have done

00:37:40.880 a better job on this.

00:37:42.900 Politics is the art

00:37:43.740 of the possible.

00:37:44.940 So I understand

00:37:45.660 that people are saying,

00:37:46.580 oh, this is my number one issue

00:37:48.180 and this hasn't been

00:37:48.880 addressed completely

00:37:49.740 to the ability

00:37:51.660 that I would like.

00:37:52.580 you can't make people

00:37:54.720 do what there is not

00:37:56.260 the political will

00:37:57.260 for them to do.

00:37:58.400 So you and I, Buck,

00:37:59.220 we talked about this

00:37:59.840 some earlier,

00:38:00.640 we're very troubled

00:38:01.440 by the national debt.

00:38:03.060 When the Tea Party

00:38:04.120 got its start,

00:38:05.340 national debt

00:38:05.960 was $10 trillion.

00:38:07.580 National debt

00:38:08.360 is soon going to be

00:38:09.080 $40 trillion.

00:38:11.780 That's untenable.

00:38:13.160 But until there is

00:38:14.820 a political will

00:38:15.840 to address it

00:38:16.940 and you can't solve it

00:38:18.660 by increasing tax rates,

00:38:20.400 that doesn't work.

00:38:21.360 Ultimately, I think

00:38:22.880 you're going to have

00:38:23.460 to dial back spending.

00:38:25.160 This is inevitable.

00:38:27.080 But that political will

00:38:28.300 is not there yet.

00:38:29.380 So in the meantime,

00:38:30.880 you have two options.

00:38:32.540 You can either whine

00:38:33.940 and complain

00:38:34.820 and some people

00:38:35.680 are choosing that

00:38:36.440 because it's not

00:38:37.340 kick your legs,

00:38:38.820 scream like a child,

00:38:40.980 have a temper tantrum

00:38:41.960 or you can do

00:38:43.880 what you and I

00:38:44.540 are talking about now.

00:38:45.460 Hey, this bill

00:38:46.440 is going to pass

00:38:47.220 and now it's time

00:38:48.560 to try to figure out

00:38:49.640 how do we grow

00:38:51.220 the economy

00:38:52.480 as rapidly

00:38:53.720 as we possibly can

00:38:55.320 to help to lead

00:38:57.460 to a surplus

00:38:58.480 through growth

00:38:59.660 as opposed

00:39:00.660 to a surplus

00:39:01.480 through cuts.

00:39:02.580 That is the new hope

00:39:05.040 and to me,

00:39:06.440 if we can get it

00:39:06.940 to 3-4% growth,

00:39:08.640 everything changes.

00:39:09.420 Yes, so that's the

00:39:12.060 case for optimism

00:39:13.400 and I agree with you

00:39:14.420 on that.

00:39:14.760 The case for optimism

00:39:15.540 is not that everyone's

00:39:17.780 going to see the wisdom

00:39:18.520 of Rand Paul's math

00:39:21.080 and make massive changes

00:39:24.160 to the biggest spending

00:39:26.380 programs and priorities

00:39:28.100 of the United States government

00:39:29.280 now and for the last,

00:39:31.500 well, all of our lifetimes.

00:39:33.100 So yeah,

00:39:33.600 that's not going to happen.

00:39:34.960 So hopefully Trump

00:39:35.660 just has the economy

00:39:36.800 so juiced

00:39:38.460 and so en fuego

00:39:40.000 that some very good

00:39:41.640 things can happen.

00:39:42.380 What will make things

00:39:43.160 a lot worse

00:39:43.820 is if the commie

00:39:45.700 Mamdani

00:39:47.040 is able to take control.

00:39:49.860 Trump spoke about this.

00:39:51.000 There's some Marine One noise

00:39:52.160 in the background,

00:39:52.760 but we wanted you

00:39:53.180 to hear this.

00:39:53.760 This is cut seven.

00:39:56.000 This is, look,

00:39:56.640 even President Trump's win

00:39:57.820 and we all see this.

00:39:59.120 This is concerning

00:39:59.960 when somebody

00:40:00.680 gets the wind

00:40:01.700 at his back

00:40:02.360 in some place

00:40:03.820 as important

00:40:05.660 as New York City.

00:40:06.560 Play it.

00:40:07.020 I think he's terrible.

00:40:08.080 He's a communist.

00:40:09.420 The last thing we need

00:40:10.480 is a communist.

00:40:12.060 I said there will never

00:40:13.360 be socialism

00:40:14.160 in the United States.

00:40:15.400 So we have a communist.

00:40:16.720 I think he's bad news

00:40:18.100 and I think I'm going

00:40:19.380 to have a lot of fun

00:40:20.040 with him watching him

00:40:21.100 because he has to come

00:40:22.460 right through his building

00:40:23.340 to get his money.

00:40:25.100 And don't worry,

00:40:25.740 he's not going to run away

00:40:26.560 with anything.

00:40:27.360 I think he's a,

00:40:28.320 frankly,

00:40:28.820 I've heard he's a total nut job.

00:40:31.520 I think the people

00:40:32.220 in New York are crazy.

00:40:33.400 If they go this route,

00:40:34.440 I think they're crazy.

00:40:35.740 We will have a communist

00:40:37.280 in the,

00:40:38.100 for the first time,

00:40:39.080 really,

00:40:39.860 a pure,

00:40:40.720 true communist.

00:40:42.320 He wants to operate

00:40:43.340 the grocery stores,

00:40:44.900 the department stores.

00:40:46.720 What about the people

00:40:47.620 that are there?

00:40:49.340 I think it's crazy.

00:40:52.220 Yeah, Clay,

00:40:53.000 it is crazy.

00:40:55.460 And I understand

00:40:57.040 that there's this

00:40:58.360 sense that it's

00:40:59.840 limited to New York,

00:41:01.040 but AOC and Bernie Sanders,

00:41:03.060 they co-sign

00:41:04.880 really all of this stuff

00:41:06.620 and they're the Democrats

00:41:08.140 that have the most

00:41:09.700 currency with the base

00:41:11.800 and it is a Democrat party

00:41:13.520 that came within

00:41:14.560 a few hundred thousand

00:41:15.400 votes of Trump

00:41:16.200 even after lying

00:41:17.360 about Biden's dementia

00:41:18.360 and putting forward

00:41:19.820 the worst candidate

00:41:21.280 in our lifetime

00:41:22.140 in Kamala Harris.

00:41:23.140 So,

00:41:23.700 I mean,

00:41:24.260 I would argue

00:41:24.740 even worse than dementia guy,

00:41:26.280 which tells you a lot.

00:41:27.400 so we have to take

00:41:29.320 this seriously.

00:41:30.140 People ask,

00:41:30.660 how does the Democratic

00:41:31.220 Party come back?

00:41:32.600 It's not hard.

00:41:33.740 They were close

00:41:34.600 even in this election

00:41:35.760 and aggregate numbers

00:41:37.180 when you really look at it,

00:41:39.220 there are a lot of people

00:41:40.160 who are voting Democrat

00:41:40.960 no matter who they put forward,

00:41:42.260 no matter how crazy

00:41:42.960 the idea is.

00:41:43.720 And Momdani,

00:41:44.260 I think,

00:41:44.520 is just a symptom

00:41:45.200 of that larger malady.

00:41:48.060 And,

00:41:48.700 again,

00:41:49.260 I'm going to keep hammering it.

00:41:51.660 If there is not

00:41:53.100 a coalition

00:41:54.100 that arises

00:41:55.600 to all come together

00:41:57.020 to oppose Momdani,

00:41:58.440 if you have

00:41:59.580 Eric Adams running

00:42:00.620 as an independent,

00:42:01.640 Andrew Cuomo running

00:42:02.640 as an independent,

00:42:03.820 and you have

00:42:05.200 a situation

00:42:06.680 where Curtis Sliwa

00:42:07.660 is the Republican,

00:42:09.460 that trio

00:42:10.720 is going to assure

00:42:12.400 that Momdani wins.

00:42:13.680 So the only way

00:42:15.180 New York City

00:42:15.920 rejects Momdani

00:42:17.240 and has some form

00:42:18.700 of sanity

00:42:19.400 in terms of

00:42:20.120 who it's selecting

00:42:20.960 as its next mayor

00:42:22.260 is if there's

00:42:23.780 an understanding

00:42:24.760 that they cannot

00:42:25.800 all run

00:42:26.800 and there is

00:42:27.820 a coalition

00:42:28.480 of opposition

00:42:29.160 that comes together

00:42:30.140 to try and defeat

00:42:31.480 Momdani.

00:42:32.700 My concern is

00:42:34.020 everybody's going to

00:42:35.140 look out for

00:42:35.700 their best interest,

00:42:36.960 meaning

00:42:37.300 you're going to

00:42:38.040 get more attention

00:42:38.900 if you stay in the race

00:42:40.520 and everybody else loses.

00:42:43.060 And there is

00:42:43.660 a coalition

00:42:44.560 brought together

00:42:45.580 to come against him.

00:42:46.740 And I think what

00:42:47.380 Trump is talking about

00:42:48.200 in general is

00:42:49.040 the opposition

00:42:50.680 that he sees

00:42:51.740 from all these

00:42:52.300 sanctuary cities

00:42:53.220 as the process

00:42:55.340 is underway

00:42:56.020 to deport

00:42:57.340 so many different people

00:42:58.780 is a direct

00:43:00.440 opposition

00:43:00.900 to the federal

00:43:02.160 government

00:43:02.620 and should not

00:43:03.600 be acceptable.

00:43:04.820 And at some point,

00:43:06.460 I think there's

00:43:07.140 going to have to be

00:43:08.060 a test case

00:43:09.140 of someone,

00:43:10.780 probably a mayor,

00:43:11.700 that is one

00:43:12.740 of these

00:43:13.040 sanctuary cities

00:43:14.060 that is directly

00:43:14.880 defying federal law.

00:43:17.220 And we're going to

00:43:17.960 have to have

00:43:18.260 the courts rule

00:43:19.060 about whether or not

00:43:20.180 that is permissible

00:43:21.080 or appropriate

00:43:21.760 because I don't

00:43:22.320 understand.

00:43:23.260 We made this argument

00:43:24.180 and the Supreme Court

00:43:25.260 has said it quite clearly.

00:43:26.620 The President

00:43:27.020 of the United States

00:43:27.700 is in charge

00:43:28.480 of border-related

00:43:29.460 policies,

00:43:30.240 immigration,

00:43:30.940 all of those things.

00:43:32.120 How can we allow

00:43:33.320 all of these

00:43:34.060 individual cities

00:43:35.420 and certainly

00:43:36.300 governors of states,

00:43:37.440 but it's really

00:43:38.040 being driven

00:43:39.120 more by mayors

00:43:40.120 of cities

00:43:40.680 that have decided

00:43:41.480 that they are

00:43:42.040 sanctuaries?

00:43:43.220 How can we allow

00:43:44.000 them to directly

00:43:44.700 defy federal law?

00:43:46.060 At some point,

00:43:46.960 that conflict

00:43:47.820 is going to have

00:43:48.600 to be resolved

00:43:49.280 in some way

00:43:50.020 by the larger

00:43:51.240 court system.

00:43:52.400 It feels inevitable

00:43:53.080 to me.

00:43:55.000 We'll get some calls

00:43:56.400 and some talkbacks

00:43:57.180 coming up here

00:43:57.700 in a second.

00:43:58.180 I want to hear

00:43:58.460 from all of you

00:43:59.820 before Clay and I

00:44:01.060 start off for the holiday.

00:44:01.920 Like I said,

00:44:02.460 Tudor Dixon and tomorrow,

00:44:04.440 Brian Mudd

00:44:05.040 in the next day,

00:44:06.060 got great guest hosts.

00:44:06.940 We've got live shows

00:44:07.820 coming up for you

00:44:08.700 with fantastic content,

00:44:10.440 but Clay is going

00:44:11.880 to be on the beach.

00:44:12.900 I might even get

00:44:13.800 to the beach.

00:44:14.560 It's funny.

00:44:15.140 I live next to the beach.

00:44:17.860 I don't really get

00:44:18.340 to the beach very often,

00:44:19.600 which is weird

00:44:20.720 considering I live

00:44:21.420 next to one of the

00:44:22.020 nicest beaches

00:44:22.760 in America.

00:44:24.020 Some would argue

00:44:24.640 for an urban beach,

00:44:26.700 for an urban beach.

00:44:27.940 Okay, don't be like,

00:44:28.540 well, what about Tahiti

00:44:29.600 or what about,

00:44:30.420 you know, the Seychelles?

00:44:32.240 One of the nicest

00:44:33.020 urban beaches

00:44:33.640 anywhere in the world.

00:44:35.140 So, yeah,

00:44:36.240 I should get to the beach

00:44:36.900 too.

00:44:37.220 We'll talk about it.

00:44:37.920 Take some calls,

00:44:38.540 800-282-2882.

00:44:41.400 Dedicated first responders

00:44:42.600 and service members

00:44:43.460 like U.S. Army Major

00:44:44.860 Scott Smiley

00:44:45.680 have paid a high price

00:44:47.500 serving our nation

00:44:48.240 and communities.

00:44:49.480 Friends like you

00:44:50.020 have shown your gratitude

00:44:50.960 for Scott's service

00:44:51.900 and sacrifice,

00:44:52.800 not only through words,

00:44:53.780 but through actions.

00:44:55.040 This brave service member

00:44:56.600 was in Iraq

00:44:57.280 leading his platoon

00:44:58.220 when a car bomb

00:44:59.480 detonated in front of him.

00:45:00.920 The blast left him

00:45:01.980 blind and temporarily paralyzed,

00:45:03.500 but he refused

00:45:04.660 to let his injuries

00:45:05.400 stop his military career.

00:45:07.440 Scott became

00:45:07.960 the first blind

00:45:09.020 active duty officer

00:45:09.940 in military history

00:45:10.880 before medically retiring

00:45:12.060 years later.

00:45:13.300 Thanks to friends like you,

00:45:14.460 the Tunnel to Towers Foundation

00:45:15.620 gave Scott and his family

00:45:17.340 a mortgage-free,

00:45:18.440 specially adapted smart home

00:45:19.780 to help him live

00:45:20.540 more independently.

00:45:21.900 Please show that you

00:45:22.660 appreciate the profound

00:45:23.740 sacrifices

00:45:24.420 made by America's heroes,

00:45:26.260 the men and women

00:45:26.780 who have served

00:45:27.480 our country

00:45:28.420 or our local communities

00:45:30.060 so unselfishly.

00:45:31.420 Donate $11 a month

00:45:33.280 to Tunnel to Towers

00:45:34.060 at T2T.org.

00:45:36.460 That's T,

00:45:37.180 the number two,

00:45:38.040 T.org.

00:45:47.580 Canadian women

00:45:48.340 are looking for more.

00:45:49.740 More out of themselves,

00:45:50.740 their businesses,

00:45:51.680 their elected leaders,

00:45:52.640 and the world around them.

00:45:53.840 And that's why we're thrilled

00:45:54.820 to introduce

00:45:55.460 the Honest Talk podcast.

00:45:57.500 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:45:58.760 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:45:59.980 And in this podcast,

00:46:00.940 we interview Canada's

00:46:02.120 most inspiring women,

00:46:03.620 entrepreneurs,

00:46:04.440 artists,

00:46:05.120 athletes,

00:46:05.720 politicians,

00:46:06.380 and newsmakers,

00:46:07.300 all at different stages

00:46:08.360 of their journey.

00:46:09.500 So if you're looking to connect,

00:46:11.320 then we hope you'll join us.

00:46:12.740 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast

00:46:14.100 on iHeartRadio

00:46:15.100 or wherever you listen

00:46:16.080 to your podcasts.

00:46:16.800 We're having a great time.

00:46:19.040 We appreciate you being with us.

00:46:20.180 I want to remind you

00:46:20.820 to please subscribe

00:46:21.540 to the Clay and Buck podcast network

00:46:24.020 because you're going to want

00:46:25.100 to have stuff to listen to

00:46:26.100 as you are cleaning the grill

00:46:28.920 in preparation for cooking on the grill,

00:46:31.480 which is a thing you should all do.

00:46:32.520 You don't want to get too much,

00:46:33.540 too much of that kind of carbon gristle buildup

00:46:37.060 on the metal grate of your grill.

00:46:40.160 But if you want something to listen to

00:46:41.580 or if you're going to be out there,

00:46:43.000 I don't know,

00:46:43.340 on the boat,

00:46:44.080 in the yard,

00:46:44.820 whatever it is,

00:46:45.900 listen to Clay and Buck podcast network.

00:46:47.560 Fantastic people there.

00:46:48.860 David Rutherford,

00:46:49.920 Tudor Dixon,

00:46:51.340 Carol Markowitz,

00:46:52.420 lots and lots of great people

00:46:53.540 to listen to.

00:46:54.720 And like we said,

00:46:55.460 Tudor Dixon will be in for us tomorrow.

00:46:57.580 And our friend Brian Mudd

00:46:59.500 will be in for us the next day after that.

00:47:01.580 So you got great shows coming up your way.

00:47:03.880 We have,

00:47:05.600 wow,

00:47:06.060 a lot of talkbacks

00:47:07.260 and a lot of calls,

00:47:08.300 a lot of good things going on here.

00:47:10.500 Joe from,

00:47:11.300 let's take HH,

00:47:12.340 Joe from Mesa, Arizona.

00:47:16.400 Hey, Joe and Mesa.

00:47:18.460 I was trying to explain to my friend

00:47:20.640 just like why most of America

00:47:22.940 doesn't even care about the deportations

00:47:25.480 that are happening.

00:47:26.180 And he flipped out on me

00:47:29.060 and was saying that I needed to admit

00:47:32.060 that I hate every other race

00:47:33.540 other than my own.

00:47:35.720 Anyways,

00:47:36.620 so in the end,

00:47:38.100 they're just totally brainwashed

00:47:39.940 and there's nothing you can do.

00:47:42.580 The law either matters or it doesn't.

00:47:44.860 It has nothing to do with race.

00:47:45.760 It has to do with being a rule of law society, Clay.

00:47:48.780 Yeah,

00:47:49.280 and look,

00:47:50.320 I think that a lot of people

00:47:52.840 are dialed out

00:47:54.180 and just randomly buy into

00:47:57.600 all of the histrionics.

00:48:01.060 I mean,

00:48:01.200 I think a perfect example of this

00:48:02.800 is,

00:48:03.920 you know,

00:48:04.300 we're going to hit right now.

00:48:05.740 The stock market is up again today

00:48:07.620 for another high.

00:48:09.920 It was only two months ago

00:48:12.220 that they were telling you

00:48:13.420 that everything was going to collapse

00:48:15.960 and that you needed to make sure

00:48:18.580 that you sold all your stocks

00:48:20.020 and that we were headed for basically

00:48:21.520 a nuclear winter

00:48:22.480 and from an economic perspective,

00:48:25.120 and it just hasn't happened.

00:48:26.800 And so I think the total fear there

00:48:30.140 is it works on a lot of people

00:48:33.140 and they are aware

00:48:34.220 that emotionally

00:48:35.020 they can play on people's failings

00:48:37.920 as it pertains to that,

00:48:40.720 basically.

00:48:42.140 We have next up here,

00:48:45.940 a lot of Lord of the Rings nerds

00:48:48.780 in this audience.

00:48:49.880 Oh,

00:48:50.040 we didn't get,

00:48:50.620 we said we were going to do

00:48:51.420 the movie thing.

00:48:52.580 Yeah,

00:48:52.880 that's what I thought.

00:48:54.220 I was doing my research here.

00:48:55.680 New York Times best,

00:48:58.160 now this is a little bit

00:48:59.440 of a frustration

00:49:00.160 because people don't pay,

00:49:02.900 it's like when you had a teacher

00:49:04.380 that said make sure you read

00:49:05.420 the instructions for the exam

00:49:06.640 before you take the exam.

00:49:09.560 It's the best movies

00:49:10.980 of the 21st century.

00:49:13.800 So anybody who's jumping in

00:49:15.680 with Braveheart,

00:49:16.880 or you know,

00:49:17.240 which I love

00:49:17.760 and would be my overall choice,

00:49:19.540 overall favorite movie all time,

00:49:21.660 that's 1998 I think,

00:49:25.040 or six,

00:49:25.800 or I forget when,

00:49:26.680 nine,

00:49:27.140 I don't know,

00:49:27.520 but it was definitely

00:49:28.460 in the 20th,

00:49:30.760 22-0,

00:49:32.060 20th century,

00:49:33.380 21st century,

00:49:34.500 best movies of the 21st century.

00:49:36.460 This is,

00:49:37.100 this is the New York Times list

00:49:38.580 that came out.

00:49:39.620 We got,

00:49:40.260 wait,

00:49:40.520 producer,

00:49:40.960 I got all of you

00:49:41.840 to tell me your picks,

00:49:43.800 and I thought they were pretty solid.

00:49:45.160 I'm going to say all of you,

00:49:45.920 I mean our team in New York.

00:49:47.700 New York team,

00:49:48.680 let's start with you,

00:49:49.520 Ali,

00:49:50.080 producer Ali,

00:49:51.300 what was your best movie

00:49:52.920 of the 21st century?

00:49:54.540 You had time to think about this,

00:49:55.880 so you're on the hot seat now

00:49:56.900 if you forgot.

00:49:57.500 What is it?

00:49:58.120 Oh no,

00:49:59.100 I'm totally on the hot seat.

00:50:00.320 I had gone with Gladiator,

00:50:01.720 but I had the years all wrong.

00:50:03.340 Yeah,

00:50:03.740 okay,

00:50:04.240 Gladiator came out,

00:50:05.340 hold on,

00:50:05.860 Gladiator?

00:50:06.320 2,000.

00:50:07.340 Yes,

00:50:07.760 it counts in the New York Times list.

00:50:10.820 It does?

00:50:11.600 Because that's technically

00:50:12.360 the 20th century.

00:50:14.240 They have it down at 92,

00:50:17.020 so they are counting anything

00:50:18.420 that's 2,000 and beyond.

00:50:20.580 Well,

00:50:20.780 that's an outrage.

00:50:21.740 First of all,

00:50:22.200 the fact that they're counting it

00:50:23.300 and they're putting it at 92

00:50:24.120 is an outrage,

00:50:24.900 because Ali,

00:50:25.440 I'd be,

00:50:25.940 it would be a top fiver for me,

00:50:27.820 top fiver for sure.

00:50:29.160 They put Parasite at number one,

00:50:31.620 a foreign film,

00:50:33.420 as the best movie

00:50:34.520 of the 21st century,

00:50:36.560 which I think is mad.

00:50:38.820 Producer Mike,

00:50:40.100 what was yours?

00:50:40.640 You had a good one.

00:50:41.960 Dark Knight?

00:50:42.640 Were you Dark Knight

00:50:43.300 or was that Greg?

00:50:46.140 What does Producer Mike say?

00:50:47.740 Dark Knight.

00:50:48.940 Dark Knight,

00:50:49.640 yeah,

00:50:49.840 he was Dark Knight,

00:50:50.640 solid.

00:50:51.080 I can't quibble with that.

00:50:52.960 I have watched that movie

00:50:54.140 probably a hundred times.

00:50:56.420 I enjoyed the Dark Knight.

00:50:57.680 He really brought back,

00:50:59.340 people think now,

00:51:00.200 oh,

00:51:00.240 the Batman franchise,

00:51:01.340 huge franchise.

00:51:02.440 That was,

00:51:03.600 it was,

00:51:04.280 on the ropes

00:51:05.440 after a couple

00:51:07.340 of really bad

00:51:08.740 Batman movies

00:51:09.480 that bombed big time,

00:51:11.680 including one with,

00:51:12.720 I think the girl

00:51:13.340 from Clueless was in it,

00:51:14.580 Alicia Silverstone.

00:51:16.320 There was a George Clooney,

00:51:17.480 no one even remembers,

00:51:18.240 George Clooney played Batman,

00:51:20.140 and it was such a bad movie

00:51:21.420 that people don't even remember

00:51:22.360 that he was Batman.

00:51:23.920 So there were,

00:51:24.640 so the Dark Knight was,

00:51:26.380 came back from it.

00:51:27.400 Batman Begins

00:51:28.060 and the Dark Knight,

00:51:29.360 both great,

00:51:30.120 great options.

00:51:30.700 Remember,

00:51:30.960 21st century,

00:51:31.880 we're looking at,

00:51:32.740 Clay,

00:51:32.940 what was yours?

00:51:34.000 I broke it down,

00:51:35.740 trio,

00:51:36.640 meaning,

00:51:37.720 because to me,

00:51:38.440 there is,

00:51:39.520 there's a difference

00:51:40.340 between a kid movie,

00:51:42.340 there's a difference

00:51:43.040 between a comedy,

00:51:44.780 and there's a difference

00:51:45.600 between a drama.

00:51:47.540 So I went with,

00:51:49.000 I agree,

00:51:49.460 the whole Christopher Nolan

00:51:50.620 Batman trilogy,

00:51:52.340 The Dark Knight,

00:51:53.300 that is really phenomenal,

00:51:55.340 well done.

00:51:56.440 Up,

00:51:56.700 I think was the best

00:51:58.320 of the Pixar movies,

00:51:59.700 Up if you,

00:52:00.540 Up is so well done.

00:52:02.400 And then I think

00:52:04.060 the funniest movie

00:52:05.560 of the 21st century,

00:52:07.660 I think is old school.

00:52:09.620 I just think

00:52:10.680 it is absolutely hysterical.

00:52:13.180 Well,

00:52:13.320 that's not even a category.

00:52:14.960 That's what I'm saying.

00:52:15.400 Now you're making up categories.

00:52:17.680 Funniest?

00:52:18.360 I think you can't.

00:52:19.080 You think old school

00:52:19.420 is the funniest movie

00:52:20.460 of the 21st century?

00:52:21.900 What's funnier

00:52:23.220 than old school?

00:52:24.540 I mean,

00:52:24.780 I think 40-year-old Virgin

00:52:25.920 is funnier than old school.

00:52:27.380 40-year-old Virgin

00:52:28.240 is very funny.

00:52:29.140 Superbad is very funny.

00:52:30.800 Like,

00:52:31.020 there's a series

00:52:31.920 of four or five movies,

00:52:34.060 I think,

00:52:34.420 that you could argue.

00:52:35.820 I think the combination

00:52:36.660 of Will Ferrell,

00:52:37.680 Vince Vaughn

00:52:38.240 is tough to beat.

00:52:39.180 Wedding Crashers,

00:52:40.080 also really,

00:52:41.020 really funny

00:52:41.520 and well done.

00:52:43.280 But I think

00:52:44.180 you have to consider

00:52:45.200 what,

00:52:46.560 again,

00:52:47.460 best doesn't mean

00:52:48.620 Citizen Kane

00:52:49.580 is a phenomenal movie.

00:52:50.720 We talked about yesterday,

00:52:52.400 Schindler's List

00:52:52.920 is a phenomenal movie.

00:52:54.260 It's hard to sit down

00:52:55.480 and just be like,

00:52:56.140 hey,

00:52:56.260 let's have some popcorn

00:52:57.100 and watch Schindler's List.

00:52:58.500 Well,

00:52:58.920 this is like

00:52:59.860 how I feel about

00:53:00.740 The Pianist,

00:53:02.580 P-I-A-N-I-S-T,

00:53:06.260 to be clear.

00:53:07.040 The Pianist

00:53:07.840 is a,

00:53:10.480 or The Pianist,

00:53:11.380 maybe some people

00:53:11.920 say it that way,

00:53:13.160 is I think

00:53:14.100 a perfect movie,

00:53:15.600 meaning

00:53:15.980 it is

00:53:17.140 incredibly well done

00:53:18.760 and every aspect

00:53:20.840 of it

00:53:21.220 from the acting

00:53:21.780 to the writing

00:53:22.420 to the sound,

00:53:23.960 you know,

00:53:24.340 to the soundtrack

00:53:24.940 to the,

00:53:25.740 I think it's a perfect movie,

00:53:26.760 but it's intense.

00:53:27.880 It's World War II.

00:53:29.460 Yeah.

00:53:29.960 It's,

00:53:30.440 you know,

00:53:30.760 it's a Jewish guy

00:53:31.760 who's trying to flee

00:53:32.900 the,

00:53:33.340 you know,

00:53:33.920 the,

00:53:34.260 well,

00:53:34.420 at one point

00:53:34.820 it's his neighbors

00:53:35.440 and the Nazis.

00:53:36.820 The Pianist

00:53:37.660 is an incredible movie,

00:53:38.920 but I can't say

00:53:39.820 it's my favorite movie

00:53:41.060 because

00:53:41.460 if the Dark Knight trilogy

00:53:43.620 or the Lord of the Rings

00:53:44.640 movies are on,

00:53:45.320 I'm watching those

00:53:45.960 instead of The Pianist.

00:53:46.840 I'm just,

00:53:47.260 I'm not going to lie

00:53:47.940 and be that guy,

00:53:48.660 which brings me to,

00:53:49.700 I think,

00:53:50.600 the private,

00:53:51.040 producer Greg,

00:53:51.640 what was your pick?

00:53:52.340 You didn't give us,

00:53:53.120 you didn't give us your,

00:53:54.560 we're trying to help you,

00:53:55.360 by the way,

00:53:55.600 for the holiday weekend,

00:53:56.520 everybody.

00:53:56.900 If you haven't seen

00:53:57.560 any of these,

00:53:58.540 we're giving you

00:53:59.200 great recommendations

00:54:00.500 for,

00:54:01.620 I would argue

00:54:02.140 The Lives of Other

00:54:02.960 is a pretty perfect movie,

00:54:04.420 although it is German language,

00:54:07.040 and that is 21st century,

00:54:08.920 but again,

00:54:09.880 it's not a,

00:54:10.960 you still haven't even

00:54:11.840 watched it,

00:54:12.260 have you?

00:54:13.020 No.

00:54:13.200 You and Laura

00:54:13.600 haven't watched

00:54:14.260 The Lives of Others,

00:54:15.240 and you have,

00:54:15.880 okay,

00:54:16.060 maybe that one

00:54:16.840 because it's foreign language,

00:54:17.820 I could see Laura

00:54:18.360 being like,

00:54:18.840 Clay,

00:54:19.100 don't,

00:54:19.320 don't,

00:54:19.620 you know,

00:54:19.840 don't torture us.

00:54:20.960 You guys haven't watched

00:54:22.080 Hacksaw Ridge,

00:54:22.760 which is insane,

00:54:23.900 because that was,

00:54:24.500 I gave you that assignment

00:54:25.460 a long time ago.

00:54:26.400 That movie is wild.

00:54:27.420 To be fair,

00:54:27.780 to be fair to me,

00:54:29.340 I barely see anything.

00:54:31.440 I watch stuff with my kids,

00:54:33.300 which is why I've been

00:54:34.040 watching Harry Potter.

00:54:34.900 You watch hundreds of hours

00:54:36.600 of college football.

00:54:39.120 Hundreds of hours.

00:54:39.700 That's what I was going to say,

00:54:40.640 and I watch a lot of sports.

00:54:41.920 Let me give you

00:54:42.420 an underrated movie

00:54:43.440 that I think seems

00:54:45.420 even more contemporary

00:54:49.220 than it was

00:54:50.260 when it came out.

00:54:51.860 Minority Report.

00:54:53.600 Ah.

00:54:54.440 Sudden.

00:54:55.220 No,

00:54:55.560 I'm telling you,

00:54:56.160 go back and watch it now

00:54:57.780 in an age of AI.

00:55:00.320 It seems eerily prescient

00:55:03.740 in terms of its foreshadowing

00:55:05.760 of where we are at.

00:55:06.440 Producer Greg is going to weigh in.

00:55:07.920 He wanted to get in on this.

00:55:09.600 Producer Greg,

00:55:10.020 best movie of the 21st century.

00:55:11.720 If you were making this

00:55:12.380 New York Times list,

00:55:13.120 what's number one?

00:55:14.420 Dark Knight.

00:55:15.160 I'm with producer.

00:55:16.300 Oh,

00:55:16.420 you're a Dark Knight guy,

00:55:17.200 too.

00:55:17.320 I thought we had

00:55:18.320 double Dark Knight.

00:55:19.740 Keith Ledger's performance

00:55:21.140 as the Joker

00:55:22.360 is the best bad guy performance

00:55:26.080 that I think you could,

00:55:29.060 it's that,

00:55:30.100 it's the No Country for Old Men

00:55:31.760 with,

00:55:32.260 what's his name?

00:55:33.780 Bardem.

00:55:34.300 Javier Bardem.

00:55:34.980 Javier Bardem.

00:55:35.980 Javier Bardem

00:55:36.940 and Hans Gruber

00:55:38.640 in Die Hard,

00:55:40.100 which was the first time

00:55:41.120 that guy was ever in a movie,

00:55:42.260 which is still amazing.

00:55:43.300 Does watching the Dark Knight

00:55:45.060 knowing that Heath Ledger

00:55:46.920 was going to,

00:55:48.240 in some way,

00:55:49.000 kill himself,

00:55:50.780 like,

00:55:51.220 I watch it now

00:55:52.280 and you're right,

00:55:53.200 the performance is incredible,

00:55:54.660 but when I watch it

00:55:56.120 in the back of my mind,

00:55:57.480 I'm thinking,

00:55:58.580 in order to become this good,

00:56:02.220 he had to go to such a dark,

00:56:04.980 dark place

00:56:05.600 that it felt to me,

00:56:07.060 like,

00:56:07.340 a lot of people

00:56:08.220 who are actors and actresses,

00:56:10.100 it's not actually that talented.

00:56:12.740 You know what I mean?

00:56:13.400 Like,

00:56:13.620 there are lots of people

00:56:14.560 who are whatever.

00:56:16.100 Heath Ledger,

00:56:16.920 that was actually

00:56:17.760 an artistic performance

00:56:19.300 as the Joker,

00:56:20.560 but I think it led him

00:56:22.020 into a world

00:56:23.240 where his brain,

00:56:25.220 like,

00:56:25.480 almost broke.

00:56:26.120 Yeah,

00:56:26.320 no,

00:56:26.420 he went into the darkness,

00:56:27.740 went into the darkness

00:56:28.380 too much.

00:56:29.060 That has happened

00:56:30.020 with people

00:56:30.660 that get too

00:56:31.700 into a role.

00:56:33.320 A lot of people,

00:56:34.280 very high,

00:56:34.860 because I saw a lot

00:56:35.660 of comments about this

00:56:36.420 because I was on

00:56:37.580 with Will Cain

00:56:38.620 and Carol Markowitz

00:56:39.480 on Will's show

00:56:40.340 on Fox Clay

00:56:41.080 and that's where

00:56:42.020 this got some attention.

00:56:43.660 A lot of people

00:56:44.600 have as their top movies.

00:56:46.740 I would say

00:56:47.160 the ones that I saw

00:56:48.120 the most,

00:56:48.900 for all of you,

00:56:49.820 all of you out there,

00:56:51.300 I'd say the one

00:56:52.500 that I saw the most

00:56:53.860 as a number one choice

00:56:55.440 was either

00:56:56.440 There Will Be Blood

00:56:57.480 or No Country

00:56:58.700 for Old Men

00:56:59.580 for Best Movie

00:57:01.100 of the 21st Century.

00:57:02.320 I view those

00:57:03.300 as both

00:57:04.100 excellent movies,

00:57:06.160 but it also goes

00:57:07.120 in that category

00:57:07.820 of There Will Be Blood

00:57:08.920 for me is like

00:57:09.540 watching a master class

00:57:10.720 of acting.

00:57:11.680 Obviously,

00:57:13.020 Daniel Day-Lewis

00:57:14.200 is phenomenal

00:57:15.040 and the performances

00:57:16.700 are,

00:57:17.020 but do I care about

00:57:18.240 anybody in this story

00:57:19.200 really?

00:57:19.740 No.

00:57:20.620 Do I like anybody

00:57:21.560 really?

00:57:22.300 No.

00:57:23.680 And then I think

00:57:24.720 that unfortunately

00:57:25.240 No Country for Old Men,

00:57:26.640 again,

00:57:27.480 very well made

00:57:29.160 and I'm not saying

00:57:30.200 it's not a good movie,

00:57:31.340 I'm just saying,

00:57:32.900 you know,

00:57:33.260 if it's on,

00:57:33.740 am I going to watch it?

00:57:34.680 I don't know,

00:57:35.020 it's so bleak

00:57:36.160 and kind of nihilistic

00:57:37.220 for me,

00:57:37.740 so I can't get too excited

00:57:39.440 about either one of those

00:57:40.900 as a top 10

00:57:42.060 of the 21st Century.

00:57:43.700 They're both

00:57:44.300 excellent movies

00:57:45.320 to be clear,

00:57:46.120 but they're not movies.

00:57:47.140 I've only watched

00:57:47.800 each of those

00:57:48.240 maybe twice,

00:57:48.960 which for me

00:57:49.320 is not very many.

00:57:50.620 I also,

00:57:51.980 to me,

00:57:53.040 when it's a book

00:57:54.320 being made

00:57:55.100 into a movie,

00:57:55.920 I think

00:57:57.040 the excellence

00:57:57.740 of the movie

00:57:58.480 in many ways

00:57:59.200 reflects the book

00:58:00.220 and Cormac McCarthy

00:58:01.480 is probably

00:58:03.220 the greatest author,

00:58:04.900 now I'm really

00:58:05.340 going to get people

00:58:05.860 fired up,

00:58:06.600 probably the greatest

00:58:07.780 author of the last

00:58:09.500 30 years

00:58:11.140 and I know he died

00:58:12.440 a couple of years ago,

00:58:13.660 but if you look

00:58:14.460 at his production

00:58:16.260 in terms of his talent

00:58:18.760 and you go all

00:58:19.500 the way back,

00:58:20.560 he moved eventually

00:58:21.640 his fiction

00:58:22.380 to basically

00:58:23.640 the border

00:58:24.220 with Texas

00:58:25.000 and Mexico,

00:58:25.640 but he started off

00:58:27.140 as a Tennessee-based

00:58:28.780 writer

00:58:29.200 and I think

00:58:31.120 he's probably

00:58:31.980 the most talented

00:58:32.900 writer in America

00:58:34.720 in the last 30 years

00:58:36.260 and so

00:58:37.540 No Country for Old Men

00:58:38.900 is a novel

00:58:40.240 by him

00:58:41.060 and I think

00:58:42.880 it just reflects

00:58:44.080 the world

00:58:44.800 that he created

00:58:45.820 on the screen

00:58:46.820 and is actually

00:58:49.100 an illustration

00:58:49.940 of his excellence

00:58:51.040 as a writer

00:58:52.200 more than it is

00:58:53.520 as a film.

00:58:54.120 Does that make sense?

00:58:54.680 Like if you said,

00:58:55.620 hey, The Great Gatsby,

00:58:56.900 which it isn't

00:58:58.000 and it's been made

00:58:58.680 multiple times,

00:58:59.520 most recently

00:59:00.200 with Leonardo DiCaprio,

00:59:01.580 if you said

00:59:02.180 The Great Gatsby

00:59:03.020 is the best movie

00:59:03.960 that's ever been made,

00:59:04.960 I would be like,

00:59:05.540 well, it's

00:59:06.340 a phenomenal novel

00:59:07.740 and so to me,

00:59:09.220 I strip out anything

00:59:10.500 that isn't

00:59:11.300 an original movie

00:59:12.380 as a great movie.

00:59:14.100 Does that make sense?

00:59:14.680 Because it's a reflection

00:59:15.640 of the book

00:59:17.440 more than the movie.

00:59:18.040 One talkback here

00:59:18.880 before we get into

00:59:19.500 more talkbacks

00:59:20.080 and calls to close us out.

00:59:21.120 AA podcast listener

00:59:22.340 Zeb from Texas,

00:59:23.380 play it.

00:59:23.800 Clay and Buck,

00:59:24.560 this is Zeb from Texas.

00:59:26.000 Love your show.

00:59:26.780 Listen to you every day

00:59:27.740 since y'all took over

00:59:28.620 for Rush.

00:59:30.100 Ditto, maybe.

00:59:31.660 Hey, listen,

00:59:32.440 I'm so disappointed

00:59:33.280 that y'all would

00:59:33.760 question Producer Greg

00:59:35.620 after he's led you

00:59:37.260 right so many times.

00:59:39.280 Minus Tirith

00:59:40.020 is the capital city

00:59:41.180 of Gondor

00:59:42.020 after Osgiliath

00:59:43.860 was destroyed

00:59:44.480 by the Orcs

00:59:45.180 in the Battle of Sauron.

00:59:46.720 Trust your man.

00:59:48.340 I just,

00:59:49.080 this is the nerdiest

00:59:50.040 thing that has ever

00:59:50.980 been said on the show,

00:59:52.140 which is things.

00:59:52.420 I just love,

00:59:53.040 I love that we have

00:59:53.700 listeners who clearly,

00:59:55.420 clearly have

00:59:56.580 a 12 gauge

00:59:57.980 across the backseat

00:59:59.200 of the car,

01:00:00.420 have a Stetson on

01:00:01.900 and cowboy boots,

01:00:02.920 and they're lecturing us

01:00:04.040 about Minus Tirith

01:00:05.660 as the city of Gondor,

01:00:06.800 as the capital of Gondor

01:00:08.180 after Osgilius,

01:00:09.200 of course,

01:00:10.000 was destroyed by the Orcs

01:00:11.180 in the Battle of Sauron.

01:00:12.280 That is,

01:00:12.780 that is our,

01:00:13.700 that is our Texas audience

01:00:14.920 rolling around

01:00:15.820 in a pickup,

01:00:16.760 ready for any

01:00:18.060 javelinas they have

01:00:19.000 to take out,

01:00:19.900 but you get

01:00:20.420 Lord of the Rings

01:00:21.000 wrong and they're

01:00:21.820 dropping knowledge

01:00:22.440 on you.

01:00:24.040 The,

01:00:24.500 the,

01:00:24.700 the correction

01:00:25.440 yesterday that I read

01:00:26.900 is the nerdiest thing

01:00:28.500 that's ever been said

01:00:29.380 on the show.

01:00:30.440 That,

01:00:31.000 talk back and

01:00:32.140 Buck's analysis

01:00:32.940 of it is the second

01:00:34.160 nerdiest thing

01:00:34.840 that's ever been said

01:00:35.660 on the show.

01:00:37.640 In the meantime,

01:00:38.740 I want to tell you

01:00:39.760 about what you want

01:00:40.860 to make sure you do,

01:00:41.600 it's take care of your

01:00:42.220 family with our friends

01:00:43.300 at Sabre.

01:00:44.180 We have every single

01:00:45.260 product,

01:00:45.640 I think this is true

01:00:46.520 that Sabre produces,

01:00:47.820 whether it's pepper spray,

01:00:49.340 whether it's the

01:00:50.040 projectile pepper launcher,

01:00:51.620 whether it is door protections,

01:00:54.120 everything that Sabre offers

01:00:55.940 we have in the Travis household.

01:00:57.780 Trust me on this.

01:00:58.880 They are phenomenal.

01:00:59.900 Just go look at the website,

01:01:01.340 sabre radio.com,

01:01:02.820 S-A-B-R-E radio.com.

01:01:05.580 They are phenomenal.

01:01:07.280 They've been doing this

01:01:08.000 for 50 years,

01:01:09.060 family owned,

01:01:09.880 products are reliable

01:01:10.900 and trusted.

01:01:12.160 The pepper gel projectile launcher,

01:01:14.200 shaped like a pistol,

01:01:15.640 or a rifle,

01:01:17.020 depending on the model.

01:01:18.000 You choose,

01:01:18.680 fires off a pepper gel projectile,

01:01:22.120 targeted,

01:01:22.960 goes a longer distance,

01:01:24.360 non-lethal,

01:01:25.080 but it'll protect you.

01:01:26.720 Decide what you need

01:01:28.180 and what you want

01:01:29.140 for your family.

01:01:30.000 Again,

01:01:30.240 we have everything.

01:01:31.520 Right now,

01:01:31.960 you'll get 15% off

01:01:33.560 at sabre radio.com.

01:01:35.420 That's S-A-B-R-E radio.com.

01:01:38.780 If you don't want to go online,

01:01:40.000 you can also call them

01:01:41.400 844-824-SAFE.

01:01:44.180 These are non-lethal,

01:01:45.800 but they'll help protect your family.

01:01:47.680 844-824-SAFE.

01:01:50.180 S-A-F-E.

01:01:58.800 This is an iHeart Podcast.

01:02:01.700 Guaranteed human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - July 01, 2025

Bonus： Daily Review With Clay and Buck - Jul 01 2025

Episode Stats

Misogynist Sentences

Hate Speech Sentences

Summary

Transcript